How to do a Vintage Victory Rolls Hairstyle. Watch my short tutorial demonstrating how to do this classic hairstyle in 6 steps.
Victory rolls are a wonderful retro hairstyle that doesn’t seem to be losing popularity. It originated during WWII and was made popular by actresses such as Lana Turner and Betty Grable.
During WWII women joined the war effort on a massive scale by volunteering to work in war production plants. It was thought that the style originated to keep women’s hair from getting caught in the factory machinery.
Take a look at my 6 steps for a perfect 1940s victory roll hairstyle. I really put my back into this! Excuse the film making: if you can see past my arm and back you can see how I am styling this 1940s vintage victory rolls hair style!
Victory rolls are classic and elegant, and always look gorgeous, no matter the occasion. They are very popular today for vintage bridal and events, and I have seen them on the red carpet.
Here are my 6 steps for an easy vintage victory rolls hairstyle
1. Curl the entire head of hair, using a 1″ curling iron, with the direction of the pinned curls facing downward. Repeat this around the entire head of hair, with the front bumper curl being “on base” where it has some height to it. Best curling iron is the Hot Tools Gold 1″. I do all my vintage hairstyles with this workhorse, and the curls are LONG LASTING.
2. Remove the clipped curls once they have a chance to cool off. Separate the curls a bit with your fingers, and smooth the hair into the wave pattern that we will finesse later.
3. Make a vertical part above the ear and take that front section you have just created into your hand. You will be back combing this like crazy to create the first victory roll. Tease the curl and wrap it around your hand, smoothing the outside as you go. Pin inside the roll and along the side of the roll, hiding the pins as well as you can.
4. Repeat this on the other side, teasing and then rolling it around your hand, smoothing as you go. Continue spraying and smoothing and pinning. BEST teasing comb and brush combo is the Spornette Little wonder. I swear by these!
5. Now for the top bumper curl. There are many ways to go with this, but for this video I have treated it as a typical pinup girl front wave. Tease underneath and place a duck bill pin under it to hold it up, smoothing, spraying and forming the wave as you go. Pin as necessary, and do your best at hiding the pins.
6. Now focus on the rest of the hair. It has formed a nice wave pattern, and you can accentuate this with your duck bill clips, or simply smooth and spray as you go along, as I have done here.
I hope you could follow along and learn some easy techniques for a vintage victory rolls hairstyle. Please come back again for future tutorials where, I promise, I will have improved my film making. Less back. Less arm.
Thank you for visiting!
Hi there! My name is Stacy Lande, and I am a Los Angeles based hair and makeup artist. I have been transforming women into the most glamorous versions of themselves for their weddings and events since 2009.
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