The History of the Bob Haircut

There are many hairstyles that go in and out of fashion, often being called the 'cut of the decade' but then disappearing into obscurity for years and years. However, there is one haircut that seems to have stuck around more than most - the bob. Immediately identifiable, always evolving and always looking like a classic style, the bob has been sported by some of the most famous style icons of the 20th and 21st centuries.

Like with any hairstyle, it's almost impossible to pinpoint the exact time at which it came to be. For example, some fashionable ladies were said to sport the style before World War I when it was considered strange to wear anything other than long hair. There are several instances of notable women wearing the style after this, but it is often said that the famous dancer Irene Castle brought it into popularity during the 1910s and 1920s.

This caused a rather seismic shift in the hair industry, with the previous long, elegant styles quickly making way for shorter styles and catching many by surprise, hairdressers included. And it didn't take long for the style to evolve, with the long bob coming into existence in the 1930s.

The bob is a hairstyle that women have sported in every decade but, like everything, it has had periods where it hasn't necessarily been in fashion. However, Vidal Sassoon, the famous British hairdresser, is credited with bringing it back into mainstream fashion during the 1960s and since then there have been a series of famous actors, musicians and people of note that have continued to help the style evolve and remain relevant.

There are perhaps two instances over the last 30 years or so that can be really credited with making the bob a must-have style. Anna Wintour, the editor of Vogue magazine, is the most famous person to sport the bob, having done so since the 1980s; there is not one person that is more synonymous with the style than her. The style was also given a boost when it was worn by Uma Therman's character in Pulp Fiction.

Since then there have been a huge number of stars that have worn the bob, often changing their style dramatically to garner more attention. Everyone from Rihanna to Victoria Beckham and Keira Knightley to Jennifer Aniston has decided to choose a bob haircut to keep up with latest fashion trends.