0:00:20 > 0:00:23MUSIC: "Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow?" by The Shirelles
0:00:27 > 0:00:31# Tonight you're mine completely... #
0:00:32 > 0:00:33Hair.
0:00:33 > 0:00:35We've dyed it...
0:00:35 > 0:00:36curled it...
0:00:36 > 0:00:38teased and tousled it.
0:00:38 > 0:00:40We've confined it with lacquer,
0:00:40 > 0:00:42and we've let it flow free.
0:00:44 > 0:00:48It's the one part of our identity we can change in an instant.
0:00:48 > 0:00:52# But will you love me tomorrow...? #
0:00:54 > 0:00:58Yet a hairstyle can be cruelly ephemeral, a passing trend,
0:00:58 > 0:01:00and in Britain, we've had plenty of those.
0:01:00 > 0:01:02From hair-raising up dos
0:01:02 > 0:01:04and geometric bobs,
0:01:04 > 0:01:06to sleek cuts and bubble perms.
0:01:08 > 0:01:11Each generation has had its own hair heroes,
0:01:11 > 0:01:14who brought with them a string of must-have creations.
0:01:21 > 0:01:24We'd all go out on weekends dancing,
0:01:24 > 0:01:28and all you'd see coming towards you was this great mass of hair!
0:01:31 > 0:01:34I used to love my Afro.
0:01:34 > 0:01:38I had an electric Afro comb, which not many people had at the time,
0:01:38 > 0:01:40so every time I used it to comb my hair,
0:01:40 > 0:01:41it made it even bigger.
0:01:42 > 0:01:45Hairdos could go from the sublime
0:01:45 > 0:01:47to the ridiculous.
0:01:47 > 0:01:48They united us,
0:01:48 > 0:01:50and tore us apart.
0:01:50 > 0:01:53It's their dirty appearance!
0:01:53 > 0:01:56To have these...filthy things walking about the street
0:01:56 > 0:01:58is most objectionable.
0:01:59 > 0:02:01Through our hair, we've reflected
0:02:01 > 0:02:03not just who we are, but how we live.
0:02:05 > 0:02:11In the 1950s, progress was seen as, you know, rockets and the moon,
0:02:11 > 0:02:13and all this new technology.
0:02:13 > 0:02:16In a sense, then, hairdressing reflected that,
0:02:16 > 0:02:18with all this... SHE HISSES
0:02:20 > 0:02:23Little else captures the essence of Britain better than our hair.
0:02:25 > 0:02:28And, looking back, many of us understand our past,
0:02:28 > 0:02:31not by what headline was splashed across the newspapers,
0:02:31 > 0:02:33but by who was wearing what hairstyle.
0:02:34 > 0:02:37As much as there was, you know, a fashion revolution
0:02:37 > 0:02:38and there was a style revolution,
0:02:38 > 0:02:41there was very definitely a social revolution.
0:02:41 > 0:02:45The haircut was absolutely suited
0:02:45 > 0:02:49to the social-economic situation at the time,
0:02:49 > 0:02:52which is probably why they were so successful,
0:02:52 > 0:02:54because they just reflected what was going on.
0:02:55 > 0:02:58# So tell me now
0:02:58 > 0:03:03# And I won't ask again
0:03:03 > 0:03:08# Will you still love me tomorrow?
0:03:10 > 0:03:15# Will you still love me tomorrow? #
0:03:19 > 0:03:22In the years during and following the Second World War,
0:03:22 > 0:03:25Britain struggled on through difficult times.
0:03:26 > 0:03:28MUSIC: "Zou Bisou Bisou" by Gillian Hills
0:03:28 > 0:03:30But, through all the austerity,
0:03:30 > 0:03:32there was one man, a glittering figure,
0:03:32 > 0:03:35who made it his mission that, despite everything,
0:03:35 > 0:03:38we would have the most exquisitely coiffured hair.
0:03:38 > 0:03:40And he went by the name of Raymond.
0:03:43 > 0:03:45WOMAN GASPS: Who was Raymond?
0:03:45 > 0:03:48He was, allegedly, rinsing,
0:03:48 > 0:03:49in the War...
0:03:51 > 0:03:53..women's hair with champagne.
0:03:54 > 0:03:57# Zou bisou bisou, zou bisou
0:03:57 > 0:03:59# Zou bisou means that I love you... #
0:04:03 > 0:04:07I always knew when somebody really did go to him.
0:04:07 > 0:04:10It was a cut that was...
0:04:10 > 0:04:12so perfect,
0:04:12 > 0:04:15and in such a way cut that you couldn't actually...
0:04:15 > 0:04:18You couldn't do anything else with it, that was it.
0:04:22 > 0:04:26Raymond Bessone was born and grew up in Brixton,
0:04:26 > 0:04:30but his outsized personality, complete with faux French accent,
0:04:30 > 0:04:33brought some much-needed Continental glamour to '50s Britain.
0:04:33 > 0:04:36His Mayfair salon became THE place
0:04:36 > 0:04:38for the great and the good to get their hair done.
0:04:41 > 0:04:46He always wore carnations dyed to go with his suit.
0:04:46 > 0:04:51That was Raymond - he was brilliant. A brilliant publicist, brilliant.
0:04:53 > 0:04:56And Raymond made full use of the media of the day
0:04:56 > 0:04:59to bring his hair creations to the Great British public.
0:05:04 > 0:05:08A chat show on the BBC in the very early '50s.
0:05:08 > 0:05:11And they used to have a hairdresser come along
0:05:11 > 0:05:15and do a hairstyle, which was very nice, and it was Raymond.
0:05:15 > 0:05:17And a couple of times, he had a little bit of hair
0:05:17 > 0:05:19he didn't know what to do with sticking out,
0:05:19 > 0:05:21so he'd like push it and put it there,
0:05:21 > 0:05:24and the girl who was commenting, "What is that, Mr Raymond?"
0:05:24 > 0:05:26"Oh," he said, "I'll call that a teasy-weasy."
0:05:26 > 0:05:29And after that, that's how his name became Teasy-Weasys,
0:05:29 > 0:05:32cos he had teasy-weasy there, and teasy-weasy there,
0:05:32 > 0:05:34and teasy-weasys all over the place.
0:05:35 > 0:05:39And he used to come out on the stage in this magnificent cloak,
0:05:39 > 0:05:45with his jet-black hair with a white streak in it, and he used to be
0:05:45 > 0:05:49accompanied by his dogs, which he'd actually dyed this season's colours,
0:05:49 > 0:05:52and he gave haircuts the most fantastic names -
0:05:52 > 0:05:54things like the champagne bubble cut.
0:05:54 > 0:05:58So he really, I think, revolutionised even just the selling
0:05:58 > 0:06:00of hairdressing to women, it became incredibly glamorous.
0:06:06 > 0:06:09This crimper extraordinaire would bestow on the world of hairdressing
0:06:09 > 0:06:11its greatest gift...
0:06:18 > 0:06:21The voluminous but smooth style of the bouffant
0:06:21 > 0:06:23quickly captured the hearts and heads of British women.
0:06:27 > 0:06:29If you didn't have a bouffant hairstyle,
0:06:29 > 0:06:32you weren't one of the crowd, sort of thing, you know.
0:06:32 > 0:06:35We'd all go out on weekends dancing,
0:06:35 > 0:06:38and all you'd see coming towards you
0:06:38 > 0:06:41was this great mass of hair for everybody!
0:06:44 > 0:06:49When I got married, I had a cottage loaf.
0:06:49 > 0:06:52I don't expect you know what that is, do you? No.
0:06:52 > 0:06:57Where your hair is bouffant and came in at the ears, then it came out.
0:07:01 > 0:07:04The bouffant was bold, confident and modern,
0:07:04 > 0:07:08expressing the optimism of the '50s.
0:07:08 > 0:07:11Fashion became all about perfection, good grooming,
0:07:11 > 0:07:13looking very neat and tidy.
0:07:13 > 0:07:15It was all very controlled, you know.
0:07:15 > 0:07:19When you look at the couture that's coming out of Paris with Dior's New Look,
0:07:19 > 0:07:22it's all about very restrictive undergarments,
0:07:22 > 0:07:25and I think hair, in a way, became quite restricted.
0:07:25 > 0:07:27You know, you'd get women's hair being permed,
0:07:27 > 0:07:32and the perm was a foundation to a very groomed and set look.
0:07:34 > 0:07:36Women got into the practice of going to the salons
0:07:36 > 0:07:38at least once a week to have their hair done,
0:07:38 > 0:07:43so it's very much about being almost the perfect housewife.
0:07:45 > 0:07:46# Hey, little girl
0:07:46 > 0:07:49# Comb your hair, fix your make-up
0:07:49 > 0:07:54# Soon, he will open the door... #
0:07:55 > 0:07:59The decade saw an explosion in the number of plush new hair salons
0:07:59 > 0:08:01catering to a growing breed of affluent women.
0:08:03 > 0:08:07A leading figure in this world was Rose Cannan, formerly Evansky,
0:08:07 > 0:08:10who owned one of the most prestigious salons.
0:08:11 > 0:08:14My clientele existed of
0:08:14 > 0:08:16women solicitors...
