1930s Hairstyles
The 1930s opened in the shadow of the Wall Street Crash of 1929, which had sent economies tumbling around the world. Money was tight for most families, and the carefree spirit of the 1920s - with its short, rebellious haircuts and wild parties - felt very far away. But women still wanted to look beautiful, and the 1930s brought some of the most refined hairstyles ever seen.
Technology was also playing a role. New chemical processes made it possible to wave, curl, and set hair in ways that would last for days. The permanent wave machine had been around since the early 1900s, but it was refined and improved throughout the 1930s, making long-lasting curls and waves more accessible to everyday women.
Finger Waves
If you had to choose one hairstyle to represent the entire decade, finger waves would be a very strong contender. These sculpted S-shaped waves, pressed close to the head and rippling back from the face, are perhaps the most recognizable look of the thirties.
Finger waves were not entirely new - they had appeared in the mid-1920s as well - but they reached the peak of their popularity in the early 1930s. They felt very much in keeping with the Art Deco style that was dominating architecture, jewelry, and design at the time.
Creating finger waves was a skilled job. A hairdresser (or a very patient woman at home) would start with damp hair and apply a generous amount of wave lotion or setting gel. Then, using fingers and a fine-toothed comb, they would carefully press and mold the hair into deep, even waves, working close to the scalp. Metal clips would hold each ridge in place while the hair dried. When the clips were removed and the hair was brushed out, the result was a gleaming set of waves that lay flat and smooth against the head.
The look was especially popular with women who had shorter hair that sat just above or below the ears. It gave that shorter length an appearance that was far more sophisticated than a simple bob.
The Marcel Wave
A close cousin of the finger wave, the Marcel wave was named after French hairdresser Marcel Grateau, who invented the technique back in the 1870s using specially designed heated tongs. By the 1930s, the method had been refined and perfected, and the Marcel wave was a staple of every respectable beauty salon.
Where finger waves were created with the hands and a comb, Marcel waves were formed using heated waving irons that created deeper ridges. The result was a more structured wave pattern, still close to the head, but with a quality that suited the glamorous evening styles of the decade.
The Marcel wave was particularly popular for special occasions. A woman might wear her hair in a simpler, softer style during the day, but for a dinner party or an evening out, she would visit the salon for fresh Marcel waves that would see her through the evening with maximum elegance.
The Platinum Blonde
The American actress Jean Harlow became one of the most photographed women in the world during the 1930s, and her signature look - hair bleached to an almost shocking, silvery white-blonde and waved close to the head - caused an absolute sensation.
Harlow's hair was so pale it was described as "platinum blonde," and the term immediately entered everyday language. Women everywhere wanted the same look, and beauty salons were soon busy applying bleach to darker hair in pursuit of that almost otherworldly shade. Hair product companies quickly developed new bleaching formulas to meet the demand, and magazine articles offered - not always very safe - advice on how to achieve it at home.
The platinum blonde hair was worn close to the head, with deep waves. The paleness of the hair made every wave shadow appear dramatically sharp, creating a striking visual effect. It was a bold choice but it suited the decade's love of drama and its growing fascination with the power of female glamour.
The Pageboy
As women grew their hair longer after the short styles of the 1920s, the pageboy became one of the most popular medium-length styles of the era. It was a simple silhouette: hair that fell to around the chin or shoulders, with the ends curled under in a smooth, inward roll. The result was a tidy, rounded shape.
The pageboy was versatile and practical, which helped make it so widely loved. It could be dressed up or kept simple depending on the occasion. For daytime, a pageboy with a center or side parting looked neat and professional. For the evening, a little more wave could be added to the top, or a decorative clip or comb placed at the side.
The pageboy sat perfectly in the decade's preference for structured looks that still managed to feel soft and feminine. The inward curl at the ends gave it a lovely rounded appeal, and when it was freshly set and combed, it had a sheen that caught the light.
The pageboy would go on to enjoy revivals in the 1940s and again in the 1960s, but its original home was in the 1930s, when its combination of practicality and elegance made it a favorite across all ages and walks of life.
Soft, Loose Curls
Not every woman of the 1930s wanted the sharp, geometric precision of finger waves. For those who preferred something warmer and more romantic, soft, loose curls offered a beautiful alternative.
Soft curls in the 1930s were quite different from the tight curls of the 1940s or the voluminous curls of the 1980s. They were gentle, flowing, and carefully placed: curls that seemed to fall naturally, and the effect was feminine.
These curls were often worn swept to one side, with a deep side parting sending a soft wave of hair across the forehead before falling into loose spirals around the shoulders or the nape of the neck. Greta Garbo was a master of this look. Her hair always appeared softly waved and gently curled rather than rigidly set.
