1940s Victory Rolls For Curly Hair

I really wanted to try victory rolls as a hairstyle to accompany my 1943 mauve dress. This was in part because they’re so iconic (though not universal, which perhaps means that we shouldn’t all represent them, but still, I couldn’t resist) but also because my hair texture proves to be such a challenge that I had to take it on and see if I could subdue it to my will.

I’ve been interested in trying this style for awhile, so I’ve read and watched various instructions on how to create victory rolls. My favorite for the most information and ease of watching is Miss Victory Violet’s tutorial, which is available here. She’s got lots of other great content about vintage styles in videos and as written blog posts, too. Her blog can be found here. I highly recommend browsing through it!

Here’s the thing. My hair is naturally curly and frizzy. Neither of these things are your friend when you’re trying to make a smooth hairstyle like this. The frizz is an obvious opposite to the smooth goal, but the natural curl is also not helpful. The natural waves actually obscure the beautiful swoop of the rolls! I found that in order to get a successful roll I had to first straighten my hair. Time consuming, yes, but also successful.

Here are some close-ups. It was so hot that my own sweat and the humidity was starting to cause my hair to revert to its natural state, especially near the roots.

Another challenge for me in creating this shape is that my hair is long. Down-to-the-middle-of-my-back-when-it’s-straight long. That’s great for making 18th and 19th century up-dos (1770s, 1830s, and 1890s, to name a few), but less great for making tidy victory rolls. It’s really easy for them to get messy as I roll 18″+ inches of hair in from the ends to my head. The only trick I found for that was practice. I definitely had many rolls fail because they weren’t tidy enough to show off the shape of the roll by the time they made it to my head.

The other obstacle presented by my long hair was what to do with the back of it. Most of these hairstyles were achieved with hair much shorter than mine, which was easier to tuck up into cute 1940s shapes in the back. It was much harder to find inspiration for what to do with long hair. Eventually, though, I came upon an image which shows two asymmetrical buns in the back.

The Double Chignon would work for me! I even had visual instructions and a lovely description encouraging me to try out the style. Here’s the result.

It’s down on my neck like I wanted it to be, but I wonder if the asymmetry just looks like I made a mistake rather than a choice… That’s not a comment on the style, just on my execution of it. Oh well! I was very pleased with the two front rolls and the overall heart-shaped silhouette stye gave my face.

Has anyone else tried victory rolls with long or naturally curly/frizzy hair? Have you been successful? I’m curious to know your experiences and find out your tricks or tips!

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