0:08:18 > 0:08:20I even had a judge,
0:08:20 > 0:08:21women like that.
0:08:23 > 0:08:26Rose drew on all the latest Continental innovations
0:08:26 > 0:08:28to get the best results for her clients.
0:08:29 > 0:08:34There was an advertisement of two hands in the advertisement
0:08:34 > 0:08:37with rollers on each finger.
0:08:37 > 0:08:41Eureka! That was it! That's what I want!
0:08:41 > 0:08:45Well, in the end, they weren't big enough for me and I made my own,
0:08:45 > 0:08:50bigger, out of metal chicken wire or something.
0:08:50 > 0:08:54But it wasn't just society ladies that wanted the coiffured look.
0:08:54 > 0:08:56Women everywhere flocked into the salons.
0:09:04 > 0:09:08The status of going to the hairdresser's was quite important
0:09:08 > 0:09:11to that age group in their late 20s and 30s.
0:09:11 > 0:09:13It's seen as typical of a generation
0:09:13 > 0:09:16that reached adulthood in the Second World War,
0:09:16 > 0:09:18progressed into the 1950s
0:09:18 > 0:09:20in their late 20s and 30s,
0:09:20 > 0:09:25and continued to follow that perming, fairly tight curls
0:09:25 > 0:09:28and set and styled each week.
0:09:31 > 0:09:34And, for many women, the weekly visit to the hairdresser's
0:09:34 > 0:09:36is a ritual that has continued throughout their lives.
0:09:38 > 0:09:42I come here every Friday, and Lynne does my hair.
0:09:43 > 0:09:47I've been coming here since I was a teenager,
0:09:47 > 0:09:49and I'm 76 now.
0:09:51 > 0:09:55I used to come in once a week and have it done at the salon
0:09:55 > 0:09:59and then I'd do it myself after, you know,
0:09:59 > 0:10:02I could manage quite well after.
0:10:03 > 0:10:06MUSIC: "Higher and Higher" by Dusty Springfield
0:10:06 > 0:10:08As the '50s moved into the '60s,
0:10:08 > 0:10:12a desire to reach for ever dizzying heights seemed everywhere.
0:10:14 > 0:10:16And a new generation of baby boomers pushed the bouffant
0:10:16 > 0:10:19to its limits, taking it higher and higher.
0:10:21 > 0:10:25# Your love is lifting me higher
0:10:25 > 0:10:29# Than it's ever Been lifted before... #
0:10:31 > 0:10:35There's almost a fork in the road in hairstyling according to age.
0:10:35 > 0:10:40Younger generations started to experiment with these bigger hairstyles,
0:10:40 > 0:10:43lacquered, high heels, stiletto shoes,
0:10:43 > 0:10:46almost as a move away, this new generation that was seen
0:10:46 > 0:10:49as different from that slightly older generation.
0:10:49 > 0:10:52And the most hair-raising hairdo of them all was...
0:10:53 > 0:10:55..the beehive.
0:11:03 > 0:11:06I think the beehive is the pinnacle of big hair.
0:11:07 > 0:11:12There were iconic beehives and iconic women celebrities that wore them,
0:11:12 > 0:11:14such as Dusty Springfield.
0:11:15 > 0:11:18They created this look of a kind of husky sexiness,
0:11:18 > 0:11:22so there was a real sexuality to some versions of the beehive.
0:11:28 > 0:11:31Big hair became more streamlined,
0:11:31 > 0:11:34and more kind of conical
0:11:34 > 0:11:36and I always kind of think
0:11:36 > 0:11:38that it was interesting that, at that time,
0:11:38 > 0:11:40when you looked at American styling,
0:11:40 > 0:11:42certainly with the space race when you had rockets,
0:11:42 > 0:11:46it was almost like the faster the space race became,
0:11:46 > 0:11:50the more conical and more aerodynamic the hair actually became,
0:11:50 > 0:11:52until it couldn't actually get any more.
0:11:52 > 0:11:54MUSIC: "A Thousand Stars" by Kathy Young and The Innocents
0:11:54 > 0:11:57# A thousand stars in the sky
0:11:57 > 0:12:01# Like the stars in your eyes
0:12:01 > 0:12:03# They say to me... #
0:12:03 > 0:12:04To reach these heady heights,
0:12:04 > 0:12:07the now notorious technique of backcombing was essential.
0:12:09 > 0:12:12If you don't backcomb, then you'll find it harder
0:12:12 > 0:12:15to get the bigness in the hair. By backcombing,
0:12:15 > 0:12:17you're just creating texture,
0:12:17 > 0:12:19and it's what gives you the base
0:12:19 > 0:12:21for what you then kind of wrap over.
0:12:21 > 0:12:25The more you backcomb, you create more and more volume to the hair.
0:12:26 > 0:12:28I could see why some women might
0:12:28 > 0:12:30feel more powerful with bigger hair.
0:12:30 > 0:12:32I'm not sure I do.
0:12:32 > 0:12:34Big to me is party hair.
0:12:34 > 0:12:36Big hair's like going-out hair.
0:12:38 > 0:12:41MUSIC: "Sophisticated Boom-Boom" by The Shangri-Las
0:12:43 > 0:12:46But great things cannot be achieved by backcombing alone...
0:12:48 > 0:12:51..and '60s advances in science were on hand to help stylists
0:12:51 > 0:12:56build a rock-solid foundation to sculpt with.
0:12:56 > 0:12:59Hairspray had been developed as a result of the war in the Pacific,
0:12:59 > 0:13:04because it was...you know, aerosols were invented for mosquito sprays.
0:13:04 > 0:13:06So you could actually make your hair stay up.
0:13:08 > 0:13:09# Now stand up straight and tall
0:13:09 > 0:13:11# Like your back's Against a wall... #
0:13:11 > 0:13:13They were very strong lacquers,
0:13:13 > 0:13:15so it made the hair nice and stiff.
0:13:15 > 0:13:18And it could last for two or three days without it being combed.
0:13:20 > 0:13:22Some people employed a more DIY method
0:13:22 > 0:13:24to achieve follicular greatness.
0:13:26 > 0:13:28We'd have sugar water.
0:13:28 > 0:13:32Dissolve some sugar in some hot water, spray it on your hair
0:13:32 > 0:13:35and then it would set like concrete.
0:13:35 > 0:13:37So if the wind blew, it didn't make any difference.
0:13:37 > 0:13:39You could tap it, sort of thing.
0:13:42 > 0:13:46I used to employ a couple of Continental boys,
0:13:46 > 0:13:49who were wonderful hairdressers but they'd tell their customers,
0:13:49 > 0:13:52"You go home at night and you do not touch your hair.
0:13:52 > 0:13:55"And if you touch it, I will never do your hair again."
0:13:55 > 0:13:59So they'd sit there, sleeping, frightened to death all week,
0:13:59 > 0:14:00you know, in a hair net,
0:14:00 > 0:14:03because if they touched their hair, it would all come down.
0:14:05 > 0:14:08Some of the girls used to keep theirs up for a week
0:14:08 > 0:14:12and put pillows underneath their necks
0:14:12 > 0:14:15so that the curls didn't touch the pillow.
0:14:15 > 0:14:17But I couldn't manage that.
0:14:18 > 0:14:20I think I aim for perfection.
0:14:20 > 0:14:23They're about solid shapes, a lot of the vintage hairstyles,
0:14:23 > 0:14:26so it's not about moving your head and the hair moving, too.
0:14:26 > 0:14:28I don't want it to move, ever.
0:14:28 > 0:14:30I want to be in the wind or the rain
0:14:30 > 0:14:32and I want it to almost be like a hat.
0:14:34 > 0:14:38And it wasn't just women who were pushing their hair to its limits.
0:14:38 > 0:14:40Men had been experimenting too,
0:14:40 > 0:14:44teasing it up and slicking it back to sport ever more ambitious styles.
0:14:46 > 0:14:49INTERVIEWER: What variety do you offer in the salon?
0:14:49 > 0:14:52We offer every possible variety it's possible to give to a gentleman.
0:14:52 > 0:14:55For instance, we offer style cutting,
0:14:55 > 0:14:57blow-waving, blow-rolling,
0:14:57 > 0:14:59tinting for men, permanent waving...
0:14:59 > 0:15:01In fact, a complete service, manicuring, as well.
0:15:01 > 0:15:04Are they going to become more hair-conscious than women?
0:15:04 > 0:15:05I should say so.
0:15:06 > 0:15:08'A DA is a Boston.'
0:15:08 > 0:15:12The haircut straight across, which they do now instead of tapering,
0:15:12 > 0:15:13and then it was all brought into like a...
0:15:13 > 0:15:15Can I say duck's arse?
0:15:15 > 0:15:17Yes, like that, and then the comb was put down there,
0:15:17 > 0:15:19and that's what they called a DA.
0:15:20 > 0:15:23Then, of course, you had the Perry Como,
0:15:23 > 0:15:26which was the flat tops and straight parting
0:15:26 > 0:15:28and just touching the tops of the ears.
0:15:28 > 0:15:30Most important of all was...
0:15:30 > 0:15:31the quiff.
0:15:36 > 0:15:37- ARCHIVE:- '..fails to rise to the occasion.
