Berets are an easy hair accessory to go vintage.
The simple hat style of the beret has been around for ages and so can fit with most decade looks you may be aspiring to. You can put it with the right vintage outfit from your favorite decade whether you love 1930s elegance or 1960s mod and it instantly fits the time period. And because they cover most of your head when you put it on, you can fudge your vintage hairstyle without feeling like you need to be an expert.
Marlene Dietrich wore it great with her men’s suits, which was quite rebellious when she did it in the 1930s. Think about putting your hair in a low bun with this look.
Here Mary Carlisle has dressed a beret up with jewelry.. and what appears to be a claw attached to the hat? Carlisle appeared in many films in the 1930s and is most known for appearing with Bing Crosby. I am also a fan of her hair. She wore a beautiful blonde bob that was simple and elegant and not overly coiffed.
Image Source It’s the Pictures that Got Small blog
I really like this sort of undone bob on Greta Garbo. A sign of this time period was hair that didn’t look perfectly pomaded and curled. The curly-Q piece on her forehead is a nice touch too.
Image Source Doctor Macro
Lana Turner’s hair was pretty short here in The Postman Always Rings Twice, but if you have longer hair, you could pin some of it up inside the beret to shorten how it looks.
Nina Foch’s 1940s long vintage hairstyle below could easily be achieved with a good thermal styler and medium hot rollers. And the beret is a nice alternative to a peek-a-boo bang and a little more sophisticated.
Bond girl Britt Ekland pairs her beret with simple 1960s bangs with curled ends.
Brigitte Bardot’s sauerkraut hairstyle was too big for a beret, but this 1960s bob is great with it. Her makeup for this adaptation of Bonnie and Clyde was beautiful too. The makeup department did a really dark smokey eye and nude lip for the movie. True, that would not be at all how Bonnie Parker would have worn her makeup in the early 1930s, but it is very of the time for when the movie was made.
To see more ideas for easy vintage hair accessories check out:
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9 Comments
Missy Vintage
What divine pictures! I love berets,they seem to be the only hats I feel suit me! I have a fabulous animal print one which is too nice to leave in a drawer during the warm weather, so I have it hung on my 50’s dressing table as a decoration. x
Missy Vintage
Gosh! I’ve only just realised the connection between your blog and the vintage hairstyling book that I have on the dressing table that I just mentioned!! It’s absolutely excellent! I recently went to a 30’s cocktail party and the faux bob turned out super! Thank you xxx (I’ve got a blog post in draft mentioning the book, hope that’s okay, if you want to check out the 30’s faux bob feel free to pop over!)
retrorevival.biz
Love a good beret. Any hat, actually. {Heavy sigh} Oh how I wish men and women still work such stylish headware all the time!
~Cindy
Crying is the New Croquet
Love the blog! For a second, I thought Brigitte was Faye from Bonnie and Clyde.
Berets are actually my go-to accessory when I’m a day behind on washing and styling my hair.
Lottie
Love this post. Makes me want to dig mine out from the bottom of my drawer. A terrible piece of neglect from me. Thanks for the prompt and gorgeous pics. Lottie -x-
Katrin
I love berets. They go with eveything and you can always change their look by adding a brooch or something like that. I wear mine the Marlene-way (with another hairstyle, though) but I also like how Nina Foch wears it like a flatcap. Have to try that for a change.
Via
Wonderful! I always thought wearing my hair with a beret would make my hair look odd, but seeing others, such as Britt Ekland, showed me that it really would look quite snazzy 😛 Thanks for the lovely post!
MamaNaObcasach
the last photo is magnificient!
Stacy
I love the hairstyling book, and the blog. I just have one question- eyeglasses. I aim more for the 1940s look, but I have to wear glasses. There are never pictures from the era of the visually impaired.