The Chignon
As women's hair grew longer through the 1930s, elegant ways to pin it up became increasingly important. The chignon, a knot of hair worn at the back of the head or at the nape of the neck, was a staple of evening style throughout the decade.
Unlike the elaborate Victorian upsweeps of a generation earlier, the 1930s chignon was clean and understated. Hair would be smoothed back from the face - sometimes with a little wave at the front or sides - and then styled into a knot at the back of the head. The result was dignified and graceful.
The chignon could be decorated with small combs, clips, or even fresh flowers for a festive occasion. A single gardenia or camellia tucked into a chignon was considered the height of evening glamour in the 1930s.
It would be easy to look at the glamorous Hollywood-inspired styles of the 1930s and imagine that every woman was wandering around with perfect hair at all times. The reality was considerably more practical. Most women had neither the time nor the money to visit a salon regularly, and many spent their days doing physical work that demanded something much more manageable.
For working women, the most common everyday style was a simple, pulled-back look. Hair would be smoothed away from the face and pinned or rolled at the back of the head in a chignon. This kept the hair tidy, out of the way, and safe from any machinery or equipment, while still looking neat and respectable.
Even in these simpler everyday styles, however, 1930s women showed their attention to neatness. A straight parting, smoothed carefully with a comb and a little brilliantine, was considered the minimum standard of grooming for appearing in public. The idea of simply leaving the house with unstyled hair would have seemed careless by the standards of the time.
The Parting
One of the quieter but significant fashion choices of the 1930s was where to place the hair parting. It might seem like a small detail, but in a decade when hair was carefully sculpted close to the head, the parting defined the entire shape of a hairstyle and could completely change how a woman's face appeared.
The deep side parting was the dominant choice of the decade. Pulling the parting far to one side created an asymmetric sweep of hair across the forehead that was flattering. The hair on the heavier side could be waved back in a deep, sweeping curve, while the hair on the lighter side was smoothed close to the head. This asymmetry was very fashionable in the thirties.
The center parting had a slightly different character. It created a more formal, symmetrical look and was particularly popular for sleeker hairstyles. The center parting had associations with the previous decade's more severe styles, but it found a new elegance in the 1930s when paired with softer waves rather than sharp bobs.
Color, Shine & Texture
Across all the different styles of the 1930s, one quality was universally prized above almost all others: shine. Whatever shape a woman's hair was set in, it was expected to gleam. Dull, dry, or frizzy hair was the enemy, and the beauty industry of the era offered an array of products to banish it.
Brilliantine was applied in small amounts to finished styles to add a glossy sheen. Brilliantine had been around since the late nineteenth century, but it was especially fashionable in the 1930s, when the close-to-the-head styles of the era made shine not just desirable but absolutely central to the look.
Hair color also played a role. The platinum blonde craze launched by Jean Harlow was the most extreme example, but throughout the decade women were experimenting with lightening, darkening, and enhancing their natural color. Chamomile rinses lightened fair hair. Henna added warm red tones and a deep, rich shine to darker hair.
The texture that was most admired - smooth, flat, and gleaming - was very different from the textured, tousled looks that would come in and out of fashion in later decades. Hair was meant to look controlled, and the effort required to achieve that was considered a normal part of a woman's daily routine.
From Hollywood to High Street
One of the fascinating things about the 1930s is how quickly fashion trends spread from Hollywood to the rest of the world and how much they were adapted and interpreted along the way. Not every woman in a small town in England or France could achieve the exact same look as Greta Garbo, but they could get pretty close.
Women's magazines were the great transmitters of fashion in this era. They carried photographs, illustrations, and step-by-step instructions that brought the latest Hollywood looks within reach of ordinary women.
Beauty salons also played a huge role. By the 1930s, there was a hairdresser on almost every high street in Europe and North America, and visits to the salon were no longer just for the wealthy. Prices had come down, and techniques had become more standardized.
Regional variations naturally appeared. Women in warmer climates sometimes preferred lighter, more relaxed versions of the structured styles. Women in poorer areas made do with simpler styling tools. But the underlying aesthetic ideals - smooth, shining, controlled, feminine - were shared widely across the Western world throughout the decade.
Dignity in Difficult Times
The hairstyles of the 1930s tell us something beautiful about the women who wore them. In a decade that asked a great deal of ordinary people, these women still found time and pride in their appearance. Their carefully waved, brilliantine-shined hair was not vanity. It was dignity. It was a quiet insistence that beauty and grace had a place even in difficult times.
Whether you find yourself drawn to the perfection of finger waves, the romance of loose curls, the practicality of the pageboy, or the elegance of a chignon, the 1930s offers an endlessly rich and inspiring world of hair. It was, in every sense of the word, a golden decade for hairstyles.
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