If you've ever asked for a 'Rachel' or a 'Pob' in the hair salon, you'll know that only a few hairstyles become true beauty icons. What's more, it takes one woman who truly 'owns' a look to make a hairstyle iconic. We've collected the 30 styles we think deserve a place in the hair hall of fame - cuts that have been copied and re-interpreted on catwalks, celebrities and in salons across the land - plus the woman who made them famous, for you to pore over. What better place to find inspiration for your new 'do than here?
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The 30 most iconic hair styles
The Afro
Actress Pam Grier made this an iconic look during the Black Power movement of the 1970s.
The 30 most iconic hair styles
The Blunt Fringe
Forties pin-up Bettie Page popularized a short, blunt fringe with long hair.
The 30 most iconic hair styles
The Farrah Flicks
Farrah Fawcett's flicked out blonde waves, brought to fame by her role in Charlie's Angels, became one of the most popular seventies styles.
The 30 most iconic hair styles
The Beehive
Few can forget that now-iconic image of Audrey Hepburn sporting an immaculate beehive, with her hair piled high, in Breakfast at Tiffany's
The 30 most iconic hair styles
Boho Waves
Actress Sienna Miller became a style and beauty icon in the early 2000s - with girls everywhere copying her bohemian blonde waves.
The 30 most iconic hair styles
The Eton Crop
This super-short cut was revolutionary in the 1920s - Jazz Age chantreuse Josephine Baker wore hers slicked down with gel.
The 30 most iconic hair styles
Lady Di's Sloane Style
Her layered bob, paired with pearls and a twinset, became the Sloane hairstyle of choice during the 1980s.
The 30 most iconic hair styles
The Fifties Bombshell
Marilyn Monroe's set blonde curls epitomized the glamour of Hollywood's golden age.
The 30 most iconic hair styles
Victory Rolls
Film star and pin-up Bettie Grable made this forties style iconic.
The 30 most iconic hair styles
The Jackie O Flick
Jackie Onassis was a sixties style icon - and her prim, set bob with flicked-out ends was copied by well-to-do ladies everywhere.
The 30 most iconic hair styles
The Shag
Meg Ryan's layered, shaggy short hairstyle became popular during the mid-nineties.
The 30 most iconic hair styles
Jerry Hall's 80s Volume
Supermodel Jerry Hall had it all - endless limbs, a rock star husband, and a huge mane of blonde hair - the ultimate eighties accessory.
The 30 most iconic hair styles
Nancy Kwan's Sassoon Cut
Vidal Sassoon revolutionized hair during his heyday, and the asymmetric bob he gave to actress Nancy Kwan was a sensation.
The 30 most iconic hair styles
The Bob
Silent film star Louise Brooks made the bob a trademark for twenties flapper girls, who cut off their locks to symbolize their modern and carefree lifestyle.
The 30 most iconic hair styles
La Roux's Rockabilly Quiff
Singer La Roux wasn't the first person to sport an androgynous, rockabilly style quiff, but it soon became her trademark.
The 30 most iconic hair styles
The Pixie Crop
Twiggy made short blonde hair the look of choice in swinging London.
The 30 most iconic hair styles
The Mushroom
Molly Ringwald was a member of the Brat Pack, and eighties style icon. Girls everywhere wanted her bright red bob, which she wore curly or blown into a mushroom-shaped style.
The 30 most iconic hair styles
The Marcel Wave
The 'Marcel' or 'Finger wave' was the style of choice for 1920s and 1930s film starlets, such as Gloria Swanson.
The 30 most iconic hair styles
The Perm
This tightly coiled, curly style was all the rage in the 1980s. Kylie Minogue, Sarah Jessica Parker and Jennifer Grey provided perm inspiration.
The 30 most iconic hair styles
Patti Smith's Boyish Chop
Patti's androgynous look extended to her hairstyle, with messy, mid-length layers and a choppy fringe. Today, her look inspires stars such as Alexa Chung.
The 30 most iconic hair styles
The Pob
The popularity of Victoria Beckham’s mid-length, super-straight bob hair cute (nicknamed the ‘Pob’ – posh bon) marked her move to become a style icon and designer.
The 30 most iconic hair styles
The Crop
Think of classic film Rosemary's Baby, and Mia Farrow's short but sweet hairstyle springs to mind.
The 30 most iconic hair styles
The Rachel
Jennifer Aniston’s layered, mid-length hairstyle was the most requested look in hair salons when Friends was at its peak of popularity in the nineties.
The 30 most iconic hair styles
The Asymmetric Crop
Mary Quant and Vidal Sassoon had a close relationship, and in the sixties her created an asymmetric crop especially for her.
The 30 most iconic hair styles
The Bardot Sex Kitten
Brigitte Bardot’s mussed up, come-to-bed hair became a byword for the French sex kitten after And God Created Woman.
The 30 most iconic hair styles
The Close Shave
Sinead 'O Connor and Skin from Skunk Anansie are to be remembered for making bald heads cool for women in the Nineties.
The 30 most iconic hair styles
The Helmet Bob
Barbara Streisand made a sleek, straight bob the height of fashion in the 1960s.
The 30 most iconic hair styles
Teased Hair
Teased hair was a favourite of New Romantics and rock stars in the 1980s - Bananarama showed how to work the look for the ladies.
The 30 most iconic hair styles
Pink
The original pink-haired lady, Pink dared to wear crazy colours in her hair before the age of dip-dye and stars like Lady Gaga.
The 30 most iconic hair styles
Veronica Lake Waves
Veronica Lake became as famous for her hairstyle as her acting in the forties, wearing her glossy mane of hair in a sweeping side parting, and in set waves.
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