Hairstyles of the Late 80s
A lot of damage was done to hair in the 1980s. The larger-than-life fashions of the era were topped only by the even more outrageous hairstyles. Hair was ratted, teased, permed and dyed to death. The second half of the decade saw styles calm down a bit and by the end of the 80s, simpler styles that were easier to maintain came into vogue. Does this Spark an idea?
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The Bigger, The Better
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As the 1980s progressed, hairstyles got bigger and bigger, for both men and women. Glam-rock bands were all the rage in the latter half of the decade and this trend ushered in hair that was practically as tall as it was long. A much-seen look was shoulder-length hairstyles with layers and bangs that were ratted and teased with a comb and sprayed with a metric ton of hairspray. Dyed hair was common at the time, but the late 80s saw a trend of highlights that resembled the frosted hair of the 1960s. Dark blond, big hairstyles with platinum blond highlights could make a glam god or goddess of anyone in the late 80s.
Perms and Mullets
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In the second half of the decade, people grew weary of painfully ratting their hair to achieve volume and perms became the way to go for both short and long styles. Body perms, or perms using the largest possible rods, created a loosely permed, wavy or crimped look, as opposed to tight, kinky curls. Layers and bangs remained a trend at the time. Bangs were usually left unpermed, resulting in the rather disjointed look of straight bangs with a perm everywhere else. The mullet was a common cut throughout the decade, shorter on top and on the sides, and longer in the back. This cut was often combined with a loose perm.
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Short Styles
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Late in the 1980s, a monumental thing happened -- Madonna cut off her hair. All right, perhaps it was not ALL because of the "Material Girl" circa "Papa Don't Preach," but a new, simpler look was emerging. Cropped, short styles became a much repeated look. Short layers were in and hair was not parted so much as it was swept or combed to one side. For many, big hair was still in, even in shorter lengths. Throughout the decade hair spray and backcombing were used to hold styles in place. That look would not completely go away until the 1990s.
Bobs and Asymmetric Styles
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The very end of the 1980s saw the bob hairstyle take over the scene. The bob replaced the mullet as the look of the last years of the decade. Variations on the bob ranged from a preppy chin-length look to a slightly longer bob at the bottom of the neck, often seen with a loose perm, to a "new wave," asymmetrical chop. This last look left hair very short or even shaved on one side and longer on the other. The longer side would sometimes be permed and cut to the chin or below. Rappers Salt-N-Pepa wore short versions of this look and rocker Cyndi Lauper wore a longer version.
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