Pros and cons of 'Bettie bangs'?

Frenchy56 · Nov 11, 2010

Hello, this is my first post here. I've often found really helpful info here (via Google), and I thought I'd join. I've only been setting my hair etc for a few months but I have always loved 40s and 50s style and culture.

I have a fringe (a.k.a. bangs) at the moment, which I wear either curled back and down with a low side part, or pinned back into some sort of pompadour.

I am toying with the idea of getting the famous Bettie Page fringe, simply because I love the look I get when I curl my fringe right under, but it just doesn't stay, whatever I do.

My only concern is that I wouldn't be able to do the things that I have described above, cause it would be too short. I'd appreciate any advice, especially from someone who actually has this haircut. Thanks

rue · Nov 11, 2010

Hi Frenchy

Do you have a picture of your hair? That might help get you some answers

Frenchy56 · Nov 11, 2010

rue said:
Hi Frenchy

Do you have a picture of your hair? That might help get you some answers

I guess my question is not really about whether or not it would suit me, but whether the Bettie fringe is just too short to be flexible, i.e. can you do anything other with it than have it like she has it?

rue · Nov 11, 2010

Gosh....I'm not sure. I have longer bangs than she does and curl them shorter to get that look. I hope someone can help you and I'm sorry I don't know.

By the way.... welcome to the forum!

Frenchy56 · Nov 11, 2010

That's alright, I'm grateful for any replies!

and thank you

I think a good solution would be to get it cut as short as yours in in your picture, that way it'd be long enough to do the things I normally do with my fringe, but probably still short enough that it would hold a curl.

If you consider that my fringe as it is now probably almost covers my eyes (at least), then I guess it's not hard to see why it won't stay curled right under to Bettie-length. I'm guessing a fringe of your length will curl under pretty well and not drop with a curling iron?

bellabella327 · Nov 11, 2010

I have never had Bettie bangs, but I would imagine that there is going to be a degree of difficulty with some styles. LisaFreemontStreet on youtube has Bettie bangs, and she does a great job of incorporating them into many of her vintage hairstyles.

RodeoRose · Nov 12, 2010

I have bangs that end at about my brows, and it does cut down on the versatility of styles you can do. There's no neat way to do a pompadour with short bangs, unfortunately, and styles like victory rolls and complicated updos take a little more finagling. But for me, at least, the pros outweigh the cons.

Here are some sites I have bookmarked for bang inspiration:
Bangs in the 1940s
Bangs in the 1950s

You could also go the other route and let your bangs grow out even more, so you could wrap them in a foam roller and get a faux bang! There are tons of great tutorials for that on YouTube.

23SkidooWithYou · Nov 12, 2010

I have a huge cow lick in the front of my hair so bangs are never gonna happen here. But, I did look at the pics and I think the 40's bangs are more versatile because they are longer and looks like you can wear straight or curl. The 50's bang was a little too short.

Frenchy...some of the FL ladies do wonderful things with faux bangs. Go through the "show us your hair do" thread and you might find some examples or search the forum and you might find a tutorial. I'm pretty sure Fleur has a tutorial on faux bangs. Does anyone have the link for Frenchy?

Land-O-LakesGal · Nov 12, 2010

23SkidooWithYou said:
I have a huge cow lick in the front of my hair so bangs are never gonna happen here. But, I did look at the pics and I think the 40's bangs are more versatile because they are longer and looks like you can wear straight or curl. The 50's bang was a little too short.

Frenchy...some of the FL ladies do wonderful things with faux bangs. Go through the "show us your hair do" thread and you might find some examples or search the forum and you might find a tutorial. I'm pretty sure Fleur has a tutorial on faux bangs. Does anyone have the link for Frenchy?

I will second both skidoo and bella bella watch some tutorials by Lisa Freemontstreet she does a great job of incorporating her bangs into styles so that you would never guess she has them.
Fleurs tutorial and other styles with rolled bangs could work for you too. It is definently a hard decision to make one I have made at different times I have worn both with and with out bangs and right now I have a longer bang that I tend to roll a lot.

