The (beautiful) Women Bumper Bang and Curls Vintage Hairstyle Tutorial

I never saw the 2008 version…probably won’t ever, but I ADORE the 1939 original version of The Women. There is not one man in the entire 1930s movie. Go Girls!

I also love the hair of the movie and am going to do one of my favorite easy styles from the movie for all of you lovely ladies (and lovely gentlemen if you are reading). This bumper bang with cascading vintage waves hairstyle is worn by Paulette Goddard for the character of Miriam Aarons. I give her credit for being one of the strongest, most balanced women in the movie and she had great hair.

This also makes a fabulous hat hairstyle. There is so much flat crown area that you can wear many different hats with it.

You might also like: What Bettie Page and Jean Shrimpton taught us about Vintage Bangs

After taking a closer look, I think there was more of a rectangle shaping up top than a triangle, but this works too. Wet the hair and prep with your favorite stylers. Section out the top of the hair.

I pin curled using forward clockwise pin curls. The back curls are pulled more forward and pinned slightly off base since we want he top of the hair to be smooth.

You can use pin curls here also, but I opted to save some time with magnetic rollers. No these rollers do not have magnets in them, but if you are using a set lotion or gel, the hair end should “stick” well to the roller for a clean end with no fishhooks.

After the hair is dry, remove the rollers and brush the hair directly down. And keep brushing. We are trying to control it and smooth it, not make fluff. Use pomade to help control.

TIP: Your hair may have a little trouble relaxing sometimes when you are trying to brush out a dried wet set. While I was brushing the lower part of this style out using pomade on my hands to smooth and control, it was a little too buoyant and wasn’t relaxing enough on the ends. So the doll head went under the hooded hair dryer for 5 minutes. This warms the pomade and relaxes the curl just a little. When I brushed the curls downward after they fell into place beautifully.

Next, remove the clips and brush out the pin curls forward toward the face.

We are trying to get all these curls into one big curl. Roll the ends under tightly toward the scalp and pin the faux bang in place throug the hole in the side.

I pulled the curl end out just a little to get the look of the roll in the image up top. Think Greek pillar. Art Deco architecture was influenced some by ancient Greece and some styles of the time were reminiscent of that type of architecture.

Another note about Goddard’s hair. She had shorter bangs than this mannequin. Judging by this variation in her hair later in the movie, her bangs were about down to her eyebrows. So this is a great style if you are in the middle of growing out your bangs. Or you could try this waved variation if you have this length to work with.