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PIN YOUR HOPES

Bobby pins should be invisible - at least that's what top hairdressers have always said. But, this season, things have changed and the bobby pin has been elevated from invisible slave to recessionista ornament. At Christian Dior in Paris, hundreds were used to frame faces and stiffen silhouettes.

Hair director Orlando Pita alluded to the finger-wave technique of the 1920s - a look that can be created by pinning damp hair in lines to create ripples. His short bob was also a throwback to the early 20th century, when the style became fashionable.

Models at the Dior show looked like 1930s Broadway stars, with their fur-trimmed jackets and dramatically made-up faces - making the hairstyles all the more noticeable for their lack of volume. Pita's creations resembled wigs and while, from afar, the hair was so flat it appeared unfinished, up close it was a masterpiece.

SUPERSIZE ME

Belgian designer Dries Van Noten used rows of oversize, cream bobby pins to decorate what was an otherwise untidy up-do. The utilitarian hair 'brooch' offset the military-style loose-fitting, tailored separates. Both hair and clothing communicated the function of form with relaxed styling.

PAST TO PRESENT

Some of the first metal hairpins date back to 2000BC Greece, when they were single prongs of carved gold featuring tiny flowers. The first U-shaped hairpins came from Asia, but they weren't named 'bobby pins' until the late-1910s, when women started to crop their hair into a short style known as 'the bob'. They used metal slides to keep sections of hair off their faces.

GET YOUR CHIGNON

The chignon reappeared this season, worn either at the nape of the neck, such as at Michael Kors (above, inset), or gathered at the crown (as seen at Louis Vuitton). While some were slick, tightly wound knots, most played with texture.

In New York, Orlando Pita, hair director at Carolina Herrera, covered a low bun with a mixture of regular and rosette-studded bobby pins (above). These picked up on the detail of the collection, which featured the rosette design on encrusted chain belts, pumps and clutches.

Also in New York, Odile Gilbert created a textured chignon at Rodarte. Clothing was inspired by the work of 1970s painter Gordon Matta-Clarke, who explored the theme of building construction. Fabrics looked distressed and paint-splattered, as if constructed from drop sheets.

Gilbert produced an architectural style by tying two low ponytails and winding twine around the hair. The ponies were then wound together into a chignon. "The trick is to part hair low to one side and make the chignon as small as possible, securing it low at the base of the neck," she explains.

To begin with, make hair sleek and more manageable by applying Aveda Smooth Infusion Style-Prep Smoother while damp.

At Bottega Veneta, Guido Palau came up with a horizontal French roll (below, inset). "My inspiration was an'80s woman doing'40s hair - not dissimilar to one in a Peter Lindbergh movie." The result had an old Hollywood feel.

"We used Redken Concrete 22 Super Strong Gel through the top and combed hair into a side part using a wide-tooth comb, keeping some height at the front," Palau says.

"Backcombing the rest of the hair slightly, starting at the bottom, we rolled hair up and pinned. You can use a long sausage-shaped pad to make this easier, then finish off with Redken Forceful 23 Super Strength Finishing Hairspray

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Last Updated on Tuesday, 20 April 2010 15:04

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