Fashion: FALL ISSUE : Big Bangs Theory
Ask about hairstyles and most American women will subscribe to the big bang theory: Bangs make you look younger, perkier, sexier.
And with celebrities Demi Moore, Cher, Barbra Streisand and Shannen Doherty wearing them this fall, it is no wonder bangs are making a comeback.
The newest variations are wispy, veiling the forehead rather than cloaking it. Streisand carries off the effect in her latest film, “The Prince of Tides.” Already it’s the new “power look” among women execs in Hollywood.
Doherty, a regular on “Beverly Hills, 90210,” wears her bangs straight, not crinkled. Cher’s new interpretation is short and spiky. Moore’s long, thick schoolgirl bangs are one of the most popular versions right now.
For older women, bangs often represent a form of security blanket, a means of camouflage and a demure touch of sex appeal. They can be a convenient way to hide horizontal wrinkles and furrows between the brows.
“Bangs help soften the face and many women find security in that,” says Henry Abell of A.T. Tramp salon in West Hollywood.
He is styling longer bangs this fall. They cover the nose, and fall forward asymmetrically to the side. Abell likens them to a cowlick: “They lift up and droop down.” Actress Kate Vernon is growing out her bangs and sports Abel’s cowlick version as part of her transitional look.
Some stylists predict that women who have never worn bangs will be afraid to commit to trimming inches off the most conspicuous part of their manes. “That’s when you keep the bangs longer, so they can be brushed to either side,” says Lemaire, owner of Lemaire for Hair on Robertson Boulevard, who has cut bangs on stars such as Roseanne Arnold and Stefanie Powers.
For actress Deborah Moore, the daughter of actor Roger Moore, Lemaire styled short wispy bangs with longer strands overlaying the short ones. “Most women think bangs will be limiting, but this way there’s dozens of ways to play with them and always look different,” says Lemaire.
The stylist herself wears long red bangs three different ways. She sets them on rollers for a round smooth look, curls them for a tousled style or brushes them completely off her face.
“Bangs definitely make the hair look more touchable, more seductive,” adds haircutter Ronnie Romoff of Studio in Santa Monica. Although he says he prefers bangs only on very short styles, “with long hair, long spiky peek-a-boo bangs are very alluring, and can be practical too, since they can be pushed back or to the side.”
To achieve that versatile option, seen on Cher lately, Romoff cuts bangs from the crown of the head, “just a few, never heavy.” He cuts many Hollywood executives in his one-room salon on an alley off Montana Avenue. The Streisand-like “power look” he gives them is always finished with a little bit of bang.
Glamorous shoulder-length 1940s hairdos without bangs--as worn by Rita Hayworth 50 years ago and by supermodel Cindy Crawford today--are being promoted as the high-fashion statement this fall. But for many women, hair swept away from the forehead looks too severe, too sophisticated.
Jeane Eden, a member of the design team at Allen Edwards Salon in Beverly Hills, says the challenge is to make the glamorous Crawford cut work with bangs.
“If a woman is used to a fringe and wants to be able to camouflage her forehead, she won’t be comfortable without it--no matter what the newest style is,” Eden finds. More than 60% of her clients now request some form of bangs.
