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Hairspray: check.
Hair dryer: check.
Comb and/or hair pick: check.
The above is the sure-fire formula for big hair, no matter the decade. Okay, so perhaps Marie Antoinette and her ilk didn’t have the hair spray or the hair driers, but they could tease with the best of them, pushing a trend that would re-emerge throughout the decades.
The bouffant was big during the 50s and 60s, closely matched by the beehive. Pile it up, tease it out, and bombshell could be written all over it. Audrey Hepburn sported a beehive for the Academy Award-winning film, Breakfast at Tiffany’s. And if the beehive is good enough for Marge Simpson, well frankly, it’s good enough for any of us. The bouffant has been brought back to life by the likes of Peggy Bundy, a character on Married… With Children, and former British Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher. And who could forget Tracy Turnblad from Hairspray. Yowza! Now there was a bouffant!
Big hair came back in a big way during the 70s. We had Dolly Parton and Farrah Fawcett pushing the envelope of the bouffant, and the afro hairstyle made its way to the forefront of fashion and politics as a show of Black Pride. Disco music and big hair almost seemed like a given, so as disco died it seemed as though big hair might be gone as well.
Not so, according to the glam gods of the 80s. Heck, even the punks had their say in the matter with their smatterings of Mohawks and spiky hair. Rockers like Bon Jovi, Twisted Sister, Poison, and Whitesnake had a field day with the big hair craze. Even the alt-boys had big hair, a la Robert Smith of The Cure. Big hair wasn’t just for those with musical inclinations;
Big hair could be achieved by anyone with enough time and patience. As women and men teased and fluffed, we can be certain that the makers of Aqua Net and Rave felt their pocketbooks getting thicker. Anyone could pull off Melanie Griffith’s Working Girl look now!
The 80s were the epitome of big hair mania. “Waterfall” bangs were a daily sighting, and easy enough to do with just a few easy steps and enough hair condiments. Just don’t forget to lacquer it up when you’re all finished, lest your hard work go to waste with the wrong gust of wind. About four minutes of Aqua Net spraying/shellacking should cover you.
