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The 1970s was a year of culture change with its hippie movement, loud disco music, and let’s not forget some amazing hairdos. Feathered blonde hair of Farrah Fawcett, Afros, and perm were some of the dominant hairstyles of the seventies that carried a statement about the culture.
Well, here are some of the favorite 70s hairstyles for both women and men that popular hairstyles of the decade.
Women’s 70s Hairstyles
Women in the 1970s had perms, big hair, and the Boleo hairstyle, which entailed having big volume on top and layered hair. This is when straight, straight hair was no longer fashionable and people aimed for huge, huge hair instead.
The Feathered Haircut
The feathered haircut became very famous in the 70s after Farrah Fawcett. Her hairstyle – nicknamed ‘blonde, feathered layers’ became the style that every woman wished to have. The feathered style was very flashy with much layering of hair and hair shaved around the face to make frames; wings of hair at the back of the ears. This generated movement and volume which appeared elegant and relaxed at the same time.
It was only when I began to use a round vent brush at the end of the blow dryer that I could be sure to lift the roots and set the layers to perfection. Curling irons and hot rollers also contributed more to waves and volume. Rather than simply dyeing their tresses auburn, many women chose to get blonde highlights and, so, make their feathered hair look like that of a true Californian babe Farrah Fawcett.
Perms
Just like feathery hair, perms were very popular in the 70s. In the past, there were innumerable perm styles to choose from; starting with the quite constricting tight corkscrew curl down to the relatively loose wavy perm.
It allowed the women to create instant volume, body, bend, and even curls, especially for women with straight hair. It was also easy to manage I think after perming hair, women could just wash it and wear it like that.
Some popular perms looks were poodle perm where the hair was styled in tight corkscrews, body wave where hair looked waved, and Rooted perms, where only the crown was permed to achieve lift.
Afros
Afros became very popular again during the 1970s appaaisevaa; aiga ni Black Power and Black Pride movements. Everywhere within the black community, both natural afros and styles permed were popular among African Americans.
Natural Afros varied from shrink to larger halo like Pam Grier Afros. Angela Davis also had an enormous natural Afro and that hairstyle became familiar with the political activist.
While natural permed Afros increase the width and pick volume through the Afro curl or “permanent wave”. This then chemically treated the hair to curl the hair tightly – almost like what is done for Afros. Phenomenal Afro hairstyles befitting bands Earth, Wind & Fire were permed.
Shag Haircuts
While feathered hair was the ideal 1970s style for stylish lady rock chicks, shag haircuts represented the practitioner of 70s rock. Consider married and now separated from Mick Jagger’s partner – Marianne Faithless, or the leading rock’n’roll signer, Joan Jett.
Shag hair was about shearing layers hence bringing about messy volume and movement. Looking was easy work because of the wash and wear layers, but it wasn’t lacking refinement.
Shag style required a razor in creating those textures, in addition to the thinning shears. Shags could fit almost any face type and hair length of course, but it looked probably the best with longer hair.
Check Out: The Ultimate Guide to Crafting the Perfect Wavy Lob hairstyle.
Men’s 70s Hairstyles
Sideburns, mullets, long hair, and the mustache – men sure did know how to set trends in the 70s as well.
Long Hair
The counterculture movement spread this sign as a sign of rebellion and leaving the norms of the preceding years among men. From rockstars to hippies, long hairstyles became widespread among men and their hair.
Earlier women used to have‘ shoulder length hair’ which was combed in the middle parting. Just as today, the length of men’s hair was as much an act of social commentary as a fashion statement. Another thing that was time and effort-consuming was the hair of the men themselves since mulled manes and curls which men grew in the 70s due to the mass availability of blow dryers and curling irons for men.
Mustaches
Of all the things that could represent 70s men’s fashion, having a mustache could not be napbreak iconic. Whether it was Tom Sellek’s thick chevrons or Burt Reynold’s handlebar or John Lennon’s pencil-thin mustache, literally every celebrity guy was trained in the art of hirsuteness.
