Top 10 Hair Trends of the Past – That Might Be Making a Comeback Soon!

Lots of popular, iconic hair trends have come and gone over the years. But every once in a while, a blast from the past will come back and rock our modern worlds.

Our salon mavens have been on the lookout lately, and we’ve found the time-travelling tresses that everyone will be asking their hairdresser for in the coming months. Which hair trends will we look back on in retrospect a decade from now cringing in disgust, and which ones will we proudly proclaim “I was the one who brought that gorgeous look back from the dead”? Only time will tell!

In this article:

1. Big Hair, Retro-Style
2. Bows (Brought to You by the Royal Family)
3. Claw Clips
4. Platinum “Nirvana” Blonde
5. Shag, Shag, and More Shag
6. Asymmetrical Undercut
7. Curly Bobs
8. The “Lob”
9. High Fade Textured Fringe
10. The Side Part

Big Hair, Retro-Style

Ask the nearest New Jersey hairdresser you can find about big hair, and she’ll tell you: “the higher the hair, the closer to heaven”.

And the sky certainly has been the limit for most hairdressers lately. This look is starting to pop up everywhere, from runway models strutting their stuff down the catwalk with pounds of extensions feathered around their faces to the average girl next door who wants to tease up her crown for a more dramatic look.

Rihanna even went super retro with it recently, adding a classic 60s flip curl to the ends of her hair. Big hair is like the peacock of hairstyles: it’s a tall, wide, bold way to make a statement and announce to everyone in the world “look at me, I have arrived! You can start the party now!”

Bows
(Brought to You by the Royal Family)

When a member of the royal family starts a new trend, it catches on like wildfire. The British knocked it out of the park again recently by accessorizing their hair with bows.

Maybe they want us to believe that the royals are the gift that keeps on giving? Maybe they wanted to remind us peasants that their divinely-appointed ponytails are fancier and more regal than everyone else’s? Or maybe there was actually nothing better around to secure their hair other than an elegant spool of ribbon?

We’d love to have been a fly on the wall in the room when they made that decision; until then, we can only speculate.

Claw Clips

Most of the time they’re cheap, plastic, break easily, and they are the staple hair styling tool for women who don’t have that much time in the morning. So we weren’t expecting everyone to start wearing them to work or out on the street.

But if you’re the type of fashionista who pays attention to the ebb and flow of the world of style, you probably jumped on the bandwagon early and enthusiastically. With a claw clip, a clever updo, and just the right amount of style, many women are making people stop and stare, asking themselves “is she running late for work…or for the runway?”

Platinum “Nirvana” Blonde

Kurt Cobain was an unwitting pioneer of style during the grunge years of 90’s fashion. And his iconic tousled locks of bleached blonde hair have been popping up all over the place lately.

Yes, the hairstyle makes one take a sad pause and think back on the life of the brilliant artist who was tragically lost to us too soon. But on the bright side, look how fabulous these stars are rocking this platinum blonde look today!

Shag, Shag, and More Shag

The phrase “why don’t we shag?” has adopted a completely different meaning lately (compared to what it was used for many years ago by one particular international man of mystery). In salons all across the world, the modern version of “shag” describes a haircut of various lengths characterized by messy, uneven layers and a natural wave.

Women have been returning to this hair style again and again over the years because of its easy, convenient, “wash and go” effortlessness. And we’re not joking – if you have a good stylist who cuts it just right, you can get that “I swear I just woke up like this” look by actually just waking up like that and towel-drying your hair.

Although if you still want to spend the money and the time styling your hair in a way that’s meant to make it look effortless, we certainly won’t ruin your fun! Get down with your bad self.

Asymmetrical Undercut Hair Trend

If the History channel and their golden child Vikings are to be believed, this hair style is a blast from way back in the past.

Back in ancient times, certain cultures were wise enough to realize that women could be formidable warriors, too. But something had to be done about all that long hair. It doesn’t exactly work well in combat. From this need, the asymmetrical undercut was born.

These cuts became so popular among the “shield maidens” of their time that even the men started adopting the trend!

Today, the struggle for female empowerment is stronger than ever before – and women everywhere are channeling their inner warrior goddess by rocking this look. Best of all, if you have really thick hair, you can part it on the opposite side of your shave and cover it up. It’s trendy and versatile!

Naturally Curly Hair Styles

Women with naturally curly hair – especially women of color – have felt a lot of pressure in modern times to relax and straighten and hide their curls in order to keep up with others’ standards of beauty.

Well, not anymore!

Natural hair is poised to make a comeback, and it’s about time. The easiest and most popular way for women to flaunt their beautiful, natural curls has always been the chin-length curly bob.

We’re going to go out on a limb and predict that pretty soon, the curly perms of previous decades may come back in style so that straight- and wavy-haired women can get in on the fun!

The “Lob”

The lob is the name of a hairstyle which is a portmanteau combining the word “long” with the word “bob”. Hence, the lob.

It’s like a bob, but a little bit longer – usually descending beyond the traditional boundary of a regular bob and going at least an inch or two past the shoulders.

Now, before you ask a silly question like “well, isn’t that just medium length hair?”, Let us assure you that it is completely different!

Medium length hair is dull and boring. The lob is a popular, evergreen, trendy haircut that is now dominating both the runways and the high end beauty scene. The differences between the two are fairly obvious.

High Fade Textured Fringe

As much fun as it is to talk about women’s hair trends, we feel like it’s only fair to dedicate a little bit of time to the men, also. After all, most of them still have hair, right?

One particularly popular style once was – and now is again – the “high fade with textured fringe”.

The high fade is a very close cut which extends from the nape of the neck and climbs up on all sides until all but the crown of the head is a short, soft layer of peach fuzz (in other words, not quite bald but close). The remaining hair at the top is left relatively long, usually about an inch or so.

From there, men are free to rub some product between their palms and style it however they see fit. This look works particularly well on men who are also sporting a modest amount of well-kempt facial hair.

The Side Part Classic Hair Style

The classic “Boy Next Door” side part never really goes out of style for men’s fashion; it just takes on different forms as time goes on. It’s similar to women’s “big hair” and/or “the shag” hair trends in that way.

But the moderately long side part is making a big comeback for men soon. This haircut will likely give you flashbacks of sock hops, soda jerks, doo-wop groups, and pinning your sweetheart before the big school dance.

And that concludes our list of the top 10 hair trends of the past that are getting ready to make a comeback! Now that you know what’s coming, you have time to get down to the salon and ask your ‘dresser to help you rock that nouveau-retro look. Hurry up, before they go out of style again!