It started on a haircut that had outgrown two styles and was considering the path of the dreaded (you know it, business in the front, party in the back).
Cue the questing for a new style, with 1950s being the inspiration. The Lucille Ball’s poodle bob was out, Audrey Hepburn’s pixie was too short to consider. Long styles were out and medium length was what we were starting with, not keeping.
A style caught the eye, though it seems a bit daringly short to pull off:
the Italian.
A wee bit longer than the poodle, featuring tousled styling vs curls, it was often worn by woman who had darker hair (lighter hair colors were more frequently manipulated into soft bobs). It was a sculpted haircut, tousled in look with deep waves on the crown and a ragged nape. The forehead and cheeks were framed by spit curls.
Sounds like a vintage haircut that could work for the daily minus the mention of… spit curls.
Uh…. the hell is a spit curl?
Remember classic Superman with that adorable curl smack in the middle of the strong handsome forehead?
Spit curl.
Or also known as kiss curls.
They were the bees knees in the 20s, and filtered into the 50s via the Italian.
Spit curls were sculpted curls tight against the skin, typically at the hairline and neckline. Occasionally spit was used to style the curls, though more often gels and lotions were utilized for shaping.
Questing yielded definitions, with some written articles of what spit curls were, though the how-tos were rather thin.
Roxie Jane Hunt has an avid tutorial from 2015, while a walk through (minus some of the images) lives on Live Journal holding nearly vintage date of 2009. Wise Geek’s is undated and errs more towards pin curls more than spit curls.
Spit curls aside, the haircut captured my eye. It was debated. Mulled, tossed about, contemplated.
In the end, the standard asymmetrical inverted bob was re-chosen, the guts to go so boldly into short haircut gone like a fuzz in the breeze.
(Written in 2019. Multiple cuts since, none Italian. )
