Best and Worst Hair Decades!

[Reptilia]

What do you were the best and worst decades/age for hair?

[LutraLutra]

Worst - the 80s without a doubt. Sun In, perms, rock solid hairspray. When I was 16 I could fold my hair in half, and it would keep a crease in it from all the products I'd used on it.

[Reptilia]

haha! Definitely agreed on the 80's!

[krissykins]

80's were the worst. (I wasn't born then, but my mother hasn't let go of that decade so... *sigh*)

And the best? Probably sometime back in the 1800's or something. Bwahaha

[marikamt]

ooooo.... mall bangs......... I thought I was so cool!

[Idun]

80´s definetely. In -82 I had permed afro. Making that happen to my pretty straight hair took some pretty harsh chemicals. I remember an italian friend said; you don´t have hair, you have clouds! :laugh:

[Charentais]

Worst: Perhaps any decade in the 1700's, when those who could afford it kept their heads shaved or short and wore those fancy wigs.

Mmmm....lice!

[Maddy25]

80's, *shudder* backcombing!

And back when everyone wore those insane white powder wigs haha. With the big roll things!

[LutraLutra]

Worst: Perhaps any decade in the 1700's, when those who could afford it kept their heads shaved or short and wore those fancy wigs.

Mmmm....lice!
Oh yeah. Those big old wigs were sometimes styled with grease leading to problems with rats chewing them. I'm not making this up. That's one heck of a bad hair day.

[Sheltie_Momma]

oh gosh. I sort of liked the 80's hair. I had the big bangs, you know where you do the curling iron in on the side pieces, the on the bangs you did 1 big curl down and two curls over. I had a butane curling iron so I could touch up between classes. LOL..maybe 80's hair was damaging, but at least it was fluffy, pretty shiny hair - I did not like the 90's thing where it was stick straight with the super thin layers and really spiky shattered ends.


Total sidebar -
Have you ever noticed that unicorns (like drawings of them on notebooks, stickers etc.) always have matching hair styles for whatever is popular at the time? My Little Pony had 80's hair when I was a kid, but now they have sort of "emo" style anime hair.

[Sheltie_Momma]

Oh and I forgot to say I like long 60/early 70's style hair the best, like what my Mom had when I was growing up, just long all one length hippy hair. :)

[LaFlor]

I think our current decade is pretty bad... everything is backcombed, highlighted, flat ironed, and loaded with chemicals. Although I think some of the styles look pretty when done right.

[pink.sara]

80´s definetely. In -82 I had permed afro. Making that happen to my pretty straight hair took some pretty harsh chemicals. I remember an italian friend said; you don´t have hair, you have clouds! :laugh:

Ha ha! I remember this too! I made my mums mobile hairdresser come to the house and roll my waist length hair onto hundreds of PIPECLEANERS to get a "Nexxus Bungee Curl" perm!

It was such a 'fro!
...And I used to pull it all into a side pony high above my right ear... the resulting puff was easily twice the size of my head :p

Best is from 2002 to 2008, it was long, silky smooth and a great colour.

[Thinthondiel]

IMO:
Best - 40s or 50s
Worst - 80s

ETA: Of course, I'm not talking about my own hair here, as I was born in 86.

[spidermom]

Worst (from pictures): 40s and 50s, especially those short, Mamie Eisenhower bangs.

[LaurelSpring]

I agree with the 80s as the worst. Punk hair, teased bangs, perms. Yep. Also agree with the natural long hippy 60s-70s look. Although men got those funky curly perms then. Ewwww.

[Thinthondiel]

Worst (from pictures): 40s and 50s, especially those short, Mamie Eisenhower bangs.

Lol! Apparently we have very different tastes. :p

[camara]

Around 1970-75 must have been hilarious. I´m still amused about pics of my father from then. Big sideburns, and a side part waaaaaaaay to the right. :D

[Belledandy]

[Total sidebar -
Have you ever noticed that unicorns (like drawings of them on notebooks, stickers etc.) always have matching hair styles for whatever is popular at the time? My Little Pony had 80's hair when I was a kid, but now they have sort of "emo" style anime hair.[/quote]

Yeah, fantasy art is like that. I'll be interested to see in another decade all the dated elves with navel rings and whatnot in contemporary fantasy art. It's like seeing all the tanned fluffy haired barbarian women from art in the 80's.

I think the best era for hair might have been Regency (Think Jane Austin): Cute updos and nice details with ribbons, diadems and curls. Simple yet elegant.

