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The beehive is a hairstyle in which long hair is piled up in a conical shape on the top of the head and slightly backwards pointing, giving some resemblance to the shape of a traditional
beehive
A beehive is an enclosed structure in which some honey bee species of the subgenus '' Apis'' live and raise their young. Though the word ''beehive'' is commonly used to describe the nest of any bee colony, scientific and professional literature ...
. It is also known as the B-52 due to a resemblance to the distinctive nose of the
Boeing B-52
The Boeing B-52 Stratofortress is an American long-range, subsonic aircraft, subsonic, jet-powered strategic bomber. The B-52 was designed and built by Boeing, which has continued to provide support and upgrades. It has been operated by the ...
Strategic Bomber. The
1980s
File:1980s replacement montage02.PNG, 420px, From left, clockwise: The first Space Shuttle, ''Columbia'', lifts off in 1981; US president Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev ease tensions between the two superpowers, leading to the ...
band
The B-52's
The B-52's, also styled as The B-52s, are an American new wave band formed in Athens, Georgia, in 1976. The original lineup consisted of Fred Schneider (vocals, percussion), Kate Pierson (vocals, keyboards, synth bass), Cindy Wilson (vocals, p ...
, took their name from the hairstyle which was worn by members
Cindy Wilson
Cynthia Leigh Wilson (born February 28, 1957) is an American musician and one of the vocalists, songwriters and founding members of new wave rock band the B-52's. She is noted for her distinctive contralto voice and also plays percussion during ...
and
Kate Pierson
Catherine Elizabeth Pierson (born April 27, 1948) is an American singer, lyricist, and founding member of the B-52's. She plays guitar, bass and various keyboard instruments. In the B-52s, she has performed alongside Cindy Wilson, Fred Schneid ...
.
Origin
It originated as one of a variety of elaborately teased and lacquered versions of "
big hair
Big hair is a hairstyle that emphasizes large volume or largely styled hair, especially when those styles make the hair occupy a large amount of space above and around the head. The label "big hair" for such styles originated in the late 1970s, wh ...
" that developed from earlier
pageboy
The pageboy or page boy is a past hairstyle named after what was believed to be the haircut of a late medieval page boy. It has straight hair hanging to below the ear, where it usually turns under. There is often a fringe (bangs) in the front. T ...
and
bouffant
A bouffant () is a type of puffy, rounded hairstyle characterized by hair raised high on the head and usually covering the ears or hanging down on the sides.
Etymology
The English word ''bouffant'' comes from the French ''bouffante'', from ...
styles. It was developed in 1960 by
Margaret Vinci Heldt Margaret Vinci Heldt (February 11, 1918 – June 10, 2016) was an American hairstylist, best known as the creator of the beehive hairstyle.[Elmhurst, Illinois
Elmhurst is a city mostly in DuPage County and overlapping into Cook County in the U.S. state of Illinois, and a western suburb of Chicago. As of 2021, the city has an estimated population of 47,260.
History
Members of the Potawatomi Native A ...]
, owner of the Margaret Vinci Coiffures in downtown
Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
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, who won the National Coiffure Championship in 1954, and who had been asked by the editors of ''Modern Beauty Salon'' magazine to design a new hairstyle that would reflect the coming decade.
She originally modeled it on a
fez
Fez most often refers to:
* Fez (hat), a type of felt hat commonly worn in the Ottoman Empire
* Fez, Morocco (or Fes), the second largest city of Morocco
Fez or FEZ may also refer to:
Media
* ''Fez'' (Frank Stella), a 1964 painting by the moder ...
-like hat that she owned. In recognition of her achievement, Cosmetologists Chicago, a trade association with 60,000 members, created a scholarship in Heldt's name for creativity in hairdressing.
The beehive style was popular throughout the 1960s, particularly in the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
and other Western countries, and remains an enduring symbol of 1960s
kitsch
Kitsch ( ; loanword from German) is a term applied to art and design that is perceived as naïve imitation, overly-eccentric, gratuitous, or of banal taste.
The avant-garde opposed kitsch as melodramatic and superficial affiliation with ...
.
Despite inventing the hairstyle, Heldt did not name it: for the final touch in her original design she added a bee-shaped hat pin and from that a reporter for the magazine ''Modern Beauty Shop'' (now ''Modern Salon'') "it looks just like a beehive! Do you mind if we call it the beehive?"
[Bruce Weber]
Margaret Heldt, Hairdresser Who Built the Beehive, Dies at 98
''The New York Times'', 13 June 2016, accessed 14 June 2016.
Heldt died on 10 June 2016 at a senior living community near
Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
, image_map =
, map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago
, coordinates =
, coordinates_footnotes =
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name ...
.
