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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What is your damage? Submit old photos of your ‘80s hair and clothes (Christopher Furlong / Getty Images)
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)
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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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What is your damage? Submit old photos of your ‘80s hair and clothes
whitney.friedlander@latimes.com (Kirk McKoy / Los Angeles Times)
