Today we celebrate hair in both song and art. On this day back in 1968, the rock musical Hair opened at the Biltmore Theatre in New York City. Set in a time of flower power, free love, and the Vietnam War, the unconventional and controversial Hair swept the theater world. Clive Barnes of the New York Times wrote in his review of Hair, “So new, so fresh and so unassuming, even in its pretensions.”
During the Victorian Era (1837-1901), hair was celebrated in a much different fashion. It was a time of corsets, strict social rules, and in the United States, a country torn apart by the Civil War. It was common practice for women to weave strands of their hair into earrings, bracelets, brooches and watch fobs. These sentimental tokens were worn by loved ones either separated by distance (soldiers) or death. Queen Victoria popularized the style by wearing jewelry made from Prince Albert’s hair, after his death. The fashion eventually waned in the 1920s when hairstyles grew short.
Whether your hair is short, long, curly, straight, thick, thin or long gone, click here and celebrate something “so new, so fresh and so unassuming”.
Fun Fact: According to imdb.com, the music in Disney’s, Tangled is based on 1960s rock music.
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