RodeoRose · Nov 12, 2010

23SkidooWithYou said:
I'm pretty sure Fleur has a tutorial on faux bangs. Does anyone have the link for Frenchy?

[video=youtube;UfhhXW_iDn0]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UfhhXW_iDn0[/video]

This one?

23SkidooWithYou · Nov 12, 2010

Yes! Thanks Rose!

scarlett · Nov 12, 2010

Pro - bangs grow fast (also a con if you really like the bettie bangs). The earlier posted links to the 40's & 50's bangs show you can still get a cute vintage look. What have you got to lose? I think we all go through this phase at least once.

Frenchy56 · Nov 12, 2010

Thanks so much for all your replies, those links are great! I think I will go for a forties-style one, i.e. have it cut shorter than I usually would, so I could curl it under to get a Bettie look, but it'd still probably be long enough to quiff back anyway.

And I don't think I'll ever be able to do victory rolls, no matter how I have my hair

oh well.

AdrianLvsRocky · Nov 12, 2010

I had Betty Bangs cut in about 3 or 4 years ago and I think it's the best thing I've ever done with my hair. I have always been happy to have them with any style as I can still do victory rolls etc with them. Lately though I've been getting a bit antsy and fancied doing something a bit different but I'm really reluctant to get rid of the bangs.

I decided to scan through the amazing Lisa Freemont Street tutorials and found a perfect tutorial on hiding your bangs. I've grown them about 2 cm longer and now I can easily hide them to get much more flexibility with style. To make them look shorter, they curl under easily with a curling iron or GHDs.

I say go for it! They grow back so-ooo quickly if you don't like them. My hair is rubbish at gowing. It's taken years to get it to the length it is (not very long!) but I have to trim my fringe every couple of days to keep it short and keep the shape etc.

Antje · Nov 12, 2010

I'm pro bangs, I always cut them of and let them grow again, get bored and cut them of again, they grow so fast

Lady Cecilia · Nov 13, 2010

I had a short fringe many years ago but decided to let it grow out because it was impossible to style with my flyaway hair. Whatever I tried it would still end up going in every wrong direction possible, so I gave up on it. Nowadays when I want a fringe I just do a fake one. It's easy and looks far better on me than the real thing because it stays put (thank you bobby pins

). Plus it means my hair's more versatile for other looks.

Cherry_Bombshell · Nov 14, 2010

You could always go to your local wig shop and purchase a pair of clip ons. The human hair is the best because it can be dyed to match your hair color. My hair it too fine to get betty bangs cut in. Th clip-ons alow me to rock them whenever I want! I'll have to post some pictures for ya'll...

Frenchy56 · Nov 15, 2010

Thanks very much everyone for all your input, it is much appreciated

Whilst I do have fine, fairly flyaway hair, I have found since I've been setting it it's seemed thicker, for some reason, even when my curls have dropped out- might just be the volume left over from the curls. So I think I might be able to pull this off.

A question, which type of fringe/bang would you say suits a long, thin face best: the traditional straight-across cut, or the slightly exaggerated U-shape? I'm tending towards the latter, but if anyone has any advice to the contrary I'd be grateful for it, before I get them cut

Triette · Dec 6, 2010

I had (currently growing out) Bettie bangs and there really isn't anything you can do with them other than have them as bangs. I really loved having them, they made a bad hair day look good. As long as the bangs were done, I could pretty much do anything else with my hair. But at the same time I ALWAYS had to do my bangs.

Here are my bangs (they are a little longer in this pic so I curled them under till I could get them trimmed).

However... Always having bangs in my face drove me crazy and the way they are cut the hair closest to your face in the front is super short. So even if you can pin the rest of the bangs back, those little suckers just stuck right out. I've been growing them out and I have to say that I'm loving my little Pompadour with my bangs pinned back now.

Good luck with whichever you choose!

AdrianLvsRocky · Dec 7, 2010

I followed Lisa Freemont Street's tutorial and I find I can disguise them pretty well.

Here's mine normally:

And "in disguise":

Excuse the messy roll on my left. I re-rolled before I left the house - honest!

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