Liberty spikes
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Liberty spikes is styling hair in long, thick, upright spikes. The style, now associated with the punk subculture, is so named because of the resemblance to the spikes on the head of the Statue of Liberty.
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[edit] History
Liberty spikes trace their origins to the Ancient Britons.[1] Warriors washed their long dark hair in lime water, which also bleached it blond.[2] This hairstyle was highly symbolic as a badge of honor and manhood: Celts were not allowed to spike or cut their hair until they had killed an enemy.[3] After the subjugation of Britain spiked hair fell out of use in favor of short Roman haircuts.[4] In the silent film era some actors, like comedian Harold Lloyd, experimented with spiked hair to stand out from the crowd, although this trend did not catch on with ordinary people. This changed in the 1970s when the emerging British punk subculture chose messy, choppy hair in reaction to the long smooth styles worn by hippies and disco fans. Originally the spikes were small, as worn by modern-day metrosexuals and pop-punk fans, but by the 1980s this had evolved to tall liberty spikes, sometimes over a foot in length.[5] Liberty spikes were also worn by the Goth subculture, although in this case they were dyed black instead of the bright unnatural colors favored by punk rockers.
[edit] Maintenance
In this style, the hair is formed into thick spikes that may radiate outwards in all directions or all point up in the same direction. They are favored for their durability in extremely long hair. Liberty spikes may be enhanced by the use of hair dyes.
Liberty spikes are also a common way of styling Mohawks.
Forming and keeping the shape of liberty spikes is beyond the capacity of some hair styling products, which were created for more natural looking styles. As such, a number of unusual products have been employed including Elmer's white glue, egg whites, unflavoured gelatin (especially the Knox brand), shaving cream, Aqua-Net hairspray, starch, and soap.
[edit] In popular culture
- Irish berserker Slaine Mac Roth is well-known for his spiked black hair[6]
- Various anime heroes have liberty spikes, including Yugi Mutou from Yu-Gi-Oh, Son Goku from Dragon Ball, Vash the Stampede from Trigun, Kenpachi from Bleach and Brock from Pokémon.[7]
- In Dune the villain Feyd-Rautha Harkonnen (portrayed by Sting) has spiky orange hair.
[edit] References
- ^ Celtic Origins
- ^ Maui Celtic
- ^ History of Celtic Tattoos
- ^ Celtic Clothing
- ^ 1970s punk fashion
- ^ Pat Mills, Slaine: The Horned God, 2000AD (2002)
- ^ # ^ Tobin, Joseph Jay (2004). Pikachu's Global Adventure: The Rise and Fall of Pokémon. Duke University Press. p. 182. ISBN 0-822-33287-6.
