Iconic Hairstyles Through The Years

Hairstyles have been making waves throughout the history of the world.

However some of the most iconic hairstyles still in rotation in 2010 includes the following:

1.  The Bob - A very popular short haircut from the 1920s, the Bob hairstyle often linked to actress Louise Brooks, was considered extremely controversial for the times.  It created quite an uproar in the hair fashion world and many consider it to be one of the most iconic hairstyles of any period in American culture.

Although The Bob has ebbed and flowed in popularity over the years and morphed into a range of modified shapes, it is still a popular hairstyle close to 100 years later.  Now that's hair staying power.

2.  Super short geometric haircut - The 60s issued in the era of Twiggy and her uber short haircut.  The supermodel's super short cut has also been modified through the years and been reborn as The Crop and The Chop, to name just a few of the new names attached to versions of the Twiggy do.

3.  The flip - Another popular haircut which won fame in the the 60s was the flip worn by Sally Field in her role as teen queen Gidget.  You may know Sally as the mother on ABC's popular Brothers And Sisters but back in the day she was rocking an iconic shoulder length flip hairdo which was all the rage at the time.

4.  Stick Straight Strands - The beautiful brunette Susan Dey starred in TV's The Patridge Family in the 1970s and in the process created a major hair buzz triggered by her long, lush, straight signature strands which were shiny and healthy.  As a result of her hair goddess status, Susan became the celebrity model for hair care advertisements.

Susan Dey's stick straight strands were a deviation from the iconic Hippie Hair which was also stick straight but always parted from the center.  Hippie hair was also more tousled and part of the look involved an array of leather tie headbands and sometimes beads.

5.  The Afro in the 1960s and 70s - Angela Davis was the poster child for the Afro hairstyles which was popular due to the African-American Civil Rights Movement which brought a renewed sense of identity to the community.  This  resulted in a redefinition of personal style that included an appreciation of African hair embodied by the Black Is Beautiful movement and resulting in the iconic natural untreated hairstyle worn by men and women and similar to the long hair of the Hippies.

The Afro hairstyle was an easy way to naturally wear Afro-textured hair and as it grew longer, it formed a glorious dome like hairstyle.  Some chose to create a bushier version of this popular hairstyle by teasing the hair.  Although the big Afros eventually became less popular, versions of this natural style have continued to be popular even into current times.

6.  Dorothy Hamill's Wedge - The ice skating queen captured the attention of many not only for her spectacular skating skills but for her bowl-cut hairstyle which appeared to fall perfectly into place even after fast twirls, spins and jumps on the ice.  Although the wedge eventually faded, it has reappeared in similar shapes over the years.  None of the later iterations of Dorothy's wedge seemed to recapture the precision of her original wedge cut.

7.  Farah's Feathered Wings - In 1967 blonde Texas actress Farrah Fawcett set the hair world on fire with her beloved long layered hair which became known as hair wings.  It was widely copied.  Fans of the traditional Farrah wings worked hard to perfectly copy the side wings.

8. Bo Derek's Cornrows - Bo Derek set the hair world on fire when she wore her blonde tresses coiffed in cornrows in 1979 in the romantic comedy 10.  Bo had to spend a staggering ten hours having her hair braided by two women.  The famous corn-row style plaits were ultimately a nightmare to control.  Bo had to cover the braids with glue to keep them in place while shooting scenes for famous movie.

Ironically Bo's corn-rows triggered a craze by Caucasian women who wanted to copy the look which had previous been more popular in the African American world.

9.  Whitney Houston's Tied Bandanna Hairstyle - Famous for her work as a Seventeen model, Whitney Houston triggered a bandanna headband craze with a rolled bandanna serving as a headband which was positioned amongst her natural curls right behind her ears.  The rolled bandanna headband became all the rage as a result.  Of course rocker Bret Michaels has also adopted the popular bandanna as his own headband style although he positions it different than Whitney did.

10.  Madonna's Bedhead Material Girl Style - Super rock star Madonna has worn her hair so many different lengths, colors and textures it's often hard to keep up.  However, during her beginning Material Girl Style she created her own version of an iconic hairstyle with her array of tousled bedhead style curls which triggered an entire hair movement.

11.  Molly Ringwald Pretty In Pink Mid 80s Cut - Molly introduced an edgy asymetrical haircut in the mid-1980s which ws worn back combed into a high mound of bouncy red tresses.

12.  Julia Roberts Long Layered Curls - Julia Roberts captured America's heart as the prostitute with the heart of gold in Pretty Woman.  Her long lush layered barrel style curls became all the rage and has been rotating through the hair of fashion off and on for years.

13.  Jennifer Aniston's Rachel Cut - When Jennifer Aniston unveiled her medium length shag hairstyle on Friends legions of women went crazy for it.  With pictures of Jennifer's hairstyle women clutched in their hands women implored their hairstylists to recreate the look on their heads in record numbers.

14.  Baby Braids- Singer Brandy popularized a headful of baby braids which became her signature look.  Although less popular as some looks, Brandy's braids were definitely iconic in their own right.

Over the years there have been other iconic looks ranging from the French Twist triggered by hairstyles worn by Audrey Hepburn, the Beehive, the Bouffant and even the modified Pouf recently made popular by Reality TV star Snookie.

The Hair Bump has had its day along with dreadlocks, the platinum blonde look popularized by Pamela Anderson and even the special side pony worn on TV's Three's Company by Suzanne Sommers.

One of today's hairstyle trend setters is Rihanna who has managed to constantly change her hairstyles, hair colors and textures.

Do you have an iconic hairstyle you loved and still worship today?  Or do you know of a current trendsetter triggering interest in new iconic styles and cuts?  I would love to hear your list of favorites.

More Information

Please follow me on Twitter at: http://Twitter.com/HairBoutique. I look forward to meeting new people from all walks of Twitter and learning from their Tweets. Visit us at Hairboutique.com located at: http://www.HairBoutique.com, on Facebook, MySpace and YouTube.

Thank you for visiting us at The HairBoutique Blog and for leaving your comments. They are very much appreciated. We apologize in advance but must remove any direct advertisements or solicitations.