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
🇨🇳 ChinaChinese hairpin
Traditional Chinese hair ornaments used to secure buns and signify status.Adorned · Any hair
WorldBun
A hairstyle where hair is gathered and coiled into a circular shape on the head.Updo · Any hair
WorldChignon
A knotted hairstyle worn at the nape or back of 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
🇬🇧 United KingdomCockernonnie
A mid-19th century Scottish updo where hair was gathered into a bun.Updo · Any hair · 1850
🇯🇵 JapanFrench twist
An elegant updo where hair is twisted vertically against the head.Updo · Any hair · 1940
🇳🇬 NigeriaShuku
A Yoruba braided updo where hair is gathered into a hump on top of the head.Braid · Any hair
EuropeRoman hairstyles
Ancient Roman hair fashions reflecting status and identityUpdo · Any hair
🇯🇵 JapanBunkin takashimada
Traditional Japanese bridal updo with a high bun.Updo · Any hair · 1860
🇮🇩 IndonesiaKonde Cepol
A traditional Betawi bun representing cultural identity and elegance.Updo · Any hair
🇧🇩 Bangladesh and 1 moreBengali khopa
Traditional centre-parted bun worn by Bengali brides.Updo · Any hair
🇬🇧 United KingdomApollo knot
An early nineteenth-century updo with a centre part and back bun.Updo · Any hair · 1800
🇫🇷 FranceBallerina bun
A neat, secured updo standard in classical ballet.Updo · Any hair · 1880
🇬🇧 United KingdomPsyche knot
A soft, low bun popular in the Edwardian era.Updo · Any hair · 1900
🇰🇷 South KoreaJjok
A traditional Korean bun for married women in the Joseon era.Updo · Any hair · 1724
🇮🇳 IndiaAmbada
Decorated Maharashtrian bridal hair bunUpdo · Any hair
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- The Rachel: ABC Television, Public domain, source
- Bun: Stilfehler, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Pompadour: Pearson Scott Foresman, Public domain, source
- Beehive: MGM, Public domain, source
- Liangbatou: Daderot, Public domain, source
- French twist: SWinxy, CC BY 4.0, source
- Pixie cut: dvna creative agency: https://www.dvna.fr/, CC BY 3.0, source
- Chinese hairpin: Augusthaiho, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Chignon: www.GlynLowe.com, CC BY 2.0, source
- Cockernonnie: Arnold Genthe, Public domain, source
- Roman hairstyles: Colchester Museums, Caroline McDonald, 2004-06-02 14:47:52, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Shingle bob: Evolvingthinker, CC BY 2.0, source