What images come to mind when you think of head wrapping from the 1900s forward? Here’s a (very!) quick overview for you!
1901, with the death of Queen Victoria of England, signaled the official end of the Victorian Era. Queen Victoria’s fashion stylings were adopted internationally – elaborate bonnets, blouses buttoned ‘up to here,’ corsets and tight-waisted skirts and dresses. Her overall look ruled the fashion industry from the 1830s forward to the turn of the century.
The 1920s started the age of the Flapper in fashion and head wraps/accessories. A sleek, fitted turban with a large brooch front and center could easily define this look, as could a downward-dripping hat of rhinestone chains. Or even a simple, narrow headband worn lower and horizontally across the forehead with a feathered ornament. These all accentuated the long and lean style of Flapper dress, as well as low-waisted dresses with lots of tassels at the hemline!
The 1940s brought us Rosie the Riveter, but did you realize that she had two different personas? One with a head wrap and one without? We saw her curly red locks in Norman Rockwell’s version of Rosie for the Saturday Evening Post of May 29, 1943. She was even more muscular than the iconic headscarf-wearing Rosie, and sported a welder’s shield and leather wristlet.
The iconic ‘We Can Do It’ caption of the better-known Rosie the Riveter illustration spoke the language of the generation of female shipyard and factory workers during WWII.
In the 50s, 60s and 70s, celebrities like Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis and Lucille Ball perfected the “Babushka” style of head wrap. One need not worry about this wrap sliding off your head – not even while riding in a convertible Chevy Bel Air! It’s so simple. Just take a square scarf and triangle fold it. Put the flat end under your chin and tie. You can even ‘amp it up’ with a much larger square by taking the ends from the chin knot, wrapping them around your neck and tying again!
For Jackie O., the bohemian influences of the 1970s meant head scarves, rounded shades, and a simple yet stylish wardrobe of tees, tapered slacks, and sandals.
And who could forget Lucille Ball’s iconic wine-making scene, where she sported a simple square scarf, triangle folded and pinned back behind her ears!
Let’s move on towards today… Here’s a bit about a famous singer/songwriter and how she decided to give up her head wraps!
Erykah Badu
Essence.com caught up with songstress Erykah Badu to talk about her music, her new collaboration with My Morning Jacket and her style — specifically, her signature head wrap and why she decided to leave it behind. She told Kristina Bustos that ten-or-so years ago, she visited Cuba to get a Santeria reading, clad in “this white head wrap and this white long dress and all of my jewelry, because it was part of me. It was who I was.” She waited alongside a man with dirty nails, smoking a cigarette and swigging beer.
Badu continued:
I finally went in for my reading and there was this beautiful older woman who had on a yellow long dress and short haircut. She was very pretty. She started walking around me and speaking to me in Spanish. I assumed she was the priest who was going to give me my reading.
When the guy with the beard and dirty nails came in, I told the interpreter, “I kind of wanted it to be private.” She goes, “Oh no, he’s the Priest.”
I never wore the head wrap again. I realized it wasn’t necessary anymore, because after all that man was from a long line of healers and he didn’t have to look like one. He was born with it. No matter what he did or what he said, no one could take that away from him. That’s when I was freed and began to evolve. I began to focus on being more in here than out there.
Nick Cannon
It’s just so interesting to us that the Hollywood celebrity and former host of The Masked Singer could sum up how it feels to head wrap so eloquently. He stated, “It is my crown, I feel like a king, I feel royal out here,” Nick explained the main reason underlying his knack for donning turbans on an episode of The Ellen DeGeneres show. As he went on to describe, turbans have many advantages. Not only are they extremely pragmatic, but they’re versatile too. “When I’m with the kids, I can just throw one on,” Nick told Ellen, before adding that “Throw a diamond in on there every now and then, feel your royalty out [sic].”
The most important part of Nick’s slot? Having switched to a more serious, solemn tone, the television host opened up about his long-held interest in different religions and cultures. As he explained, he wants to promote a more progressive, open-minded and liberal mentality — and popping on a turban is born out of this ambition.
“No matter what background you’re from, no matter which religion or culture, if you could all just embrace it and just everybody love another ….” Nick tried to say before he got cut off by the frenzied applause of the audience.
Alicia Keys
Her ‘Wellness Fashion’ included head wraps and no makeup. With her hair prepped, she is ready to reveal exactly how she has mastered the head scarf, which she wears on red carpets and at home with her family alike. “There’s so many gorgeous ways to wrap your head,” she explains—but for Keys, it all begins by brushing her hair up into a ponytail and then twirling it into a neck-lengthening bun at the very top of her head. Rest assured: “It doesn’t have to be all special-looking at this point.”
Folding a large rectangular scarf in half at the base of her head (pro tip: “the less slippery the material, the better”), she crosses the two ends over each other in front of and around the bun “as many times as [they] can” before tucking the edges inside. While many people might stop there, Keys grabs a second, square-shaped scarf featuring a prismatic, eye-catching print. “The thing I love the most is by the time I wrap it on my head, you have no idea what the color is gonna be…It’s a beautiful expression,” she muses while twisting the tails together (a creative tip suggested by her very own son) to achieve a one-of-a-kind sculptural updo. “Even if I’m just gonna be able to walk around the block because I can’t go anywhere, I’m still gonna be shining.”
Thorgy Thor, Drag Artist, Violinist and Head Wrapper
Drag queens, known for their outrageous wig styles, need to move aside because here comes Thorgy Thor! A classical violinist and theater enthusiast, Thorgy Thor’s dream is to conduct a symphony orchestra one day. With her tall, luxurious and boisterous head wraps, there’s no arguing that Thorgy makes a bold statement!
So there you have it! Do you feel as if you just took a short ride through the 20th Century of headwraps? Stay tuned…..YOU may be featured in our next century of headwrap history!
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