THE HISTORY OF THE COMB-OVER
Most of you may not know the real history of the comb-over -- yes, there is such a thing. We spend so much time avoiding the comb-over lovers that we neglect the fact that all styles (even bad ones) were born and. After much research, I am here to educate you:
The word comb-over comes from the French word cuovere, meaning to cover with a veil. This hair style can actually be traced back to 1774 and Alexander XVI of France, who was known for his keen sense of style, which brought him oodles of attention from all (even French poodles) and he was known for his creative ways with a wig. My research also revealed that he was most of all a trend-setter -- you better believe it, honey, Madonna was not the first to set a trend.
One day, Alexander (I feel as if he is a personal friend) decided to create a new trend, and for this he will be remembered forever. Picture this: FRANCE, Versailles, 1773. It was a warm, sweaty summer morning, and after doing his usual morning chores, which included fluffing his favorite wigs, Alexander had a vision. He saw a world free of those heavy, suffocating wigs, which most of the time had the smell of old, wet unmentionables. Knowing that it would be the most difficult of his trends to start, he brought the idea first to his closest friend, Aspirer Chapeau, who created and maintained all of his wigs. Aspirer at first was taken back by the absurd request of the king, because not only was it an embarrassment to be seen without one’s great hair, but it was a mark of the upper crust to have tresses from – and as big as -- the heavens. A.C. ( feel as if I know him so well) listened to his king rant about how freeing it would be to have one’s own hair liberated. There was only one problem. The king was badly balding and also refused to have a single hair cut. But A.C. had a plan. He confided in his friend, the famous architect Etienne-Louis Boullee, who constructed some of the masterpieces of Paris. After endless drawings and live models, the two conspirators came up with a design, and – pouf -- the COMB-OVER was born.
A.C. started flipping and fluffing Alexander’s few strands of hair with such speed and talent (limp wrists come in handy) and presented a masterpiece of Le Cuovere. Alexander was thrilled to bits and decided to wear his new do to the grand ball that evening. Well, as the story goes,as soon as he stepped in to the club, he was quickly stoned to death and that was that.
So the next time you see a comb-over, just appreciate the history and limp wrists that went in to creating a trend that has and will survive the test of time.
This is clearly all made up just for fun, what the heck!
If you look closely at busts of Julius Caesar you will see he is sporting a comb-over (a back to front one), thanks to the realism in roman artwork, so the comb over could probably be traced back to around 100 BC. If you ever get a chance to read any of his diaries/journals, you will see he was actually very self-conscious about it, along with his gut he could never get rid of. LoL. Sorry for the history lesson, its something Im passionate about, too bad my dad influenced me to change my major from history to something more practical.