My 70’s Perm Disaster
A while back there was a lot of talk about the 70’s & 80’s perms. I promised JD that I would try and find an old photo of my perm disaster.
I had a perm in the 70’s that was such a tight ‘Afro’ perm that my hair looked really short. Actually if you pulled one of the curls, you would see that they were like corkscrews. They curled round and round….and round….and…. It was so tight that it would not drop out, no matter how many washes it had. I actually had to grow it out.
Here is a photo of me growing my hair out, long enough so I could finally get the perm cut off! Believe it or not, this was one of the better ‘grow out’ stages. It looked far worse than that when it was a bit shorter. The curls kind of stood out sideways! Unfortunately I can’t find a photo showing that stage. Maybe I hid away from the world. Well you would, wouldn’t you?
How about the top? This was a top to be envious of!! Those are actual tassles and beads hanging from an embroidered square. Have you ever seen such a top? It was very ‘with it’ at the time, but I think I would have sooner been without it! Needless to say I didn’t buy it for myself. It was a gift, and you have to please the person that gave it to you by wearing it.
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Jaffer
| 31 January 2009 at 2:17
I think I can make out the tight curls at the end. Wow you must have really hated yourself for that !
The top is beautiful ! Actual beads eh ? Wow !
I am having coffee right now. What are you having ?
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Eric "Speedcat Hollydale"
| 31 January 2009 at 2:24
I like it!!!!!!!!! … of course I am still living in the past and miss my OWN crazy perm. (yep – I had one in 1984)
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beetle
| 31 January 2009 at 2:29
Jaffer: My comments are going mad! You keep waiting for moderation and I have it set that anyone can comment. I had eight comments queued tonight! I have just had a J2O Apple & Mango
Speedy: Well you’re a grandfather, you would like it hahaha! I got a hole in one on the Wii last night!
mike golch
| 31 January 2009 at 2:31
sorry,but I thought you looked ok.
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Awake In Rochester
| 31 January 2009 at 6:23
Hey, I think that the hair & top are groovy man! Your a cool looking chick!
*scratching head* I know everyone who commented here. Hm, we must all be related or something.
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Lady Banana
| 31 January 2009 at 10:37
Hehehe, it’s great looking back at the old photos – I had a perm back in the 70’s as well..
I posted about it a while ago HERE
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Ana
| 31 January 2009 at 10:50
Hm, I think you don’t look too bad. But maybe the other pictures which you couldn’t find show the real disaster
Have a great weekend, Babs!
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Babette
| 31 January 2009 at 11:57
Getting a perm is like playing Russian Roulette, you’ll never know what you’re going to end up with. I too had my share of bad perms growing up. There was one point my hair looked like Jesus according to my cousins.
)
Daisy the Curly Cat
| 31 January 2009 at 13:15
Daisy’s mom here:
My hair is absolutely straight, and I have had a few perm disasters in my time, too. In that photo, it doesn’t look too bad. I haven’t had a perm in decades. I wonder if they still smell so bad?
The sweater on the other hand…
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Lauren
| 31 January 2009 at 13:33
I had the same bad perm in 1985. I think it was a conspiracy to make the women on both sides of the pond go mad! I too had to wait for it to grow out. I was 13…terrible age to look so horrible…as if the nastiness isn’t bad-enough at that age. OY!
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Babs - beetle
| 31 January 2009 at 13:37
Mike Golch: Well id looked far worse at times
Babette: Well, hair like Jesus was quite fashionable in the 60’s/70’s – usually for men though
Daisy’s mom: My hair is also dead straight and usually perms only lasted a week or two on me. Don’t know what happened with this one! I bet Daisy would like the sweater
beetle
| 31 January 2009 at 13:49
Awake: I don’t know about a cool looking chick Haha! I wish I could find a photo of the awful stage!
Lady banana: Some of the old photos I like, but some are not such good memories
I’ll check that post out.
Ana: Oh they do, trust me
You have a great time in your new home too!
Lauren: Thankfully, other than a perm dropping out within a few hours, this was the only disaster I had.
Wendy
| 31 January 2009 at 14:41
Oh, yes. First perm I ever had made me look like Orphan Annie, except blonde. And I cried.
It was not the last perm that would make me cry. It took me a while to wise up, unfortunately….
JD at I Do Things
| 31 January 2009 at 19:13
I think you look very sweet! And unlike the perms I remember, your “growing out” part doesn’t look all weird and flat. Your sweater looks like something I would’ve worn . . . not too long ago.
