Think about the 1930s for a second. Most people picture the Great Depression, dust bowls, and bread lines. But if you look at the cinema of the time, the aesthetic was anything but bleak. It was sleek. It was polished. While the 1920s was the era of the rebellious, chin-length bob, the following decade saw a literal "growing out" phase. Women wanted their femininity back, but they didn't want the Victorian weight of the 1900s. They found a middle ground. Hairstyles of the 1930s long hair weren't actually "long" by today’s Rapunzel standards; we’re talking shoulder-length or slightly below, manipulated into intricate, sculptural shapes that looked like they belonged in a museum.
It’s a misconception that 1930s hair was just one look. It wasn't.
If you had hair past your shoulders, you weren't letting it hang limp. That was considered messy, almost scandalous for a grown woman. You were pinning, curling, and tucking. The goal was a silhouette that was narrow at the crown and voluminous at the ends. It’s that iconic "triangle" or "poodle" shape that defines the mid-to-late thirties. Honestly, the engineering required to keep those curls in place without modern hairspray is kind of mind-blowing. They used sugar water, flaxseed gel, and heavy metal clips that looked more like surgical tools than beauty accessories.
The Architecture of the 1930s Long Hair Look
The 1930s took the bluntness of the 20s and softened it. If you were rocking hairstyles of the 1930s long hair, your best friend wasn't a stylist—it was the "setting lotion." You’d soak your hair, plaster it to your scalp in "S" waves using your fingers (the famous finger wave), and then let the back grow into what they called "sausage curls" or "pageboys."
The Pageboy was huge. Named after English "page" boys, it involved hair that hit right at the shoulder, with the ends tucked under in a smooth, continuous roll. Think Joan Bennett. It looked simple but required a perfectly cut "long bob" or "lob" and a lot of patience with a round brush or rollers.
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Then you had the "Middie" cut. This is a specific way of layering the hair so that when you curled it, the curls stacked on top of each other perfectly. If your hair was too long—say, down to your waist—you couldn't really achieve the 1930s look because the weight would pull the curls flat. Most women with truly long hair would cheat the look by creating a "faux bob," pinning the bulk of their hair underneath at the nape of the neck to create that trendy shoulder-length silhouette.
Why the Deep Side Part Ruled Everything
Ever notice how almost every movie star from 1934 has a part so deep it’s practically by their ear? That was intentional. A center part was seen as too "peasant-like" or old-fashioned. A deep side part allowed for a massive "wave" to sweep across the forehead. This was the "Marlene Dietrich" effect. It added height. It added drama. And for women with longer hair, it provided a structural anchor to pin back one side while letting the other side cascade down in waves.
They used bobby pins. Millions of them. Interestingly, the bobby pin was actually patented in the 20s, but it reached its peak utility in the 30s. Women would use "invisible" nets to keep these long, wavy styles from falling apart during a shift at the factory or a night at the jazz club.
Hollywood’s Influence and the "Platinum" Problem
Jean Harlow. You can't talk about this era without her. While she often wore her hair shorter, she set the standard for the texture that women with longer hair tried to emulate. It was "permed" to within an inch of its life.
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The 1930s saw the rise of the permanent wave machine. It looked like an electric chair for your head—dozens of metal rods hanging from a central tower, plugged into a wall. If you had long hair, you’d sit in that thing for hours. It was dangerous. Sometimes hair got burned off. Sometimes women got shocked. But the result was a tight, "crinkly" wave that lasted for months, which was essential because nobody was washing their hair every day back then.
- The Marcel Wave: Used hot irons to create deep, grooved waves.
- The Pin Curl: The "everywoman" technique. You’d take a damp strand of hair, coil it flat against the head, and pin it.
- The Rolls: For the back of long hair, rolls were the go-to. You'd roll the hair upward or downward and secure it with a "rat" (a pad made of hair) to give it volume.
By 1936, the "Uplift" movement started. This is where long hair started being pulled away from the face entirely. This wasn't a ponytail. It was a sophisticated arrangement of rolls and curls that sat on the top of the head, often leaving the back long and flowing, or gathered into a "snood." The snood is basically a decorative hairnet, and it was a godsend for women who didn't have time to style the back of their long hair. You just tucked the messy ends into a crochet bag, and suddenly, you were chic.
The Reality of Maintenance: It Wasn't All Glamour
Kinda makes you realize how easy we have it now. To maintain hairstyles of the 1930s long hair, women had to sleep in metal rollers. Imagine trying to get a good night's sleep with two dozen aluminum tubes pressed against your skull. It was brutal.
And the products? They used what they had. Brushing was the primary way to clean hair between infrequent washes. They used boar bristle brushes to pull the oils from the scalp down to the ends. This actually helped the long hair stay healthy despite the heat damage from the marcel irons. If your hair was dry, you didn't use "leave-in conditioner." You used brilliantine or even a tiny bit of olive oil to get that high-gloss, cinematic shine.
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Misconceptions About 1930s Length
A lot of people think 1930s hair was short. It wasn't. It just looked short. The "Middie" cut was actually quite long when pulled straight, often reaching the shoulder blades. But the "shrinkage" from the tight curls made it look like it hovered around the jawline. This "illusion of shortness" gave women the best of both worlds: the ease of a bob with the versatility of long hair for evening updos.
Ginger Rogers is a perfect example. In her dance sequences with Fred Astaire, you can see her hair has significant length and movement, but it's always controlled. It never hits her face. That’s the 1930s ethos: controlled movement.
Getting the Look Today (Without the Electric Chair)
If you want to recreate hairstyles of the 1930s long hair today, you don't need a scary permanent wave machine. You need a 1-inch curling iron and about a thousand clips.
- Start with a deep side part. Use the arch of your eyebrow as a guide for where to start the line.
- Curl in one direction. This is the secret. If you want those uniform waves, every curl on your head needs to be wrapped around the iron in the exact same direction.
- The "Brush Out." This is where people get scared. When you take the curls down, you look like Shirley Temple. You have to brush them. Hard. Use a paddle brush and keep brushing until the individual curls merge into one giant, flowing wave.
- Sculpt the front. Use "duckbill" clips to pinch the "peaks" of the waves around your face. Spray it heavily. Let it sit for 20 minutes.
- The Back Roll. If your hair is long, take the bottom two inches and roll them under, pinning them at the nape of your neck to create that "Pageboy" finish.
Honestly, the 1930s look is more about the "set" than the cut. You can have a modern layered haircut and still pull this off if you understand the geometry of the wave. It’s about creating a "shelf" of hair that catches the light.
The 1930s was a decade of transition. It moved from the boyishness of the 20s to the hyper-feminine "Victory Rolls" of the 1940s. It was the era of the "Screen Goddess," and that required hair that looked expensive, even if you were making it happen with 5-cent bobby pins and a bit of sugar water.
Actionable Insights for Modern Styling
- Avoid modern "beachy" textures. 1930s hair is smooth and "brushed through." If it looks crunchy or piecey, it's not 30s.
- Invest in a good pomade. You need something to lay down flyaways. The 30s look was incredibly neat.
- Focus on the ends. The most important part of the long hair 1930s look is that the ends are curled under or into a roll. Never leave the ends straight.
- Use cold air. After you've curled and clipped your waves, hit them with the "cool shot" on your blow dryer. This sets the shape so it doesn't drop the moment you walk outside.
- Frame the face. The most authentic 1930s styles have a wave that dips down toward the outer corner of the eye. It’s called the "peek-a-boo" style, popularized later by Veronica Lake, but it started with the long-wave trends of the mid-30s.