Thirties hairstyles

[Thenextstage]

Hello style gurus.
I am in need of your help. My Sis has been invited to a 1930s ball with some very stylish friends. She has sorted out a Hollywood Screen Siren type dress which I am told is v glam but what should she do with her hair? It is long and blondish with a few layers through it, but most of the 30's styles were much shorter. Neither of us are great hairdressers so we have been struggling to make sense of advice on finger waving and such that we have found on line.
Any simple ideas?
TIA x

[mittenkittenhasthumbs]

Easy! Veronica Lake.

[Thenextstage]

OOOOHHHHHHH Thank you!!!! You utter genius! That is the perfect look for my gorgeous sister!!!!
Any ideas about products to get that flat wave against the heads and full fabulous curls lower down?

[otchayaniye]

Except that's a mid-to-late 1940s hairdo. It won't look right with 30s clothes.

I'd do a marcel wave with pins and tuck the hair under and pin it, so it's the length of a bob.

You could take a large section and corkscrew wave it and let it sit against the sides, it will kind of form a finger wave effect.

I have a natural curl (corkscrew, but not tight) and I have my hair cut into a style reminiscent of the 30s.

[mittenkittenhasthumbs]

Nope. Veronica Lake was noted for that hairstyle in the late 30s. The peak of her short career was in the early 40s. The "peekaboo" hairstyle was so popular that by WWII American women working in the munitions factories were cautioned against it because if they copied it they could only see out of one eye!

[mittenkittenhasthumbs]

Still, it does depend on the dress. Google Veronica Lake and look at her glamour shots and see if the dress is in the same ballpark? (You said Hollywood glamour . . . maybe others can help think of other blonde stars from that era too . . . I can think of Carole Lombard and Jean Harlow?)

[hellymelly]

otchayaniye-where do you get your haircut? When I lived in London I went to a salon in Soho that had been there for yonks but she has retired now and I can't find anyone who understands what I mean when I say I want a 30's style cut.(I also have natural curls,although my hair is quite fine).

[Thenextstage]

otchayaniye - Thanks for your reply but I feel like you are talking a different language . Can you explain what you mean by a marcel wave and maybe link to a pic? Sorry I am feeling a bit out of my depth.
Off to google a few Hollywood legends!

[marthamydear]

hellymelly - there's a salon in Alfie's antique market. NW8. London. Nina's hair parlour.

I have a Louise Brooks style bob haircut and they do a very good job. They do all types of styles from a bygone era.

Google Nina's hair parlour and have a look at their website.

[Havingkittens]

If you want a vintage inspired hair cut, or even a do for an event, go to Nina's Hair Parlour in Alfie's Antique Market on Church Street NW8.

www.ninasvintageandretrohair.com/

Some good pics of Jean Harlow on this blog. That sort of style would work well on long-ish hair as it jumps up a lot with the waving but pretty tricky to do yourself if you're not used to styling your own hair! (You'd probably find the same with most 1930s styles though to be honest)

dawnschickflicks.blogspot.com/2011/03/star-of-month-and-birthday-girl-jean.html

There are lots of videos on Youtube you can have a look at for inspiration. Just do a search for 1930s hair, or finger waves/marcel waves and see what looks manageable to you.

[Havingkittens]

Ha ha, cross post!

Nina is a good friend of mine. She is fantastic!

[Thenextstage]

I think sis needs to move to London - Nina's gallery is v impressive!

[otchayaniye]

"Veronica Lake was noted for that hairstyle in the late 30s."

Since her first film was 1939 and she was largely uncredited in those next few films, I think you'll find it is a 40s haircut. She only moved to Hollywood in 1938.

It's a 40s hairstyle and won't 'go' with a flapper/drop-waist/bias cut dress look.

Havingkittens has pointed you to an excellent place (which I might try).

Hellymelly I get my haircut at Glass Salon in Clerkenwell. It's not 1930s deliberately (as in I didn't ask for that) but it's (grown out now, need to go again) clipped into the back and has that curl to the sides thing. Fernando is the guy there (was kindly recommended on here after returning from abroad and bemoaning lack of skilled hairdressers who could deal with curls)

[Havingkittens]

It is probably that Veronica Lake had that hairstyle towards the end of the 1930s. She certainly had it at the beginning of the 1940s anyway. Mittenkitten is right, Veronica Lake, being the icon that she was at the time with her peekaboo hairstyle set a new trend for "Victory Rolls" in a government made film to encourage ladies to wear their hair in a more practical style for factory work.

Here's the film;

I included this information in a hair & makeup presentation I did at a WWII exhibition at museum earlier in the year.

That said, it is a style that is associated with the 1940s, not the 30s and wouldn't go with a 1930s style dress.

I wouldn't associate flapper dresses with the 30s as the flapper era ended just before the end of the 1920s when the Wall St Crash happened.

[Havingkittens]

probable, not probably!

[otchayaniye]

sorry, I meant drop waists, which were still thirties, but I guess the look they are after for this party is a bias cut Carole Lombard late 30s look. Or Jean Harlow. Backless, nude georgette silk numbers. With chignon and pin curl wave to the side in platinum blond.

[Havingkittens]

BTW, if you want to give the illusion of shorter hair then pin curl the hair and pin it at the nape of her neck. Finger waves and marcel waves are pretty tricky to do, even if you are quite au fait with hair styling. There are some videos on Youtube that will show you how to fake the look with tongs which you may find easier. You can get 3 barreled tongs which give a similar effect, although I don't get on too well with them for longer dos (I tend to do more 40s styles than 30s). You might find they are good enough just to do the top layer and front bits if you're putting the rest up.

You could try sectioning off an inch section either side of the parting and pinning that top layer up and out of the way, and also section off about 2.5 inches from the front of the hair. Then smoothing the rest of the hair down to the nape of the neck as if you were going to put it into a low bun or ponytail but only pushing the hair to just behind the ears and then pin it to the nape all the way along. Once it's pinned, section it off and pin it into curls in rows of about and inch at a time until you've pinned all the hair. Then bring down the top layer that you've taken next to the parting and just wave that section and bring it over the top of the rest of the style and pin curl the ends to blend in the bottom of the hair. This will mean you don't have to wave all of the hair (which can be a bit of a nightmare to the uninitiated) but will give a similar illusion.