Before the bob hair cut became popular in the 1920’s, women were confined to having long hairstyles that were swept up with combs or often worn with hairnets to keep their curls. The 1920’s changed all this when the constraints of the Victorian styles were abandoned. With the war, women were finally able to wear their hair short, thanks to the actions of Irene Castle, silent-screen actress, who started this popular haircut in 1917 to help with the war efforts. It was the promoted style to change the outlook of women that in the time of war, they did not have the time to spend on their hair and the style would help keep their hair from being tangled in factory machines. This style became the most demanded style in this time. By the 1940’s, however, long hair was back, with emphasize on the soft, wavy looks of the shoulder length style. It wasn’t until the 1960’s that the bob style became popular again. Women were back in the work force and they needed more manageable styles. Long hair did not fit the style of the working woman.
It wasn’t long before the most influential hairstylist to date, Vidal Sassoon, helped to make the bob style more popular than ever by changing the cut of the bob style haircut.
Sassoon and his creative director, Maurice Tidy spent time developing variations to the cut and before long, most women wanted their hair cut in the bob cut. This trend continued along into the 1970’s with the Dorothy Hamill cut that everyone seemed to copy. Even today, with the hairstyles varied, this style continues to be popular.