Technique
The beehive is constructed by
backcombing
Backcombing (also known as teasing or ratting) is a way of combing hair which is used to create volume as well as to create certain hairstyles. Backcombing is done by repeatedly combing the hair towards the scalp, causing the hair to tangle and k ...
or teasing the hair with a comb, creating a tangled pile which is lightly combed over to make a smooth outer surface. The longer the hair, the higher the beehive. Beehive styles of the early 1960s sometimes overlapped with
bouffant
A bouffant () is a type of puffy, rounded hairstyle characterized by hair raised high on the head and usually covering the ears or hanging down on the sides.
Etymology
The English word ''bouffant'' comes from the French ''bouffante'', from ...
styles, which also employed teasing to create hair volume; but generally speaking, the beehive effect was a rounded cone piled upwards from the top of the head, while the simple bouffant was a wider, puffier shape covering the ears at the sides. Both of these can be distinguished from the
pompadour style, the basic type of which is swept upwards from the forehead.
Notable examples
![AmyWinehouseBerlin2007-crop](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/19/AmyWinehouseBerlin2007-crop.jpg)
* The popular girl group
The Ronettes
The Ronettes were an American girl group from Washington Heights, Manhattan, New York City. The group consisted of lead singer Veronica Bennett (later known as Ronnie Spector), her older sister Estelle Bennett, and their cousin Nedra Talley. The ...
helped popularize the hairdo. "We came from
Spanish Harlem
East Harlem, also known as Spanish Harlem or and historically known as Italian Harlem, is a neighborhood of Upper Manhattan, New York City, roughly encompassing the area north of the Upper East Side and bounded by 96th Street to the south, Fif ...
", recalls the group's veteran lead singer,
Veronica "Ronnie" Spector, in a ''Village Voice'' interview. " 'We had high hair anyway.' So the Ronettes made their hair still higher—'We used a lot of
Aqua Net
Aqua Net is an aerosol hair spray created by Rayette of St. Paul, Minnesota. The company brought the product to retail stores in 1961. By 1964, hairspray had become the top-selling beauty product in America.Sherrow 2006, pp. 183 and for its mark ...
' ".
*
The B-52's
The B-52's, also styled as The B-52s, are an American new wave band formed in Athens, Georgia, in 1976. The original lineup consisted of Fred Schneider (vocals, percussion), Kate Pierson (vocals, keyboards, synth bass), Cindy Wilson (vocals, p ...
, a
new wave rock
Rock most often refers to:
* Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids
* Rock music, a genre of popular music
Rock or Rocks may also refer to:
Places United Kingdom
* Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...
band
Band or BAND may refer to:
Places
*Bánd, a village in Hungary
*Band, Iran, a village in Urmia County, West Azerbaijan Province, Iran
*Band, Mureș, a commune in Romania
* Band-e Majid Khan, a village in Bukan County, West Azerbaijan Province, I ...
took their name from the hairstyle which was worn by members
Cindy Wilson
Cynthia Leigh Wilson (born February 28, 1957) is an American musician and one of the vocalists, songwriters and founding members of new wave rock band the B-52's. She is noted for her distinctive contralto voice and also plays percussion during ...
and
Kate Pierson
Catherine Elizabeth Pierson (born April 27, 1948) is an American singer, lyricist, and founding member of the B-52's. She plays guitar, bass and various keyboard instruments. In the B-52s, she has performed alongside Cindy Wilson, Fred Schneid ...
.
* ''
Coronation Street
''Coronation Street'' is an English soap opera created by Granada Television and shown on ITV since 9 December 1960. The programme centres around a cobbled, terraced street in Weatherfield, a fictional town based on inner-city Salford.
Origi ...
'' character
Bet Lynch
Bet Lynch (also Gilroy) is a fictional character from the British ITV soap opera ''Coronation Street''. Portrayed by Julie Goodyear, the character first appeared on screen during the episode airing on Monday 25 May 1966. Appearing over 25 years, ...
wore a platinum blonde beehive since the 1970s. The ''
Manchester Evening News
The ''Manchester Evening News'' (''MEN'') is a regional daily newspaper covering Greater Manchester in North West England, founded in 1868. It is published Monday–Saturday; a Sunday edition, the ''MEN on Sunday'', was launched in February 201 ...
'' dubbed this the "worst haircut in soap history" even while acknowledging that it made her one of the series' most memorable characters.
*
Marge Simpson
Marjorie Jacqueline "Marge" Simpson () is a character in the American animated sitcom ''The Simpsons'' and part of the Simpson family, eponymous family. Voiced by Julie Kavner, she first appeared on television in ''The Tracey Ullman Show'' shor ...
from ''
The Simpsons
''The Simpsons'' is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical depiction of American life, epitomized by the Simpson family, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa, ...
'' is a well known fictional character with the hairdo.
