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| Doris Day -1954 covergirl |
Fresh as a Daisy and Clean as a Whistle
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| soft and romantic...a very young Doris Day |
I confess, in my callow youth I was critical of Doris Day - her appearance, manner and general aura, which seemed so pert, accommodating and just generally reeking of repressed glass-of-white-milk niceness. At that time, the 50s era hadn't yet taken on it's cool retro cachet and it seemed to my sensitive fashion palette an era of excessive bad taste mingled with blatant sexism. I was a 70s snob (yes I know, the 70's! In itself, a fashion disaster).
But down to hair...
the blonde is beautiful philosophy
It seemed to me and still does, that much of Doris's fetching perkiness emanated form her crisp blonde hairstyles and the hair itself, with it's suggestive synthentic doll texture and luminous, equally manufactured colour tones. So Hollywood and yet at the same time, so housewife/good girl. Less tarty than Lana Turner's platinum poof but more oomphy than June Alyson's anal bob. How did she pull it off?
It seemed to me and still does, that much of Doris's fetching perkiness emanated form her crisp blonde hairstyles and the hair itself, with it's suggestive synthentic doll texture and luminous, equally manufactured colour tones. So Hollywood and yet at the same time, so housewife/good girl. Less tarty than Lana Turner's platinum poof but more oomphy than June Alyson's anal bob. How did she pull it off?
Doris Day could never have been dark. It wouldn't have worked. So much of her image relied on the clean clear purity of a golden halo. She was a kind of refined Betty Grable, with perky Ginger Rogers overtones. Never an obvious vamp in the blonde Jean Harlow sense... but rather a dangerous woman of a more subtle, complex strain - exuding part worldly, womanly vixen and part homespun, earthy domestic warmth. Wow, she was hot!
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| So young..so nice |
Decades of Day
Day's hair went through several transmutations over the decades but it's luminous essence remained the same : always blonde, cute and fresh, with fetching waves and contrivances in the right places.
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| Doris Day, from romance on the high seas |
Born in 1922, the singer had her first big hit in 1945, with the classic melody, Sentimental Journey and from that pivotal point, she never looked back, career-wise. that early musical success led to a lengthy movie career and she made 39 films in all, beginning with the technicolor extravaganza, romance on the High seas, in the late 1940s. Here, Day's hair was moulded into typically 40s, stylised oomph concoction, with bushy, careful, long curls and scrolled up bangs. and of course, very blonde. It was, for the times, a young, bouncy look that perfectly suited day's vivacious personality.
In the 1950s Doris's hair took on a more sophisticated look, in keeping with the changing styles of a new, modern post-war era. Shorter hair was the go, but it was no less blonde. In this decade, Doris wore her hair pinned up or cut into a classically 50s short bob. It was a more mature look but no less pert than the previous decade. Doris's hair was nothing, if not assertive.
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| pinned up glamour with Cary grant in that touch of mink |
One of Day's biggest film role in the 50s was her portrayal of singer Ruth Etting in the 1955 film love me or leave me, co-starring with legend, James Cagney and her hair radiated the jazzy, sexy appeal of a 50s gamine. The film was a critical and commercial success and further cemented Doris Day as a major talent, as well as a considerable box office draw.
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| doris day, hot as hades in love me or leave me, 1955. |
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| classic day and hudson, from pillow talk, 1959 |
Toward the end of the decade, Day launched into the series of profitable, light romantic comedies with hollywood gay hunks Rock Hudson and Cary Grant, for which she is perhaps best known - think pillow Talk. in these films our heroine's hair was less sexy round the edges and more cute and respectable bobsy, in keeping with the squeaky clean tone of the films. It was, after all, the twin bed era.
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| Doris Day, mature and stylish in a pillbox hat. from midnight lace 1960 |
the 60s and beyond
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| still a bob - but longer. Doris Day in the 60s |
As the radical 60s swung into action, Doris grooved things up in the hair department, growing her still gold locks into a longer bob and later, for her tv series, the Doris Day how, which ran from 1968 to 73 a youthful ponytail. By now in her 40s [and in the 70s] her 50s, she still looked good. throughout her career, the hugely successful singer/actress managed to project a fun and sexy, yet level-headed image that women aspired to and men admired. Ms Day was the quintessential all-round gal.
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| a top notch and a bob...such indecision |
