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80's hair styles: big hair

Hair styles of the 80s are the most diverse and humorous characteristics of this decade. In early 80s, the New Romantic fashion styles kicked off the decade with great hair experimentation. For a while there seemed to be a competition to see who could build the tallest hair, have the strangest angles, or a favourite of this site - how much plastic, metal and mousse you could fit into your hair and still keep your head upright. In this first part of on ongoing series, eighty-eightynine will look at big hair.

Big hair is not unique to the 80s - the 60s had the beehive and the 70s had the afro. What set the 80s hair styles apart was their diversity. The start of the decade saw the extravagance of strange hair colours and cuts. By 1984 the trends had settled and focused on one simple concept - volume. More hair was better. Bananarama had some of best examples of 80s hair - pretty much reflecting the fashions of the decade (but maybe not the best fashions) from cuts styles to volume and flicks. The 'Hair Bands' of the 1980s applied this style which was strongest around 1987-88. Your hair could go up, out and down. It could look like you put your head in a candy floss machine - as long as it wasn't straight - this was the ultimate sin in the early 80s (often met with the criticism 'she needs to do something with that hair').

By 87-88, the 70s started to return and it was suddenly OK to have a retro look. You could even have short hair provided it was bleached, dyed a bright color or spiked with hair gel).

Many accessories were available to assist with this process - you could tease your hair and stick it up with mousse. Some mousse even contained glitter or other sparkle pieces to give your hair 'extra interest and individuality'. If you think shampoo stings, try getting glitter mousse in your eyes - a common occurrence as some brands tended to flake.

Like any cultural period, bands of the 80s reflected styles of the decade. Below you will find images of Dave Stewart, Sisters of Mercy, Bananarama and more. If you want more 80s fashion, see the Leg Warmers section of this site.