Vintage Do's: The Bob

Louise Brooks

Lily Elsie, Edwardian Actress

 No other fashion trend in history has caused more controversy than the defining hairstyle of the 1920s. The original bob was an ear-length level blunt cut, worn with short bangs or clipped off to the side. It was a simple style but drastically different from popular longer hairstyles of the era, such as the Gibson.

Irene Castle, c.1915

It all started in 1915 with the debut of the "Castle Bob", named for the first woman credited  with doing the do'. The first "official" bob was more about  convenience than anything else. Irene Castle, a famous ballroom dancer in the early 1900s, first cut her hair short as a young school girl to hide the fact that she was sneaking off to go swimming during classes. Friends and classmates copied her look but outraged parents and school officials forced them to be decent young ladies and grow their hair back. Irene would again cut her hair short a few years later as professional dancer. This time her trendsetting cut would trigger a whole fashion revolution.

The bob cut was rebellious, scandalous, and liberating, perfect for the more open-minded youth of the day who were so willing to step away from the strict social rules of the Victorian and Edwardian era.

Colleen Moore

In the beginning of the 1920s, the bob was a style that only the most daring young women would wear. It was still completely unacceptable for young ladies to wear such an unladylike, boyish hairstyle.  It wasn’t until Hollywood stepped in that the trend really took off. In the 1923 silent film "Flaming Youth", actress Colleen Moore played a flapper who bobbed her hair. After this, many actresses and well known flappers, such as Louise Brooks and Clara Bow, bobbed their hair, officially making the bob a symbol of the flapper.

Barbershop c.1920s

Barber cutting a bob

Women’s hairstylists were not happy with the new trend. They only had experience with styling long hair and weren’t able to cut the new short do's. Women who wanted bobs had no choice but to go to men’s barbers. Barbershops were filled with long lines of women waiting to be bobbed and unhappy men. At one point there were reports of up to 2,000 bobs per day. Hairstylists soon realized that if they wanted to keep business going they would have to learn how to cut short hair. As their skills improved, more sophisticated cuts and styles emerged.

Styling bobs

The Shingle Bob

The shingle or the "boyish bob" was introduced in the mid 1920's. Hair was cut really short, then tapered into a V-shape at the nape of the neck with either waves or spit curls at the sides. The older generation hated this cut even more than the regular bob.

By the late 1920s,  the shingle bob or any bob for that matter, would no longer be considered scandalous. Women had clearly made their point – they had every right to look as they pleased.  Severe bobs would stay in the 1920s as the 1930s would usher in softer, more feminine styles.

Bob variations

P.S.
Irene Castle's haircut was not the only major fashion trend she helped start up. Her famously designed dresses(by Lucy, Lady Duff-Gordon) began the transition from the more formal Edwardian dresses to the  flapper styles of the 1920's.

Irene Castle