Many associate the beehive with the matted nest of Amy Winehouse, the towering hair helmets of ’60s Girl Bands or a place where bees live. But little do we know about the origins of the big hair movement.
How Glamorous Beehive Hair Became Famous In The 60s
The 60s was where it all began. The Fez-inspired Pillbox hats were hugely popular at the time with America’s sweetheart Jackie Kennedy being a huge advocate.
Hairdresser Margaret Vinci Heldt adored the fez and wanted to create a hairstyle that could slot right into one. So, she created a huge backcombed bouffant which was two parts hair, one part face and showered in hairspray. When her style was photo-ready, she decorated the look with a small bee pin. The look was published in Modern Beauty Shop Magazine and it didn’t take long before a writer dubbed it “the beehive”.
The Ronettes became huge fans and made light-blocking hair their trademark. Many more celebrities in the 60s, from Brigitte Bardot to Audrey Hepburn, adopted the beehive too and it became one of the most popular hairstyles of the era.
The beehive had almost become extinct by the 70s with the arrival of afros and big curly hair. But as we arrived at the new millenium, fashion began to borrow from the past decades, bringing back flares, platform shoes and the coveted beehive (thankfully no huge shoulder pads). In the ’90s, Patsy Stone from Absolutely Fabulous made the beehive “fashion darling” while singer Amy Winehouse made the beehive a part of her iconic look in the 2000s. Amy was inspired by one of Ronnie Spector from The Ronettes, but her own was less tamed and highly exaggerated.
Since then, the beehive has remained a popular look on the red carpet, Instagram and in honey bee gardens. I support the beehive’s longevity and the sales of hairspray by wearing one whenever my hair decides to behave.
