Cutting It Short

When did women first start wearing bangs/fringe as a hairstyle?

I’m curious as to when this style first became fashionable and what times in history it’s been popular. I’ve been studying the 1930s-40s lately and noticed that women didn’t really wear bangs much – they had short curly bobs – which made me think of this question as I always wear bangs.

The ancient Egyptians sometimes wore them, at least in their wigs. There are also sculptures of young Roman girls, though not adult women, with bangs. In Medieval and Renaissance Europe, boys and men were more likely than women to wear bangs, but women began wearing wispy ones again in the early 17th century. Then they were out from the mid-17th through the 18th, back as the faintest wisps in the early 19th, out again and then really back in the 1870s and 1880s. Since then they’ve been more or less fashionable but never really out. In the Far East, bangs seem to be traditionally the province of young or unmarried girls–evidently they get combed back at marriage and slicked down until they grow out.

I’ve worn them most of my life.

Round Layers featuring CRAFT Cutting

Chemise a Knickers 1920 Photo Mugs A young woman with an angular bob hairstyle models a chemise a a pair of matching Directoire knickers ornamented with a circular motif trim. ….

Girl And Sheepdog Photo Mugs A little girl with bobbed hair, photographed with her Old English Sheepdog. ….

Girl And Terrier Puppy Photo Mugs A little girl with bobbed hair, photographed with her fluffy terrier puppy. ….

Photo Jigsaw Puzzle of Girl on the beach looking for some company from Mary Evans $29.99 Photo Puzzle, Girl on the beach looking for some company. A young girl sits on the beach in her red swimming costume close to a Japanese-style parasol and enquires to the cards recipient Wouldnt you like to be here with me?. Chosen by Mary Evans. 10×14 Photo Puzzle with 252 pieces. Packed in black cardboard box of dimensions 5 5/8 x 7 5/8 x 1 1/5. Puzzle image 5×7 affixed to box top. Puzzle pieces…

Photo Jigsaw Puzzle of Elegant young woman — The Mauve Dress from Mary Evans $29.99 Photo Puzzle, Elegant young woman — The Mauve Dress. An elegant young woman with short blonde hair sits in a mauve dress. Chosen by Mary Evans. 10×14 Photo Puzzle with 252 pieces. Packed in black cardboard box of dimensions 5 5/8 x 7 5/8 x 1 1/5. Puzzle image 5×7 affixed to box top. Puzzle pieces printed on RA4 paper at 300 dpi. This item is shipped from our American lab….