0:15:37 > 0:15:40'And in emergencies like this, when it just isn't long enough,
0:15:40 > 0:15:43'a switch of false hair is thrust into the breach.
0:15:43 > 0:15:47'Not everyone's cup of tea, but this is no time to split hairs.
0:15:52 > 0:15:54'To the customer, it's a mark of distinction.
0:15:54 > 0:15:57'To other folk, it looks like an elephant's trunk.
0:15:57 > 0:15:59'Which is just what it is called.
0:15:59 > 0:16:01'We repeat, the elephant's trunk.'
0:16:05 > 0:16:09It was the height of having artificiality,
0:16:09 > 0:16:11of visible artificiality
0:16:11 > 0:16:15as a status symbol expressed through the hair.
0:16:17 > 0:16:20Leaving your hair in its natural state would have been considered
0:16:20 > 0:16:22really quite old-fashioned
0:16:22 > 0:16:24and, you know, not really the thing to do.
0:16:27 > 0:16:31The over-inflated hairdo reflected this post-War era perfectly.
0:16:31 > 0:16:33It was living proof that anything was possible
0:16:33 > 0:16:35in this bright new world.
0:16:43 > 0:16:45But soon, it looked as if the world of big hair
0:16:45 > 0:16:47might come crashing down.
0:16:50 > 0:16:52# I'm looking for a love maker
0:16:54 > 0:16:56# I ain't looking For no heartbreaker... #
0:16:58 > 0:17:02One of the leading crimpers of his generation decided enough was enough
0:17:02 > 0:17:06and embarked on a one-man campaign against the bulbous high barnet.
0:17:09 > 0:17:13Vidal Sassoon wanted to turn the world of hairdressing on its head.
0:17:13 > 0:17:16Well, actually, we don't consider ourselves hairdressers
0:17:16 > 0:17:18in the true sense.
0:17:18 > 0:17:20I prefer to be called a designer.
0:17:22 > 0:17:26He wanted to cut hair, rather than dress it up into complicated up dos,
0:17:26 > 0:17:29yet some women would need much persuading.
0:17:29 > 0:17:32You're not going to cut my hair forward, are you?
0:17:32 > 0:17:35Well, Linda, when you came in,
0:17:35 > 0:17:38I noticed that your hair was curled back this way.
0:17:38 > 0:17:40Yes, I like it to go back, it's more flattering,
0:17:40 > 0:17:42- I'd rather it went back from there. - Why do you want it to go back?
0:17:42 > 0:17:45- Give me one good reason. - It gives me height up there.
0:17:45 > 0:17:47- So all you're worried about is height, really.- Yes.
0:17:47 > 0:17:49Not that it goes back or forward, but height.
0:17:49 > 0:17:51Yes, but I've always had it going back.
0:17:51 > 0:17:53We don't go with what you've always had!
0:17:57 > 0:18:03In 1963, the film actress Nancy Kwan was brought to Sassoon's salon.
0:18:03 > 0:18:07Dubbed 'The Chinese Bardot', she was at the height of her success
0:18:07 > 0:18:08and it was with some trepidation
0:18:08 > 0:18:10that she agreed to let Vidal cut her hair.
0:18:12 > 0:18:16She had five feet of amazing dark hair.
0:18:16 > 0:18:20And for a new film she was making at that time,
0:18:20 > 0:18:23they wanted to give her this kind of new look,
0:18:23 > 0:18:27so they called up on Vidal to cut Nancy Kwan's hair.
0:18:27 > 0:18:31When she came into the salon, she brought her manager with her,
0:18:31 > 0:18:35and apparently played chess while Vidal cut her hair off.
0:18:35 > 0:18:38Vidal says that, as he took the first snip
0:18:38 > 0:18:41and cut off about three or four feet of hair,
0:18:41 > 0:18:46a single tear kind of ran down her cheek as he was doing it.
0:18:46 > 0:18:49But then, in the end, he phoned his friend, Terence Donovan,
0:18:49 > 0:18:52the photographer, called him up, they ran round to his studio,
0:18:52 > 0:18:54photographed Nancy Kwan,
0:18:54 > 0:18:56and within a week or so,
0:18:56 > 0:19:00it was on the cover of more or less every magazine.
0:19:08 > 0:19:09It was revolutionary.
0:19:09 > 0:19:11It really put hairdressing,
0:19:11 > 0:19:14British hairdressing, on the map, in a way, for ever.
0:19:15 > 0:19:17Sassoon was cutting hair
0:19:17 > 0:19:21as precisely as a tailor cutting the sharpest suit.
0:19:21 > 0:19:22He saw that hair could be cut
0:19:22 > 0:19:26in the same way as cloth, this fashionable cut,
0:19:26 > 0:19:30that those two things kind of came together in this amazing moment.
0:19:31 > 0:19:35But this moment was the result of years of research and development,
0:19:35 > 0:19:39and Vidal's geometric style reached a pinnacle in the five-point cut -
0:19:39 > 0:19:43a look that became famous thanks to a mutually beneficial partnership
0:19:43 > 0:19:45with fashion designer Mary Quant.
0:19:53 > 0:19:57Essentially, in 1963, Mary Quant came to Vidal
0:19:57 > 0:20:00because, obviously, Mary Quant was the mini-dress
0:20:00 > 0:20:02and the sort of geometric shape,
0:20:02 > 0:20:04she wanted haircuts that reflected that,
0:20:04 > 0:20:09so Vidal cut her hair into this shape.
0:20:09 > 0:20:14So, essentially, the shape is cut from the centre of the fringe,
0:20:14 > 0:20:17down into the corners, onto the cheekbone.
0:20:17 > 0:20:21Then a line is cut back along the line of the cheekbone
0:20:21 > 0:20:22to the top of the ears.
0:20:22 > 0:20:26As the shape works into the back, there are two more points,
0:20:26 > 0:20:28one on either side and one in the centre,
0:20:28 > 0:20:32and the lines here directly accentuate the cheekbone.
0:20:32 > 0:20:34And no matter which way the hair fell,
0:20:34 > 0:20:39the whole shape was designed to fall back into this original shape.
0:20:39 > 0:20:43From profile, the graduation that sits into the back
0:20:43 > 0:20:45directly accentuates the roundness of the head,
0:20:45 > 0:20:49which, again, balances with the heaviness of the fringe.
0:20:49 > 0:20:52For me, the five-point was so revolutionary
0:20:52 > 0:20:56because it was one of those movements where it was a complete sea change
0:20:56 > 0:20:58with what was happening before.
0:20:58 > 0:21:02Before, hair was stiff, lacquered into place
0:21:02 > 0:21:05and had, like, a solid kind of look to it.
0:21:05 > 0:21:08What Vidal did, and what we still continue to do,
0:21:08 > 0:21:10is to cut hair to bone structure,
0:21:10 > 0:21:14to allow the hair to move very freely with the wearer,
0:21:14 > 0:21:17but, essentially, it still has that shine,
0:21:17 > 0:21:20movement, tactile quality that,
0:21:20 > 0:21:24even though this shape was pioneered over 50 years ago,
0:21:24 > 0:21:28it still looks resolutely modern today.
0:21:29 > 0:21:31When I first went to New York
0:21:31 > 0:21:33and saw Mies van der Rohe's Seagram's Building,
0:21:33 > 0:21:35I looked at that and I thought,
0:21:35 > 0:21:39"Jeez, hairstyling is so way behind."
0:21:39 > 0:21:42I mean, you know, we're still doing our curls and our waves
0:21:42 > 0:21:45and our bits and pieces, and we're not in...
0:21:45 > 0:21:48We're not working with up-to-date, modern design.
0:21:48 > 0:21:52I felt this very, very strongly. I think now we are.
0:21:57 > 0:22:01The move away from hair setting to precision cutting
0:22:01 > 0:22:02required a new way of working.
0:22:05 > 0:22:08And Vidal was able to draw on a recent innovation
0:22:08 > 0:22:11pioneered by Rose Evansky -
0:22:11 > 0:22:12the blow-dry.
0:22:15 > 0:22:19One day, I was walking down Brook Street, in Mayfair,
0:22:19 > 0:22:24and there was this barber, and he was blow-drying
0:22:24 > 0:22:27a man's hair on the front.
0:22:28 > 0:22:31This was unheard of in the world of women's hairdressing,
0:22:31 > 0:22:34where hair was always set and then dried off under a hood drier
0:22:34 > 0:22:36to create a nice, solid hold.
0:22:37 > 0:22:40But Rose wanted a softer effect.
0:22:40 > 0:22:44A regular client came in and I said, "Let's do something different now."
0:22:44 > 0:22:47And I picked up the brush like the barber did,
0:22:47 > 0:22:49and the hairdryer, and I started...
0:22:51 > 0:22:52Brilliant.
0:22:53 > 0:22:58You were actively working with the hair much more in its natural state,
0:22:58 > 0:23:01so you were removing the moisture from the hair
0:23:01 > 0:23:05to make it fit onto the head, as opposed to artificially enhancing
0:23:05 > 0:23:08the hair to make it do something it didn't do naturally.
0:23:12 > 0:23:16The blow-dry really took off when one of Rose's clients,
0:23:16 > 0:23:18Claire Rendelsham, the editor of Vogue,
0:23:18 > 0:23:21noticed Rose's new way of finishing off hairstyles.
