Is it true that like everyone had big or weird hair in the 80s?

No.  I had straight hair and most of the people I hung out with did, too.

I had hair in the 80's :D

No.  I had straight hair and most of the people I hung out with did, too.
Now wait just because you had straight hair does not mean that you did not have the 80's hairspray "wings" from the hair being sprayed away from the sides of your face, or the raised bang look.....  ;)  No added volume??? ???

Not me, as a matter of fact that is about when I said hello to the buzz cut and never looked back

Nuff said

Was that the right decade for Michael Bolton?

Now wait just because you had straight hair does not mean that you did not have the 80's hairspray "wings" from the hair being sprayed away from the sides of your face, or the raised bang look.....  ;)   No added volume??? ???


Nope.  I didn't curl, flip or spray.  Just flat hair.  Sometimes bangs, sometimes not but still no curl.  I figured out that wearing my hear that way made it so I could sleep later. :D

Big hair was "cool", sure, but everybody didn't have big hair.  Many of my friends didn't have big hair.  I had "borderline" big hair then, but that's due mostly to my hair.  I personally have it tougher when staight flat hair is stylish.  ::)

I liked when the "wings" look to hair took off. I actually liked the way it looked.  :)

I just wish I had the nerve to do mall bangs.  ;D

Was that the right decade for Michael Bolton?


I don't think any decade was right for him :D

I think I teased my hair for a few months, nothing real big though.  Mine was always short and straight.

I did the whole teased-up bangs in the later part of the decade. I wish I still had my fourth grade class picture....my teacher really personified the term "big hair"!  :D

I didn't.  ;D

I didn't.  ;D


You didn't have semi-spiked hair!!!  For shame.  You would have looked cool.

No comment.  ;D

Man I need to scan my high school senior picture......  I had some hair ;D ;D ;D But I had friends with bigger

From what I remember, having hair with volume and bangs that stuck out were popular in the late 80's starting with probably 1987.

I remember crimping your hair was also popular for sometime in the late 80's and my mom crimped mine for my 5th birthday and special occasions

I think thick curly hair was in too, but I don't think the hair was big and ridiculous like people make it out to be today when they look back on the 80's.  It was mostly a hair band thing.

I had short curly hair which went all wavy on me by the time I was 12.  I had it all the way down to my back of my neck.

You didn't have semi-spiked hair!!!  For shame.  You would have looked cool.
http://a289.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/61/l_b4a4fd4950a7b5e6541409aae5287448.jpg

Like this?

Well, it was in style, but not everyone had it.
My older sister, who was born in 1970, had it though.

It's like nowadays, short layered hair is in style, but do most girls have it? No.

Interesting question though, since they make it seem that way.

Growing up in the 80's, my twin sister and I weren't quite old enough to have the 80's hair.
I mean... what 7 or 8 year old did you walking down the streets with big hair?

Wasn't really seen.

During High School, I was in ROTC so I had short hair.

Then after graduation, I joined the military, so of course had short hair.

And here it is, over 20 years later, and I am again in the military.  Once again with short hair.

The real irony is that when "Big Hair" was in, I had almost insanely short hair.

During the 1990's, when everybody was wearing short hair, I normally had mine somewhere between shoulder length and down to my butt.

I watch glam metal music videos and notice that the only people with "big hair" are the band members. The audience usually has very short, almost early 00's length hair, but sometimes I notice a few people with shaggy hair and even rarer are mullets. The only time when everyone had long hair I think was the late 60's and early 70's. Shaggy hair was in for most of the 70's, but the 80's was surprisingly mostly shorter hair. 1988 - 1994 had longer hair I think. I'm no expert though. Good news is that shaggy hair is coming back in the late 00's.

I think most women in the 80's had back-combed hair, and very few had straight hair. But sophisticated hairdos in the 80's were fantastic!

In men, the most usual was to have long hair on top and on the back, and short on sides (or smoothed down with hairspray or hair gel).

The best way to find out is to look at a high school/college year book from  the 80's. Sort the photos by hair type and take a look. Having a bigger range of years can help you determine when it came "in", the peak, and its decline. A couple of days ago, I wanted to watch some classic beauty pageants, and I really could discern such big hair on the pretty young things! If you watch the Miss Teen USA from 1985 on Youtube, ALMOST EVERYONE has the big hair! The Big Hair on such pageants is also very visible on the 1985, I always find these beauty pageants on Youtube an excellent source for fashion styles!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7gLoNtLoVzQ&feature=related MISS Teen USA 1985 Pageant
When you watch various years on Youtube, you can identify that 1983-88 had the best examples of the big hair style. By 1989 on the video below, big hair still dominates, but a few delegates have refined their styles a bit, such as Miss Idaho, the winner, whose somewhat straighter hair looks a bit more 1991ish.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eI0VVrKKk4Y&feature=related Miss Teen USA 1989- The winner's hair looks "less '80s, while many still have the big hair (The winner is also a model on The Price Is Right!).
Early '80s Big Hair tends to be a bit more wavy, as shown in the 1981 Miss USA Pageant:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ZnIBYbEkQY&feature=related

Interstingly, this video shows a progression of the hair among the top two winners from 1983-2007. You'll be quite surprised that there was still traces of the big hair as late as 1994 (even though 1992 clearly shows a change). From 1995 on, the '80s big hair seems like an era completely removed. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zRI2SBNdLZk&feature=related

The bottom line is that in more formal occassions, having big hair was a big attraction to society.