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Friday, May 24, 2013

Back in the day: Don't bare that hair!

Back in the day, women were serious about protecting their coiffures. Hairdos were considerably more structured back then, requiring hours of rolling, drying and styling, so it makes sense that we didn't want them ruined by the wind or rain.

Some women managed to make headscarves look very glamorous.


Brigitte Bardot
celebrityhq.net

Elizabeth Taylor
chicvintagebrides.com

Jacqueline Kennedy
purseblog.com

Audrey Hepburn
stylewaffle.com


Unfortunately, most of us missed the mark and only managed to look frumpy. But we were in good company.


Queen Elizabeth II
sofeminine.co.uk

Headscarves, however, were preferable to the other form of headgear popular back in the day: the plastic rain bonnet. No practical woman left home without one in her purse, tucked inside its small rectangular carrying case. Some were adorned with images of flowers or umbrellas.


etsy.com - RickRackKitty

Others just looked like plastic bags on your head. Nobody was making these things look glamorous!


myspace.com - rainman90de

21 comments:

  1. Ah yes, I always looked frumpy rather than frabulous. My mother, on the other hand, always looked grand!

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    1. ::Raising hand to signify membership in the frumpy group::

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  2. Erm, that was supposed to be fabulous, lol.

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    1. I actually think frabulous should always have been a word...and now it is. :)

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    1. You don't know the half of it till you've tried to sleep on brush rollers!

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  4. Been there and done that...and on the nights of the hair washing and Dep...perfecting the art of sleeping on my stomach with my head propped up on my arms so all sides would dry whiltst wearing the plastic hair dryer bonnet with the flexible hose attached to the dryer unit sitting on the nightstand! How did I do that?

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    1. Honestly, I don't know how on earth we did all that. When you say it out loud, it sounds downright insane. :)

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  5. Yes, the queen loves a head scarf! I remember those little clear plastic rain bonnets. You are so right - ain't nobody making those puppies look sexy! My hairdresser friend told me recently that the best way to get nice curls (for which we use now curling tongs/irons) is to get an old fashioned dry and set with big fat curlers. She said it lasts much longer too.

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    1. She's right that the set lasts longer. I remember my first set of hot rollers...and how happy I was not to have to sleep on brush rollers anymore...but I also remember how much more quickly the curl fell out. I wear my curent jaw-length bob really straight, so the flat iron is my best friend these days. Back in the 50s and early 60s, who would ever have thought that I'd be trying to get the curl OUT of my hair?

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  6. When I was a teen, poker straight hair was the style and my hair is wavy. I remember disliking it since it would not just hang down. And humidity? I joke that I am part barometer, since my hair will react to any moisture in the atmosphere. Long story short? I am so, so happy to have thick, wavy hair and I wouldn't trade it for anything. I loved Vidal Sassoon who revolutionized hair cutting and taught us all to take advantage of what hair you have and stop the torture. My poor mom, she has poker straight hair and did the perm thing, the brush rollers, etc. My hair has so much body, it is insane. Thanks, lord!

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    1. I had shoulder-length when I announced my engagement. Right before my wedding in 1967, the Vidal Sassoon cut (the one up over the ears with little "sideburns" in front) became all the rage, so I rushed out and had my hair cut that way. My veil had been chosen with long hair in mind, but I didn't care. I had to have that haircut, and I still think it was super cute...wedding or no wedding.

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  7. Oh, and the Queen? Money can't buy taste, can it? BB would look good in anything and I for one wish to see scarves on heads making a comeback, since I love the look.
    There's my two cents...let's start a trend, friends.

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    1. If you promise me I will look like BB or Audrey Hepburn, I'm all in! :)

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  8. Right after I wrote this post, I got caught at Home Depot in a torrential rain that didn't look like it was going to let up anytime soon, so I made a dash for the car and got soaking wet. I wished for one of those ugly rain bonnets that day! :)

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  9. Hehehe the rain bonnets!
    My Grandmother used to put on hair dye then cover it with a plastic grocery bag and run out to the supermarket to pick up whatever she had in mind for lunch. Thank goodness she plonked a hat on top but I remember even at the young age of 7 or 8 that I thought this was a little odd. *HAHAH* MAYBE SHE SHOULD HAVE JUST SHOVED ON A RAIN BONNET!

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    1. That's so funny! Didn't the hair dye smell to high heaven? All the ones I've ever used were so stinky!

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  10. My wife always keeps a rain bonnet in her handbag and glove compartment in the car. I never gave them much thought until we were once caught out in a heavy downpour while out in the car. It was a couple of hundred yards to the services entrance , so she gave me the spare rain bonnet in the glove compartment to wear(it was clear with black trim). We made it to the services entrance keeping both hair and heads dry.I was so impressed with it , I now have one of my own.

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    1. My mother never left home without one...or two or three. She was one of those "Be prepared" types too! :)

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