0:23:21 > 0:23:24And, in her inimitable way, she said,
0:23:24 > 0:23:28"Rose, what ARE you doing?"
0:23:28 > 0:23:30And she pissed off out of the...
0:23:30 > 0:23:32I said, "God, I've done it now."
0:23:32 > 0:23:36And that evening, there was a piece in the paper,
0:23:36 > 0:23:40and Barbara Griggs named it "blow wave".
0:23:42 > 0:23:48My husband went mad because we had just bought 20 new hood dryers.
0:23:48 > 0:23:50Well, they were all redundant now, weren't they?
0:23:50 > 0:23:52It took on like wildfire.
0:23:53 > 0:23:56In a sense, it was as revolutionary as the cut,
0:23:56 > 0:23:58the way the hair was finished.
0:24:04 > 0:24:06I think the bob is essentially timeless
0:24:06 > 0:24:09because it can suit any face shape,
0:24:09 > 0:24:12it can suit any hair texture,
0:24:12 > 0:24:15it can be cut at many different lengths,
0:24:15 > 0:24:17it can be layered, soft, dark,
0:24:17 > 0:24:19blonde, highlighted.
0:24:19 > 0:24:21And I think, for that reason,
0:24:21 > 0:24:26it's become the most popular hairstyle of the modern age.
0:24:26 > 0:24:28This is our modern version
0:24:28 > 0:24:32of the classic Nancy Kwan bob.
0:24:37 > 0:24:40The whole idea of hairdressing had been redefined,
0:24:40 > 0:24:44but in some ways, Sassoon was simply harking back to an earlier era.
0:24:46 > 0:24:49Another decade when the economy briefly boomed
0:24:49 > 0:24:52and women cut off their hair.
0:24:52 > 0:24:56The Swinging '60s simply picked up where the Roaring '20s left off.
0:24:56 > 0:24:58When we have the bob revival in the 1960s,
0:24:58 > 0:25:01it's almost the same as it was in the 1920s.
0:25:01 > 0:25:04I mean, the fashion silhouette actually is pretty similar -
0:25:04 > 0:25:07that sporty silhouette with a flat chest,
0:25:07 > 0:25:09a hemline that's on the knee.
0:25:09 > 0:25:13So, in fashion terms, the bob kind of made a sense.
0:25:13 > 0:25:16A further reason the bob made such a big impact in the '60s
0:25:16 > 0:25:20was that over the years, our hair, like our society,
0:25:20 > 0:25:21had got stiffer and stiffer.
0:25:22 > 0:25:26Now, just like us, it was finally starting to break free.
0:25:27 > 0:25:31And for the first time in years, it wasn't stuck in place like concrete.
0:25:31 > 0:25:34The timing of it was perfect, because, as much as there was
0:25:34 > 0:25:38a fashion revolution, there was a very definitely a social revolution.
0:25:38 > 0:25:40You know, liberation, the pill,
0:25:40 > 0:25:43sexual freedom was all around at that time.
0:25:43 > 0:25:45To actually be able to run your fingers
0:25:45 > 0:25:49through another person's hair was completely unheard of,
0:25:49 > 0:25:51because it wasn't possible before.
0:25:53 > 0:25:57Not only did it break hair free from the bonds of lacquer,
0:25:57 > 0:26:00women were now liberated from their weekly trips to the salon
0:26:00 > 0:26:02and hours of cooking under a dryer.
0:26:03 > 0:26:05We kind of emphasise the sexual freedom,
0:26:05 > 0:26:08but there were no more freedoms that women were pushing for.
0:26:08 > 0:26:10You've got the beginnings of early feminism,
0:26:10 > 0:26:14with people like Betty Friedan, and then of course, later on, Germaine Greer.
0:26:14 > 0:26:18And I think the bob for many women was kind of representative
0:26:18 > 0:26:20of 1920s fights for equality,
0:26:20 > 0:26:24but also the fights for equality which were going on in the 1960s.
0:26:26 > 0:26:29In no other era could a young working-class girl
0:26:29 > 0:26:33with a boy's haircut have taken the fashion world by storm
0:26:33 > 0:26:34practically overnight.
0:26:37 > 0:26:40Twiggy was instantly catapulted to fame when she had her hair cut
0:26:40 > 0:26:44into a radically short Eton crop by Leonard's of Mayfair.
0:26:51 > 0:26:54Twiggy's haircut has become incredibly iconic
0:26:54 > 0:26:56because it transformed her career.
0:26:56 > 0:26:59I mean, she went into the hairdressing salon
0:26:59 > 0:27:02with kind of a stringy, mid-length bob,
0:27:02 > 0:27:05because she was a mod, and she was persuaded to cut it off
0:27:05 > 0:27:09into this beautiful, almost little '20s Eton crop.
0:27:09 > 0:27:12A Vogue editor saw the photographs in the window
0:27:12 > 0:27:16that were taken by the great photographer Barry Lategan.
0:27:16 > 0:27:19Twiggy's career was transformed overnight by a haircut.
0:27:20 > 0:27:23It's just so beautiful.
0:27:23 > 0:27:25It is almost like when you see great design...
0:27:27 > 0:27:32..you can't imagine adding anything to it to improve it.
0:27:32 > 0:27:34It's kind of in and of itself.
0:27:34 > 0:27:37It just, if you did anything else than what it is, it would ruin it.
0:27:39 > 0:27:41A lot of young women liked that look,
0:27:41 > 0:27:45but, of course, you have to be like Twiggy, which is very thin,
0:27:45 > 0:27:49very elfin like, very beautiful with, you know, Bambi eyes,
0:27:49 > 0:27:52and I wouldn't think it was particularly widespread,
0:27:52 > 0:27:55because it suited so few women, but it was definitely,
0:27:55 > 0:27:58in terms of an iconic 1960s image, very important.
0:28:00 > 0:28:04Mayfair hairdressers like Leonard and Vidal Sassoon had played
0:28:04 > 0:28:07a key role in pushing Britain to the forefront of global fashion.
0:28:09 > 0:28:11But not all of the decade's iconic haircuts
0:28:11 > 0:28:13came from the pages of Vogue.
0:28:14 > 0:28:17One of the most popular arrived courtesy of the small screen.
0:28:26 > 0:28:30Ready Steady Go! featured a young presenter called Cathy McGowan
0:28:30 > 0:28:33who quickly became a fashion icon.
0:28:33 > 0:28:35Her hair was cut by Leslie Russell.
0:28:36 > 0:28:38What we were always trying to achieve with Cathy's hair
0:28:38 > 0:28:40basically was a long bob.
0:28:40 > 0:28:44Making the hair look shiny and natural,
0:28:44 > 0:28:47and not too formed all the time.
0:28:47 > 0:28:50There were lots of women out there that were ironing their hair,
0:28:50 > 0:28:51certainly of a certain age,
0:28:51 > 0:28:55were ironing their hair to get that straight look,
0:28:55 > 0:28:59which wasn't sort of possible at all at the time in any other way.
0:28:59 > 0:29:03I mean, I subsequently learned how Leslie did it cos I used to stand and help him.
0:29:05 > 0:29:07Leslie Russell and Keith Wainright
0:29:07 > 0:29:11set up their own salon, called Smile, as a deliberate challenge
0:29:11 > 0:29:13to the established hair emporiums of Mayfair.
0:29:14 > 0:29:16The reason for Smile was to try
0:29:16 > 0:29:19and get away from the regular kind of hairdressers,
0:29:19 > 0:29:21which was very high fashion.
0:29:21 > 0:29:24Certainly at Leonards it was, in Mayfair.
0:29:24 > 0:29:27And we wanted, really, to open a salon we wanted to go to ourselves,
0:29:27 > 0:29:32and that meant doing men and women in the same room, lots of pop music.
0:29:33 > 0:29:37And our influence, I think, was this real change in the '60s,
0:29:37 > 0:29:40which some people now call street fashion,
0:29:40 > 0:29:44where it was influenced as much by music,
0:29:44 > 0:29:47and the kind of clients we were doing at the time
0:29:47 > 0:29:52needed not the high-fashion haircut, more relaxed hair.
0:29:52 > 0:29:55MUSIC: "Can't Explain" by The Who
0:29:57 > 0:30:01But not everyone understood this new relaxed approach.
0:30:01 > 0:30:02Bless him, my dad -
0:30:02 > 0:30:06I'm a council house boy, we were very working class -
0:30:06 > 0:30:10he used to have a look at Ready Steady Go! and see Cathy's hair
0:30:10 > 0:30:13and see Sandy Shaw's hair and he'd say thing like,
0:30:13 > 0:30:15"Well, you haven't done much with that, have you?"
0:30:15 > 0:30:19He couldn't really cope with this dead straight hair.
0:30:19 > 0:30:23"No, Dad, of course I haven't(!) Just to make it shiny, OK."
0:30:24 > 0:30:27MUSIC: "I'm Free" by the Rolling Stones
0:30:27 > 0:30:31The '60s had seen a haircutting revolution take place.
