We note boys as well as bangs being worn by boys as well as girls throughout the 20th century. The style of bangs varied over time. There were also differences from country to country. At the turn of the 20th century, boys were less frequently kept in dresses and their hair was cut earlier. It was about this time that front bangs began to appear on boys. The bangs I have noted which appeared at about the turn of the century also had longer hair left over the ear at the side. I am not sure why bangs began to appear at this time or who promoted the fashion. Perhaps the so called bowl-cut of low-income families had some impact in popularizing bangs. Using a bowl a boys hair could be eavenly cut at home, leaving a front fringe, but the hair cut away from the ears. Throughout the 20th century bangs varied in popularity. Usually they were considered a little boys' style, but the Beatles help popularize them for teenagers. Boys in the second half of the 20th century thus continued to wear bangs. Often the bangs were not cut sharply bur were worn in an informal shaggy style.

The 1900s

I'm not sure about the popularity of bangs in the 1900s. Available images confirm that some boys wore them, but they do not seem as popular as later in the century.

The 1910s

Bangs were becoming an increasingly popular hair style for boys as ringlets and other longer hair styles declined in popularity. Long hair for boys was declining in popularity in the 1910s. Boys wearing bangs wore both the long and short style. Some boys still wore it long over their ears. Other boys had it cut above their ears. Interestingly they were great variations in the clothing styles worn. Some boys wore juvenile over the ear hair with rather mature looking ties while others had abobe the ear cuts with juvenile floppy bows.

Figure 1.--Dutch boy bangs became very popular in America after the turn of the century. Long ringlet curls declined in popularity, especially after the first decade, but bangs in various forms have continued to be a popular hair style for boys. This boy in the late 1910s early 1920s has had his hair cut above the ears.

The 1920s

Bangs by the 1920s had become a popular style for younger boys. Boys in bangs by the 1920s, however, were beginning to wear more mature looking suits like sailor suits. For the most part, however, bangs were considered to be a hair style for girls or younger boys. As a result, the boys in bangs still also wore rather juvenile styled clothes. Bangs were still being used, however, to differentiate between boys of different ages. Some boys in bangs still had their hair over their ears, but by the mid-1920s this had become increasingly rare. Most boys in bangs were having their hair cut short above the ears.

The 1930s

The 1940s

The 1950s

The 1960s

The young John Kennedy restablished bangs style as a fashionable style for younger boys. The mopish bangs-look he wore as he began schooled helped to make bamgs popular for school age children. The Beattles were another factor in establishing bangs as a major hair style for boys.

The 1970s

Bangs became increasingly popular in the 1970s. Older boys wore bangs, even some younger teenagers. Bangs lost much of their previous association as a little boys' hair cut.

The 1980s

Bangs continued to be worn by boys. A current popular style is bangs in front across the forehead worn with a general bowl cut. This is often worn by blond boys. It is most common with smaller boys, but is often worn by younger teenagers. While formal straight cut bangs are still commonly seen on younger boys, a more common style is the sort of stragely bangs popularized by John-John in thr 1960s.

Figure 2.--The classic bangs continue to be one of the most popular style for younger boys. One modern look is the kind of informal, uncombed bangs worn by this boy.

The 1990s

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Created: 9:50 PM 1/26/2007
Last edited: 9:50 PM 1/26/2007