DOGGIE DO'S #1 (POODLES!):

THE HISTORY OF DOGGIE HAIR STYLES

     Everybody thinks that poodle have the “heads up” on great doggie hairstyles, but this is just not so.  Chinese Cresteds, Komondors, Afghan Dogs and Brussels Griffons—just to name a few—have sported dazzling and sometimes bizarre hairstyles for centuries.  Dog Society and Dog Culture has a unique love affair with hair (or fur, rather) and it’s manipulation for protection from the weather and for adornment.  As we begin to comb the surface of the history of doggie hairstyles, the dividing line of demarcation begins to blur as we consider who influenced who—humans or dogs? 

     Since the poodle is the first canine that comes to mind when we consider the idea of a well-groomed hairstyle, we shall start with this graceful, poop-u-lar creature and it’s lovely, curly locks. And because history presents a hair puzzle for us that is so completely intriguing and elusive, a proper answer to the following question may never be found: Which came first, the Human-do or the Poodle-do?  This topic has caused arguments between zoologists, hairstylists, and groomers since the beginning of fashionable times.

     First off, due to the straight-edged blades on early scissors, the poodle cut began with a rather boring cube shape, followed up by a pyramid shape, (Could this have been around the time of the Ancient Egyptians?), which finally culminated in a circular or “bubble” shape.  By the “Bubble Period,” scissors could be formed to have a bend in the blade, and perhaps, groomers simply got better at their craft.  We notice humans, especially the French, becoming influenced by the bubble shape of the poodle around the 1700’s.  Marie Antoinette was a strong promoter of a extremely large bubble style in her massive white wigs.  (Her wig even screamed elegance as the peasants paraded her bloody head around on a stick after extracting it from the guillotine.  Now that’s fashionable!)  And isn’t it curious that poodles are French?  They even bark in French.  (Hmmm?  Maybe the Egyptian poodles were French.  Now that’s something to think about!)

     Another fascinating aspect of the Poodle-do is it’s built-in permanent wave.  Humans will do anything for luscious curls upon their heads, but poodles are blessed with them naturally.  Beginning with the 1920’s, the very first human perms were concocted with electrical curlers connected to the head from a machine, which appeared to be a cross between an octopus and an electric chair.  A blast of electricity would basically fry the hair into a fuzzy shape.  A proper poodle would have absolutely none of this.  And this is why it is believed elderly ladies are so envious of their canine curls.  The “Elderly Lady” or “Brillo Pad Do” is an example of the look that women in their seventies, eighties, and nineties are most fond of.

     So we must ask ourselves, as we stare deeply into the sky on a starry, starry night and ponder all the questions of life itself: when it comes to the trends of curly hairstyles, who really influenced who?  Unless we can trace an authentic “bubble look” back in time before the 18^th Century, the Human-do will never have the edge on the poop-u-lar Poodle-do.