1950s

Hairstyles to Follow Siren Trend

July 20, 1957

The clean sweep of bang over the forehead accentuates the eyes and mouth in this Lorelei coiffure. Soft, deep waves carry the upward feeling around to the back of the head.

Gentlemen, watch out — and ladies, take care! A suggestion of the siren is high style in hair style this coming fall and winter. The new trend for styles has been dubbed the "Siren Lift" by the official hair fashion committee of the National Hairdressers and Cosmetologists Association, the hair fashion authority of the beauty profession.

If you think you are not the siren type, wait until you try one of the new coiffures, the stylists advise. Because the “Siren Lift” actually harks back to an exciting magic as old as Eve's and as alluring as a siren’s song.

For one thing, bangs will be big news in the new style trend. But not the thin or severely straight bangs you may have in mind. This is a completely new idea in bangs. They are full, lifted a little to bring attention to the eyes and mouth. There is a hint of curl to give you the feeling that your hair is once again the most important beauty asset in the entire fashion picture.

Short Cuts with Flirty Backs Give Uplifting Experience

Hair is shorter again. You will find it is short enough to be curled into a lifted look at the back of the head, but not too short to have a wonderfully full and flattering back-interest.

Front view or back view, your hair must be your most beautiful accessory, and with good reason, too. The fashion silhouette demands it. Even the millinery news for fall requires that your hair be in view. Hats will be worn to the back of the head. Many will be beret-shaped, or have a shower-capped look exposing a wide expanse for provocative bangs.

Since this is definitely to be the season for the “femme fatale,” and your hair can make you one all experts agree, you will want to think about making sure that your hair color is more your own, too.

Fashionable Colors for Clothes, Makeup, and Nails

Color will be important this fall, since clothes will be simple. Vivid shades of clear reds, electric blues, true greens and real browns will dominate the clothing picture. What better time to enhance your own hair color by having it toned into a definite and true shade? You need not stray from your original color, but just bring it out into your own shade's loveliest highlights.

And do not overlook new colors and applications of cosmetics. Discover which of the new clear reds with a bluish cast, or sienna red shades, in lipstick and nail polish are most ideally suited to you for day time wear, and which of the pale pinks will add the most glamour to your make-up for high fashion evening wear.

Make your plans to be a siren this fall and warn the gentlemen a bit ahead of time. That is only fair for a lady.

Lifted waves add a contrasting note of excitement to the serene face in this Enchantress hair style. Upward movement at the back continues the sense of action in conflict with repose in line with the new fashion trend, the “Siren Lift.”

'Worst-Tressed’ Actress Title To Marilyn Monroe

April 8, 1954

Marilyn Monroe was dubbed America’s “worst-tressed” actress today in a poll of beauty shop operators, because she “always looks like a shaggy dog.” The cosmetologists said the blonde starlet should cut at least three inches off her hair.

Elizabeth Taylor’s “youthful, yet sophisticated” and “always glamourously trim’’ hair style won her plaudits as the “best-tressed” actress.

Results of the poll were announced by Harry Robins, director of educational research for a St. Paul firm which manufactures beauty shop equipment. He said 723 salon operators were interviewed and 332 voted Miss Monroe had the least desirable locks, while Miss Taylor got top honors from 253.

Runners-up in the “worst” category included Rita Hayworth; Leslie Caron; and Audrey Hepburn. Near the top in the “best” voting were Lana Turner; Arlene Dahl; Ava Gardner; and Claudette Colbert.

Elizabeth Taylor's Southern Charm

Her gorgeous white dress was more memorable in this 1958 film than her hair or her thick southern accent, but it's the look which seemed to capture her persona for the decade. The signature element of distinction is a curl for a subtle side bang that is brushed forward. Taylor's current IMDB page offers a picture of a similar style but it has more curls and they point inwards from both sides. Frankly it's not a very flattering hairstyle and certainly not worthy of such a screen queen. It has never appeared on another actress in recent years, and most hairstyles today if they show any movement, do so in the opposite direction.