Mall bangs

[kganihanova]

People who lived through the 80s, how does one go about achieving mall bangs?

[Timea]

teasing and hair spray

[kganihanova]

no heat or anything?

[Nimia]

And a goodly amount of mousse, to get those bangs started on their upward climb.

[jupiterinleo]

Does anyone have a good picture of an example of "mall bangs?" I'm very curious. I have an idea of what they look like but I'm not quite sure; I was born in 1990. Are they just the poofy 80's/early 90's bangs?

[Wildcat Diva]

Hair spray, specificity Aqua Net, hold the bangs up with your hand. Blow dry roots. Back comb.

A few orangey-blond streaks, courtesy of a bottle of hydrogen peroxide and applied to selected bang sections only with a q-tip would give the bangs that authentic, Duran Duran look.

[Hele]

Does anyone have a good picture of an example of "mall bangs?" I'm very curious. I have an idea of what they look like but I'm not quite sure; I was born in 1990. Are they just the poofy 80's/early 90's bangs?

i just google imaged "mall bangs" to see if it was what i thought, i'd never heard them called that. Lots of pictures available! This was the "in" look when i was in middle school, the bigger the better. And yes yes yes to aqua net!

[Stormynights]

Aqua Net was a professional only product when it first came out. Isn't that a scary thought.

[SkyChild]

I hope this is for a fancy dress 80s themed party?
Or have you just gone bananas?

[kganihanova]

I hope this is for a fancy dress 80s themed party?
Or have you just gone bananas?

I wanna try it for fun actually. It's summer, I wanna play with my hair while I don't have to go out in public as much as during the school year.

[diddiedaisy]

What are mall bangs?

[kganihanova]

What are mall bangs?

Those really poofy, teased up bangs from the 80s

[cathair]

Had to google it too. Wow, they even mention that brand of hairspray in Urban Dictionary!

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=mall%20bangs

[woodswanderer]

I was born in '83, but somehow avoided ever having mall bangs. Go figure.

[ravenheather]

I was born in '75 and did have mall bangs, but I did not use aquanet. Stiff Stuff was the industrial hold spray we used.

[Hele]

anybody else remember Bold Hold hairspray?

[jupiterinleo]

i just google imaged "mall bangs" to see if it was what i thought, i'd never heard them called that. Lots of pictures available! This was the "in" look when i was in middle school, the bigger the better. And yes yes yes to aqua net!

Me neither! Looking at the images reminded me that I had had those once, when I was Kelly Bundy from Married With Children for a Halloween party 3 or 4 years ago. I had waist-length blonde hair with bangs and I actually teased it for the party! Yikes. There was also lots of hairspray involved. I used some type of Garnier.

[Wildcat Diva]

I think I remember Bold Hold and I KNOW I remember Stiff Stuff. Went through a lot of product I do believe.

[Inconella]

I went to high school and college in the 80's, but somehow never had mall bangs. I rocked a Princess Diana haircut in HS, and finished out the decade trying to look like Cybill Shepherd in Moonlighting.

[Wildcat Diva]

And curse this thread because it got me to looking for pix of my 80's hair and I made it to my early 90's photos and I miss what I looked like at age 24 dammit! Stupid Nostalgia.

[Pamala513]

I know someone who still wears her hair that way. It looks hideous and outdated in my opinion!

[sourgrl]

I was a victim of mall bangs but they were refered to as a wave with a goal of trying to get it as high as possible. Teasing, aqua net, and a hair dryer was all it took!

[Isilme]

Ouch! Didn't know what they were called. My parents plagued me with these bangs and had our hairdresser cut them in my hair for each summer so I would get "some sun in my face" it was in the early 90's. Of course without hairspray because I was a young child at that time.
They are the reason I haven't had bangs since I was nine years old, hated them.

[Sarahlabyrinth]

I was born in 1965 and have never heard of mall bangs, had to Google them. Of course I remember the look, I used to call it "fluffy hair" or "dragged through a bush backwards", lol.

I had my hair short and permed in those days and it looked equally as bad. :)

[winship2]

I remember mall bangs but managed to avoid having them. I'm picturing in my mind how the girls' bathroom would look during break when everyone was in their with their AquaNet. Oy!! And you women who had them, look how lovely and sleek and healthy your hair is in your avatars now. I guess we all survived!

ETA: SarahLabyrinth, I really have to say how amaaaaaazing your hair is looking. Glossy, sleek, lush, lovely!

