Sign in to wowOwow

Enter the email address that you used when registering at wowOwow.
The password field is case sensitive. Click here if you have forgotten your password.

Please register for wowOwow

Newsletter subscriptions
Sign up to receive wowOwow's weekly newsletter and get our best picks delivered right to your inbox. Our newsletter content is hand-picked by the wowOwow editorial team and provides the top features, news, and commentary from our site. Subscribing to our newsletter is free and safe. We will never share your email or other information with a third-party without your direct consent.
By registering, you indicate that you have read and agree
with our privacy policy and terms of service.

Style | 07/08/2009 11:00 pm

Iconic Hairstyles – and the Famous Faces Who Made Them Popular (Photos)

Bold, alluring, symbolic … Truly iconic, these legendary locks are forever cherished.

Photo Essay

From Twiggy’s pixie look to Jacqueline Kennedy’s sophisticated flip to Jennifer Aniston’s “Rachel” cut, these iconic hairstyles – and the women that brought them to the mainstream – kept us mesmerized. They inspired explicit instruction at the salon, hours in front of the mirror with gallons of hairspray, hot rollers, irons and more. Though try as we might, we could always imitate but never duplicate these signature styles. Our hats are off to you, ladies, for not only creating a look – but for setting those era-epitomizing trends.

12 Reader Comments (so far…) Sign In or Register to comment

Judy K.
Ladies have known for a long time that a good hairstyle can be the difference from looking frumpy to fab. 
By Judy K. on 07/09/2009 12:44 am
Patrice Baldwin
Could we not have to look at Pantene commercials in the middle of a WOWOW photo essay?
By Patrice Baldwin on 07/09/2009 12:50 am
siasp surate
Um did you by accident miss Marlo Thomas. Hello? Her flip from ‘That Girl’ was so iconic. I just can’t believe she was not in the photo essay.
By siasp surate on 07/09/2009 2:36 am
Rachel F
"She made us put this up". LOL!! Good one, ladies!
By Rachel F on 07/09/2009 8:39 am
Roz Taylor

How could you not include the iconic photo of Angela Davis’ sporting an afro from the 60s?

By Roz Taylor on 07/09/2009 10:09 am
Deena B.
I love Twiggy’s look.
By Deena B. on 07/09/2009 10:16 am
Beth S

Does the commercial in the middle explain why this seems to be hair week?

Anyway, my favorites were Cher’s long, thick curls in "Moonstruck" and Sherilynn Fenn’s short do in "Twin Peaks." I tried to mimic both of them at the time—unsuccessfully, I’m sad to say. But I like my own hair now, finally.  Hurrah!

By Beth S on 07/09/2009 7:06 pm
Tinka Parker
What about Demi Moore’s cut in "Ghost"? That was radical in the day of big hair. And what about Mia Farrow’s Sassoon cut for Rosemary’s Baby. Both involved very beautiful women daring to top those amazing  with a boy cut.
By Tinka Parker on 07/15/2009 5:50 pm
Wendy R
Love twiggy’s style, but I would never be able to pull that off with my round face. I also think Angela Davis’s afro should have been pictured.
By Wendy R on 07/17/2009 12:02 pm
Connie Turner

Too much advertising lately.

ct

By Connie Turner on 07/28/2009 5:28 pm
Emcye Edwards

Wasn’t Twiggy a complete about-face from all the beauty-shop gyrations girls had so long been suffering through? Layers of noxious hairspray, bobby-pins poked frantically into your scalp and brush-rollers with picks that you slept in all nite, like a crown of thorns. Its’a wonder such self-flagellation did not rid a girl of all her sins. Twiggy was androgynous and reed-y and carefree. Sin was irrelevant.

Everything comes back til sumpin new comes along. Don’t ask me why, we’re back to Bardot. And Palin, having adopted the look, seems bent on bringing sin back too. Her appeal is mainly nostalgic.

Bouffant-y—lifted hair is the look. And in case you’re down with big hair, an easy way to get the effect is with Bumpits, available here https://www.bumpits.com/://www.bumpits.com/ 

By Emcye Edwards on 07/29/2009 3:49 pm