Beehive (hairstyle)

Hairstyle

The beehive is a hairstyle in which long hair is piled up in a conical shape on the top of the head and slightly backwards pointing, giving some resemblance to the shape of a traditional beehive. It is also known as the B 52 due to a resemblance to the distinctive nose of the Boeing B 52 Strategic Bomber. The 1980s band The B 52's took their name from the hairstyle, which was worn by members Cindy Wilson and Kate Pierson. She originally modeled it on a fez like hat that she owned. In recognition of her achievement, Cosmetologists Chicago, a trade association with 60,000 members, created a scholarship in Heldt's name for creativity in hairdressing. Despite inventing the hairstyle, Heldt did not name it: for the final touch in her original design she added a bee shaped hat pin and from that a reporter for the magazine Modern Beauty Shop (now Modern Salon) "it looks just like a beehive! Do you mind if we call it the beehive?" Heldt died on 10 June 2016 at a senior living community near Chicago.

The beehive is constructed by backcombing or teasing the hair with a comb, creating a tangled pile which is lightly combed over to make a smooth outer surface. The longer the hair, the higher the beehive. Beehive styles of the early 1960s sometimes overlapped with bouffant styles, which also employed teasing to create hair volume; but generally speaking, the beehive effect was a rounded cone piled upwards from the top of the head, while the simple bouffant was a wider, puffier shape covering the ears at the sides. Both of these can be distinguished from the pompadour style, the basic type of which is swept upwards from the forehead.