Short haircuts of the early twentieth century

Fashion by the beginning of the twentieth century is changing rapidly. In the twentieth century, clothes became simpler - men began to wear suits of dark colors from comfortable fabrics, women's skirts were shortened, crinolines and corsets went out of fashion. Hairstyles are also changing. But the greatest influence on hairstyles for women at the beginning of the twentieth century had the First World War.

Shot from the movie "The Great Gatsby"
1920s hairstyles

The First World War, which was then simply called the Great War, began at the end of July 1914. In one way or another, almost all the states of the Earth were involved in the war. The war has become the most brutal in history. Before that, people had never destroyed each other with such cruelty and using the most advanced achievements of science and technology.

For example, it was during the First World War that poisonous gases were first used. The hope for reason was dashed. Before the First World War, the enlightened minds of Europe believed that the achievements of science would never be used for military purposes. A person with knowledge will never kill intelligent people of his own kind.

The First World War was a real shock for Europeans, a horror, a time that destroyed all faith in the power of reason. As a result of the First World War, four great empires ceased to exist - the Russian, Ottoman, German and Austro-Hungarian. Losses in Europe amounted to about 10 million killed soldiers, about 12 million killed civilians, 55 million wounded. The war lasted four years - until November 1918.

Empress Alexandra Feodorovna with her daughters Tatyana and Olga, 1914 - sisters of mercy

And after the war, an epidemic of “Spanish flu”, as they would write now, of atypical flu, broke out. From the "Spanish flu" for the year (1918/19) died 50-100 million people (2.7-5.3% of the world's population of that period). Thus, the "Spanish flu" was more terrible than the war itself.

The First World War was, perhaps, the first war, when not only men - soldiers, but also women - sisters of mercy went to the front en masse. It was from the sisters of mercy, who dragged wounded soldiers from the battlefield, that the fashion for short haircuts, which would become so popular in Europe in the 1920s, went.

Grand Duchess Olga (daughter of Emperor Nicholas II) in the dress of a nurse in a hospital, 1915

The very life in the frontline forced the sisters of mercy to cut their hair short - during the hostilities there is no way to care for long hair, which for a long period of history was considered an indispensable attribute of female beauty. The sisters of mercy cut their hair like a boy - straight or cutting their hair in a circle, sometimes they practically shaved their heads bald. Fortunately, no hair was visible under their headdresses.

But soon the fashion for short haircuts became popular among the townspeople. The fashion for short haircuts in the rear began to spread from 1915-1916. Haircuts "a la garson" (from French "under the boy") or "bubikopf" are becoming popular.

Haircut "bubikopf"

At the same time, the "bubikopf" haircut - (German: Bubikopf - small or children's head) - will be recognized as a fashionable trend only in 1926. Before that, the wearing of short haircuts by women was always justified only by necessity (war, illness). Since the mid-1920s, short haircuts have become a fashion and a whim. The bubikopf haircut was laid in waves using hot tongs.

Permanent hair curling. Germany, 1929

Long-term perm (perm) was invented back in 1904 by the German hairdresser Karl Nesler. By the way, he also owns the first patent for the manufacture of artificial eyelashes and eyebrows.Since the beginning of the 1910s of the twentieth century, the "six-month" perm or permanent (it could be electric or steam, vertical or horizontal) became widespread.

Permanent curler, 1920s

Drying hair with a hairdryer, 1920s

In addition to the "bubikopf" haircut, haircuts such as "foxtrot", "tango", "polka" were also in fashion (these haircuts got their names from the popular dances in those years) - these were shorter versions of "bubicopf", which were also made from finely curled hair.

Short hair, 1920s

In the first half of the 1920s, "dolly-sister" hairstyles were very popular - hairstyles, short, with bangs up to the eyebrows and with a side parting.

They also wore bob and bob haircuts.

Traditional combination of short hair with bright lipstick, 1920s

With short haircuts, women wore bright makeup - they painted their eyes and lips brightly. False eyelashes were also actively worn.

In the 20s of the twentieth century, he himself is changing ideal of female beauty... During this period, an active, decisive, independent and independent woman (motorcycle racer, aviator, revolutionary) with the figure of a teenage girl was considered beautiful - long legs, flat chest, thin and, of course, with a short haircut.

Short hair, pictured - Coco Chanel

In the 1920s, women's short haircuts were also in vogue in the Soviet Union - here they were considered a sign of revolution, the independence of a working woman, a sign women of the new communist society as opposed to the old bourgeois, in which women wore traditional hairstyles of long hair.

Curling stages

In the 1930s, the ideal of beauty will change - both in the USSR and in Europe, for example, in Germany, the image of a woman-mother, the guardian of the family hearth, will begin to be appreciated. Women with wide hips, large breasts, but a thin waist will begin to be considered beautiful. Short haircuts will go out of style.

As for men's hairstyles of the early twentieth century, short haircuts with various partings were in fashion. At the same time, the hair was often brushed back smoothly with the help of a gel. Hairstyles with a comb on one side were also fashionable. In the Soviet Union in the 1920s, workers often shaved their heads baldly.

Shot from the movie "The Great Gatsby", male 1920s hairstyle

Men could wear small "goatee" beards and mustaches with curled ends (the ends were curled in the form of a ring or arrow). There was also a fashion for shaved faces. By the way, at the beginning of the twentieth century, she came to Europe from America.