Vuorovaikutusta teknologian ja muodin välillä

Suomen kampaamoalan modernisoituminen 1920-luvulla

Authors

• Elise Laiho-Suominen

Abstract

Interaction between technology and fashion: The modernization of hairdressing profession in Finland in the 1920s

Changes in the Finnish society and culture during the 1920s mirrored to the hairdressing profession in many ways. Women’s shortening hairstyle multiplied the demand of hairdressing services within a short period of time, as women of all social classes started to follow continental fashion trends. The amount of technology used in the profession increased, and it can be said that the hairdressing profession was mechanized in the 1920s.
Variation in coiffures increased along with the short hairstyle, as it enabled several different ways of cutting, curving, and curling the hair. At the same time, the number of instruments, methods, and products increased in hairdressing saloons.
Information on hygiene and health increased in the media in the 1920s, and awareness on the risks of bacteria led to emphasizing hygiene also in the barber and hairdressing profession. Stressing expertise based on the information yielded by the new technology and scientific research was also characteristic for the period. White working coats, promotion of hygiene, marketing of different technological novelties, and emphasis on the hairdresser’s creative contribution associated with the professionalist ambitions of the hairdressing profession emerging in the 1920s.