[violetka]

I love the 20s -30s hair the most. and the dress style of that time. My fav haircut of all times- the bob.
http://www.hairarchives.com/private/1920s/bobbedhair.jpg

the worst-I do hate the 80s.

I like the 60s 70s- natural flowing hairs and the 50s also are nice.

[GermanCurl]

I think this decade is pretty bad because of all this flat ironing.
Also the 60's with all the teasing and hairspray. The best decade to me seems to be the 70's.

[ericthegreat]

Well, I was only a little kid back in the 80s and don't get me wrong I love all the 80s rock bands and movies like Top Gun and Karate Kid, but yeah the 80s really was the most hair damaging decade IMO with all the perms, teasing your hair up to the sky, and setting it into place with those drying hairsprays like Aquanet.

And the best hair decade IMO would be the period between the late 60s to early 70s, you know Woodstock and The Summer of Love era. The hippies had awesome hair, both the guys and the girls grew their hair out long and they wore it natural.......this was right after the 50s Marilyn Monroe bleached blonde bob and the young people of that time finally found their voice and rebelled against the Establishment. Growing their hair long was a big part of that sign of rebellion.

[spidermom]

Lol! Apparently we have very different tastes. :p

Ha-ha; didn't see your post before. We must have been posting about the same time.

No worries. Variety makes the world go 'round.

[spidermom]

I love the 20s -30s hair the most. and the dress style of that time. My fav haircut of all times- the bob.
http://www.hairarchives.com/private/1920s/bobbedhair.jpg

the worst-I do hate the 80s.

I like the 60s 70s- natural flowing hairs and the 50s also are nice.

We have quite different tastes, too. I would put the bob on my list of worst haircuts ever. I like the 60s and 70s, though; we have that in common.

[Carolyn]

I think the 80s were the worst and the 60s and 70s were the best. I did it all.

[violetka]

We have quite different tastes, too. I would put the bob on my list of worst haircuts ever. I like the 60s and 70s, though; we have that in common.

well, it is to be expected that the majority of people in a long hair community forum does not particularly favor short hair. :lol:

[Angharad]

Well, I was a teenager in the 80's-90's and during that period I had a new wave hairdo that had to be backcombed everyday like about every break we had in highschool (and ofcourse sneaky with the help of a little mirror during classes also) and we didn't put gel in it, but shaving cream (!!!) to get that graveyard Robert Smith-look.

With that look it was most important that it wasn't raining, because then you really had a problem....and your eyes did hurt when the shaving cream dripped into them because it was very uncool to wear a raincoat, not to mention you wore the raincap that belonged with it, so we were soaked when we arrived at school.....the things we did then to look cool, aargh!!!

Later, I liked the look from Wendy from Transvision Vamp and ofcourse that included the bleached hair (what was I thinking).

Yep, those were definitively the most horrifying years in hairstyling/hairdo's!

[marikamt]

Fun website to check out....

www.retrohairstyles.com

after looking at these, I have to go w/ 70's- Jaclyn Smith and Farrah Fawcett were my hair idols once upon a time...

[Hiriel]

Yeah, I'm going to agree that the 80's were the worst. The mother of a friend of mine usually has BSL brown or henna red hair, it's very pretty. In the 80's she had a bleached permed mullet. Dear lord.

The best? My vote goes to the Regency era. Maybe just because I love Jennifer Ehle's hair in Pride and Prejudice :)

[Konstifik]

As almost everyone here: The 80's.

The best? Hippies! What more do I need to say? :D

[Silver & Gold]

80's all the way! I don't even want to think about it. As a matter of fact, if it weren't for precious photos of my children I would probably destroy all photographic evidence of that decade.

[JamieLeigh]

I like looking at photos of my mom from late 60s and early 70s. She had sit-on-it hair, and only washed it once a week. It was gorgeous! And she says all her friends wore theirs the same way. I would have been drooling over them all day long. :crush:

The 80s were pretty bad, but look at all the crap people put in their hair nowadays. Not much better!

[ChrissieM]

Oh..mid 80s to mid 90s is my decade-long spread of hair mistreatment. I got my first perm when I was 8 because my grandmother thought I should have curly hair. And my hair was short at the time so I had Little Orphan Annie red curls. Then I tried mall bangs in middle school/early high school (1988-1991). Then finally I just let my hair grow long and left it alone...but I had no idea how to care for it. I'd wash my hair at night and sleep on it and tear a brush through in the morning. Ick.

