Men's Hair Trends

When thinking of iconic and influential hair trends it is not often the historical hairstyles of men that come to mind. While trends in men’s hair fashion were much less varied over time, there was a change up of style preference every century or so.

Men’s hair began quite lengthy during the 17^th and 18^th centuries, with shoulder length hair worn curled and often white. If not available naturally, wigs or ‘periwigs’ would be worn to achieve this look. These styles were worn loose or more often tied back with a ribbon at the base of the neck.

When 19^th century arrived, hair was worn much shorter sitting above the ears and accompanied by various forms of facial hair including beards, moustaches, and sideburns. With this new style came many facial hair trends and a booming market for facial hair products such as oils and waxes for upkeep as well was wooden frames to keep moustaches properly shaped when sleeping!  A clean-shaven face did not come back into style until the late 19^th century.

Below are the staff picks for best hair or facial hair photos from the Museum's photograph collection.