Beyond the Pageboy: Retro Hairstyles For Short(ish) Haired Girls

About two weeks ago, the lovely lady who runs Les Fleurs Noires wrote a post about short hair and Lolita. She focused largely on accessorizing with short hair and styles to pair it with. And, in the spirit of sharing short hair style tips for the frilly among us, I thought I’d chip in with some of my favorite hairdo tutorials.

These focus on hair that is between chin length and shoulder length (sorry, pixie cut ladies, but I don't have personal experience with cuts that short and styling them!). It's also going to focus on retro hairstyles because, to be frank, I think retro hairstyles look adorable with Lolita and other frilly fashions.

Ribbon Braid Updo

Confession time: I pretty much lived in this hairstyle about a year ago. My hair had just about hit my shoulders and I knew not what to do with it. I also didn't have time (or money) to go out and get my hair chopped just because it was a little longer than I usually like it. Since then, I've decided that this is going to be my go-to for days when my hair is a touch too long and I just want it out of the way.

Then, I found this tutorial by way of Va Voom Vintage and absolutely loved it.

This hairstyle works well with a ribbon, a scarf, or even a random scrap of lace. One fun variation that looks great with natural kei or dolly kei inspired looks is this one from Megan Maude. With a thinner strip of lace and some smaller flowers, it looks quite nice with Lolita as well.

Pin Curls
Pin curls are a rather iconic style of the 1940s and 1950s. The best part about them is that you can get a ton of different looks from just a few bobby pins (or, you know, a few packs of bobby pins...). They are soft, fluffy, natural looking curls when done right, making them perfect for classic lolita.

One of the best things you can do with pin curls is look up a diagram, because the direction and location of the curls makes a huge impact on the style.

Rag Curls

Rag curls are one of those things that works for even stubborn hair. And, when I say "stubborn hair," I really mean "my stubborn, won't-hold-a-curl-for-more-than-a-half-an-hour hair." Rag curls can look soft and fluffy or poodle-like, depending on how much hair you roll and how tight you roll them, and getting it right can take practice.  When they're right, though, they're lovely.

They work for longer hair, too, but they're a fun (and cheap!) way to curl short hair.

Source

 

Victory Rolls

Yes, the favorite of pinup girls everywhere!  I know these are going to be a bit too rockabilly for some of you, but I think they're adorable. There are tons of tutorials out there, from the one I linked to above to this one from Va Voom Vintage that includes fake bangs.


Victory rolls can also look delightful with a choppier hairstyle. Modcloth featured a single victory roll (with pink hair!) on their blog that is definitely worth the look, with or without the added flower.

I hope some of these are helpful to someone, because I fully believe that everyone should have pretty hairstyles if they want them.