1960s Hair In Full Glory - Betty Draper - AMC's Mad Men

1960s hairstyles hold lots of fascination for me because I lived those hairstyles. I slept on uncomfortable hair rollers, glopped gel on my bangs, backcombed, sprayed with hairspray and rolled my hair in pin curls and clean orange juice cans.

My aunt was a hairdresser but more importantly, I was a young girl trying to find my own hair way in the era of wet sets, flips, bandeau headbands, wispy bangs and back combing.

In 1967 I was a princess in the CYC (Catholic Youth Council) court in South St. Louis, Missouri and had to wear a long gown, long white gloves and the required tiara. Yes, I also had to bow where I slid to the floor and practiced for days preparing for that movement.

Even more importantly, I spent time in the neighborhood beauty salon getting my chin length honey blonde hair backcombed into a helmet of lacquered "big hair" which made my head look very big, at least in my humble opinion. But I was wearing what was considered an edgy hairstyle back them.

When I watch Betty Draper, played magnificently by January Jones (where was she hiding before Mad Men?) I totally relate to her various 1960s hairstyle.

Of course I am also mesmerized by her stellar acting but her hairstyles perfectly reflect where Betty Draper is at in the evolution of her life.

The AMC Mad Men hairdressers do an excellent job of coiffing Betty accurately for her period. The hairstyles of the 1960s were in transition from the big bulky styles of the 1950s and indeed, Betty Draper's hair has evolved appropriately and stunningly from Season 1 to Season 2.

At the end of Season 2 the Mad Men show addresses the Cuban Missile Crisis which occurred in October of 1962. Betty Draper is filmed at her own local beauty salon with her hair in rollers for her "wet set".

The rollers are the old fashion brush style rollers held in place with old fashioned plastic picks. While Betty is at the beauty salon the women are all discussing the crisis and what will happen if the Russian send over a bomb or too.

During Season One and Season Two Betty shows off simple and elegant beehives when she and her executive AdMan husband, Don Draper, take an important client and his wife to a five star New York restaurant for dinner with the Barrettes from the Utz potato chip campaign.

Betty's role? To charm everyone at the table. Mrs. Don Draper also showcased off-the-forehead sweeps and the 1960s version of hair bumps. Betty also wore the signature left and right side sweeps, flips and half-flips.

Even though Betty wore her hair in perfect hairstyles when she was entertaining, out in public with Don or at other events, in Season Two the viewers were shown Betty with wet, unstyled hair.

After an extended long fight lasting all night with Don we saw Betty's hair in shambles at the breakfast table.

When Betty went riding on her favorite horse her hair was pulled back off her face and pinned tightly in the back in a series of severe buns and twists which perfectly reflected Betty's repressed sexuality and desires for an unattainable younger man engaged to an heiress.

Betty resisted the sexual chemistry but pushed a friend into an affair with the sexy rich boy.

Many of Betty's 1960s hairstyles were perfectly paired with her period dresses and gowns. The bored and unhappy housewife actually wore a fancy tailored dress to visit her OB/GYN and her hair was perfectly coiffed.

Betty's hairstyle during Season One and Season Two provide a perfect history of 1960s hairstyles including the transition from the big hair to the softer styles and showcasing a mixture of various hairstyles as the 1960s progressed. Betty never wore the shorter poodle hairstyles or the raw sexy styles worn by some.

As AMC's magnificent Mad Men gets ready for Season 3, I can wait to see how Betty Draper is coiffed as 1962 turns into 1963 and beyond.

My only hope is that Mad Men continues for many years to come so that we can eventually see Betty adopt the relaxed hippie influenced longer styles of the later 1960s.

With some luck we might even see Betty adopt early 1970s hair. If only the fans could be so lucky.

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What length of hair do you prefer on your sweetie (male or female)?
	ultra short - above ears or shorter
	short - ears to chin
	shoulder length - chin to little below shoulders
	long - from below shoulders to middle of back
	classic length - waist length
	very long - from rear end to knees
	ultra long - from knees to floor
	don't have a preference

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1960s Hair In Full Glory - Betty Draper - AMC's Mad Men

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