[Nimia]

I had the Olivia Newton John "Let's Get Physical" haircut. The horror.

http://www.the80sman.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/Olivia_Newton-John_Physical.jpg

[Sarahlabyrinth]

SarahLabyrinth[/B], I really have to say how amaaaaaazing your hair is looking. Glossy, sleek, lush, lovely!

Thank you winship2 (blushing) - I guess I will keep up with eating peanut butter, gelatin, plenty of water and walks in the fresh air then :)

[Anje]

I remember the look, and friends talking about trying to get their hair to do "the wave" a bit later (upper midwest, trends change slower than in the big cities and in the coasts), but thankfully never wore that look.


Aqua Net was a professional only product when it first came out. Isn't that a scary thought.
It's still about the best potato gun fuel around. :twisted:

[sourgrl]

It's still about the best potato gun fuel around. :twisted:

A spud gun reference...awesome :)

[Kimberly]

I always used hair mousse for the big 80s look.

[Anje]

You can tell I was more of a tomboy.... :D

[Quasiquixotic]

Anyone else agree that this might *need* to be a hairstyle of the month? :hmm:

[Ingrid]

Anyone else agree that this might *need* to be a hairstyle of the month? :hmm:

YES! The era of epic gravity-defying bangs must come again :cheer:

[Carolyn]

I had them and I did them well. I used Aqua Net in high school which was before the mall bangs era. I never knew it was a professional product. My god I used cans and cans of that stuff. I did my mall bangs with a blow dryer and a smallish round brush. Dry, rat and spray, all ready to go!

[kganihanova]

YES! The era of epic gravity-defying bangs must come again :cheer:

Yes!! I'm dying to try them just once.

[Anje]

Anyone else agree that this might *need* to be a hairstyle of the month? :hmm:
OH, heck, why not? August: mall bangs!

[Nightshade]

Born in 1980, had these as a result of my mother and aunt who cut my hair. And I will never, ever e v e r have bangs again.

Like ever.

[torrilin]

Ok, most of the pictures I'm seeing on a google image search are for straight looks. I tend to think of those as fairly restrained and classic. What I think of as mall hair involves a perm if you didn't have type 3 curls, with spiral perms being preferred. Then the bangs get curled and teased into a sort of flower on your forehead thing. LOTS of hairspray. LOTS. It was fairly common to do the flower on your forehead thing with straight hair as well.

The straight look version is pretty easy. Mousse or hairspray to get the swoop shape, and then hopefully leave a thin layer of bangs on your forehead. Teasing is an option, and it will get you more volume, but with my hair being 1f, it was never worth it. Ridiculous levels of swoop weren't happening. Mousse would wreck my hair less.

[Crystawni]

Mall bangs. That's new to me, too, even if I did sport them for years! I never teased mine as my permed, fine hair and all that mousse and hairspray were enough of a tangle! I used to blowdry mine after adding a palmful of mousse--first blast the downward bit to de-curl and try to tame my cowlicks... and then, with a small radial brush, blowdry the top up and back, then hit it with tonnes of pump-bottle hairspray while my head was inverted (the pump spray was stronger and more direct than the mist ones). Then, it was "don't touch the hair", even if it was helmet-head hard.

[truepeacenik]

I was class of 1987.
While already hippie identified, I did do Rocky Horror.
I played both redhead characters (typecasting by looks) and eventually Riff Raff.
At one cast, I was a Tranzy (the dancer extras from the Time Warp. We performed the TW before the film even started as additional entertainment) those characters had serious big hair, and I was sporting close to waist hair. I probably was growing out bangs. I don't maintain them after first cut. So let's estimate clavicle length there.

What I did was wash, use setting lotion, make a zillion micro braids on Thursday morning. Friday evening (midnight movie, remember) unbraid, tease bangs, flip head upside down and apply the AquaNet of doom. I'm sure someone hit it with heat then and again. I've not owned a hair dryer since middle school.

I did some back combing at roots, maybe out three inches. I remember it was structurally inadequate.
Saturday saw a repeat if I was on both nights.

Today, with all the sculpting products, this would be a cinch.

Sunday was get this crap out day.

[mindwiped]

@truepeacenik- I wonder how many born to the wrong era flower children are RHPS fans? I qualify for both categories myself. All I typically had to do for Rocky hair was plastic bristle brush out my gel styled wavy hair and then invert and fluff-a little hairspray and I was golden

As for the actual topic- I had a classmate buy AquaNet by the CASE, as she used 3/4 a can a day. We measured one day, as we were bored in class, her 'waterfall' bangs- later 80s style or one that people used to grow out mall bangs- were 11 inches above her forehead. I had naturally curly hair fried by perms, so volume wasn't my difficulty, it was de-fuzzifying my hair enough to make the one teacher believe I'd brushed it that day (velco hair loves random fuzzies- Mom got tired of the conference requests and threatened to shave my hair)

[SnowbirdRose]

Love this thread! I just googled mall bangs and looked at the images. Some hairstyles weren't that bad. But some look like the girls sprayed aqua net on their worst bed hair.