* The character Flo, a waitress in the 1974 film ''
Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore
''Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore'' is a 1974 American comedy drama film directed by Martin Scorsese and written by Robert Getchell. It stars Ellen Burstyn as a widow who travels with her preteen son across the Southwestern United States in se ...
'', as well as
the subsequent TV series wore her hair in a beehive.
*
Sheila Broflovski
Sheila (alternatively spelled Shelagh and Sheelagh) is a common feminine given name, derived from the Irish name ''Síle'', which is believed to be a Gaelic form of the Latin name Caelia, the feminine form of the Roman clan name Caelius, mean ...
from ''
South Park
''South Park'' is an American animated sitcom created by Trey Parker and Matt Stone and developed by Brian Graden for Comedy Central. The series revolves around four boys Stan Marsh, Kyle Broflovski, Eric Cartman, and Kenny McCormickand th ...
'' wears her hair in a beehive.
*
Mari Wilson
Mari Macmillan Ramsay Wilson (born 29 September 1954, Neasden, London) is a British pop and jazz singer. She is best known for her 1982 UK top-10 hit single "Just What I Always Wanted" and her 1960s image complete with beehive hairstyle.
Care ...
, British singer probably best known for her hit "
Just What I Always Wanted
"Just What I Always Wanted" is a song by English singer Mari Wilson, released as a single in 1982. It is from her 1983 debut album '' Showpeople''.
As Wilson's fifth single release, "Just What I Always Wanted" was her first UK top 40 hit, reach ...
" in the '80s, was well known for her beehive hairstyle throughout that decade.
*
Amy Winehouse
Amy Jade Winehouse (14 September 1983 – 23 July 2011) was an English singer and songwriter. She was known for her deep, expressive contralto vocals and her eclectic mix of musical genres, including soul, rhythm and blues and jazz.
A membe ...
's beehive was inspired by
Ronnie Spector
Veronica Yvette Greenfield (; August 10, 1943 – January 12, 2022) was an American singer who co-founded and fronted the girl group The Ronettes. She is sometimes referred to as the original "bad girl of rock and roll".
Ronnie formed the ...
's from the 60's group, the Ronettes. "Ronnie Spector—who, it could be argued, all but invented Winehouse's style in the first place when she took the stage at the Brooklyn Fox Theater with her fellow Ronettes more than 40 years ago—was so taken aback at a picture of Winehouse in the ''
New York Post
The ''New York Post'' (''NY Post'') is a conservative daily tabloid newspaper published in New York City. The ''Post'' also operates NYPost.com, the celebrity gossip site PageSix.com, and the entertainment site Decider.com.
It was established ...
'' that she exclaimed, "I don't know her, I never met her, and when I saw that pic, I thought, 'That's me!' But then I found out, no, it's Amy! I didn't have on my glasses."
* Former Arizona governor,
Rose Mofford
Rose Mofford (née Perica; June 10, 1922September 15, 2016) was an American civil servant and politician of the Democratic Party whose career in state government spanned 51 years. Beginning her career with the State of Arizona as a secretary, Moff ...
was known for her signature beehive hairdo.
* In regard to the beehive of
Janice Rand
Janice Rand is a fictional character in the American science fiction television series ''Star Trek: The Original Series'' during its first season, as well as three of the ''Star Trek'' films. She is the Captain's yeoman on board the USS ''Enter ...
from ''
Star Trek: The Original Series
''Star Trek'' is an American science fiction television series created by Gene Roddenberry that follows the adventures of the starship and its crew. It later acquired the retronym of ''Star Trek: The Original Series'' (''TOS'') to distinguis ...
'',
Tor.com
''Tor.com'' is an online science fiction and fantasy magazine published by Tor Books, a division of Macmillan Publishers. The magazine publishes articles, reviews, original short fiction, re-reads and commentary on speculative fiction.
From 20 ...
stated, "When you think of the '60s and science fiction hairstyles, the first image is probably Rand’s beehive hair".
[
]
*
Patsy Stone
Patsy Stone is one of the two main characters from the British television sitcom ''Absolutely Fabulous'', portrayed by actress Joanna Lumley.
Background
Patsy was the last of a string of children born to an aging Bohemianism, Bohemian mother in ...
from ''
Absolutely Fabulous
''Absolutely Fabulous'' (also known as ''Ab Fab'') is a British television sitcom based on the ''French and Saunders'' sketch, "Modern Mother and Daughter", created by Dawn French and Jennifer Saunders. The show was created and written by Saund ...
'' always wore her blonde hair in a beehive with a fringe; a signature trait of the character.
See also
*
Bouffant
A bouffant () is a type of puffy, rounded hairstyle characterized by hair raised high on the head and usually covering the ears or hanging down on the sides.
Etymology
The English word ''bouffant'' comes from the French ''bouffante'', from ...
*
Hairpiece styles
References
External links
*
{{Human hair
Hairstyles
1960s fashion