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Saturday, April 9, 2011

A survey of vintage bangs

Bangs have always for the bold and fashion forward. They make a definite statement that takes some serious commitment. They can take forever to grow out, you know! Bangs can also very strongly show a particular period. So here's a survey of bang styles over the years.


Bangs in the 1920's were a bold way to set yourself firmly in the flapper style. Several film stars adopted a severe bob with blunt straight bangs but wispier bangs were not unheard of either.

Bangs in the 1930's moved away from the blunt style and tended towards the wispy look. They were also often curly.

While the U-shaped Bettie Paige bangs first became popular in the 1940s, curly bangs were also popular. These bangs were fuller than looks from the 1930s. Most often, however, the bang area was a rather long fringe that was styled into the rest of the hair to give a peak-a-boo wave. The Middy haircut had this type of bang.

Bettie Paige bangs continued to be popular in the 1950s. Rolled bangs were an option for those who didn't want bangs every day. Softer bangs a la Audrey Hepburn also began to appear.

3 comments:

  1. Stephanie, I visit your blog at least 3x a week. I do enjoy what you post. I liked this post for several reasons: 1. to see the trend of hair bangs over the decades, 2. seeing some of my favorite actresses in the photos, 3. I have bangs myself!

    Audrey H. is one of my favorite actresses, too. I also enjoy Claudette Colbert.

    Thanks for posting. Have a marvelous weekend.

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  2. Cute blog! I've recently started wearing bangs again for the first time since the 6th grade and I haven't quite settled on a perminant style yet. Right now I'm doing straight across, but my hair is fine and I don't always get the heavy look I'm going for. I'm interested to see the many different styles here!

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  3. brilliant post! I don't think I've seen a post comparing bangs styles before. Fascinating!

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