[kganihanova]

Love this thread! I just googled mall bangs and looked at the images. Some hairstyles weren't that bad. But some look like the girls sprayed aqua net on their worst bed hair.

Right? I'm sure there is a way to do cute mall bangs somehow.

[jacqueline101]

I remember the mall bangs and aqua net, bold hold, and stiff stuff. I had mall bangs I did mine with the curling iron. I used a brush to tease them and spray a lot of aqua net.

[grimsqueaker]

I was not alive in the 80s, but my mom was, so I asked her. This was the conversation:

Me: Mom, how did people in the 80's get those really big mall bangs?

Mom: *laughs* There are many mysteries to life.

Me: ...

Mom: Backcombing?

Me: I'll take that.

Mom: Good.

[trolleypup]

Heh! I remember going to amusement parks during that era...watching that style go through the worst a water ride could do without a blemish!

[Tall Blond(ish)]

Of course, we didn't call them mall bangs then. We just said "doing our bangs". to really get them right, you have to have them cut quite thick -- a good inch or two from the hairline has to be "bang", preferably with a tapered long bang on the sides. I used to use a curling iron to curl two-thirds of the band back from the face, and the front one-third down toward the face. Then I would tease and feather and spray my hair within an inch of its life. Fortunately, I wasn't bleaching then and had enough slip to recover. At one point, I had something of a mullet (another word we never used at the time) so I could get lots of bang action. And bad home perms, just to finish off the fluff.

I'm experiencing a little PTSD just describing this.

[Hopeful65]

How are these for Mall Bangs?
http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=11838&d=1405662249
But like Tall Blond(ish) said, we didn't refer to them as mall bangs. It was just "doing our bangs".
How about someone else posting pictures of their bangs from back in the day?

Life is so much easier now without this hairstyle. I raised two daughters during this time and I did their hair too. They sometimes tell me they have no idea how I was ever able to get out the door because my hair always took up so much time, plus fixing theirs too.

[spirals]

I had the mall bangs plus the mall SIDES. The sides of my hair by my cheeks/temples had to stick out, too, so I would back-comb the hair, spray it with hairspray, and then burn it into place with a curling iron held against it. Bangs were dried with a blowdryer after spraying. I often teased and sprayed all the rest of it, too.

August should be mall bangs month! I'm a 2c/3a; I have the hair for it.

[YamaMaya]

I imagine it involves a curling iron, one of those chunky ones, and backcombing.

[Rosetta]

I had to google mall bangs too, no idea what the name referred to ;D And yes, remember the look, though for us it was rather an early 90's look - 80's hair was more like in the photo posted by Hopeful65 above ;)

[kganihanova]

How are these for Mall Bangs?
http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=11838&d=1405662249
But like Tall Blond(ish) said, we didn't refer to them as mall bangs. It was just "doing our bangs".
How about someone else posting pictures of their bangs from back in the day?

Life is so much easier now without this hairstyle. I raised two daughters during this time and I did their hair too. They sometimes tell me they have no idea how I was ever able to get out the door because my hair always took up so much time, plus fixing theirs too.

I'd imagine that took quite some time ! It looks really intricate though.

[renia22]

Oh yes, I remember this look. Here's a picture of Chritine Applegate from 1987, she did a great job of getting her hair to defy gravity, which was the objective. Aqua Net was very popular, but I also recall using Suave extra hold in the pump bottle, or Focus 21:

http://i225.photobucket.com/albums/dd39/elikitty/image_zps5aef66f3.jpg (http://s225.photobucket.com/user/elikitty/media/image_zps5aef66f3.jpg.html)

[vulgarshudder]

This woman has THE authentic mall bang/b***h flip tutorial (http://youtu.be/XxfTQog6rFo?t=2m40s) . I love how you have to use so much hair spray it turns your hair white.

[kganihanova]

This woman has THE authentic mall bang/b***h flip tutorial (http://youtu.be/XxfTQog6rFo?t=2m40s) . I love how you have to use so much hair spray it turns your hair white.

Sadly my mom still does this to style her hair.......

[PinkyCat]

I had em!
Hold bangs up and position the way you want - hairspray while still holding - blowdry hairpray dry on low while still holding. Bam. Cement. Gravity defiance.

