Bob Cuts

Celebrating the Roaring Twenties in a Special Series

While I am still happy with a bob haircut (and loooooving short hair in general), each time I visit my hairdresser Alex from Lady Marmalade, I have to indulge him and let him do something a little different – otherwise he gets bored. (And a bored hairdresser is a dangerous hairdresser.)

After cross-examining me about what I was into at the moment (minimalism), Alex came to the conclusion that a sharper, more geometric cut would be the go this time. The last few bobs my hair has either angled up or down, with a more three-dimensional look; this time he cut it straight across for a simpler shape. He also left my bangs much longer than previously, which of course means he will see me sooner than usual for a trim.

(Left to right, from top): Gloria Swanson, Irene Castle, Marion Davies, Pola Negri, Virginia Valli, Aileen Pringle, Billie Dove, Colleen Moore and Blanche Sweet. (Click on image for larger version.)I have flirted with bobs all my life in many permutations, but not quite as many as this collection found at Glamour Daze. (I have never been tempted by sideburns, for instance – Leatrice Joy’s hairdo below is distinctly joyless.) Why do I like a bob so much, I wondered? It’s classic, simple, elegant, but it is also cute, sexy and somewhat fey. I am sure I am much more mischievous wearing a bob too! And of course I like it simply because I have been enamoured of the 1920s forever.

Leatrice Joy

Whenever I have cut my hair short again after growing it, everyone always exclaims how much it suits me – and I reflect how by comparison I feel so dowdy with long hair. I think I will be wearing it short for a while to come. (I might let Alex cut it into a different style one day though. Maybe. It won’t have sideburns though.)