A bob cut or bob is a short haircut for women (and occasionally men) in which the hair is typically cut straight around the head at about jaw-level, often with a fringe (or "bangs") at the front.

History [edit]

Louise Brooks

Polaire in 1910

Historically, women in the west have usually worn their hair long. Although young girls, actresses and a few "advanced" or fashionable women had worn short hair even before World War I,^[1][2][3][4]—for example in 1910 the French actress Polaire, (right) is described as having "a shock of short, dark hair",^[5] a cut she adopted in the early 1890s^[6]—the style was not considered generally respectable^[7] until given impetus by the inconvenience of long hair to girls engaged in war work.^[8][9] English society beauty Lady Diana Cooper, who had had bobbed hair as a child,^[10] kept the style through her teenage years^[11] and continued in 1914 as an adult.^[12] Renowned dancer and fashion trendsetter Irene Castle introduced her "Castle bob" to a receptive American audience in 1915. Popularized by film stars Colleen Moore and Louise Brooks 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 outside their shops, waiting to be shorn of hair that had taken many years to grow.^[13][14]

Although as early as 1922 the fashion correspondent of The Times was suggesting that bobbed hair was passé,^[15] by the mid-1920s the style (in various versions, often 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. The style was spreading even beyond the West, as women who rejected traditional roles adopted the bob cut as a sign of modernity.^[16] Close-fitting cloche hats had also become very popular, and couldn't be worn with long hair. Well-known bob-wearers were actresses 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.^[17]

1960s and beyond [edit]

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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 Nancy Kwan, Carolyn Jones, Barbara Feldon and 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 and the Banshees, and Corinne Drewery, singer of Swing Out Sister, had bob cuts for a short time. Singer Linda Ronstadt sported a very "Louise Brooks" inspired bob on the cover of two Grammy award winning albums in the late 1980s. 1987's Trio album with Dolly Parton and Emmylou Harris and her 1989 release Cry Like A Rainstorm, Howl Like The Wind. She also wears the cut in the video for her duet with James Ingram, Somewhere Out There. 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; soon afterwards, the cut became identified with Uma Thurman in the film Pulp Fiction in 1994. In the mid to late 1990s, T-Boz of TLC also had a bob haircut with very unusual colors that was asymmetrical with bangs.

2000s revival [edit]

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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,^[18] 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 "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.

At her third show in Brisbane, Australia, Britney Spears wore the bob throughout her concert. Kate Bosworth is said to have popularized the bob in 2008.

Types [edit]

• 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 throughout the 20th century by various people, including iconic actresses Louise Brooks, Clara Bow, and Theresa Russell (in her role as Sophie in the 1984 film, The Razor's Edge).
• Worn, as well, by contemporary fashionistas such as 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.^[19] The fringe is cut at or above the height of the eyebrows. It has been the signature hairstyle of "Vogue" editor-in-chief Anna Wintour for decades.
• Eton crop, an ultra-short, masculine bob briefly popular in the mid-1920s and based on a schoolboy style; usually worn with slicked-down hair. Dance artist Josephine Baker was its most famous exponent.

See also [edit]

• Bobby pin
• "Bernice Bobs Her Hair", a short story by F. Scott Fitzgerald on the subject.

References [edit]

External links [edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Bob haircut

• "History: 25 Hairstyles of the Last 100 Years" - 25: Bob/Finger Wave, 1920s. Retrieved 2011, August 23 at Listverse.com.