Mustaches signified a shift from being clean-shaven as practiced in the 60s to a bolder and more daring look in man’s land. They became linked with masculinity and with a kind of subversion of social order by maintaining facial hair that was not perfectly shaven.
Mullets
The mullet itself began in the 1970s but claimed its pinnacle of mainstream stylishness in the 1980s. But many rockstars and celebrities have already begun to grow mullets in that decade.
Most mullets were all business on one end and fun/touristy on the other. Short hair at the top and sides gave the nicely cut professional look, the long hair in the back gave it the ‘rock ‘n roll’ appearance. Slowly, mullets got a picture of being a Southern, rural head of hair. But at first, they communicated they were counterculture and cool.
Sideburns
One more stage backcombing with pieces of wire was necessary to complete some fabulous 70s hairstyles and of course sideburns. The facial hair that emerged as mutton chops fade away only to return as shorter, friendlier sideburns in the 197s.
The sideburns also continued the trend of facial hair designs and stepped up the intensity with more androgynously masculine designs. They dressed everyone from Elvis to the John Travolta of Saturday Night Fever. Sideburns which stretched down to the lamb chop and reached the corners of the mouth also became Rastafarian trademarks.
The Sequel to 70s Hairstyles
He should have used this one; It is difficult to even overemphasize just how radical some of the styles were in the 70s. They put big hair, natural textures, secondary sexuality, and longer hair mines for women and beards for men into fashion.
Quite several popular stars began the tradition of personifying these styles, such as Farrah Fawcett, Pam Grier, John Lennon, and Tom Selleck. This golden couple of fashion solidified some of the trends of the seventies for years to come.
At the same time punks, glam rock, and the disco moment broadened notions of masculinity, and thus even more men started to grow hair longer and wear makeup, bright coloring, or perms.
With 70 women’s short and long spiked hairstyles as well as lanky and bushy hairstyles for men were no longer taboo. Some of the biggest trends and developments of the nineties included this move towards a more flexible and blurred sense of self and androgynous dress sense. What the 70s made people understand is that hair symbolizes liberty.
Conclusion
Many Libra people are artists, or at least inclined towards artistic professions, which is probably why individualism and personal expression were thriving in the 1970s when it came to hairstyling. Women especially rebelled against conservative hairstyles by growing their hair longer and relaxing their hair to the natural state, like the Afro.
At the same time influencing mainstream culture, Farrah Fawcett’s feathered tresses, perms, shags and mustaches, and beards for men. Hair is consciously gradually tied with the personality.
Essentially, 70s hairstyles represented important changes in culture. Hair no longer needed to relate to gender or even have to look aesthetic and presentable to be exquisite. Thin, thick, frizzy, unmanageable, curly, straight, long, or short hair – all hair was good hair.
So the next time you wash your perm, feathery some layers, or come across someone with bounce-in curls, well the seventies are really who brought volume to the mainstream market!
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FAQs About 70s Hairstyles
How did people style their hair through the years, especially during the 70s hairstyle craze?
Blow dryers, curling irons, hot rollers, and perms were some of the tools that enabled individuals to obtain volume, bend waves, and curls. Layers were also cut to allow movement. Some of the standard hair designs were feathered flicks, Big curls, and Afros.
What did men do with their hair in the 1970s?
High hairstyles of the year were long hair far below the shoulders, especially accompanied by odd facial hair such as the mustaches. Damn, mid–1990s mullets started appearing while punk haircuts sought out much more hazardous styles such as the Mohawk.
Were people dyeing their hair crazy colors in the seventies?
Yes! In the 1970s, some women and men began to use bright colors such as blues, bright red, and even rainbow-like colors. Fashion in the 1970s took a turn for the worse; people appeared even wilder in their outfits, and disco gained full control over bold hair colors as well.
