Teddy girl hair– what is it and is it making a comeback?

We're used to trends coming back into fashion, especially with the recent resurgence of the shag haircut and micro fringes but one trend we hear little about is the Teddy Girl hairstyle. However, thanks to recent runway looks and red carpet styles you'll be seeing this 1950s vibe a lot more throughout the year.

What is a Teddy Girl look?

To help us decipher the trend we turned to The Hair Historian, Rachael Gibson. "Teddy Boy style became a big trend in the late 1940s and early 1950s amongst young men who combined the elegant tailoring of Edwardian fashion (hence ‘Teddy’) with the rock ‘n’ roll style that had gained popularity in the UK post-war, thanks to the presence of American soldiers," says Rachael. "Their immaculately-styled quiffs required longer hair and more product – both factors that were shocking to an older generation used to more restrained looks and a rationed approach to product use." "While Teddy Boy style is well documented, slightly less is known about their female counterparts; the Teddy Girls or Judies. Famously documented by photographers Ken Russell and Karlheinz Weinberger, Teddy Girl style was even more scandalous than the boys – anything going against the conformist curls and romantic hairstyles of the era became immediately confrontational." She continues; "Their style was deliberately masculine and rebellious, with androgynous quiffs and piled-up curls swept up in Edwardian Gibson Girl style, giving way later to more dramatically coiffed pompadours and ponytails as the influence of American rock’n’roll grew greater." The style was a way for young people to move away from the more buttoned up generation before. "It was rebellious, DIY and confrontational" says Rachael, " it set the mood for further generations of young people set on dressing to reflect their culture and alienating their parents in the process.

How can you make Teddy Girl hair relevant to today's client?

It's all about styling it to the right occasion. "Through the decades [teddy girl hair] has received many revivals on catwalks and celebrities. Gwen Stefani, Pink and Katy Perry have all taken influence from this over the years," says Jonathan Turner from Hooker & Young. "If you wanted to keep the styling a true rockabilly style, a great way of modernising this would be to consider dying the hair a more contemporary on trend colour such as pink or blue. If colouring the hair is not an option why not add some braiding into the look. This would instantly give the style a new edge," he advises.