French Boys' Hair Styles: Long Styles


Figure 1.--Here we see a European portrait, probanly taken about 1930. rench boy in the 1930s. you will like. In addition to the curl on the top the rest of his hair is long and curled. One side of his hair is curled in a flip hair style that I remember girls wearing in during the 1960s. Also note the beaded necklace. He is shown with his toys: hoop and toy truck. I think it is probably French judging from the choupette hairdo.

Long hair was worn by French boys. we see boys both with curled and uncurled long hair. Ringlet curls seem much less common in France than in Britain and America. The ringlets that were commonly worn by American boys with long hair were much less common in France. As a result, the long hair worn by French boys often looks unkept. Long hair was especially popular for younger boys. Some younger school age boys had long hair. As in other countries declined in popularity after the turn of the 20th century, especially after World War I (1914-18). Even so, we do see some French boys with long hair after the War. This was mostly boys before they began school. This seems more common in France than many other countries. Styles were quite varried. We note boys with long uncurled hair at the sides, but elaborately done hair on the top of the head. Here the top might be done in choupette.

Long Uncurled Hair

Long hair was worn by French boys. we see boys both with curled and uncurled long hair, but the uncurled hair is much more common. Wec note quite a few boys with lon hair imn the 19th bcentury. As a result, the long hair worn by French boys often looks unkept. Long hair became popular for yonger boys. We erven notice some school-age boys with long hair, although it was not common at school. A good example is George Feydeau at age 8 years in 1870. George went on to become a noted playwrite. Some boys wore their long hair with bows. As in other countries declined in popularity after the turn of the 20th century, especially after World War I (1914-18). Even so, we do see some French boys with long hair after the War. This was mostly boys before they began school. This seems more common in France than many other countries. We note long hair for boys reappearing in the 1970s.

Choupette

French hair styles were quite varried. We note boys with long uncurled hair at the sides, but elaborately done hair on the top of the head. Here the top might be done in choupette. French boys have not worn curls as commonly as boys in several other countries, including America. HBC has noted, however, one curled hair style. A French reader describes a "coiffure de garçonnet avec une choupette". He reports that it was was common from the 1930s and early 50s with mothers who wanted to make a younger boy look nice and he himself wore such hair styles. The origins of the style, however, were much earlier. Our French reader indicates that choupette was a familiar term. It consisted of a big curl of hair placed in the the middle of the crown. The vogue was quite common for boys in affluent families and to make boys look alike "enfants modèles" (model children). Boys might keep a "bigoudi" or a "barette" in their hair. The word choupette today is only understood by the older people. Young people in France today don't today know exactly what it means, but recognize it as something associated with hair styling. The young boys with these choupettes were commonly dressed in rompers ("barboteuse"). This was a style for pre-school boys, normally up to about 4 or 5 years of age.

Medium Curls

We note some boys, mostly pre-school boys with a kind of short cut curls. The boys involved may have had naturally curled hair. We think this is likely, but have few detaila from French sources. The styles involved bangs at the front and hair is a kind of bushy affect covering the ears. We have no idea what the French called it. It was a style we note in the 1920s and 30s, but probably occurred somewhat earlier. Almost all the examples we have found are 20th century examples.We see far fewer examples in the 1940s. It was worn with various younger boy outfits including sailor suits. We are not sure how prevalent this style was, but ahce aseen a number of examples in the photographic record. We think the style was more popular in postcards than in as a common boys style, but we do akso see portraits and family snapshots shoeing boys wearing this style.

Ringlet Curls

Ringlet curls seem much less common in France than in Britain and America. The ringlets that were commonly worn by American boys with long hair were much less common in France. In fact the French called them 'English curls'. They were probably more common in America, but the French were more aware of English styles. Mothers needed needed a long cut with hair down to the shoulders. French mothers appear to have liked the fashion of long hair for their sons. Most of the images we note are long uncurled hair. We note only a few boys with ringlets. Here an exanple is Maurice Terrillon in 1894. We have seen, however, relatively few images of French boys with ringlet curls. While we still have realtively few 19th century French portraits in our archive, this does in fact appear to be the case. French mothers appear, however, to have been less apt to curl boys' hair. Boys' fashions in the 19th century often crossed international borders, although not always unchanged. Ringlet curls in France were seen as an English style. The French in fact referred to it as "Cheveux avec des anglaises" (meaning English-styled hair). It is not yet clear to HBC why French and English hair styles differred so substantially in this regard.








HBC






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Created: 3:16 AM 5/24/2005
Last edited: 12:26 AM 8/13/2013