The 1950s was the beginning of 1950s men‘s fashion, from dressing to hairstyles to persona. The advent of the Rock and Roll lifestyle brought about a major shift in the way to a lot of individuals, particularly men’s behaviors of different ages.
Rock and Roll, the Golden Age of Television, and the growth of Jazz music all came together to make the 1950s one of the most eventful decades for men. The major influences of fashion and hairstyle during this decade were: Elvis Presley, James Dean, Frank Sinatra, Marlon Brando, and Cary Grant.
History of Greaser Hairstyle for Men
The 1950s fashion set itself apart as the decade for a transformation in men’s hairstyles and one major transformation was the Greaser style and subculture.
This hairstyle was particularly influenced by Elvis Presley, Marlon Brando, Gene Vincent, and many others. The name greaser came as a result of the number of events in history that lead to men sporting a specific style.
This style became popular with a lot of motorcycle gangs and was eventually referred to as Bad Boy fashion or Rockability fashion. The Greaser hairstyle had to be held together with a lot of pomades, sometimes wax, and if you’ve seen any of the movies, constant combing.
Although the style died down towards the 60s, it has forever remained a timeless fashion that continues to make waves. From the 70s and 80s, the trend was back in style.
There were a variety of blends to the Greaser style. There were styles like:
- Greaser Slick Back
This style was easily created by combing the entire hair from front to back, including the back, and then it was held together with pomade.
- Quiff
This style is very retro. It made use of pomade and a styling comb to produce a perfect-looking hairdo with waves.
- Slick Back
This is a sophisticated greaser style that has a high volume in the front and utilizes less pomade than other greaser styles.
- Pompadour
This is a neat style that has been in existence for years. It has a high front and a smooth look, indicating a man who doesn’t like hair to be out of place.
This hairstyle came in different variations. One style involved combing the hair forward and flipping it forward and then backward to create a puff in front.
The second variation of this style involved creating a part by the side and then combing the front sideways and backward, and finally flipping the edges.
- Conservative style
This style was popular with older men. They cut their hair short and combed it from front to back, or sometimes they made it apart by the side and combed the hair from one side to another. Although pomade wasn’t necessary to achieve this look, it is still applied as that’s the major aspect of a greaser hairstyle.
- Ducktail
This style was created by parting the hair to one side and combing the top of the hair to another side, while creating a curl in front and holding the two sides of the hair together at the back, like a ducktail.
Although pomade was used a lot in creating this style, in recent times, it is created by applying only a liberal amount of pomade or hair wax.
This was how Danny Zuko’s hair was made in the movie Grease of 1978, except his style had no side part. It was simply styled in 2 parts, the front curled and held together with enough pomade, while the back was held together in a ducktail.
Asides from these greaser styles that were popular, there were other styles like;
- Flat top
This style was quite iconic. The hair was combed upwards and the entire hair was cut evenly at the top, creating a flat surface. It was easily achieved with short hair.
- Fringe
Unlike the female fringes, male fringes were a lot shorter and stopped far above the eyebrows. They could be left curly or straight.
- Messy hair
As the name implies, this hair was messy and placed under the same category and the bad boy hairstyles. It didn’t take much effort to achieve; the hair had to just look messy.
- Side parts
These styles were easy to achieve and were a lot faster than other styles. All that had to be done was make a straight line from the side of the hair down to the center and have the sides combed down evenly. The part could either be made on the left or right, depending on preference.
- Off-center part
As the name implies, this style involved a simple part of the hair, slightly away from the center of the hair. It gives an intentional irregular look on the hair that looked appealing on some men.
