How Punk changed Hair


The world of fashion hairdressing is tricky How can you innovate when all the hairdo basics have been covered?  … long and straight, long and wavy, curled back, curled forward. Short and curly, short and feathery, flicked up, flicked under. Hang on a minute…… what are these kids doing sticking their hair straight up in the air?

Punk was about not going to the hairdresser. I don’t think I went for about 10 years; instead I cut it myself and occasionally bleached it, dyed it, shaved bits off and made it stick up. I only had short, spiky hair that needed a bit of gel or spray,  but extreme punk styles frequently used sugar and water, soap, gelatine or even pva glue to make the hair stay up.

Image result for 1970s punk hair

But before long, hairdressers were embracing some of the punk spirit. At first there was just one salon in town where you could get a ‘punk look’ but soon spiky became mainstream.

Image result for cher hair 1980
Mainstream punk look from Cher

And of course, there’s money to be made from it, so you no longer need to use school glue or sugar-water to get that mohican. You can buy the product from all good suppliers.

Image result for buy punk hair glue for mohicans

As I now go about my grown-up business, I try to spot OPGs (Old Punk Girls). You do see them every so often. They might be in their fifties and wearing a smart dress from Next or Marks and Spencer’s, but from their hairstyle, you can tell that they used to be a Punk Girl.

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