We retrace the history of the Sanremo Festival through the most iconic hairstyles and cuts, from the 1950s to today
Hairstyles and hair at the Sanremo Festival: from the 50s to today
The Sanremo Festival is not simply a singing festival, it is a small encyclopedia of history of the customs and beauty of our country: from the 1950s to today, we have seen different styles alternate on stage, signs of the era that they represented and that have often found in the hairstyle one of the most iconic expression profiles for each decade. Retracing the Festival, through the most popular hairstyles and cuts, is a way to recall the various fashions that have seen hair as protagonists, which often represent as much as the clothes the esprit of a certain period, often defining the trendy beauty looks of a whole decade.
1952: the years of Nilla Pizzi and bonton hairstyles
How can we forget the 50s and the elegant and “fresh coiffeur” hairstyles Nilla Pizzi. It was the beginning of the economic boom and after a period of hard deprivation, even aesthetic ones, women rediscovered the taste of being in order with hair with soft and fluffy hairstyles. Curls modeled on medium cuts, with an impeccable order. There spray lacquer it was a must-have for women of the time.
Read also: Francesca Michielin cuts her hair before Sanremo to make a very noble gesture
The sober and elegant fashion of those years was also reflected in the hairstyle. International reference points are the handsome Audrey Hepburn and Grace Kelly, icons of style and glamor. At that time the television had not yet spread and we were inspired by the magazines, sometimes simply with sketches, it was not as easy as now to access images and information. The days of Instagram were still far away!
The 60s: Caterina Caselli’s bob and Iva Zanicchi’s backcombing
The decade that characterizes the 60s is about well-being general. The jukeboxes play and the turntables infuse notes of positivity on every theme, the girls love to take care of their looks and their beauty, this time daring a little more. Even in terms of hairstyle, the influences are not long in coming. Together with the miniskirt, Mary Quant clears the bob cut with fringe that in Italy becomes famous right on the stage of the Sanremo Festival with Caterina Caselli.
Nicknamed the “golden helmet”, one of the first “cases” in Italy of an iconic hairstyle associated with a well-known character, Caterina with her No one can judge me, tells a little about the spirit of that era, in which the desire for freedom and emancipation merged with numerous musical suggestions, especially from England. There beat generation, the Mods, and the Peace & Love style of the Beatles, to name a few, were the fulcrum of inspiration also in terms of hair.
In those years, the volume was in any case the protagonist, giving extra centimeters of height to the little ones of stature and lavishing a regal area, thanks to the cleverly rounded backcombing. Queen of this style together with Mina, another voice and iconic face of Sanremo, Iva Zanicchi.
The 70s and the hippy style of Claudia Mori
From theory to practice, if the 60s were a period of strong positivity but with the seeds of change in her womb, the seventies become a veritable tumult.
THE hair gets longer and bonton dresses leave room for flared trousers and short tops. A very young girl makes her debut on the stage of Sanremo Claudia Mori who wins the Festival together with her future husband Adriano Celentano with the song Who does not work does not make love, between hippest couples on the Italian scene.
Claudia sports a long cut with short fringe and scaled in front, one of the most loved sixties cuts and that even today the hairstylists offer on the models during the fashion weeks to update the concept of femininity sexy and free of those years.
Middle parting and even long hair for Nada, another face and indelible voice of those years. It was 1971 when she was very young at the Sanremo Festival alongside Nicola di Bari with the song The heart and a gypsy and her boho-chic style was already trendy.
The 80s, Patty Pravo experiments and Romina Power with the orchid
With the arrival of the 80s we are witnessing one of the most particular periods from the point of view of the look and also of the hairstyle. The first real experiments begin to take place, we try to get out of the “aesthetic canons” to become interpreters and real performer, a feature that distinguishes the artists of this period, with great suggestions from disco music and electronics.
Icon of those years on the stage of the Sanremo Festival was Patty Pravo than for the song For a doll sported a very special one geisha hairstyle. For lovers of traditional beauty, on the other hand, the long and flowing hair of Romina Power who won with Al Bano and their “It will be”In 1984. In that edition he sported an orchid in your hair and soft waves to frame the perfect face. There is nothing better than a fresh flower to enhance the beauty of long, romantic and feminine hair, Romina already knew it.
The 90s, the extravagance of Anna Oxa and Annalisa Minetti
If during the 80s we witnessed the first experiments in terms of look, with the arrival of the 90s setting trends on stage became the rule and in this histrionics was a master Anna Oxa. The singer loved to amaze with her looks associated with hairstyle and make-up studied in every detail and which often became diktats for the following months. Unforgettable her blonde and brown hair in contrast with long extensions and also her thong in view from the pants!
In those years it became just as unforgettable, in terms of extravagant hair looks, the leopard-print lock which he flaunted Annalisa Minetti, after Sanremo it immediately became a trend. The hair with an “animalier” effect was a brilliant idea, in a usually very formal context such as that of a singer who had a rather melodic song of hers, certainly not over the top. That simple detail attracted attention.
The ’00s the middle period: Alexia and Elisa
With the arrival of 2000 and after the excesses of the 80s and 90s there was a desire to return to a more refined and elegant beauty. Dare yes, but in moderation as he does Alexia with its short cut with fringe and long side tuft, which immediately became a hit among short hair lovers. However, there was no lack of a more romantic and “normcore” side as we would define it now, and to fully represent it there was a very young Elisa with long hair dried naturally and a face with soap and water, she would soon become the queen of change in terms of haircuts too.
From 2010 to today, Emma Marrone’s undercut and Bianca Balti’s shatush
The last decade of the Festival was really a mix of suggestions for what concerns the hairstyle. With the super glam style of the valleys Elisabetta Canalis and Belen Rodriguez with perfectly modeled retro waves and hair in a caramel brown nuance, which has become the most desired by browns, passing through the short androgynous cut of Emma Marrone, one of the first in Italy to dare the already super trendy undercut overseas thanks to Rihanna .
The real gem, however, was Bianca Balti the super model from Lodi showed off a two-tone hair with tips that faded to blond for the occasion, definitively launching the super trend of shatush.
Today to dominate on the stage are the long bob cuts with fringe, with a wavy but not too structured fold, especially on the very young like Federica Carta. Also Anna Tatangelo, who has always been a lover of long hair, has given us a cut, choosing precisely the bobs but with a more glamorous finish and remaining faithful to its brown color, made however warmer and fuller, with a chocolate undertone.
The 2020s in Sanremo, style is fluid
In recent years, thanks to eclectic characters such as Achille Lauro, the attention to style, hairstyles, make-up and nail polish has become fluid. The distinction between man and woman becomes less clear-cut, less canonical, the desire to dare returns, to express oneself without rhetoric but with the courage to be oneself and to perform without fear of going outside the box.
A disposition that we find in today’s young artists – see Sangiovanni in Amici’s school – but also in Fedez who will perform for the first time on the Ariston stage and has made no secret of his nail art.