[Jason]

Oh and I forgot to say I like long 60/early 70's style hair the best, like what my Mom had when I was growing up, just long all one length hippy hair. :)

Me too! All one length, parted in the middle and really long on both sexes would be my vote for best hair.

[Fractalsofhair]

I love 80s hair. It's damaging with the crimper, but I dare say that a flat iron these days is far worse.

Anywho, I also love 1920s for hair and the Victorian era(when long hair was loved.)

I'm not a big fan of the 1950s or 1970s, just the styles seem blech. The 90s weren't too great either from what I remember of my childhood(Bleached overly so, weirdly puffy but not crimped, and sorta greasy.)

[Fiferstone]

Best hair decade (living memory) the 60s - long live natural, long hair :)

Worst hair decade (again living memory) the early 50s to the early 60s -- teased bouffant beehives clogged with dippity-do AND hairspray.

the horror....the horror...

I'm a reenactor, and the 18th century is where I live my fantasy life. Wigs or natural hair were dressed with perfumed lard (fat) for the same reason that modern hairstylists use extreme hold styling products. To make the hair hold the crazy shape! Apparently church parade on Sunday mornings in high summer in the British army in the 18th century was enough to gag a buzzard, because of all the men with their hair dressed with lard and dusted white with flour (yes, flour!) would give off one hellacious stench when packed into a closed room.

The reason for the powder? To imitate the look of white hair, yes, it was fashionable to appear as though your hair was gray.

Go figure...

[KarpatiiSiv]

I'd have to say 70s was the best, you should see some of the pictures of me and my friends from then - long hair ruled.:D
Worst I think was the 80s but it didn't affect me as I was still living in the 70s.:)

[EtherealOde]

80's all the way! I don't even want to think about it. As a matter of fact, if it weren't for precious photos of my children I would probably destroy all photographic evidence of that decade.

I feel exactly the same way! And when I think of how truely awful some of it was (mullets anyone?) it makes me wish I could develop a case of selective amnesia and just remember the good stuff about that time of my life.

[Themyst]

'80's were the absolute worst, especially considering that the mullet :blueeek:was invented about then. The '70's were the absolute best for long free-flowing hair.

[halo_tightens]

Absolutely-- hippie hair ROCKS. And I'm personally mortified to look back at pics taken in the late 80's!! I always either had enormous hairsprayed bangs or a nasty "wet look" from wayyyy too much gel and scrunching! Yuk.

[Quixii]

Gotta agree with 80's being worst.

For best.. Hmm. I like Renaissance hair, in general. The guys had pretty hair and the girls had pretty hair.. but then they didn't all take care of their hair that well, the pictures just make it look good. But I just started school today, and I noticed in my history class a picture of a girl in those ages with gorgeous mid-thigh hair very similar to mine. Made me hopeful. :)

[Lady Mary]

I honestly don't like most hair after 1940 to 2000. The styles are just ugh. I like the 1920s, Victorian hairstyles, Elizabethan hairstyles, Medieval hairstyles... Now I realize that when I say hairstyles, I am basically only referring to the very rich people, as poor people did not have the means to have such decadent hair. Also, the methods they used to achieve those hairstyles are not exactly things I'd do to my own hair. And, many of them were probably wigs.

:blossom:

[Elphie]

I am so proud that I managed to rebel during the 80's (my teen years) and have absolutely no photos of anything that would have truly been an "80's style". I briefly used a crimper and some Stiff Stuff (glue in a bottle) but that seemed to be the worst of my experiments. My sister, on the other hand, used about a can of AquaNet a day. Her hair has never been the same.

I appreciate styles from the 1930's without wanting the style myself and my mother had "hippie hair" throughout most of my childhood and I adored it. I honestly remember crying when she cut it off.

[liseling]

oh gosh. I sort of liked the 80's hair. I had the big bangs, you know where you do the curling iron in on the side pieces, the on the bangs you did 1 big curl down and two curls over. I had a butane curling iron so I could touch up between classes. LOL..maybe 80's hair was damaging, but at least it was fluffy, pretty shiny hair - I did not like the 90's thing where it was stick straight with the super thin layers and really spiky shattered ends.


Total sidebar -
Have you ever noticed that unicorns (like drawings of them on notebooks, stickers etc.) always have matching hair styles for whatever is popular at the time? My Little Pony had 80's hair when I was a kid, but now they have sort of "emo" style anime hair.



