“The most popular hairstyles in the 80s had two things in common,” says celebrity hairstylist and vintage devotee Gregory Russell. “Layers and volume.”
That feels like a bit of an understatement. Almost every single celebrity—from a baby-faced Heather Locklear about to hit it big on the soap opera Dynasty to singers whose legendary looks lives on (hello, Cher, Tina Turner, and Whitney Houston)—all had big, beautiful hair. And the look of big, messy ’80s hair is even easier to achieve more than 40 (yes, f-o-r-t-y) years later.
“One popular way, which we are seeing lots of right now, is a perm,” says Russell, whose clients include Anya Taylor-Joy and Jennifer Lawerence. That built-in texture can really help to add a base to maintaining volume. Another way would be setting the hair on rollers.” Whichever way you choose to go, start with an inspirational photo first. Lucky for you, we’ve collected the best looks below.
