Hair we go again: 1980s styles are the new wave again
By Whitney Friedlander, Los Angeles Times staff writer
Poufed, permed or punctuated with pink and purple spikes, the hair styles of the 1980s exemplified the decade of excess. “It was all about big and extreme,” says Snooky Bellomo, who with her sister Tish owns the Manic Panic stores, famous for their line of hair dyes in shades evocative of the Lite-Brite palette.
Now, with miniskirts, leggings and neon fabrics once again wardrobe staples, ready your Aqua Net: Teases, crimps and other stiff coifs are rising up like “Thriller” zombies.
You won’t see reinterpretations of the decade’s ubiquitous and unisex perms or Michael Jackson-esque Jheri curls -- today’s style savants don’t want anything so “rigid,” says Redken creative consultant Guido, who styled Marc Jacobs’ fall 2009 neon runway show. “Today, women want to change their hair from day to day, or night to night,” he says.
But many other ‘80s ‘dos are no longer don’ts. Here’s a look at some of the vintage hair styles, as well as modern interpretations.
The mullet
Although this, um, business-casual style evolved from cuts of previous decades, fans and members of groups like Guns N’ Roses and Quiet Riot ensured the metal mullet?s place as a subcategory of what Linda Wells, Allure magazine?s editor in chief, calls “one of the more memorable and regrettable hairstyles” of the ‘80s.
Alli Denning, who owns the website Like Totally 80s, says the mullet was the boy-band look of the ‘80s; it just happened to be a harder-edged boy band than we have now. Zac Efron?s hair, which is ?long in the front but creeps down in the back? is a mix between the Beatles’ ‘60s mop top and an ‘80s mullet, she maintains.
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If you wanted the fun of volume and hair product but without a perms priss, there was the Mohawk. You could make it interesting with some purple or red. Or maybe a nice leopard print. “Some people even did the faux hawk,” says Tish Bellomo of Manic Panic. Slicked back and up, the style “looks cute, but its not very daring,” she says. (Of course, sculpting wasn’t only for the Sunset Strip set -- just ask Patti LaBelle.)
Rocking out for one night only? Allure’s Wells says the modern Mohawk twists seen at runway shows previewing 2009 fall fashion were done with “high teased pieces in the middle and then tight on the sides. They give you that Mohawk look without any razors being involved.”
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Denning, who gave these sculpted round bangs their nickname on her website, considers this “the defining 80s hairstyle,” saying the goal was to get your bangs as “big and as far away from your scalp as possible.”
“It even transcended genders,” Denning adds. “On the one hand, you had the Wilson sisters from Heart, who had humongous hair, and then you have the ‘hair bands’ [Poison, Def Leppard] and you have men with that hairdo. Stacey Q had some fabulous hair. Not only was it big, but sometimes shed take it to the side of her head which was the combination of two ‘80s looks.”
Wells remembers another variant: Linda Evans and Heather Locklear on “Dynasty” sporting “cheerleadery, frosted” feathered bangs. Today, Wells looks to Reese Witherspoon’s bangs, where volume is focused on the side of her face.
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What is your damage? Submit old photos of your ‘80s hair and clothes (Kirk McKoy / Los Angeles Times)
Wells says this ‘do featured hair “shaved close to the head on one side, and the other side was a traditional bob. It was a totally acceptable buttoned-up hair style on one side and then destroying it and being really punk on the other.”
Look to Victoria Beckham or Mary J. Blige for today’s version, but Wells says you have to be daring for this cut because “the hard thing ... is that they become cartoonish in a matter of seconds.”
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What is your damage? Submit old photos of your ‘80s hair and clothes (Kirk McKoy / Los Angeles Times)
Created by sleeping on wet braids or spending hours with a ridged iron, this look heated up in the ‘70s and made waves by the 1980s.
For the nonbelievers who’ve pawned their crimpers for straightening irons, take a look at Prada’s models sporting frizzy-crimped hair in fall advertisements.
“With crimped, frizzy hair, we’re told that it’s bad,” says Redken’s Guido. “It doesn’t look shiny, you can’t run your fingers through it. But for night you might fancy having a big head of hair.”
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What is your damage? Submit old photos of your ‘80s hair and clothes (Thibault Camus / Associated Press)
A classic memorialized by black-and-white screen sirens, in the ‘80s, “You might have a high top with finger waves in the front. You might even have the asymmetrical thing going on and the front being the finger wave. Prince even had finger waves at one point.” So did Sheila E., Morris Day and Babyface, salon owner Blevins says.
For today’s softer, more relaxed versions, see the accidentally-on-purpose styles models wore at Proenza Schouler’s Spring 2009 runway show.
“The thing about finger waves is if you do them softly and loosely, they’re staples,” Guido says. “Jeans are never going to go away, the white shirt isn’t going to go away and the pump is never going to go away.” Neither, apparently, will finger waves.
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Fashion redux: The ‘80s are seen on the fall 2009 runway shows
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What is your damage? Submit old photos of your ‘80s hair and clothes
whitney.friedlander@latimes.com (Kirk McKoy / Los Angeles Times)