thumb|Woman with bob-cut with finger-waves, c. 1928.A "
bob cut" is a women's short
haircut in which the hair is typically cut straight around the head at about jaw-length, often with a fringe (or 'bangs") at the front. Made internationally popular by American film star
Colleen Moore in the early 1920s, it was then seen as a somewhat shocking statement of independence in young women, as older people were used to seeing girls wearing long dresses and heavy Edwardian-style hair. Hairdressers, whose training was mainly in arranging and curling long hair, were slow to realise that short styles for women had arrived to stay, and so barbers in many cities found lines of women waiting outside their shops, waiting to be shorn of hair that had taken many years to grow.
By the mid 1920s, the style (in various versions, sometimes worn with a side-parting, curled or waved, and with the hair at the nape of the neck "shingled" short), was the dominant female hairstyle in the Western world. Close-fitting, bell-shaped hats ("Cloche" hats) had also become very popular, and couldn't be worn with long hair. Well-known bob-wearers were actresses
Louise Brooks,
Clara Bow and
Joan Crawford, as well as Dutch film star
Truus van Aalten.
As the 1930s approached, women started to grow their hair longer, and the sharp lines of the bob were abandoned.
1960s and beyond
In the 1960s,
Vidal Sassoon made it popular again, using the shape of the early bob and making it more stylish in a simpler cut. Its resurgence coincided with the arrival of the "
mop top"
Beatle cut for men. Those associated with the bob at that time included the fashion designers
Mary Quant and
Jean Muir, actresses
Carolyn Jones,
Amanda Barrie, and singers as diverse as
Keely Smith,
Cilla Black,
Billie Davis,
Juliette Gréco,
Mireille Mathieu and
Beverly Bivens of the American group
We Five.
Many styles and combinations of the "bob" have evolved since. In the late 1980s,
Siouxsie Sioux, lead singer of
Siouxsie & the Banshees and
Corinne Drewery singer of
Swing Out Sister, had a bob cut for a short time.
Anna Wintour, editor-in-chief of American
Vogue since 1988, apparently had hers trimmed every day (
Times 2,
10 July 2006). In the early 1990s
Cyndi Lauper had a bob haircut with very unusual colors, and then identified with
Uma Thurman in the film
Pulp Fiction in 1994.
2000s revival
In 2006 the bob was adopted by the singer
Madonna and, as a move away from
boho-chic, by actress
Sienna Miller.
In November 2005,
Canadian ice dancer
Kristina Lenko was asked to join
ITV1's new series,
"Dancing on Ice." Needing something shorter than her then waist length cut, she went to her stylist in
Toronto and told him "Do whatever you like." The result was an
asymmetric Bob cut, which has since been heavily copied. Popularity of the cut in the UK and Ireland can be traced to the influence of fashion icon and ex
Spice Girl Victoria Beckham having had her hair bobbed in the same style, with girls asking hairdressers for a "Pob" - Ms Beckham's nickname Posh Spice conflated with "bob."
In 2007 R&B singer
Rihanna had a bob haircut in the video for the international smash "
Umbrella". She has stated that she got her inspiration from
Charlize Theron in
Æon Flux.
Keira Knightley had a bob in her short TV ad for
Coco Mademoiselle.
Actress
Christina Ricci also had a bob for live-action movie version for 60s anime series
Speed Racer and later onwards.
Types
- Chinese bob: Cut at the neckline, bobbed up around the edge.
- "A-line bob": A typical "bob" cut, with slightly longer hair in front, cut in an asymmetrical style. Made popular by Victoria Beckham known as the A-line bob as it is layered in at the back, it is originally around the shape of the face but has many variations, including the dramatic "buzzcut bob" where it is shoulder-length at the front and crew-cut at the back.
- Pageboy: is slightly different from the bob, but is also acknowledged as a type of bob. Hair is usually worn straight and could go as long as shoulder-length.
[Mahogany Hairdressing, London. "" http://www.bobpage.de. Accessed July 6, 2007] The fringe is cut at or above the height of the eyebrows.
See also
