How Hair Designs Have Changed Over Time?

Many scholars usually trace various epochs of history by observing changes in political adjustments, economic statuses, social conditions, religious movements, civil movements and even art and music so that they can gain a more complete understanding of how and why these changes took place overtime and among people across the world, and changes in hair designs have been equally useful in understanding the times in which they changed.

From biblical recordings and dating back even farther, the techniques found in hair styles have indicated the time period. One can look at the hair designs of the time and find the era in which the person lived. Regardless of the country where the person lived or the culture from which they were accustomed, hair design seemed to be very important because it showed individual identity as well as cultural affiliation. For example, you can take a peek into the Egyptian history and be given a peek at what seemed to hold a lot of importance to the Egyptians based solely on their hair design. Adorned with colorful beads and exquisite jewels, the Egyptian Pharaohs were differentiated from the rest of the population based on their elegant hair styles.

As times changed and various countries and cultures evolved into their own, different hair and designs styles emerged to indicate a feature of their new culture. For instance, in India elaborate braided and knotted hair styles were customary for special occasions such as weddings and married women wore their natural hair parted down the middle and colored with bindi or red powder to indicate that she was married. In Japanese culture the everyday working class wore their hair in a single braid and pulled back, but when various types of artistry started emerging throughout the country, artists such as a Geisha distinguished themselves and their art in the clothes and make up and hair designs they wore. A popular hair design for an apprentice Geisha was the Split Peach which not only served the purpose of indicating to others that she is an apprentice, but also to build a sizeable clientele with the seductively designed hair style.

But the extraordinarily rapid pace at which hair styles and designs changed only occurred with the development of the entertainment industry and Hollywood in the United States. From as early as the 1930s hair was becoming more and more appealing so much so that many actors and actresses were becoming more famous because of their beautiful looking healthy hair, and by the late 1930s and early 1940s, blonde was the most revered hair color as Hollywood soon realized how great a blonde looked in black and white films. Actresses like Mae West, Jean Harlow and Veronica Lake were infamous for their almost platinum blonde hair. Between the 1950s and 1960s, countless hair designs came in and faded out of style. Musicians joined the actors and actresses of Hollywood in the hair design trendsetting arena and together the entertainment industry changed fashion statements and hair styles as quickly as albums and movie tickets were selling, and it has not stopped since.

From Marilyn Monroe to Farrah Fawcett to Dorothy Hamill and even todays goddess of hair Jennifer Aniston have all changed the way we look at hair, and that reflects our ever changing society. But most importantly, it conveys the image of the character they are playing and the real person behind the role. Hair is an artform that we wear on our body. How we wear it tells others what our personality is and how adventuresome or conservative we are. And from the changes in hair designs weve seen throughout history, we can certainly expect to see more unique, radical and even ridiculous hair styles in the future.