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beetle
| 31 January 2009 at 19:19
Wendy: Do we ever really learn with the things we do to our hair when we are young?
JD: Oh that’s because I couldn’t find a photo of it before it actually got long! It was like a corrugated shelf around my head! Honest, you would have roared if you’d seen it at that stage, trust me
hindleyite
| 31 January 2009 at 22:39
You look just like Richard Ashcroft in that pic
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Jay
| 31 January 2009 at 23:00
Ah, Babsie! I had one of those perms too! I must try to find a picture, but I think Mum has them all.
Yours looks rather nice actually, at least it does at this stage. I had the curls sticking out sideways too, and there really is nothing anyone can say to make you feel better, is there?
Love the jumper!
beetle
| 31 January 2009 at 23:05
Hindleyite: Richard Ashcroft?! Joke right?
Lee
| 31 January 2009 at 23:06
If you think that was a perm disaster, you should have seen the perm I had back in the late 70s. The only up side was I still had hair back then.
beetle
| 31 January 2009 at 23:08
Jay: Oh I just remember looking so awful while it was growing out! Having very thick hair didn’t help the shelf thing either
beetle
| 31 January 2009 at 23:09
Lee: Ha ha ha! Given the choice I expect we would put up with the perm if we could have the hair of our youth back!
shinade
| 31 January 2009 at 23:45
Oh my I fell asleep again and I am so very very late. I too had one of those but trust me yours looks fantastic compared to what they did to me. They gave me the perm and then bleached my hair the same day.
You talk about a disaster. It completely fried my hair to pieces. Oh my I had to go to work the next day like that too. finally I just went and had a short short twiggy style hair cut to save myself.
Well hair that short was great for me back then when I barely weighed 110lbs.
Oh Babs I think we all have our wild and crazy stories from those days.
But, you know I am like Speedy. I am so stuck in my generation that it’s nuts. I miss those days. At least the days I remember…Lol!!!
granny grimble
| 1 February 2009 at 1:28
I think your hair looks OK. It doesn’t look frizzy and it goes well with the time. As for your top, I bet that was the height of fashion and looks quite nice even now. That’s the good thing about fashion now. Provided you’re young enough,anything goes.
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Maureen
| 1 February 2009 at 4:56
Ha! Oh, yeah, perms. The ONLY one I liked was my lion’s mane I spent a fortune on when I was about 17. I was never able to get that look ever again, even though I tried and tried. My poor hair. Your sweater reminds me of my granny squares vest; ah the Seventies will never let us live this horrendous stuff down, eh????
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Babs - beetle
| 1 February 2009 at 12:49
Grannygrimble: Yes but like most things, it probably looked OK for about a week. The rest of the time it was awful! The top was never ‘me’ Far too fussy for my liking. Maybe without the tassles :O)
Maureen: That’s the shame of it. We can never seem to reproduce the hair that looked good on us! We can always reproduce the disasters though!
Babs – beetle´s last blog post..My 70’s Perm Disaster
beetle
| 1 February 2009 at 12:56
Shinade: A similar thing happened to my mum. My sister permed her hair on top of bleach and it turned to jelly! All green and slimy!! Poor mum, just said “Never mind, do what you can with it” My sister washed it several times and cut all the yuck off! In the end it didn’t look too bad considering the mess it was in.
Swubird
| 1 February 2009 at 15:44
Babs:
It definitely reminded me of the old days. In the 70’s even the men were getting perms. I didn’t, but I knew a lot of guys that did. Shiny shirts, bell bottom pants, high healed shoes, and hair perms. Just like John Travolta.
Happy trails.
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beetle
| 1 February 2009 at 19:03
Swubird: Oh yes, the shiny shirts and platform shoes! That was no more stupid than the boys who wear their trousers around their thighs now!
Comedy Plus
| 1 February 2009 at 21:54
I’ve had a perm like that and more than once too. My mother loved perms. I hated them. It didn’t matter that I would cry and beg her not to perm my hair. Not one bit.
I think there were lots of tops like that in the 70s. They weren’t that bad back then, but now. Not so much.
Have a terrific day.
Comedy Plus´s last blog post..The Wife and the Mistress
beetle
| 2 February 2009 at 15:03
Sandee: Oh yes, I remember the perms as a little girl. They were awful back in the 50’s! Us girls cried all the way through the process. Hot water, cold water – It was torture!