[Nightshade]

in my defense I was only four or five (me on the right and little sis on the left):

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-u0Q7PWHpzK8/U3EDUCClPDI/AAAAAAAAHYU/34zK0Tr-OmA/s720/Beenier%2520and%2520mel.jpg

[Anje]

Hair AND makeup! :rollin:

[Nightshade]

Dude, it was 1985-ish. I'm pretty sure dogs had makeup. :P

Oh, and for anyone who's wanted to see my natural hair color, there it is :lol:

[oatmealpie]

Nightshade, you were ADORABLE!

[spirals]

Nightshade, :rollin: I love you for posting that!

[Nightshade]

:lol: Thanks :)

[Angela_Rose]

Oh, Gods. We called that look "The Revere Claw," after the town near Boston and its incredible inhabitants. I actually saw a set in the wild over the summer.

Google brings us this charming image...
http://thethingsyousaid.files.wordpress.com/2009/10/80s-yearbook-18.jpg

[GlassWidow]

ROFL re: the Revere Claw!!! Don't forget, it must be pronounced "Ruh-vee-ah" for full effect.

In my circle, it had to be pink Aqua Net, and there was no teasing involved. Aqua Net, a half-inch curling iron set on max and a hair pick. :couch:

Get the curling iron screaming hot, and then divide your bangs, in a motion parallel to the floor, into a front and a back section. You should have a one section hanging toward your eyebrows and the other brushed toward the back of your head.

Curl the front section so that it follows the curve of your forehead and the tips of your hair touch somewhere between your brows and your nose. This is personal preference. Fluff lightly, then spray with Aqua Net.

Starting toward the back of the other section of bangs, separate into two or three rows of hair.

Take the furthest back row of hair, hold it straight up to the ceiling and spray with Aqua Net. While it's still wet, clamp the ends in the curling iron and roll it down toward your head. Spray again, particularly at the roots, and hold until it's dry.

Carefully open the clamp a tiny bit so you can slide the iron out to the side without disturbing the sausage-like curl you've created.

Repeat with the remaining rows of hair.

Once you have all of your bangs in sausage rows, take your pick comb and gently loosen the sausages so that they all feather into one another, but be careful not to disturb the crust of Aqua Net at the roots. Once you're happy with the shape of the poof, gently support it with the pick comb and spray one last time. Don't forget the roots.

If your poof begins to fade during the day, be sure to have a pick comb and a travel size can of Aqua Net so that you can give it a boost.

This, of course, works best with a perm. :lol:

[Loribelle]

I've got TONS of Mall Bang pictures! I graduated High School in '89, so I was around for ALL OF THAT BAD HAIR! ;) Starting with mid 80's: http://i343.photobucket.com/albums/o478/Loribaron/Hair%20over%20the%20years/2170_1018162459339_2648_n_zps0ccdd98a.jpg
http://i343.photobucket.com/albums/o478/Loribaron/Hair%20over%20the%20years/2170_1018179179757_8706_n_zps55a38f13.jpg
http://i343.photobucket.com/albums/o478/Loribaron/Hair%20over%20the%20years/2170_1018177299710_6592_n_zps9b5f9a31.jpg
I was an expert! I am going to have to upload more pics to Photobucket in order to get the REALLY good ones! Bold Hold, Stiff Stuff and Finesse Extra Hold were the preferred brands in my neck of the woods. And you had to have multiple heat sources-- a mini and regular curling iron, a blow dryer, a crimping iron (around '86-'87) peroxide, Dep or Dippity Do, a rattail comb (for backcombing-- or what we called TEASING, back then!) Oh, man...I could keep going. What a FUN topic! ...waxing nostalgic...:ponder:

[jacqueline101]

I got to looking at my grade school year book. I kinda liked mall bangs. I wish they'd come back.

[renia22]

Loribelle- those pictures are awesome! I graduated HS in 1989 as well and have many memories and pictures from that decade. LOL, Look at that hot guy in that bomber jacket checking you and your friend out! And is that by any chance Bacardi 151 & coke in that cup?

[Johannah]

Amazing pictures, Loribelle! My mom used to have these, I've seen pictures. I think it looks really cool :lol:

[Loribelle]

HAHAHA! Renia, I obviously don't remember what we were drinking at that party....but I can assure you it was alcohol of some sort! Lol! I did drink the occasional 151 & Coke. Beer, too. LOTS of beer. ;-) Oh, and there was a particularly bad experience I remember with Orange Kool Aid and 151!!! Cops busted that party. LMAO!!!
I am pretty glad those hairstyles didn't come back around. I really should dig out pictures of some of the really BAD hairstyles I had in the 80's! We used to dye stripes of bold colors into our hair, too. I remember having a red stripe for a long time. I had blue for a bit, too. Lol!

