You probably think of the 1920s when you hear about Marcel waves, and rightly so; they reached their height of popularity during the ’20s, about 15 years after the first electric curling iron was invented. François Marcel introduced his spring-clamp electric model in 1918, making heat styling safer and easier than ever.
At the time, waving was the primary way that women grew out their bobs. Hair irons were sold touting that they “feminised” the short cuts that young girls would come to regret. Bobs were a lot more edgy 100 years ago.
The rad thing about this waving technique, is once you’ve gotten it down, it can take just a few minutes to add texture to a low, messy bun, or you can curl your whole head for a festival vibe. Here’s some of vintage pictures show a step-by-step tutorial on how to make the Marcel waves in the hair that were popular during the ’20s:
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