0:30:31 > 0:30:35# I'm free to do what I want
0:30:35 > 0:30:38# Any old time... #
0:30:38 > 0:30:41Though not everyone signed up to it and abandoned their bouffant.
0:30:45 > 0:30:47If you look at the celebrities of the time,
0:30:47 > 0:30:49you can really see that split.
0:30:49 > 0:30:53So you've got the geometrics, people like Mary Quant.
0:30:53 > 0:30:54You've got Sandy Shaw,
0:30:54 > 0:30:58who's got that kind of Sassoon, almost Nancy Kwan Bob.
0:30:58 > 0:31:03And then, you have people like Dusty Springfield, who have the bouffant.
0:31:03 > 0:31:05There were two looks going on at the same time.
0:31:05 > 0:31:08In a way, you could choose which one you wanted to go for.
0:31:10 > 0:31:13In the '60s, hairstyles reflected a growing freedom.
0:31:13 > 0:31:16Women could choose whichever path they wished to follow.
0:31:17 > 0:31:19But men were also making choices,
0:31:19 > 0:31:21and they weren't going down quite so well.
0:31:21 > 0:31:24MUSIC: "Are You A Boy Or Are You A Girl?" by The Barbarians
0:31:28 > 0:31:29ARCHIVE: 'Long-haired boys.
0:31:29 > 0:31:32'Well, I've got one, and I wish to hell he'd get it cut.'
0:31:32 > 0:31:33'I reckon it's unhealthy
0:31:33 > 0:31:35'because it collects a lot of dust and all that.'
0:31:35 > 0:31:38'Tell you the truth, I can't tell one from the other.'
0:31:38 > 0:31:40'I think it's disgusting, disgraceful and effeminate.'
0:31:40 > 0:31:43'Put a skirt on 'em and I'd go out with them.'
0:31:43 > 0:31:44MAN LAUGHS
0:31:53 > 0:31:58The boundaries of hair are such that,
0:31:58 > 0:32:00whenever one sex crosses into what's
0:32:00 > 0:32:02considered the terrain of the other,
0:32:02 > 0:32:04a moral panic ensues.
0:32:04 > 0:32:08So, in the 1920s, where women cut their hair short,
0:32:08 > 0:32:11they were seen as moving into a form of masculinity.
0:32:11 > 0:32:15The same thing happens in the 1960s, but the opposite.
0:32:15 > 0:32:19When men begin to grow their hair long en masse,
0:32:19 > 0:32:22it seemed to be moving into female terrain.
0:32:22 > 0:32:24And I remember this clearly.
0:32:24 > 0:32:28I remember my father being outraged that young men
0:32:28 > 0:32:31were growing their hair long, and he used to say,
0:32:31 > 0:32:35"What happens if I go into a pub and start chatting up a blonde
0:32:35 > 0:32:36"and it turns out to be a bloke?"
0:32:36 > 0:32:39I thought that was so funny on so many levels,
0:32:39 > 0:32:42because he shouldn't be chatting up women anyway
0:32:42 > 0:32:44because he was married to my mother!
0:32:45 > 0:32:47The yet-to-be-famous David Bowie
0:32:47 > 0:32:50spearheaded a campaign against long hair prejudice.
0:32:51 > 0:32:54PRESENTER: A 17-year-old, Davy Jones, has just founded
0:32:54 > 0:32:58the Society For The Prevention Of Cruelty To Long-haired Men.
0:32:58 > 0:33:00Who's being cruel to you?
0:33:00 > 0:33:03Well, I think we're all fairly tolerant,
0:33:03 > 0:33:06but for the last two years, we've had comments like, "Darling,"
0:33:06 > 0:33:09and, "Can I carry your handbag?" thrown at us.
0:33:09 > 0:33:11I think it's just had to stop now.
0:33:11 > 0:33:12And I think we all like long hair.
0:33:12 > 0:33:14We don't see why other people should persecute us.
0:33:14 > 0:33:16You see, a lot of people can't tell the difference
0:33:16 > 0:33:20between a man and a woman, can they, if you've got your hair that long?
0:33:20 > 0:33:21Well, that's ridiculous.
0:33:21 > 0:33:25If the stage has got to the point when you can't tell either sex
0:33:25 > 0:33:29by a few inches of hair, I think it's a pretty poor show, don't you?
0:33:30 > 0:33:32This wasn't the first generation of young men
0:33:32 > 0:33:35to push the boundaries of public acceptance.
0:33:36 > 0:33:39As early as 1960, a group of fashion renegades
0:33:39 > 0:33:42took on the good people of a small Cornish town.
0:33:42 > 0:33:43# Want to hear more Then listen to me
0:33:43 > 0:33:45# It's all about the troubles In old Newquay
0:33:45 > 0:33:48# Cos it's hard times in Newquay
0:33:48 > 0:33:51# If you've got long hair
0:33:51 > 0:33:53# Well, you move in to old Newquay
0:33:53 > 0:33:56# Then you pitch your tent Down by the sea
0:33:56 > 0:33:58# Along come the law And they move you away... #
0:33:58 > 0:34:02I can see my old tent there, with a flysheet made from a parachute.
0:34:02 > 0:34:04HE CHUCKLES
0:34:06 > 0:34:10And my National Health glasses with Elastoplast sticking them together.
0:34:10 > 0:34:12# Try to get a job To drive away the blues
0:34:12 > 0:34:14# Everywhere you go They stand and stare
0:34:14 > 0:34:17# Can't employ you Cos you've got long hair... #
0:34:17 > 0:34:20Initially, friends of mine had gone down to Cornwall,
0:34:20 > 0:34:23in 1958, I think it was,
0:34:23 > 0:34:27and I just simply followed them down the following year, in '59.
0:34:27 > 0:34:29It was a bit like a secret society, really.
0:34:29 > 0:34:32If you saw somebody who looked vaguely a bit different,
0:34:32 > 0:34:34then you'd immediately speak to them.
0:34:34 > 0:34:37And, although we had quite longish hair and everything,
0:34:37 > 0:34:41we were quite OK and able to work in hotels with no problem, you know.
0:34:41 > 0:34:44It wasn't until the following year, 1960,
0:34:44 > 0:34:48when that documentary was filmed, when lots more people showed up
0:34:48 > 0:34:51and it started to get a bit too much.
0:34:52 > 0:34:55- INTERVIEWER:- If they're not employed in the hotels and just wandering
0:34:55 > 0:34:58- around the streets, they still offend you?- Oh, definitely.
0:34:58 > 0:34:59- Why?- Well, because...
0:34:59 > 0:35:01They're...
0:35:01 > 0:35:03It's their dirty appearance.
0:35:03 > 0:35:07It's absolutely, er, against the general
0:35:07 > 0:35:12normal appearance of Newquay, which is quite a clean resort.
0:35:12 > 0:35:14And then to have these...filthy things
0:35:14 > 0:35:17walking about the street is most objectionable.
0:35:17 > 0:35:20I don't want to be hard on the council and the local people,
0:35:20 > 0:35:22because they didn't really understand.
0:35:22 > 0:35:26- They think we're doing it to be noticed.- Aren't you?- No!
0:35:26 > 0:35:29He says, "Aren't you just doing this to be noticed?"
0:35:29 > 0:35:32And I say, "No! No, I'm not." But, of course, I was!
0:35:35 > 0:35:38With me, the long hair thing becomes a fetish.
0:35:38 > 0:35:41It was initially because I felt very inadequate
0:35:41 > 0:35:44and I thought, well, I look a bit different,
0:35:44 > 0:35:46people might notice me more.
0:35:46 > 0:35:48An egotistical thing.
0:35:48 > 0:35:51And I guess I just cling on to the past, really.
0:35:51 > 0:35:55I suppose I'm still that very naive, simple young man
0:35:55 > 0:36:00trapped in a body of a 74-year-old, I suppose you could say!
0:36:00 > 0:36:04MUSIC: "Gimme Shelter" by The Rolling Stones
0:36:05 > 0:36:09By the late '60s, long flowing, natural hair for both sexes
0:36:09 > 0:36:13became an essential requirement for dropping out.
0:36:13 > 0:36:16The hippie movement was that you didn't actually do any...
0:36:16 > 0:36:19You know, it was completely against hair colour, hair cutting,
0:36:19 > 0:36:24you know, your hair was almost like a flag of rebellion, almost.
0:36:26 > 0:36:29This natural look upset not only the more conservative amongst
0:36:29 > 0:36:33the population, but it also worried those in the tonsorial business.
0:36:34 > 0:36:38A lot of British hairdressers were genuinely frightened
0:36:38 > 0:36:42that they would not be operating much longer because so many young women
0:36:42 > 0:36:45and young men were growing their hair long, they weren't getting it cut,
0:36:45 > 0:36:47they weren't interested in going to the stylist.
0:36:49 > 0:36:52But the long-haired look spread beyond the anti-fashion brigade
0:36:52 > 0:36:55to a group once renowned for their sharp looking hair.
0:36:56 > 0:36:59I was a mod in the '60s,
0:36:59 > 0:37:02and although the sideburns were quite long,
0:37:02 > 0:37:05the hair was short or back-combed up.
0:37:05 > 0:37:07It wasn't really until I got sort of late '60s
0:37:07 > 0:37:10that I started growing my hair.
0:37:10 > 0:37:14And everybody around me, all my friends, at college
0:37:14 > 0:37:18and other acquaintances, just guys started to have long hair.
0:37:18 > 0:37:23And mine was naturally curly, and so, it just started to grow.
0:37:23 > 0:37:28It wasn't rebelling at all, really. I think it was more like fitting in.
0:37:28 > 0:37:33Because men had long hair, I think just everybody had long hair,
0:37:33 > 0:37:37so you weren't rebelling at all, you were going along, which was fashion.
0:37:38 > 0:37:40To achieve the look people like Tony wanted,
0:37:40 > 0:37:42you still needed a professional.
0:37:42 > 0:37:46Hairdressers everywhere were able to breathe a sigh of relief.
0:37:47 > 0:37:49In the 1970s, the sort of long-haired,
0:37:49 > 0:37:52natural hippie look becomes tamed by hairdressers.
0:37:52 > 0:37:56You get that feather cut, it was called a shag in America,
0:37:56 > 0:37:58and it becomes very, very sexy.
0:38:00 > 0:38:02The feather cut became the style of choice
0:38:02 > 0:38:04for all men in pursuit of hair heaven.
0:38:04 > 0:38:07MUSIC: "Every Picture Tells A Story" by Rod Stewart
0:38:07 > 0:38:10# Spent some time feeling inferior
0:38:11 > 0:38:13# Standing in front of my mirror
0:38:15 > 0:38:18# Comb my hair in A thousand ways... #
0:38:19 > 0:38:23It was commonly known as a shag, or a budgie.
0:38:23 > 0:38:25I was involved doing the haircut,
0:38:25 > 0:38:28so that's why it was called a budgie, as far as I was concerned,
0:38:28 > 0:38:31because that what's most people were calling it.
0:38:34 > 0:38:37The layered cut became an instant hit when it was featured
0:38:37 > 0:38:40in Budgie, the TV drama series starring Adam Faith.
0:38:42 > 0:38:46But, I mean, I think that was from Manchester to Macclesfield
0:38:46 > 0:38:49or wherever, you know, everybody kind of wanted that.
0:38:53 > 0:38:56When you think of '70s sort of TV heroes,
0:38:56 > 0:39:02they were quite sort of macho, but they had hairdos.
0:39:02 > 0:39:05Whereas now you think of maybe Daniel Craig,
0:39:05 > 0:39:07and he would never even think about his hair,
0:39:07 > 0:39:10it's just short back, military haircut and that's it off.
0:39:10 > 0:39:15Budgie, obviously, used a bit of a round brush and flicky and... Sort of thing.
0:39:15 > 0:39:19- Straight up, working man - how do I look?- Fantastic.
0:39:19 > 0:39:22And a man like Budgie didn't go to a traditional barber.
0:39:22 > 0:39:26He went to a new-fangled unisex salon, like Smile.
0:39:28 > 0:39:31We used to do quite a lot of men's highlights,
0:39:31 > 0:39:36which ten years before would have been, "You don't do that," you know.
0:39:36 > 0:39:41So, that whole thing had broken down of...
0:39:41 > 0:39:44I think the word now is androgynous, but...
0:39:44 > 0:39:48Men didn't... They weren't worried about looking slightly effeminate.
0:39:48 > 0:39:52We used to have beads and things. It was a massive changeover.
0:39:54 > 0:39:56In just a few years,
0:39:56 > 0:40:00long hair for men had gone from being anti-fashion to de rigueur.
0:40:00 > 0:40:03MUSIC: "I Walk On Gilded Splinters" by Marsha Hunt
0:40:03 > 0:40:06And a similar thing happened to another style
0:40:06 > 0:40:08born out of the natural hair movement.
0:40:08 > 0:40:10It, too, caused a revolution.
0:40:13 > 0:40:17When Marsha Hunt appeared in Vogue magazine at the beginning of 1969,
0:40:17 > 0:40:20she immediately became an important hair icon.
0:40:23 > 0:40:28That shot that Patrick Lichfield took of Marsha Hunt, where she is nude
0:40:28 > 0:40:31but she has this crowning glory of Afro...
0:40:32 > 0:40:34..it's both...
0:40:34 > 0:40:39It manages to exoticise black women, but at the same time it reminds you
0:40:39 > 0:40:42of the natural hair and the natural beauty.
0:40:44 > 0:40:51It's the Afro in full glory, untamed, flowing locks.
0:40:51 > 0:40:53It created a real stir in people's minds,
0:40:53 > 0:40:56because it was suddenly a shock to see a black woman
0:40:56 > 0:40:58with this full head of hair,
0:40:58 > 0:41:02because I think in those days people believed our hair wouldn't grow.
0:41:04 > 0:41:06The Afro signalled a new era,
0:41:06 > 0:41:08one which celebrated the natural quality of Afro hair.
0:41:08 > 0:41:11MUSIC: "To Be Young, Gifted And Black" by Bob & Marcia
0:41:11 > 0:41:14# To be young, gifted and black
0:41:14 > 0:41:19# Oh, what a lovely Precious dream... #
0:41:19 > 0:41:21For years, the Afro-Caribbean population
0:41:21 > 0:41:25had been straightening their hair to follow mainstream fashion.
0:41:27 > 0:41:29People would wear their hair firmly styled
0:41:29 > 0:41:33and achieve a bouffant hairstyle as well.
0:41:34 > 0:41:37Back in those days, especially with my mum's generation,
0:41:37 > 0:41:39if they were going to go to something really posh
0:41:39 > 0:41:42or a good do, they either wore a wig
0:41:42 > 0:41:45or they straightened their hair.
0:41:45 > 0:41:47It was just the done thing in those days.
0:41:47 > 0:41:51It was almost like losing part of your own cultural identity,
0:41:51 > 0:41:54because they were straightening their hair to look more English,
0:41:54 > 0:41:57although they weren't and couldn't be.
0:41:57 > 0:41:59But, I mean, even when I look at old photographs now,
0:41:59 > 0:42:03I've got one of my mum in a cocktail dress
0:42:03 > 0:42:06and her hair is all straightened and it's just...
0:42:06 > 0:42:08That wasn't her natural look,
0:42:08 > 0:42:11but that's how they felt they had to present themselves.
0:42:14 > 0:42:17Britain was mirroring what was happening in America,
0:42:17 > 0:42:19where wearing an Afro became a powerful symbol
0:42:19 > 0:42:22for those engaged in the Civil Rights struggle.
0:42:24 > 0:42:28The leading figures of the movement saw hair as deeply political.
0:42:31 > 0:42:35We're told that Angela Davis and Stokely Carmichael,
0:42:35 > 0:42:40on their travels to Africa, had actually seen the Afro being worn
0:42:40 > 0:42:46and realised that this was something that could all be part of
0:42:46 > 0:42:49the black power struggle and movement,
0:42:49 > 0:42:53and decided to start wearing their hair natural.
0:42:54 > 0:42:57And that was the start of the natural movement,
0:42:57 > 0:43:00where people decided it was liberating.
0:43:02 > 0:43:04There was a real sense that, you know,
0:43:04 > 0:43:06constantly putting all of these products in
0:43:06 > 0:43:09and looking like people who...
0:43:09 > 0:43:14Or a community that was denying you your own civil rights -
0:43:14 > 0:43:18it absolutely made sense to not look that way.
0:43:22 > 0:43:26The growing cultural importance of the Afro was no more clearly evident
0:43:26 > 0:43:30than when it was adopted by one of the most successful pop groups in the world.
0:43:32 > 0:43:35The Supremes had always favoured pristine bouffants,
0:43:35 > 0:43:38but in 1968, they made a strong statement.
0:43:40 > 0:43:42One of the things that's really important to think about
0:43:42 > 0:43:46when we assess the visual importance of the Supremes is that
0:43:46 > 0:43:50we mustn't freeze them in that whole sort of Baby Love period,
0:43:50 > 0:43:53because by the time we get towards the end of the 1960s,
0:43:53 > 0:43:57what you're seeing is a real embracement of Afrocentricity.
0:43:59 > 0:44:02# You think that I don't feel love
0:44:02 > 0:44:04# But what I feel for you Is real love
0:44:04 > 0:44:06# In others' eyes I see reflected
0:44:06 > 0:44:09# A hurt, scorn Rejected love child... #
0:44:11 > 0:44:14On the cover of that album, they weren't standing
0:44:14 > 0:44:17shoulder to shoulder and looking out towards you.
0:44:17 > 0:44:20They weren't wearing evening wear, they were wearing waistcoats,
0:44:20 > 0:44:23they all had Afros and, especially in the song Love Child,
0:44:23 > 0:44:27they're narrating what their audience is going through,
0:44:27 > 0:44:30as opposed to giving them a vehicle for escape.
0:44:31 > 0:44:35But the political potency of the message would gradually become diluted.
0:44:37 > 0:44:38It became a fashion statement,
0:44:38 > 0:44:42and I sometimes wonder and I think of the early years of me wearing an Afro,
0:44:42 > 0:44:44I didn't really quite understand why I was wearing it.
