Today’s #explorearchives hashtag is #hairyarchives. We absolutely love this theme and as a challenge to ourselves we thought we would attempt to find at least one hairy archive for each decade since DMU opened as the Leicester College of Art in 1870!
1870s
Some elaborate tresses from The Englishwoman’s Domestic Magazine, 1876.
1880s
Two famous beards: Charles Darwin and Dante Gabriel Rossetti, from the Illustrated London News 1882
1890s
Simple hairstyles in this French fashion magazine from 1894 – but also adverts to “revive” the colour in grey hair!
1900s
Elaborate yet practical hairstyles on women students at the Leicester Municipal Technical and Art School, as shown in publicity photographs from the 1905 prospectus.
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- Promotional image from the 1904-05 prospectus
Close up from the 1904-05 images showing the ladies with their hair tied back with some very pretty bows.
1910s
For ladies in the 1910s it was all about an elaborate hat (and a boater for the gents it seems) as this fashion plate from Chic Parisien shows:
‘Chic Parisien’ c 1909-1914
But to be able to get such a fancy construction on one’s head the fashion for the high bun, piled on top of the head, was adapted into the Psyche knot where “hair rats” padded out the sides – giving some much-needed support for the wideness of the hats – while the bun sat above the nape of the neck at the back.
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- Wide-brimmed hats resting on the Psyche bun
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- The Psyche bun sans elaborate hats
1920s
The oh-so-stylish bob for the girls, and short back and sides for the boys in these images of the School of Art and the School of Technology from 1928.
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- The Girls
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- The Boys
1930s
The acute angles of the bob stated to give way to the softer ‘elegant wave’ in the 1930s and literally every model in Vogue 1930-35 appears to have this variation on a theme.
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- Vogue 1930
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- Vogue 1935
1940s
Victory Rolls and Brylcreem for these wartime students from the press cuttings collection.
1950s
Look at these three classic children’s ‘dos from the fifties. Such cuties. From Donovan on Child Portraiture 1950 from the Photographers Gallery Library.
Not a hair out of place!!!!!
1960s
No-nonsense sporting hair from the 1964 edition of World Sports.
1962
Pictured: John White, footballer; Robert Hayes and Robert Taramore, sprinters and Paul Schmidt and Peter Kilford, 800m runners.
1970s
The boys are looking distinctly more hairy with their ‘tache and sideburns for the funky 1970s!
1980s
Big hair, crops and mullets for these 1980s students, found in the press cuttings collection.
1990s
From the student magazine The Voice these three 1990s indie-rock bands all exhibit the boy-next-door floppy fringe look.
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- UK rock group, Supergrass
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- Pulp frontman, Jarvis Cocker
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- UK Indie-rock band, The Bluetones
2000s
Fashion hair styles in the early noughties was often an experimental global mash-up with a bit of an 80s twist, featuring plaits, crimps and, of course, hair extensions for some extra bounce and volume here and there. Here we have 3 students from the Creative Design Industries 2007 showingcasing some trendy noughties’ hairdos.
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- Spikes
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- The ‘Fro
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- and the long-layered look
2010s
And now to finish off this spectacular journey of historical hair we have some contemporary examples by Special Collections staff and its fab volunteers!
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- Our volunteer, Molly, and the dip-dyed look
Steven’s hipster beard
Our fab Frontrunner, Shikha, and the long dip-dyed look
