How do I start this post? I can’t decide. Saying that I love vintage hair combs is an understatement. I guess I will tell you that I have been playing around with combs in my hair a lot lately, and I can’t quite believe that it took me so long to discover the power of a hair comb. We spend a lot of time fussing about with hair pins here at HTHG. Hair pins are to hair what nails and screws are to a construction site. I have discovered that combs are to hair what support beams are to a house. (My kindergartener daughter is learning about metaphors right now, so please excuse my liberal use)
To explain it more straightforwardly, combs are amazing for holding your hairstyle together. You can secure an entire elaborate hairstyle with just one comb if you place it right. This alone is great news.
But also, because combs are bigger than bobby pins, there is no hiding them so they become a visual design element within the hairstyle. This is great news too because they are a gorgeous way to accessorize. Combs are one big part fashion, and one big part function.
I started collecting hair combs several months back while doing a photo shoot with my sister-out-law Darcy. She somehow seems to have every cool vintage thing imaginable stashed away in her house. This is what years and years of garage sale-ing does.
She pulled out a box full of BEAUTIFUL hair combs, ranging from what looked like the turn of the century era through the 1950’s. They were lucite and bakelite and true turtle shell, some with rhinestones, some with in-lay. Some carved, some painted. I almost cried because I wanted them to be mine. She said she got the box of them for 5$ at a garage sale. Oh, Arkansas and the treasures that are buried in junk. So I started looking around at antique malls and I found some pretty cool ones (pictured above). I also found a bag full of 100 year old finger wave clamps while on a hair comb thrifting trip.
This post is to prepare you for the coming months at HTHG. Don’t be surprised to see hair combs added to hair style tutorials. Don’t have any vintage hair combs? Buy new ones and decorate them! paint them with nail polish, wrap them with colored thread, glue buttons or beads to them, sew a bow on em. Put a bird on em. Bedazzle em. Get creative! Here are a couple ways to wear them…
As a little bonus to this post, I’m gonna throw in a tutorial for you. XO!
Here is how to do it….
Start by sectioning off the crown section and back combing it lightly.
Make a side part, then a section across the top of the head to behind both ears.
Do a french braid on each side of the part. Braid all the way down the free end of the hair.
Join the braids at the back of the head with a clear elastic.
Now, put the rest of the hair in a ponytail, and pull the ponytail holder down to the ends, just far enough so that you still have all the ends contained.
Now roll your ponytail upwards around your finger and pin your roll to the head from both sides.
Now add a comb at the top of your roll, where the roll meets the braids. Combs look best when they are placed in a meeting point between different design elements (braids and roll) Because they draw the eye right in. Stunning.
