african american hairstyles any era

[Bee2000]

Hello everybody,

My name is Bee and I am an african american female and I have been looking for a hairstyle that would or could look good on an african american. I like all eras but I like the 40's more however I do know that hairstyles on african american women are hard to find. so I'll be happy with any era. Thank you

If anybody have any photos that would be great to see.

 

[Audrey Horne]

Welcome! There are come great pictures here:
=http://www.thefedoralounge.com/showthread.php?t=43456

Also look at Lady Day's pictures here on page 5:
http://www.thefedoralounge.com/showthread.php?t=40592&page=5

ETA:
Also, on Livejournal Vintage Hair, this lady always looks amazingly lovely:
http://community.livejournal.com/vintagehair/849284.html#cutid1

 

[Lady Day]

Hey Bee,

Ive looked for years on this topic and found racial stigmas really applied when talking about early black womens hair.

There is absolutely no way to do any of those styles unless you 1) chemically relax your hair, or 2) hot comb your hair. Two things which I will never do again.

Now, if you have done one or the other, you can do pretty much any style that Audrey posted in the threads above, using the techniques of any of the other ladies. If you have your hair natural (raises hand), your hair choices are slim to nil.

I have a photo of a woman from the mid 30s who wore her hair natural, she had a short fro, with a 3/4 part. It was almost how a man would have worn his hair at the time. But the long straight hair was the epitome of beauty, so she was most definitely outside the norm. Ill see if I can find that photo.

You could start with, of course CJ Walker, and work your way forward. I have yet to find a comprehensive collection of techniques, history, and photos of the history black women's hair prior to the 1960s. Its very disheartening.

Those techniques were just not talked about. All my Granny ever told me as she straightened her hair and pinned it at night. [huh]

LD

 

[Audrey Horne]

This is modern, but it reminds me of 40s updos.

 

[Lady Day]

That looks very bananna clip/punk 80s to me, as I knew some who mimicked that scene

I guess that could work if it were a bit more shaped/groomed. That polished look is *really* high maintenance with black people hair (unstraightened).

LD

 

[Audrey Horne]

That looks very bananna clip/punk 80s to me...

I totally see that too, I think that's more the look they're going for. I guess I was thinking more Betty Grable/Lucille Ball with all of the curls piled up front.

 

[kamikat]

Another possibility is braids. When I worked in a multi-racial salon, there were several clients who had very small braids all over their head that they could then style into other styles as if they were straight hair. I've seen braids worn in a french roll/twist so I bet doing braids into Victory rolls would be similar.

 

[Viola]

Well there's single braids and French braids and rolls. I think a simple braid can look very beautiful with vintage style clothing.

Also snoods aren't a hair style at all but they are a "hair thing" and whether or not you wanted to do victory rolls in the front, they really bespeak vintage. And they can be worn with just a bun or pony, nothing that burns/hurts hair necessary.

I think I might look at the accessories, rather than the style, too. Bakelite, combs, etc. I'm very enamored of headbands at the moment, too, but that's sort of a later style (if people have '40s pics to contradict that I'd be thrilled to be wrong) but I promise not to evangelize about headbands. lol

Also, welcome to the board.