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Mostly women

Styles mostly worn by women. 126 hairstyles on EveryHairstyle so far.

Many hairstyles have been worn mostly by women, often because of rules and customs about how long women's hair should be, how it should be dressed and when it should be covered. Long hair was expected of women in most cultures for most of history, so women's styles include the great updos, braids and set styles, while short cuts for women, such as the bob, became a statement of independence.

Long hair and its dressing

Long plaits, chignons, buns and updos have been women's styles in Europe, Asia and Africa for centuries. Elaborate styles, such as the Manchu liangbatou, the European pouf and the Japanese nihongami, showed status and needed servants or professional hairdressers. Married women in many cultures put their hair up or covered it, so a woman's hairstyle could show whether she was married, as with the Korean chignon fixed with a binyeo.

The short cut

In the 1910s and 1920s young women in Europe and North America cut their hair into bobs and Eton crops, to the alarm of many older people, and short hair became a sign of the modern woman. The pixie of the 1950s and 1960s and Sassoon's geometric bobs continued the change. Many women's styles have since spread to men, and the line between women's and men's hair has blurred.

Famous mostly women hairstyles

Further reading

Shampoo and set 🇬🇧 United KingdomShampoo and set A classic UK styling method using rollers and lotion.Styled · Any hair · 1930 🇸🇩 Sudan and 4 moreDreadlocks A hairstyle of rope-like hair strands formed by matting or twisting.Natural · Coily and kinky hair · 1970 WorldLong hair Head hair grown to a considerable length, often past the shoulders.Styled · Any hair WorldBun A hairstyle where hair is gathered and coiled into a circular shape on the head.Updo · Any hair 🇫🇷 France and 2 morePompadour High-volume hair swept up and back from the forehead.Updo · Any hair · 1950 🇺🇸 United StatesBeehive A conical updo piled high on the crown.Updo · Any hair · 1960 🇫🇷 France and 2 morePouf An elaborate 18th-century French hairstyle featuring extreme height and decorative ornaments.Styled · Any hair · 1775 WorldMarcelling A heat-styled curl technique from the 1870s.Curls · Any hair · 1872 🇬🇧 United KingdomLovelock A single long braid worn over the left shoulder by 17th-century Europeans.Braid · Any hair · 1580 WorldShort hair A general category for haircuts kept above the shoulders or chin.Cut · Any hair · 1920 🇫🇷 France and 1 moreBouffant A puffy, rounded hairstyle with height at the crown.Styled · Any hair · 1950 🇫🇷 France and 1 moreHigh roll A towering 18th-century hairstyle built with frames and pomatum.Styled · Any hair · 1760 🇬🇷 GreeceGreco-Roman hairstyles Hair practices of ancient Greece and Rome, including long locks, short crops, and net head-dresses.Wrapped · Any hair 🇺🇸 United States and 3 moreHair extensions Cosmetic additions of human or synthetic hair attached to natural hair for length and volume.Styled · Any hair · 1950 🇺🇸 United StatesHalo hairstyle Horizontal bands of light colour wrapping around the head.Styled · Any hair · 2013 WorldHair straightening A technique to flatten and smooth hair texture using heat or chemicals.Styled · Curly hair · 1950 Senegalese twists 🇺🇸 United States and 1 moreSenegalese twists Smooth two-strand protective style using synthetic hair.Locs · Any hair · 1984 Twist-out 🇺🇸 United StatesTwist-out A protective hairstyle created by unraveling twists to form defined waves.Styled · Curly hair Butterfly locs 🇺🇸 United StatesButterfly locs A lightweight protective style featuring synthetic hair wrapped to create a distressed, looped texture.Styled · Any hair · 2021 🇯🇵 JapanChapatsu Japanese brown bleached hair styleStyled · Any hair · 1997

Photo credits on this page

The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.

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