Hi there and welcome back to my blog! This week we will be researching into the 1950s.
The 50s saw the post-war boom. Historians used the word 'boom' to describe the 50s because of the booming economy and the baby boom. A record number of babies were born each year in the 50s (around 4 million). This was because people felt comfortable to have babies now the war was over, as they knew they would be brought into the world with a future full of peace and prosperity. The 50s introduced Rock 'n' Roll, which swept the nation; artists like Elvis Presley, Sam Cooke, Chuck Berry and Buddy Holly became increasingly popular (History.com, 2020).
In this decade, hairstyles became fuller and curlier with blonde still being a very popular hair colour in films and fashion, especially when iconic figures like Marilyn Monroe sported that hair colour (Figure 1). Other film stars that were very popular in the 50s were Doris Day, Audrey Hepburn and Elizabeth Taylor. Audrey Hepburn (Figure 2) popularised a doe-eyed makeup look with heavy black liner. Italian fashion became popular in the early 50s, with a shaggy hairstyle being popular for a while, however, towards the end of the decade the bouffant style became very popular. Men shaved their faces and often sported short back and sides but left it long in the front so they could quiff it, like Elvis Presley (Figure 3). Crew cuts were also very popular (Delamar, 2003).
Figures 4 and 5 (above) are examples of industry standard 1950s work as 'Grease' is set in the 50s.
Figure 4 shows the typical very curly short hair which was a staple look of the 50s. Figure 5 shows Danny with his hair short back and sides with the top longer slicked over into a quiff. Sandy is sporting a large curly 'poodle' hairstyle which was actually popular in the 40s because Betty Grable used to wear it a lot. It made its way into the 50s by the famous Lucille Ball (Figure 6).
Figures 7, 8 & 9: 1950s Set Images (O'Connor, 2021).
Figures 7, 8 and 9 show the directional roller set that was created for the 1950s look. Large rollers were used around the hairline to create lots of volume and lift, with smaller rollers used around the head to give the rest of the hair lots of curl. The set is in a side parting, which will help me achieve a nice side swept wave. The rollers at the nape of the neck were rolled vertically as I wanted the ends of the hair to go in on itself so there were no ends showing.
Figures 10, 11 & 12: 1950s Style Images (O'Connor, 2021).
The final hairstyle is shown above (Figures 10, 11 and 12). There are both positives and negatives about this style; the large wave at the front was very 50s as Marilyn Monroe was often seen wearing this style. Th wave was very defined, but also blended into the rest of the hair which is effective as it doesn't look out of place. The hairstyle from the back is a little bit messier than it should be because some of the curls went frizzy as they were brushed out. To avoid this in the future, an anti-frizz serum will be used to smooth any flyways and avoid frizziness (Harmon, 2012).The side where the hair is pinned and tucked behind another bit of hair (Figure 10), is not as flat to the head as it should be and it is quite loose around the ear. A firmer grip should have been used when pinning the hair down, which would have resulted in a tighter style.
Figure 13 (left) is an image of the makeup that was applied to finish off the 1950s look that I created. The makeup is very historically accurate because the eyebrows are arched and darkened, with light brown eyeshadows used to create a shadow in the crease and a black slightly winged out eyeliner was applied with mascara. A red lipstick has been applied too, which is very fifties-esque, however, lipstick and lipliner came in many different colours in the 50s (Conway, 2004).
A beauty spot was also added to give a more 'Marilyn' feel to the image since she was such a big influence with this hairstyle.
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 1960s - my favourite decade!
See you then:)
Alysha
Reference List:
Algoo, J. (2016)New Audrey Hepburn Book 2016 [Online]. Available at: https://www.harpersbazaar.com/culture/art-books-music/g8037/audrey-hepburn-1950s-book/ (Accessed 17th January 2022).
Celebritainment. (2021) Marilyn Monroe assassinated over UFO knowledge, book claims [Online]. Available at: https://wacotrib.com/people/marilyn-monroe-assassinated-over-ufo-knowledge-book-claims/article_748dde8f-f797-5517-82ab-57ce602aab2b.html (Accessed 17th January 2022).
ComicVine. (n.d.) Lucille Ball [Online]. Available at: https://comicvine.gamespot.com/lucille-ball/4005-2906/images/ (Accessed 17th January 2022).
Conway, J. (2004) Make-up Artistry, Oxford, Heinemann Educational Publishers.
Delamar, P. (2003) The Complete Make-up Artist, 2nd ed, Illinois, Northwestern University Press.
GirlsDoFilm. (2012) Grease: Dinah Manoff as Marty [Online]. Available at: https://girlsdofilm.wordpress.com/2012/03/04/maraschino-like-the-cherry/ (Accessed 17th January 2022).
Harmon, N. (2012) Coils & Curls The Hair Product Handbook, Createspace Independent Pub.
History.com. (2020) The 1950s [Online]. Available at: https://www.history.com/topics/cold-war/1950s (Accessed 17th January 2022).
O'Connor, A. (2021) 1950s Makeup Image [Own Image]. York College, York.
O'Connor, A. (2021) 1950s Set Images [Own Images]. York.
O'Connor, A. (2021) 1950s Style Images [Own Images]. York College, York.
Posterlounge. (n.d.) Elvis Presley 1956 [Online]. Available at: https://www.posterlounge.co.uk/p/736519.html(Accessed 17th January 2022).
West, R. (2016) 'Grease' fan theory suggests Danny and Sandy were dead all along [Online]. Available at: https://globalnews.ca/news/2928896/grease-fan-theory-suggests-danny-and-sandy-were-dead-all-along/(Accessed 17th January 2022).
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