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Bangs (
Bangs (North American English
North American English (NAmE, NAE) is the most generalized variety of the English language as spoken in the United States and Canada. Because of their related histories and cultures, plus the similarities between the pronunciations (accents), v ...
), or a fringe (British English
British English (BrE, en-GB, or BE) is, according to Lexico, Oxford Dictionaries, "English language, English as used in Great Britain, as distinct from that used elsewhere". More narrowly, it can refer specifically to the English language in ...
), are strands or locks of hair
Hair is a protein filament that grows from follicles found in the dermis. Hair is one of the defining characteristics of mammals.
The human body, apart from areas of glabrous skin, is covered in follicles which produce thick terminal and f ...
that fall over the scalp's front hairline to cover the forehead
In human anatomy, the forehead is an area of the head bounded by three features, two of the skull and one of the scalp. The top of the forehead is marked by the hairline, the edge of the area where hair on the scalp grows. The bottom of the fore ...
, usually just above the eyebrows
An eyebrow is an area of short hairs above each Human eye, eye that follows the shape of the lower margin of the Supraorbital ridge, brow ridges of some mammals. In humans, eyebrows serve two main functions: first, human communication, communica ...
, though can range to various lengths. While most people cut their bangs straight, they may also shape them in an arc or leave them ragged.
Terminology
The term ''bangs'' originally referred to hair cut ''bang-off'' (i.e., straight across at the front), although the term is now applied to diverse forms of hair styling. It is probably related to ''bang-tail,'' a term still used for the practice of cutting horses' tails straight across. The term ''fringe'' refers to the resemblance of the short row of hair to ornamental fringe trim, such as those often found onshawl
A shawl (from fa, شال ''shāl'',) is a simple item of clothing from Kashmir, loosely worn over the shoulders, upper body and arms, and sometimes also over the head. It is usually a rectangular or square piece of cloth, which is often folded ...
s.
History
Bangs occur naturally in many styles of short hair-cuts. Hairstyles that feature bangs have come and gone out of fashion as frequently as otherhairstyles
A hairstyle, hairdo, haircut or coiffure refers to the styling of hair, usually on the human scalp. Sometimes, this could also mean an editing of facial or body hair. The fashioning of hair can be considered an aspect of personal grooming ...
, and they can be worn in any number of ways. Influential people with bangs in modern times (since the 20th century) have included silent movie actress Louise Brooks
Mary Louise Brooks (November 14, 1906 – August 8, 1985) was an American film actress and dancer during the 1920s and 1930s. She is regarded today as an icon of the Jazz Age and flapper culture, in part due to the bob hairstyle that she helpe ...
, 1950s glamor model Bettie Page
Bettie Mae Page (April 22, 1923 – December 11, 2008) was an American model who gained notoriety in the 1950s for her pin-up photos.
, the Beatles
The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatles, most influential band of al ...
, and actress Elizabeth Taylor
Dame Elizabeth Rosemond Taylor (February 27, 1932 – March 23, 2011) was a British-American actress. She began her career as a child actress in the early 1940s and was one of the most popular stars of classical Hollywood cinema in the 1950s. ...
in the title role of ''Cleopatra
Cleopatra VII Philopator ( grc-gre, Κλεοπάτρα Φιλοπάτωρ}, "Cleopatra the father-beloved"; 69 BC10 August 30 BC) was Queen of the Ptolemaic Kingdom of Egypt from 51 to 30 BC, and its last active ruler.She was also a ...
'' (1963).
In the 1970s, English actress and singer Jane Birkin
Jane Mallory Birkin, Order of British Empire, OBE (born 14 December 1946) is an English-French singer and actress. She attained international fame and notability for her decade-long musical and romantic partnership with Serge Gainsbourg. She als ...
helped establish the iconic look of brow-length bangs combined with overall long hair.
In the late 1980s and early 1990s, curly, teased bangs were in fashion, often held very big or high in place with copious amounts of hair spray
Hair spray (also hair lacquer or spritz) is a common cosmetic hairstyling product that is sprayed onto hair to protect against humidity and wind. Hair sprays typically consist of several components for the hair as well as a propellant.
Ingr ...
. This style was called "mall bangs".
In 2007, bangs saw another massive revival as a hair trend, this time thick, deep and blunt-cut. In October 2007, style icon and model Kate Moss
Katherine Ann Moss (born 16 January 1974) is a British model. Arriving at the end of the "supermodel era", Moss rose to fame in the early 1990s as part of the heroin chic fashion trend. Her collaborations with Calvin Klein brought her to fas ...
changed her hairstyle to have bangs, signalling the continuation of the trend into 2008.
Fringes also had another revival during the 2020s, particularly self-styled curtain bangs, mainly on social media apps such as TikTok
TikTok, known in China as Douyin (), is a short-form video hosting service owned by the Chinese company ByteDance. It hosts user-submitted videos, which can range in duration from 15 seconds to 10 minutes.
TikTok is an international version ...
.
See also
*Bowl cut
A bowl cut or mushroom cut is a simple haircut where the front hair is cut with a straight fringe (see bangs) and the rest of the hair is left longer, the same length all the way around, or else the sides and back are cut to the same short length ...
* Mop top haircut
References
External links
* * {{Human hair 20th-century fashion 21st-century fashion Hairstyles