Bwahahahah! I googled 'my little pony' to see some of these modern hairstyles (as opposed to the 80's hair my little ponies) and found some really hilarious little ponies!

here are some favorites:

http://13gb.com/pictures/2638/

http://jasongrote.blogspot.com/2009/04/my-little-pony-hacks.html

Heehee!

[jahof45]

OMG I actually have photos of my own hair styles for the 50's, 60's, 70's, 80's, 90's and 00's in my LHC album.

I was never capable enough with hair to wear any of the popular styles until the spiral-perm! LOL I just couldn't stand sitting in a salon chair for 3 hours every time necessary to keep it up.

80's were the worst but it looked good on some of the girls. The late 60's, early 70's are my favorite styles...lots of long, loose, natural hair.

[Jinx2234]

I have to agree with the majority here, 80's hair was the worst. I remember crimping my hair, curling my bangs and wearing my hair in a side ponytail for special occasions. My poor, fried hair!
For the best hair decade, I'm not sure. I like the 60's and hippie hair, but I also like the fancy styles from earlier decades, like pin curls and fancy updos.

[Robbi Dehlinger]

1920's, when women started cutting off their hair en masse!

[gibsongirl71]

I like most decades. But I will say the 1830s were hideous for womens hair. That and the 60s pageboy and beehives. shudder:

In the 20s when women started bobbing their hair it was sad to see their crowning glory all cut off. On the other hand, the historical significance of it was pretty cool. Liberation, voting, all that stuff.:cheer: I could see why they did it in droves.

[Lamb]

I do admire the neat, polished look of the 1920s-1930s, perhaps I like the little longer hairstyles of the late 1930s more.
And the updos of these decades also rock - many women kept their long hair and arranged it in chignons at the nape. Their heads of hair had such a nice, clear-cut outline.

ETA: worst hair decade? The 1980s takes the cake. :shudder:

[Tornerose]

Lookswise I really liked the 80s/early 90s... Big poofy hair that had no end to voulme, bounce or lenght... or so it seemed to me atleast.

And I dislike the shorter hairstyles, especially the short permed ones you see on old ladies theese days. I guess it was popular in the 50s when they were young, but it doesn't look food on anyone.

But are we really talking about whats worst lookwise or carewise here?

[Amara]

Total sidebar -
Have you ever noticed that unicorns (like drawings of them on notebooks, stickers etc.) always have matching hair styles for whatever is popular at the time? My Little Pony had 80's hair when I was a kid, but now they have sort of "emo" style anime hair.

AHAHAHAHA EMO PONIES

[Elenna]

The 1920s was the time when flappers started to bob and even perm their hair. Goodbye long hair, ordinary hair hasn't been safe since then.

The late 1960s & 70s were great for long hairs, except for the misfortune of being followed by the 1980s big hair!

[drquartz1970]

From my own perspective I will have to say the 1980's was the worst decade for hair. I never liked the big permed poodle hairdos, the very short hair some girls had, and those horrible rats tails and couldn't understand why people blessed with straight or wavy hair would want to have those monstrous big hair perms. I was one of those people blessed/or cursed with naturally curly hair and constantly got asked where I got my hair permed which is kind of not funny when your a guy with thick curly hair that he didn't want in the first place!

I do plead guilty to having sported a mullet for a while because I couldn't stand having short hair but being cursed with very thick and curly hair if it had been straight I would have grown out but because it was so dammed thick I trimmed it around the head but kept it long in the back. I cringe now when I see old pictures of my mullet and these days seeing people with this horrible hairstyle makes them look cheap & neanderthal looking.

Yeah - the 80's definately sucked for hair. Thank god it's over. The music and fashion was generally crap too with a few exceptions. The only thing I miss about this decade was the great confidence, fun times and the economic boom it experienced. Definately a party time decade! But also a very narcistic decade too.

[Canarygirl]

The Best:

The Roaring 20's. Also like the 40's.

[Flynn]

AHAHAHAHA EMO PONIES

http://sg.geocities.com/mental_89/blogskins/MY_little_pony.jpg

[jasper]

A decade is a long time in hair fashion, is it not? I think early 80's was pretty bad, with the big hair, tall bangs and the perms and scrunching (?) It seems like the idea was to do everything unnatural and artificial to your hair at once. But that didn't go on for a whole decade, did it? By the late, late 80's hair was starting to settle down.

[lora410]

80s-90s here. Perms, teasing, teased birdnest up-do's :shudder: