The Top 50 Iconic Hairstyles Of The Last 50 Years

40. Barbara Eden – ‘I Dream Of Jeannie’ High Ponytail

41. Kate Moss — Blonde Tousled Waves

42. Meg Ryan — The Shag

43. Bjork — High Knots

44. Lady Gaga — Big Bow

45. Tina Turner — Big Volume

46. Rihanna — The Undercut

47. Emma Bunton — Baby Spice Bunches

48. Sarah Jessica Parker — Messy Curls

49. Alexa Chung — Messy Bob

50. Queen Elizabeth — Tight, Perfectly Coiffed Curls

51. Braids for days

Different styles of braids became popular to experiment with / Unsplash

French, fishtail, plait, rope, lace, ladder, classic three-strand; all of these styles were on everyone’s minds – and heads – in recent years. And they were easy to see, share, and follow along with in tutorials thanks to YouTube and Instagram. With long enough hair, a person could give themselves rippling ornate waterfalls.

Even people with short hair can weave something close to the head in thick rows!

52. Dua Lipa — Blunt Bob and Ends

Blunt short bob cut on Dua Lipa — WEST HOLLYWOOD, LOS ANGELES, CA, USA – DECEMBER 01: Singer Dua Lipa arrives at the 2nd Annual Variety Hitmakers Brunch held at the Sunset Tower Hotel on December 1, 2018 in West Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, United States. (Photo by Xavier Collin/Image Press Agency) / ImageCollect

In contrast to styles all about volume – and thus often length – the following year saw emphasis on much shorter, even blunter ends. Overall, recent years have been all about a return to the past with a modern twist, hence the return of the bob from the 1920s.

Dua Lipa has sported one of the more popular modern interpretations of the striking bob, cut to chin length with a solid length from one side to the other. The blunted-end bob says a lot with just a bit of hair compared to more bold styles.

53. Jennifer Lawrence — Stylized Beach Waves

Actress Jennifer with beach waves / Photo Credit: AdMedia / ImageCollect

When quarantine hit, salon doors closed out of safety concerns. This gave rise to quarantine cuts, styles improvised by those who did not live with a stylist or worked as one themselves. Some results have been good naturedly comical with quite the learning curve. But in some cases, it gave rise to a style that responded to the situation and made do with what was available.

Beach waves make the most of quarantine-induced long hair / Pxfuel

Hence a revival of and reverence for beach waves, the union of styled and careless. The ruffled look is deliberately made to look like someone just returned from a day at the beach, and is all about volume and fluffy texture. Even when the beaches were closed, people could still look like they came from it, and made due with hair they had to let grow out.

54. Neon Isn’t Just About Lights Anymore

Katy Perry leads by example with green hair / YouTube

Usually, we could categorize hair color into some basic shades of black, brown, blonde, red, with nuanced shades in between. Not so, now. Vibrant colors dye countless heads in bold neon colors and rich hues that definitely weren’t coded into our keratin.

Bold colors have become as frequent as naturally-colored hair and traditional dyes / Pxfuel

Now, it’s not uncommon to see people sporting any one of these popular styles, now in a whole rainbow of colors, from lime green to deep turquoise, soothing periwinkle, or flirty pink. Over the years, singer Katy Perry rocked various shades of the rainbow for her hair of all different styles, and the trend has caught on in earnest today, evidenced by all the shades people wear in their everyday lives.

55. Spock — Mop Top

leonard-nimoy-star-trek — STAR TREK, Leonard Nimoy, (photo: 1966), 1966-69. ph: Ken Whitmore/TV Guide/Courtesy Everett Collection

Obviously the influence of The Beatles was such that it reverberated into the 22nd Century, influencing the hairstyle of the starship Enterprise‘s first officer, Mr. Spock (Leonard Nimoy). But who was it that influenced The Beatles? The obvious answer is Moe Howard of The Three Stooges, of course!