0:44:44 > 0:44:47I was wearing it because it was a look, it was fashionable,
0:44:47 > 0:44:49it looked nice, I was a hairdresser,
0:44:49 > 0:44:53people wanted to come and get an Afro and I wanted to wear an Afro.
0:44:54 > 0:44:56I used to love my Afro.
0:44:56 > 0:45:00I had an electric Afro comb, which not many people had at the time,
0:45:00 > 0:45:04so every time I used it to comb my hair, it made it even bigger.
0:45:04 > 0:45:07You just had to hope it wasn't a windy day, because an Afro
0:45:07 > 0:45:11on a windy day, when it's pushed to its limits, just looks a bit naff.
0:45:12 > 0:45:16The appeal of the Afro soon reached out to the wider community.
0:45:18 > 0:45:23What happens in the early 1970s is that the political associations
0:45:23 > 0:45:25of the Afro are completely defused
0:45:25 > 0:45:27by black entertainers like Michael Jackson.
0:45:27 > 0:45:30You know, it becomes part of celebrity culture.
0:45:30 > 0:45:33A lot of men and women wanted that volume,
0:45:33 > 0:45:35no matter what race they were.
0:45:37 > 0:45:40I've had white friends who said to me at the time
0:45:40 > 0:45:43they permed their hair because they wanted to wear an Afro
0:45:43 > 0:45:46and wanted to use the Afro pick, they wanted to use an Afro comb
0:45:46 > 0:45:49because along with the Afro went an Afro comb.
0:45:50 > 0:45:54And this led to one of the most notorious episodes in our shared hair history -
0:45:54 > 0:45:56The perm.
0:45:56 > 0:46:00# Play that funky music, white boy
0:46:00 > 0:46:03# Play that funky music right... #
0:46:05 > 0:46:07Here was a hairdo that appeared to unite,
0:46:07 > 0:46:11not just different races, but different genders.
0:46:11 > 0:46:14The sleek cuts of the '60s became a distant memory,
0:46:14 > 0:46:16as the nation rushed to celebrate the curl,
0:46:16 > 0:46:19be it natural or artificial.
0:46:22 > 0:46:25One of my favourite looks, I think, is the perm.
0:46:25 > 0:46:28My wife and I were on holiday in Italy and I was stood by a beach,
0:46:28 > 0:46:31and I had huge great flared trousers
0:46:31 > 0:46:34and I had this highlighted curly perm.
0:46:35 > 0:46:37I used to love my curly perm.
0:46:37 > 0:46:40And you do feel good when it's first done.
0:46:40 > 0:46:43You feel a bit of a pillock when you're sat in a shop
0:46:43 > 0:46:45with rollers and stuff in your hair, obviously.
0:46:45 > 0:46:49What you made sure you never did was you never went to the hairdresser's at the same time as your boyfriend,
0:46:49 > 0:46:51cos seeing him in curling rods -
0:46:51 > 0:46:54that could alter the relationship for ever.
0:46:54 > 0:46:58When I had my first perm done in the late '70s,
0:46:58 > 0:47:02I remember having to try and find an Afro comb
0:47:02 > 0:47:05in which to then treat it myself.
0:47:05 > 0:47:10So there was this sudden joining together of things
0:47:10 > 0:47:13that were the staple of the black hairdressing industry
0:47:13 > 0:47:16then feeding into sort of ordinary hair salons in Catford.
0:47:18 > 0:47:19My sister had a bubble perm.
0:47:19 > 0:47:23She used to wear a bubble perm with a rather smelly Afghan coat,
0:47:23 > 0:47:27and she used to listen to Horses by America.
0:47:27 > 0:47:31# I've been through the desert On a horse with no name
0:47:31 > 0:47:34# It felt good to be out Of the rain... #
0:47:34 > 0:47:35The perm took Britain by storm,
0:47:35 > 0:47:38but achieving the optimum look wasn't all that easy.
0:47:40 > 0:47:43The only problem was you had to grow your hair
0:47:43 > 0:47:45for a year to have your hair permed,
0:47:45 > 0:47:48then you had it permed, and you had to perm it tighter
0:47:48 > 0:47:51cos it would drop after a couple of weeks a little bit.
0:47:51 > 0:47:54So it dropped after a couple of weeks and you loved it,
0:47:54 > 0:47:56and then about a month later it had dropped out,
0:47:56 > 0:47:59but you couldn't have it permed again until the whole perm grew out,
0:47:59 > 0:48:04so you kind of spent a year, for about a month of hair Nirvana.
0:48:04 > 0:48:06MUSIC: "Mr Blue Sky" by ELO
0:48:06 > 0:48:09So what prompted a large proportion of the male population
0:48:09 > 0:48:11to endure this trial by curler?
0:48:11 > 0:48:13Two words -
0:48:13 > 0:48:15Kevin Keegan.
0:48:16 > 0:48:20He went to Hamburg in Germany to play football.
0:48:20 > 0:48:23We have a salon near Hamburg, and he came into the salon
0:48:23 > 0:48:27and wanted this Kevin Keegan perm, as it became known.
0:48:27 > 0:48:29So we did it.
0:48:30 > 0:48:33It was, er... It was a moment, definitely.
0:48:33 > 0:48:36# Mr Blue Sky, please tell us why
0:48:36 > 0:48:40# You had to hide away for so long
0:48:40 > 0:48:41# So long... #
0:48:41 > 0:48:45But, when Keegan joined Southampton, his manager, Lawrie McMenemy,
0:48:45 > 0:48:48was worried that he wasn't scoring any goals,
0:48:48 > 0:48:51so he sent him along to his own hairdresser, Trevor Mitchell,
0:48:51 > 0:48:53to work a bit of hair magic on his new signing.
0:48:56 > 0:48:59Kevin hadn't scored a goal for about three weeks,
0:48:59 > 0:49:02and Lawrie McMenemy, who was the manager of the team,
0:49:02 > 0:49:03I used to do his hair, and he said,
0:49:03 > 0:49:06"Would you cut Kevin's hair for me and make him score?"
0:49:08 > 0:49:10When he came in, it was all long
0:49:10 > 0:49:13and you could hardly see his eyes, sort of thing.
0:49:13 > 0:49:17And, of course, while they're running along or sweating, rain,
0:49:17 > 0:49:21it's getting in their eyes, and so anyway, what we did,
0:49:21 > 0:49:24we cut the sides off short
0:49:24 > 0:49:26and the mullet they called it, I think.
0:49:28 > 0:49:31But he was so pleased with it, and he said, you know,
0:49:31 > 0:49:35"You must have a ticket to come up and watch the game."
0:49:36 > 0:49:40Anyway, I sat with his wife and he did score his first goal.
0:49:40 > 0:49:42MUSIC: "So You Win Again" by Hot Chocolate
0:49:44 > 0:49:47This is actually a picture of Kevin Keegan having his hair done.
0:49:47 > 0:49:51You can see by the picture the long hair at the back
0:49:51 > 0:49:53just above the shoulder.
0:49:53 > 0:49:55They had a little bit of weight on the front there,
0:49:55 > 0:49:59shorter on the top, and then he had the angled sides,
0:49:59 > 0:50:01which didn't have a perm in it.
0:50:01 > 0:50:04But that was the difference between the ladies' perms
0:50:04 > 0:50:06and the men's perms.
0:50:06 > 0:50:09And then, of course, everyone was copying his haircut, as well.
0:50:09 > 0:50:12Not that they came to me, but right through the country.
0:50:15 > 0:50:18The classic combination of mullet and perm was a winning one
0:50:18 > 0:50:22and many, many sportsmen followed in Keegan's footsteps.
0:50:27 > 0:50:30Over the coming years, no football pitch would be spared
0:50:30 > 0:50:33and the game became renowned for its crimes against hair.
0:50:34 > 0:50:37It would be an age until another figure finally came along
0:50:37 > 0:50:40to re-write the rule book and show bad hair the red card.
0:50:42 > 0:50:45- # He's so fine - Do-lang-do-lang-do-lang
0:50:45 > 0:50:47# Wish he were mine... #
0:50:47 > 0:50:50David Beckham has been showing off his latest hairdo.
0:50:50 > 0:50:53In his time, he's worn it floppy, cropped and shaven.
0:50:53 > 0:50:57Now he's gone mohican. His previous cuts have started trends.
0:50:58 > 0:51:01David Beckham harnessed the immense power of football
0:51:01 > 0:51:04to re-imagine what men's hair could be.
0:51:04 > 0:51:06Whether you love him or loathe him,
0:51:06 > 0:51:09and I think a lot of us maybe love him at the moment,
0:51:09 > 0:51:12cos he does look great, he's been really responsible
0:51:12 > 0:51:16for a huge advance in the way that young men think about their hair.
0:51:16 > 0:51:21When you're in front of the media, people look to you as a style icon,
0:51:21 > 0:51:24and that's how we do develop some of our fashions.
0:51:24 > 0:51:28Somebody is going to come out wearing something very different,
0:51:28 > 0:51:30very avant-garde, very striking,
0:51:30 > 0:51:33then we all look at it and think we want that.
0:51:33 > 0:51:36He made great hairstyles popular, like the fin,
0:51:36 > 0:51:41the shattered mohican, you know, his little samurai double ponytail.
