Mad for Joan's 'Do

September 13, 2008 11:57 AM

I am mad for Joan Holloway's typical hairstyle on Mad Men. How to achieve it?

Clearly there is a lot of teasing and maybe a hairpiece going on, but I haven't been able to figure out what the core style is. Is it "up" at all, or just frantically curled and teased?

A few tantalizing, just out of grasp photos:

Here, here, here and here

These aren't overwhelmingly useful, but if you watch the show you have likely gotten several more peeks.

posted by xaire to Clothing, Beauty, & Fashion (9 answers total)

Start here.
posted by Sys Rq at 12:22 PM on September 13, 2008

Of course, I can't find the link right now, but Christina Hendricks has said in interviews that the stylists use hair pieces because that sort of up-do would ruin her natural hair. You can tell, especially in this photo that the bouffant curls aren't natural. If you have thick, neck-to-shoulder length hair, I'd suggest curling it with a small barrel curling iron, lifting it up from your neck, and pinning it loosely around your crown. Sadly, what makes this styles somewhat unattainable is that it's hard to achieve with natural hair without looking fake.
posted by zoomorphic at 12:35 PM on September 13, 2008

Also, this webpage on 1960s styles might be useful. I wouldn't call Joan's hair a beehive, per se, it's in the same family. Apparently the hairpieces were called Dynels.

"A Dynel was synthetic hair that a woman would take to a wig or department store and a technician would blend the Dynel to match the ladies hair. It was then braided, wound around stuffing and pinned to the top of the head."
posted by zoomorphic at 12:39 PM on September 13, 2008

I have faint memories (being a child in the 60s) that women used a device like a half round cage with a comb attached. So you positioned that thing on the back of your head and combed the hair over it. I don't know what that thing was called.

Bookmarking this thread.
posted by cda at 12:59 PM on September 13, 2008

Terms for these things can be hard to figure out, but I think the Google you're looking for is "wiglet."
posted by rhizome at 1:23 PM on September 13, 2008 [1 favorite]

you might want to start going to bed earlier. in this interview (@1:50), she says she spends 3 hours in hair getting that to-die-for look.
posted by killy willy at 4:07 PM on September 13, 2008

she says she spends 3 hours in hair getting that to-die-for look.

And I doubt that's just the Hollywood routine--my grandmother apparently woke up at 5am to fix her hair and do her makeup so she could run errands by 8:30. As someone else who loves applying a vague vintage aesthetic to my look, I can say that I'm still effing relieved to be vain in 2008 as opposed 1958, when women were practically expected to spend hours a day in ear-burning curlers, sheathed in the hair nests, and strapped inside girdles.

Sometimes those looks are better to admire but not imitate.
posted by zoomorphic at 9:48 PM on September 13, 2008

The ladies in the Vintage Hair Livejournal community might be able to help. In addition to posting up instructions for the 'dos they do, you can also ask for help, and it's a pretty active community so you're bound to get some ideas there.
posted by mewithoutyou at 12:00 AM on September 14, 2008

Response by poster: All answers were useful, if a little depressing. Three hours! I can barely convince myself to spend twenty minutes on hair. I'll settle for some grippy rollers, a teasing comb and a non-humid day. Thanks!
posted by xaire at 3:21 PM on September 15, 2008