Jonny's Mommy
| 2 February 2009 at 16:27
I was maybe 11 or 12 when he tired a perm. As my mom says “What were we thinking?” It was a NIGHTMARE. I looked like someone had stuck my finger in a light socket — 50 times or more. It took forever for it to grow out again and until then I was called “triangle head.” Fun times….yeah. Not really.
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Jonny's Mommy
| 2 February 2009 at 16:27
That should when “we” tried a perm. Ugh.
Jonny's Mommy
| 2 February 2009 at 16:28
OK. Another word left out. That should READ when WE tried a perm. Wow. Bad day.
Laura-Junkfoodaholic
| 2 February 2009 at 17:02
Hi Babs! That’s a nice picture of you! I don’t think your hair looks bad at all but I believe you when you say it was bad, and I understand you not being able to find a picture of it when it was bad! My mom gave me a disaster perm when I was 10 years old. She fried it and had to cut it all off. I was devastated of course!
beetle
| 2 February 2009 at 17:20
Johnny’s Mommy: Triangle head! Ha ha! Mine looked more like an upside down triangle as it was growing out!
Laura: I really tried to find a photo of it but I think we were more into cine film at that time.
Exaggerato
| 2 February 2009 at 18:57
For insight, it may be worth adding that my own mother (now 87 and widowed) recalls when perms cost $2.50 and lasted a whole year before they had to be redone–this was back around 1935 in Depression-era North Dakota, know!
Nowadays, she adds, perms cost about ten times as much, and (if lucky) will only last about 3-4 months.
Sean Donland
| 2 February 2009 at 20:39
I like it too, it reminds me of that video for Summertime Blues by Blue Cheer.
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beetle
| 2 February 2009 at 22:32
Exaggerato: Yes perms did seem to last longer years ago. I have had a perm that only lasted until the next day, when it was totally straight again!
Sean Donland: Blue Cheer! Oh my. First Richard Ashcroft, now Blue Cheer! Did I look manly?
Annie
| 2 February 2009 at 23:08
Oh babs your perm looked good. (And I like the blouse) I ought to post a picture of my perm just to show you how lucky you are.
I look like little orphan Annie, and I have a feeling if I posted my perm, Little Orphan Annie would become my new nickname. I admire your bravery.
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Annie
| 2 February 2009 at 23:09
My comment posted before I could say goodbye.
(LOL) Great post~
Annie
Patrick
| 3 February 2009 at 2:24
Thats not that bad of a perm. I looked like paul mccartney about 2 years ago.. and I let people shave my hair however they wanted once for booze.
At least yours let you continue to fit in.
meleah rebeccah
| 3 February 2009 at 5:19
THAT is the cutest photo. EVER! I actually LIKE your hair like that!
Kathy
| 3 February 2009 at 11:31
I know you’re aware of my love/hate relationship with my curly hair. Mostly hate lately. I do sympathize with people who’ve gotten perms before, but when you have hair like mine, it’s like a permanent permanent and doesn’t always behave. I accept all forms of pity.
Kathy´s last blog post..Bye Bye Birdie
beetle
| 3 February 2009 at 14:35
Annie: I really wish I had a photo of it when it was shorter. It truly was a mess!
Patrick: Shave your head for booze? You must have been either very brave or very drunk!
Meleah: By then I suppose it wasn’t too bad. The length and weight helped to straighten it a bit but, trust me, it was a real mess for a very long time!
Kathy: Now you understand what I’m saying. When your hair is curly and you are trying to grow it. There is that awful stage when you have a couple of inches of straight, new hair and the rest is tight curls. It just kind of sticks out sideways and nothing you do helps. It was the worst my hair has ever been in my life! Your hair is the envy of many now
Shinade
| 3 February 2009 at 16:33
hi Babs,
Well it finally happened. I fell sound asleep sitting right here. I have not a clue as to what time your page loaded but I am awake now.
i hope you had a lovely day!:-)
beetle
| 3 February 2009 at 16:55
Shinade: Ha ha! I’ve done that before too! In the evening after staring at the screen for too long
earthtoholly
| 6 February 2009 at 4:46
The only time I every had a perm was once in the 70s and it was so awful that I went back and had it taken out. At least yours looks like a coif of the times. As I remember, mine made me look like Harpo Marx…aaargh. But, I’m with you on the top…
)
TheSnackHound
| 9 February 2009 at 5:54
I think a “70s perm” and “disaster” are two eternally linked words/ideas. didn’t the other Babs, the lesser known one that you (streisand) have an awful Toni home perm looking perm during this period of time as well?
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