Hi there and welcome back to my blog! This week we are going to be researching into the 1930s.
In the early 30s, Jean Harlow popularised platinum blonde hair as she was known as the "blonde bombshell" (Figure 1). Not everyone could achieve platinum blonde, but dyes, henna rinses and bleaches became readily available to the public. Longer hair became popular in the 30s with 'marcelled waves' becoming increasingly popular as improvements in electrical curling irons were made, which meant women had curls that stayed in place for long amounts of time (Young and Young, 2002).
According to a beauty expert in 1936, hair is longer and softer on the face, with curls over the head and softer in line at the neck. Hair in the late 30s were dressed with curls, and were usually styled with a fashionable hat (Malcolmson, 2012).
1930s hair, makeup and fashion were influenced by Hollywood glamour, with iconic figures like Bette Davis (Figure 2), Mae West (Figure 3) and Greta Garbo (Figure 4).
Fig 2: Bette Davis Fig 3: Mae West (White, 2020). Fig 4: Greta Garbo
(Biography, 2017). (Weheartvintage, n.d.).
As you can see from the figures above, the makeup was more refined, with clear influence from Hollywood. Lips were no longer "bee stung", but now more rounded and filled out, eyebrows were very thin and arched and the dark kohl eyeshadows of the 20s were replaced by lighter colours. Mascara was in every girls makeup bags, however this was in bar form with a brush to apply as liquid mascara had not yet been invented (McGlinchey, 2013).
Figure 5 (left) is an example of industry standard work as 'Gosford Park' was set in 1932. As you can see, this ladies hair is still finger-waved however it is looser and more free looking than those of the 20s. Her eye makeup has lightened up and her lips are now full, rather than 'bee-stung'.
Figures 6, 7 & 8: 1930s Wig Set Images (O'Connor, 2021).
Figures 6, 7 and 8 show that a directional, on base roller set was done with a deep side parting. Some sections of hair was far too wide for the roller which resulted in some hair hanging off the edge of the roller. This was an improvement to be made in previous weeks, so should not still be happening now. Despite the few messy rollers, the set as a whole was neat and sectioned nicely.
Figures 9, 10 & 11: 1930s Style Images (O'Connor, 2021).
The figures above show the final dressed out 1930s wig. It shows a finger-waved style with lots of curls. This hairstyle is a looser, softer version of the 1920s look produced last week, which Gach (2019) says was prevalent in this decade. A blonde wig was chosen for this look as platinum blonde hair was the new fashion. This hairstyle was dressed out dry and used long sectioning clips to keep the waves in place. This was much more difficult to do than the wet finger waves last week as the hair was dry so there wasn't as much control when forming the crests. Even though there was difficulty dressing the hair out, the final result is rather effective and reflects the style of the decade. The waves are not too harsh, but defined enough to see that they're there, with a big curly up-do at the nape of the neck.
Figure 12 (right) shows the makeup that was done for this decade. It is evident that the research done has influenced the final images because the eye makeup is much lighter and softer, which is how it was done in the 30s. The lips have been painted accurately; softer cupids bow and full lips. The eyebrows, however, are not thin and arched as they would have been in this decade. The model's eyebrows were left natural when doing the makeup for this decade, but they're still too thick to be able to say they are historically accurate. If this hairstyle was to be created again, blocking the brows could be useful in order to create that really thin arched brow of the decade. Davis and Hall (2017) say that blocking the brows can help to show the period of a makeup look. They also go on to say that when using an adhesive to block the brows, it should be easy to remove. A glue stick would be used to block the brows as this has been used in previous work; it is easy to work with, dries fairly quickly with a hairdryer and is easy to remove.
Thank you for reading this weeks blog. Final images of the wig applied on a model can be found in the Period Hairdressing Portfolio section of the website.
Next week we will be looking at the 1940s!
See you then:)
Alysha
Reference List:
Biography. (2017) Bette Davis [Online]. Available at: https://www.biography.com/actor/bette-davis (Accessed 17th January 2022).
Bradshaw, P. (2002) Gosford Park review – country house murder mystery is beautifully observed period piece [Online]. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/film/2002/feb/01/1 (Accessed 17th January 2022).
Davis, G. and Hall, M. (2017) The Makeup Artist Handbook, 3rd ed, New York, Routledge.
Gach, P. (2019) 17 Ways to Up Your Glamour Game with 1930's Hairstyles [Online]. Available at: https://www.allthingshair.com/en-us/hairstyles-haircuts/vintage-hairstyles/1930s-hairstyles/ (Accessed 17th January 2022).
Glamour Daze. (2016) 1930s Makeup – The Jean Harlow Look [Online]. Available at: https://glamourdaze.com/2013/08/1930s-makeup-the-jean-harlow-look.html (Accessed 17th January 2022).
Malcolmson, P. (2012) Me and My Hair, Gosport, Chaplin Books.
McGlinchey, S. (2013) 1930s [Online]. Available at: https://glamourdaze.com/history-of-makeup/1930s (Accessed 12th January 2022).
O'Connor, A. (2021) 1930s Makeup Image [Own Image]. York College, York.
O'Connor, A. (2021) 1930s Style Images [Own Images]. York College, York.
O'Connor, A. (2021) Wig Set Images [Own Images]. York College, York.
Weheartvintage. (n.d.) 10 Things You Didn’t Know About Greta Garbo [Online]. Available at: http://weheartvintage.co/2014/06/26/10-things-you-didnt-know-about-greta-garbo/ (Accessed 17th January 2022).
White, A. (2020) Why Mae West was Great [Online]. Available at: https://www.nationalreview.com/2020/06/television-review-mae-west-dirty-blonde-metoo-delusions/ (Accessed 17th January 2022).
Young, W. and Young, N. (2002) The 1930s, Westport, Greenwood Press.
(Accessed 17th January 2022).
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