The 10 biggest hair trends of the last 100 years
A new study of magazine front cover archives has revealed the most popular hair trends of the last 100 years.
Neal & Wolf’s 100 Years of Hair report compiles data from archives of four leading fashion and beauty publications to highlight the most popular front cover hairstyles of the last century. Haircare professionals Neal & Wolf delved into 385 covers to record and rank the top 10 featured hairstyles of the last 10 decades.
To expand the research further, the team looked into TikTok hashtag data to identify the styles that are most popular today, finding that 70% of the top 10 viewed styles of 2022 are inspired by previous decades, even as early as 1920.
Neil Capstick, founder of Neal & Wolf said: “Our report has signified the influence of previous eras when it comes to the hairstyles we are seeing celebrities and influencers wearing today.”
The results
Here are the results of the most popular magazine cover hairstyles of the last 100 years:
- Platinum
- Side-swept hair
- Middle part
- Pixie cut
- Wispy updo
- Chin length bob
- Slick back
- Beehive
- Side fringe
- Blowout
Platinum blonde
In first place is platinum blonde, accounting for 15% of magazine front cover styles from the last 100 years. With celebrities such as Kim Kardashian still sporting the look today as well as Rhaenyra in The House of the Dragon, it comes as no surprise that this silvery shade continues to trend with over 491 million views on TikTok, placing it in the top 10 styles of 2022 as well.
Side-swept hair
Next, featured on 12% of front covers is side-swept hair – a casual and easy choice that is styled by grabbing layers of hair from one side of the head and pulling them across the other. This trend is still popular now with 9.3 million TikTok views of tutorials on how to get the look.
Middle part
In third place is the middle part which is created by using a pintail comb to separate hair down the centre of the head to create a definitive line. First featured in 1934 and photographed on 8% of front cover hairstyles, the middle part is a timeless style that has been on the front cover of magazines in every decade of the last century.
Pixie cut
The timeless pixie cut sits at fourth place. Made famous by the likes of Twiggy in the swinging sixties and Emma Watson’s Prada campaign today, the cropped cut continues to evolve with tendrils and a textured top proving to be popular features of the style in the 2020s.
The study also revealed that the 1930s, 50s, 60s, and 70s are the most influential eras for hair trends of the last 100 years, with 80% of the top 10 styles deriving from these periods.
Neil commented on the findings: “We conducted this research to learn more about the journey of hair to see how trends are created and updated over time. Results from our 100 Years of Hair report show that many of the popular hairstyles of today, that we now follow on TikTok, were popular up to a century ago. I predict that the next biggest retro haircut as we head into a new season will be the 60s inspired Italian bob, which has over 41,000 views on TikTok, as well as the pixie cut which has been spotted on Emma Watson.”
What do you think is the next biggest hair trend? Check out these hair trend predictions for AW22...