0:51:41 > 0:51:44Even now he's rocking that kind of '40s Hollywood thing,
0:51:44 > 0:51:47and I think, in terms of hair, he's been amazing.
0:51:49 > 0:51:51In David Beckham,
0:51:51 > 0:51:54sporting prowess met fashion sense in a particularly unique way.
0:51:56 > 0:51:58But, though he remains a one-off,
0:51:58 > 0:52:01his career showed footballers that to get ahead in the Premier League,
0:52:01 > 0:52:03you need to stand out from the crowd.
0:52:07 > 0:52:10If you look at football or boxing ten years ago, mad, stupid,
0:52:10 > 0:52:13mad hairstyles. I wouldn't even leave my house like that.
0:52:13 > 0:52:18It's nuts, all unshaven, bushy, you know, slicked to the side.
0:52:18 > 0:52:20And now it's all changed.
0:52:20 > 0:52:22It's all about how you look, what you're wearing.
0:52:24 > 0:52:26So they turn to barber Daniel Johnson
0:52:26 > 0:52:29to give them their own distinctive look.
0:52:29 > 0:52:35Now I'm doing most of the premier clubs in the Premiership,
0:52:35 > 0:52:36the England squad,
0:52:36 > 0:52:39some of my clients are, like,
0:52:39 > 0:52:42anyone from Mario Ballotelli,
0:52:42 > 0:52:43Wayne Rooney,
0:52:43 > 0:52:45Gareth Bale.
0:52:45 > 0:52:48A lot of the boys who rock up, they rock up I'd say
0:52:48 > 0:52:52two, three times a week, mainly before the games.
0:52:52 > 0:52:54I might get a phone call. I have to go to the hotel,
0:52:54 > 0:52:57or I might have to leave the country and do a haircut.
0:52:57 > 0:53:01It could be from Dubai, London, Hertfordshire,
0:53:01 > 0:53:04Uxbridge, Manchester, Newcastle...
0:53:04 > 0:53:05I'm global.
0:53:05 > 0:53:07I'd say it's more important than the game.
0:53:07 > 0:53:09Funnily enough, when I actually cut my clients,
0:53:09 > 0:53:11believe it or not, they actually score goals.
0:53:13 > 0:53:16Daniel's barbering skills are in high demand,
0:53:16 > 0:53:18and he isn't alone.
0:53:18 > 0:53:20In recent times, more and more men
0:53:20 > 0:53:22are turning to barbers rather than haircutters.
0:53:23 > 0:53:25And the cutting edge look for today's hipsters?
0:53:25 > 0:53:27Well, it's the short back and sides.
0:53:41 > 0:53:44I think it's always when people
0:53:44 > 0:53:50feel that masculinity is in somewhat of a crisis that short hair comes in.
0:53:50 > 0:53:53The short back and sides has got a really long history,
0:53:53 > 0:53:56and in fact it's first called "the ordinary".
0:53:56 > 0:53:59By calling a haircut for a man an ordinary, it suggests that
0:53:59 > 0:54:02you're an ordinary bloke if you have an ordinary, nothing weird about you.
0:54:02 > 0:54:06But if you go beyond short back and sides and grow it long
0:54:06 > 0:54:09or something, you're a bit odd, you're not ordinary any more.
0:54:10 > 0:54:13Men's hair had to be not thought about,
0:54:13 > 0:54:16because anything other would be considered vain,
0:54:16 > 0:54:20and vanity was obviously something which was associated with women.
0:54:20 > 0:54:22I guess the triviality of femininity -
0:54:22 > 0:54:26you know, it's women who do all that hair stuff and fashion stuff.
0:54:26 > 0:54:28You know, men are out to work doing the important stuff.
0:54:30 > 0:54:33And I think we're moving to a similar thing now,
0:54:33 > 0:54:36but the short backs and sides now are very Edwardian.
0:54:36 > 0:54:40They're nostalgic short backs and sides accompanied with beards.
0:54:40 > 0:54:43And that, clearly, to me is a response to recession.
0:54:43 > 0:54:47You know, it's this idea that we're in a massive economic chaos,
0:54:47 > 0:54:52we don't know what's round the corner, we need real men to get us out,
0:54:52 > 0:54:55none of these footballers with their silly textured hair.
0:54:55 > 0:54:58We need proper haircuts.
0:54:58 > 0:55:00It's interesting that that look's accompanied with
0:55:00 > 0:55:02very nostalgic menswear, as well.
0:55:02 > 0:55:05The sort of hunting, shooting and fishing thing,
0:55:05 > 0:55:08looking as if they've stepped out of 1910.
0:55:08 > 0:55:10Their fathers have still got their shattered mohicans,
0:55:10 > 0:55:14so you've young men looking older than their own fathers.
0:55:18 > 0:55:22Heritage becomes big when people are uncertain of the future.
0:55:22 > 0:55:25The global recession is still happening now, so I think
0:55:25 > 0:55:29when it's like that people feel more secure looking back.
0:55:31 > 0:55:34And, just as men are retreating into the past,
0:55:34 > 0:55:37today's women are also resorting to the spirit of an earlier age,
0:55:37 > 0:55:40except they're choosing a far more glamorous route.
0:55:47 > 0:55:50The arrival of a phenomenon known as the blow-dry bar
0:55:50 > 0:55:53in many ways heralds a return to the world of the hair salon
0:55:53 > 0:55:57of the 1950s, where styling was more important than the cut.
0:56:00 > 0:56:02Women can choose from a menu of styles,
0:56:02 > 0:56:06and get a completely new look without a hair on their head being cut.
0:56:07 > 0:56:10We do half-an-hour appointments, so things have to be quick
0:56:10 > 0:56:12and they have to be in and out,
0:56:12 > 0:56:14and we have to achieve that result really, really quickly.
0:56:14 > 0:56:17The fact there's no scissors in there, I think that's
0:56:17 > 0:56:20actually what makes it exciting for women to come in
0:56:20 > 0:56:24and have that half-an-hour time of looking and feeling great.
0:56:24 > 0:56:26I'm all about big hair.
0:56:26 > 0:56:30Especially when I go out, I like to have my hair looking massive, loads of body.
0:56:30 > 0:56:32Towards the week I'm not bothered,
0:56:32 > 0:56:34but at the end of the week definitely lots of volume.
0:56:34 > 0:56:38Unlike in the old days, hair isn't glued together with lacquer.
0:56:39 > 0:56:41Women want flexibility.
0:56:41 > 0:56:44They want to be able to change their looks constantly,
0:56:44 > 0:56:49and that is why I think there's this resurgence of styling.
0:56:49 > 0:56:52But styling as of now.
0:56:53 > 0:56:56I get my hair blow-dried twice a week.
0:56:56 > 0:56:58I get it done at the end of the week for the weekend
0:56:58 > 0:57:01and then kind of mid towards the beginning of the week for the weekdays,
0:57:01 > 0:57:03so it's always looking nice.
0:57:06 > 0:57:09So, for some women, a weekly visit to the hair salon
0:57:09 > 0:57:12is back on the agenda, as it was in the '50s.
0:57:12 > 0:57:14But these are very different times.
0:57:15 > 0:57:18There seems to be a cyclical approach to austerity
0:57:18 > 0:57:21and then glamour, and then austerity, then glamour.
0:57:21 > 0:57:24And I think we're slap-bang in the middle of austerity,
0:57:24 > 0:57:28but at the same time what is so very important about not appearing
0:57:28 > 0:57:32to be a reflection of your sort of financial times
0:57:32 > 0:57:33is to visually escape it.
0:57:35 > 0:57:37Why not make things bigger? Get the sequins out.
0:57:37 > 0:57:40There has to be something where people feel that,
0:57:40 > 0:57:43at times of financial frugality,
0:57:43 > 0:57:47that if they are going to spend something, it's got to be worth it.
0:57:47 > 0:57:50MUSIC: "Love Power" by The Sandpebbles
0:57:52 > 0:57:54Hairstyles are central to how we see ourselves,
0:57:54 > 0:57:57but also absurdly throwaway.
0:57:57 > 0:58:00By definition, they're always changing.
0:58:00 > 0:58:02In the post-war era, we pushed all the boundaries,
0:58:02 > 0:58:04of race,
0:58:04 > 0:58:05of gender,
0:58:05 > 0:58:07and we came together with the unisex look.
0:58:09 > 0:58:13Today, though, it appears our journey may have gone full circle,
0:58:13 > 0:58:16and men and women have once again gone their separate ways.
0:58:17 > 0:58:19But for how long?
0:58:20 > 0:58:23- # We've got love - Love
0:58:23 > 0:58:25- # Power - Power
0:58:25 > 0:58:28# It's the greatest power of them all
0:58:28 > 0:58:31- # We've got love - Love
0:58:31 > 0:58:32- # Power - Power
0:58:32 > 0:58:36# And together we can't fall
0:58:36 > 0:58:38- # Sometimes we're up - Ah-ah
0:58:38 > 0:58:40- # Sometimes we're down - Ah-ah
0:58:40 > 0:58:43# But our feet are always On the ground
0:58:44 > 0:58:46- # We always laugh - Ah-ah
0:58:46 > 0:58:49# Don't have to cry... #
0:58:49 > 0:58:52Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd