King Louis XIV of France was only 17 when his hair began thinning, so he hired 48 wigmakers to create massive hairpieces with cascading ringlets to cover up his balding head — and in the process, made curly, powdered wigs all the rage in 18th century Europe.
During the 18th century, hairstylists created “boucles papillotes” (butterfly curls) by using triangles of tissue paper and a pinching iron (the earliest form of a flat iron). They definitely didn’t have YouTube tutorials back then, but these days you can see the process in action.
In the 1930s, child star Shirley Temple rose to fame — thanks in part to her signature ringlets. It was written into her studio contracts that only her mother, Gertrude, could touch her hair. Mom set Shirley’s hair in curls with bobby pins every night, and washed it with Castile soap and a vinegar rinse every two weeks.
Victory rolls were the hairstyle of choice for women in the 1940s. The sweeping curls were named after World War II fighter plane’s signature maneuver. To style them, women set their wet hair in bobby pins overnight — or used pipe cleaners when supplies were scarce during wartime.
Curls were everywhere in the 1950s, and the poodle haircut was the best way to show them off. Lucille Ball wore her famous red hair in this style, which had slicked back sides and a fluffy front.
During the 1960s and ‘70s, the “black is beautiful” movement gave rise to natural-textured hairstyles, including the Afro. For many wearers, the Afro was a political statement and a rejection of straightening the hair to conform to white beauty standards. The long teeth of the afro pick are designed to reach down to the scalp to make it easy to fluff up hair from the root.
