The 1920s Hairstyle, Sharp and Classic but Above All Timeless
The 1920s hairstyle. Since "The Great Gatsby" put twenties styling and proper evening make-up back on screen, the classic masculine look has been everywhere again. The twenties look was anything but shoulder-length hair. Men wore it short. So what makes this sharp look work, and why do so many people, men in particular, chase the markers of the typical twenties world today? That is exactly what we have taken on in today's Charlemagne Premium blog, digging into the 1920s hairstyle to bring you a little closer to the charm of that era. Enjoy the read.
The twenties, an age of prohibition and new money. And of course the age of the 1920s hairstyle
The year is somewhere in the twenties. Shortly after the First World War. America in an upswing, with a new party etiquette taking hold, beautiful women and the odd finger-waved hairstyle. Top hats belonged to the past, and men had found a new fashion of their own.
Yes, the twenties really were something.
Among men in particular the 1920s hairstyle set the tone. Even now some of those hair trends keep finding their way back into fashion and standing for timeless elegance. Incidentally, the hair world back then worked very differently. Men had the barbering trade firmly in their hands. There was a reason barbers opened on Sundays, too: to give the gentlemen their well-earned time off, since the children and the cooking were still the women's job.
A trendsetter of his time, a silent film star and his 1920s hairstyle
Rudolph Valentino, a successful actor of the silent film era, became a trendsetter. He was one of the first of his generation with the nerve to change things. The new cuts changed how men carried themselves, provocative without giving up any elegance. Back to our silent film star. His 1920s hair, combed severely back with pomade, set a new trend. A men's cut that barely varied, showed a man's masculinity and self-assurance, and caught on. Even so, then as now, new trends attract prejudice. Which is why Valentino was cheerfully labelled a pomade stallion.
An era of short to medium cuts, and every one of them had shine
One thing the 1920s hairstyle always had was a silky matte shine. That came almost entirely from generous use of pomade. Typically these side-parted cuts, all of them with closely clipped sides and necklines, were topped with a hat. The fedora was in, the top hat was out. What mattered for putting hair back into shape once the hat came off was a comb and an oil-based product called brilliantine. Alongside the technical upheaval driven by the car and the telephone, not much else changed in men's fashion after that. But one thing has lasted to this day. Styling with care products. An evergreen, as the saying goes.
As you have read, the twenties mattered for hair because of a new awareness of men's hair and the trends that came with it, and those trends still shape how men present themselves today. If people like Rudolph Valentino, the pomade stallion, had never hung up their top hats, we would probably still be wandering the world with our heads under one. Instead twenties trends are back in, precisely because they carried a timeless elegance. Right, that is the key phrase: timeless elegance.
And the care products you need to get your own 1920s hairstyle off the ground, a decent pomade for a start, are of course waiting for you in the Charlemagne Premium shop as always. Have fun with the twenties look!
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