Baby hairs were taking on a new meaning to women. Instead of styling hair to make it look straight, baby hair could be used to accentuate black hairstyles. Soon edges became an accessory to straightened hair, afros, braids, and all types of black hair. Celebrities like LaToya Jackson and Bernadette Stanis were both iconic for laying down their edges. There was now another beauty standard black women could look to. While some black women continued to straighten their hair it was no longer their only option. Afros became normalized and even celebrated as activists and stars like Angela Davis and Nina Simone rocked theirs.īlack women began laying down their edges while keeping their kinky fros, the 1970’s created various techniques to style baby hairs such as using toothbrushes or hair bristle brushes to frame their faces. Instead black women were encouraged to start embracing their natural hair texture. Black women were styling their hair to make it look straight and flat as possible, at least until the 1960’s socio-political Black power movement liberalized black hair from conforming to white beauty standards. Throughout the 40’s and 50’s, black hairstyles evolved into straight and swept back hairlines, the beehives of the 1950’s and hair bumps of the 1960’s. Roller set up-do’s became popularized by famous singers like Ella Fitzgerald and Billie Holiday during this time, styling baby hair was still a trend though not as heavily prioritized in the look. More softer looks began to replace highly sculpted hairlines in the 1930’s. To try and make edges look soft and feminine black women created various types of hairstyles throughout the early 20th century. Women’s fashion was soft and feminine and so was their hair. Finger waves was a popular style that was meant to create a softer look to the bobbed hairstyles of the flappers. Baby Esther, the inspiration behind Betty Boop, was famous for her baby hairs that framed her face. Flappers of the roaring 20’s popularized the look. Then finger waves became the new black feminine look of the early 20’s, using heavy product to shape hair at the edgeline into designs. Gelling black hair and slicking down edges to imitate straight white hair was a reflection of the European standards of beauty.Įdge control started off as a way to slick the hair down to make it look less kinky. Black people were seen as inferior and so were their features, including kinky hair. Unfortunately, the history of baby hair is rooted in racism. Always the trendsetters, this historically black hairstyle is becoming mainstream in the fashion world.Ī Controversial Start But A Glorious Rebound Recently baby hair, or more specifically the act of laying down edges have become trendy and is considered fashionable with white celebrities such as Rita Ora and Kylie Jenner gelling down their hair to resemble this style.

Laying down edges is the act of styling these baby hairs and gelling them down. Laying down edges is a unique staple in black hair style and culture, yet the origin of this hairstyle is unknown to most of us.įor those not in the know, baby hairs are the short hairs growing at the edges of a woman’s hairline (particularly women of color). If you pay any attention to trends and fashion, you can see black influences everywhere - including hair styles.

Black edge control