1930s Hairstyles

Short 1930s hair with finger waves — Photo: Everett Collection/Shutterstock

In the beginning of the 1930s, women tired of contending with their feminine forms and decided they no longer wished to adopt a boyish look or ignore their natural curves. Instead, they began wearing more tailored dresses that offered a softer silhouette and accentuated their small waistlines. Gone were the cloche hats that once concealed their foreheads, replaced by button-top hats that exposed their entire faces and the hair surrounding them.

Indeed, times were changing, with sunbathing becoming the latest trend. Women could showcase their newly acquired tan under their backless dresses, a rather daring move. The snood made its historic appearance during this time, and Hollywood embraced the trend. Soon, stars like June Allyson, Joan Crawford, Linda Darnell, Greta Garbo, Merle Oberon, and Barbara Stanwyck were seen sporting custom-made snoods, some knitted or crocheted with fine, sparkly yarn.

Owning a handmade snood was the epitome of fashion, melting male hearts as these young starlets gracefully expressed their womanhood.

Hairstyles still remained close to the head, featuring deep-set finger waves. Some were parted in the center, while others favored a side part. Around 1932, styles began softening, introducing a playfulness in the waves and adding volume to the scene. Suddenly, women had full, lush waves and exuded a newfound sexiness. The beauty of this style was its compatibility with both large-brimmed hats and smaller headpieces.

By the mid-1930s, waves dominated the fashion scene; it was all about waves and more waves. "Just be sure to give me my waves!" became the mantra. Many hairstyles featured a center part with deep waves, with hair pulled back into an array of small curls on the neckline, secured with bobby pins or hairpins. Hats were sometimes tilted diagonally on the side of the head, prompting the return of the ever-popular snood.

Curls gained popularity during this period as well, with women wrapping small sections of hair tightly around their fingers and securing them with pins. These curls were placed firmly and close to the head, with various sizes desired. Some styles featured a middle part with hair pulled back and up on the sides with a roll formed, while the back was either rolled under or knotted into tight sausage-curl type curls. In the latter part of the 1930s, hair was sometimes pulled back into a single roll, while the back was turned up or under. Hairstyles needed to accommodate the latest fashionable hats.

1930s woman with finger waves wearing a backless bathing suit — Photo: The Everett Collection/Canva

These were also years of hardship, with the aftermath of the 1929 New York City stock market crash spilling over into the 1930s, leaving many people destitute. Family men left their homes in search of work, with millions unemployed across America during this tumultuous time.

This was the era when women began to sport backless bathing suits, always with a smile, of course. Think of the dawn of such freedom. In 1938, Walt Disney's film "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" graced the scene, with everyone singing "Hi-ho, hi-ho, it's off to work we go." But everyone wondered where the work was. Troubled times hinted at the distant rumble of war.

Throughout these difficult times, hairstyles still made a statement, and when ladies visited the hair salons, they were treated to a Hollywood-inspired color trend once again. Celebrities like Jean Harlow instilled boldness in the hearts of women in the thirties, prompting mothers of the day to ask themselves, "Why not?"

Before long, many war widows were bleaching and tinting their hair as if they had been doing it for years, though this gave the older, more seasoned ladies something to gossip about. As if that wasn’t enough fodder for gossip, thin eyebrows were in vogue. Many women would pluck practically all of their eyebrows off and then, with their face ever so close to the mirror, tongue sticking out on the corner of their mouth, artistically draw a thin rounded line above their eye, believing this made them appear more alluring. Think of how thin Betty Davis's eyebrows were. Remember the song; "She has Betty Davis Eyes."

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