Monday, June 14, 2010

A Rendezvous With Beauty 1940s Style!

Rule Number 1, Gentle Readers?  Wherever there are women, there are bound to be men. 

Rule Number 2, Gentle Readers?  Wherever there are women, there are bound to be the needs for beauty essentials, hair styles, make-up and fashion.
 Naturally, this need is a sincere response to these abounding men and a myriad of other reasons as well!

Alright, so Jolene Bungalow Gal stretched Rule Number 2 a bit, but perhaps not


Let's read onward, shall we? 
 Let's explore the breadth and depth of beauteous hairstyles and culture in the 1940s and a wee tad bit of the predecessor of beauty ideals via the 1930s.
Let's have a looksee at the products and some of the beautiful mavens who practiced the "application" of beauty, hairstyles and trends!

BUT REMEMBER?
In the era of the 1930s and 1940s?
Oh, do be sure dahlings that you remember...
fashion style was imitated globally and
these ideals of beauty radiated the world over!

Let's wander about the 1930s first...
and think Finger Waves in hairstyles.
And,  think hats...1930s and 1940s.
Why, we have the Lilly Daché who
built the Daché Hat Emporium back in the 1930s!
Our darling women, the world over swooned at the
thought of donning a hat on any ocassion!
Hats...Hats...oh hats...all the rage of yesterday but where have you gone today?
Ms. Daché, our Lilly, was noted for her creations of
snoods, silk flower cocktail hats, turbans and
profile hats!
"Oh Fey,...Howevah Did We Miss The Hat Parade"?
(all caps on that statement)

Hat's remained en vogue into the 1940s
and took on the styles of a
rather military air, in total after that.
From bicorn to tricorn, popcorn (eh, sorry) and peaked hats,
their popularity lived on with the WWII era darlings.

And with the hats, oh mother, there
was the hair!  Quite the important affair...hair!

                                                So what were the styles of the era and age of
attitude and style, during the 1940s, that displayed
just the quintessential touches for a woman?  How vividly elegant
and meticulous were these styles?
Who was tres chic?

Well, DO Remember, much of the era found the world at war and
women such as Rosie The Riveter
hadn't the time to fuss and fluff with their hair for
hours.  (Nor the economic resources either!)


What's more?  Hair was worn much more deliciously
smooth at the crown, allowing women the ease to don delicate headwear on everyday outings.
 Soon enough, style changes... intermingled with brevity, added mounds and piles to the hair!
Overall style? Shoulder length hair was popular! Rolled curls, smooth and controlled
were a popular look in 1940s hairstyles along with twisting for night.

Futher,  while hair was worn in a simple
feminine style that was useful most everyday?  From the dahlings' hair
pulled away from the face and curled... it was STILL IMPORTANT
to balance glamour with neat good looks!

Those truly special events and evenings
at the Copacabana, for example?  The haute monde
nightclubs and hotspots elsewhere of
the elite
partied, jaded, droll and wearied was
reserved for fantastically
elaborate hair styles.

THOSE HOLLYWOOD STARLETS AND ICONS OF YESTERYEAR TOOK THEIR
FAIR SHARE AND TOLL ON WOMEN AND THEIR HAIRSTYLES EVERYWHERE!
That old black magic of the Hollywood red carpet was and is the PLACE to find hair inspiration.

Let's shout-out a recap of some hairstyles?

We have the Chignon.

What's a Chignon, you'll ask?
The word is derived from the French phrase ‘Chignon du cou’.
A chignon was a basic, knotted bun worn low on the neck
and was the epitome of grace in women's hairstyles.
Often times you would see starlets and the gel
next door wearing a chignon covered with a
scarf for the sport, work or the yet ever so, always present glam appeal!

Heart Shaped and Pushed Bangs were huge!

Sideswept Loose Curls ala Veronica Lake?

Veronica Lake was a popular American actress and
pin-up model known for her film noir roles during the 1940s
and not least of all for her sexy come on
peek-a-boo hairstyle of cascading waves.
(An interesting note here:  The 1940s very rarely saw women part their hair in the middle)

Waved Side Rolls
Side Waves
High Waved Pomp
Conservative Waved Pomp
Forward Bangs
Ringlets

Pin Curls

Let's re-wind those two words a minute?  Pin Curls! The pin curls were amongst your
most basic types of curls in the 1940s and so over the years that followed.

 Waves, Waves, Waves and more waves!
Shingles (don't ask)
The Omelette Fold (don't ask again)
The Do Rags (a piece of cloth used to cover chemically treated hair and keep hair in place)

Victory Rolls, a second mother on those

 This hairstyle terminology
was adapted from the fighter plane maneuver and a fashion statment which celebrated the victory after
WWII.

Defense Plant Hair Do?  Perhaps the one exception to center parted hair.

Not all beauty was or is ever painless to the feminine gender!

 In the heyday before blow dryers, gidgets and gadgets and a plethora of  clever subterfuges to ease hair styling?

Women (and girls) also used rollers with hair wet and slept the night through to awaken to lovely curling locks!

Well, hasn't this information been a tad enlightening?  Seeing so many
hair styles in one single Blog?  Jolene Bungalow Gal
is sincerely knowing that she's raised your level of intrigue
as to the era and to the styles of some of the most
amazing women in history?

You can find more on these hairstyles by searching WWII
related resources, 1940s hairstyles and glamourous gals
and starlets of the era of the "Greatest Generation"!

Anything for our men, our fellas, our guys on the front lines!

Hubba, Hubba!

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