[renia22]

LOL, Loribelle, I think all of us who were in HS around that time had both crazy hair & wild alcohol experiences! Sounds like a crazy party! I recall the beverages of choice were keg beer, Bacardi, peach schnapps, grain alcohol and Southern Comfort (which I never care to see or smell again :/ ). I'll have to dig through some pictures also, I recall the hair from 1986-89 was particularly outrageous.

[Loribelle]

Oh, I found another 80's "Bang" picture! This one is precious! LMBO! I think it must have been my Junior year...so about 1988.http://i343.photobucket.com/albums/o478/Loribaron/Hair%20over%20the%20years/Granville_0002_zps919bb4bc.jpg
I have to go back a little further to get to the big teased/curled/sprayed/destroyed hair. I think 84-86 were those years.
And Renia, I also can't stand the smell of Southern Comfort or anything "peach" flavored since then! ;)

[jacqueline101]

I'd like to find a heat free way to do mall bangs.

[Thistle4U]

Mall bangs? We must have called them something different in the 80's, I don't remember this term.

[LongCurlyTress]

Mall bangs? We must have called them something different in the 80's, I don't remember this term.

I miss those late 80's early 90's big hair styles! For the first time in my life I was soooo in style!! Woot wooot woot! Must bring those teased bangs back into style!! Although I don't have bangs anymore! ;)

[LongCurlyTress]

Oh, I found another 80's "Bang" picture! This one is precious! LMBO! I think it must have been my Junior year...so about 1988.http://i343.photobucket.com/albums/o478/Loribaron/Hair%20over%20the%20years/Granville_0002_zps919bb4bc.jpg
I have to go back a little further to get to the big teased/curled/sprayed/destroyed hair. I think 84-86 were those years.
And Renia, I also can't stand the smell of Southern Comfort or anything "peach" flavored since then! ;)

Love your Bang pic!! Wow! They look great on you actually! HMMMMMM!! ;) Time for them to come back in style hehe!! ;)

[renia22]

Love the picture, Loribelle, you did a great job with the height of those bangs! (ps Southern Comfort=http://www.sherv.net/cm/emoticons/sick/vomit-into-the-toilet.gif (http://www.sherv.net/))

Jacqueline101-there must be a way to do it without heat, those old 80s products really seemed to do a good job on their own from what I remember, I don't think I even used heat that often. Tons of super hold hairspray, though! Or maybe if you were a teenaged girl in the mid 80s you just had some version of the hair by osmosis, *no one* escaped 80s hair :/

[jacqueline101]

Love the picture, Loribelle, you did a great job with the height of those bangs! (ps Southern Comfort=http://www.sherv.net/cm/emoticons/sick/vomit-into-the-toilet.gif (http://www.sherv.net/))

Jacqueline101-there must be a way to do it without heat, those old 80s products really seemed to do a good job on their own from what I remember, I don't think I even used heat that often. Tons of super hold hairspray, though! Or maybe if you were a teenaged girl in the mid 80s you just had some version of the hair by osmosis, *no one* escaped 80s hair :/
I found la looks hair gel for a dollar. I used to love it for it's strong hold and curler setting abilities. I'd give anything if I could wake up with forever mall bangs.

[mindwiped]

If you still have one, you might use your curling iron unplugged and cold, just to shape your hair while the hairspray dries. That would give your bangs the correct shape, but not subject them to the heat. Then you can slide out the curling iron and use your fingers to finish up shaping, like you would have 'back in the day'

Thistle4U- we called them claw bangs around my neck of the woods (midwest USA)- and then as the claw shape evolved and the girls would want to grow out their bangs, they'd go to the waterfall look, where you sprayed your bangs so they'd hold straight up for half your length, and then 'fall' back down to your forehead. These are a no heat, no teasing, no product waterfall/spiral perm imitation that my hair managed to do to itself one day. I'd showered, and was doing some online classes for my job, when I went to use the bathroom, this was my hair. I sent the pic, unedited to a friend, declaring I totally had super 80s hair, fur sure! http://i1065.photobucket.com/albums/u391/mindwiped1/crop80shair_zps4e63ccb8.jpg (http://s1065.photobucket.com/user/mindwiped1/media/crop80shair_zps4e63ccb8.jpg.html)

sorry all, I had no clue that image was that huge!