Hair through the Decades – 1980s

Published: 13 Sep, 2023

As we’ve travelled through hair history in these posts, from the roaring twenties to the swinging sixties, the nostalgia and beauty of the previous eras has been lovely to see, but, as we crash into the 1980s, I fear we won’t be so much admiring the styles as maybe laughing at them!

With such a varied fashion and culture landscape in the 80s, the scope for hair was vast, with styles ranging from Mohicans for the punks, crimps, perms and the dreaded mullet just to name a few. It’s a possibility that with a few more decades we might be able to look back on the 80s with awe… or not! But we can definitely look back with fondness and fun, that’s for sure!

Big Hair, Don’t Care

The 80s were all about big hair, backcombed, permed, crimped and hair-sprayed to within an inch of its life! Queens of big hair included celebs like Madonna, Brooke Shields and Melanie Griffiths.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BdblBQAhXYA/?tagged=1980shair

https://www.instagram.com/p/BO1E07tgUmd/?tagged=1980shair

Wild and Untamed

Continuing with the bigger is a better theme, these wild styles as seen on the likes of Cyndi Lauper and Christina Applegate are all about that rock chick impact! Letting your wild side out was what the 80s truly encompassed!

https://www.instagram.com/p/BfVwy4zAETn/?tagged=80shair

https://www.instagram.com/p/BfQ02FCFfkd/?tagged=80shair

Poodle Perms and Mullets Ahoy!

When it came to the men of to 80s, you couldn’t swing a cat without hitting a mulleted mister or a poodle-permed fella!

https://www.instagram.com/p/BfROlIrHLvE/?tagged=80shair

Looking good guys…

https://www.instagram.com/p/BfdjLzZBWVt/?tagged=mullet

Yikes! Well, we think you’ll agree that this step back in time has been more than hair-raising  (sorry we couldn’t resist) and we’re not entirely sure we’re ready for an 80s comeback quite yet!

So now it’s confession time… Which 80s masterpiece did you sport back in the day? Maybe you loved the crimpers, side ponytail, or backcombed your hair to the extreme. So go on, leave a comment below or on our Facebook post, we’d love to hear from you!