Forty-five years ago this month, Princess Diana walked into St. Paul’s Cathedral with a short feathered haircut and a twenty-five-foot train, and bridal hair did not calm down again for the rest of the decade. To map out what was happening on everyone’s heads, we went straight to the source: the actual ads that ran in Bride’s and the other bridal magazines between 1980 and 1989. Every photo below is a real ad from the decade, salon fantasy and all. If your mom got married in the 80s, she circled at least one of these looks with a ballpoint pen. (Ask her which one. Then ask for her wedding album, because you NEED to see it.)
And in case you weren’t born yet (or were too young to realize) Princess Diana’s Royal Wedding was such a phenomenon it spawned its own collectible. By 1986 you could order an eighteen-inch Princess Diana Bride Doll (inset), its tiara “authentically recreated” with “a real 1/2 point diamond” and the bodice carrying “an abundance of hand-sewn sequins and pearl-like beads.” Shown smaller than actual size of 18″ in height, obviously.
If you’re craving more blasts from the past, don’t miss our time capsule of 1970s wedding dresses! But, lets stay within the 80s for right now, shall we?!
1. The Big Brushed-Out Mane
If you didn’t have a perm in the 80s (especially if you were getting married) I don’t even know if you REALLY lived through the 80s. My hair has still not recovered! This ad ran with a store directory printed right down the side, and the hair still takes up more of the frame than the dress does. That was the pitch: the gown is lovely, but LOOK at what your head could be doing.
The giveaway: the volume starts at the root, not the ends. A modern blowout leans back. An 80s perm goes UP.
2. The Sleek Braid with a Lily-of-the-Valley Comb
A slicked back braided ponytail is the one look in this article a salon would recreate today without blinking. Before the perm took over completely, early-80s bridal ads still sold sleek. This Yumi Katsura ad ran in the October/November 1982 issue of Bride’s (the issue date is printed right on the page, which is how we know), with a comb of lily of the valley spilling down one side of the braid.
Wear it now: swap the silk flowers for fresh ones and this walks straight into a 2026 wedding. Our vintage wedding hairstyles roundup has more that made the jump.
3. The Curly Updo with a Floral Crown
Zurc called this “The Princess Collection,” and the headpiece even gets its own credit on the page (headpiece by John Finamore, thank you very much). Dark curls piled high, a crown of flowers pinned around them, and a veil pouring off the back. Nobody was choosing between hairstyle and headpiece in 1988. The answer was both, always both.
4. Teased Curls Under a Pouf Veil
Is this an ad for a hair metal band or a wedding dress? Same thing? Evanna ran this two-page spread in 1987 with both brides in the same teased topknot, curls pulled high and sprayed into place before the tulle pouf went in. The crown is teased a full two inches up before the veil even starts. Still, I sort of like the look!
Ask your mom: how long the teasing took. The answer is measured in Aqua Net cans, not minutes.
5. Three Headpieces, One Ad
Down, up, half-up half-down. It wasn’t the hair that stood out in these photos, it was what went on the hairstyles: a beaded band across the forehead, a feathered fascinator, and a floral wreath, all in one Paula Varsalona frame. You circled your favorite and brought the page to the store, which was basically pinning a board with a ballpoint pen.
6. The Baby’s-Breath Halo with Full Bangs
Full bangs, a halo of baby’s breath, and the fingertip veil the ad copy promises. Is it just me or do you feel like the bride is making a phone call on the bouquet? Side note: this is pretty much what our hair looks like now, so we’re not judging! Alfred Angelo’s “International Collection” page spelled out the whole formula in print: “Your crowning glory: beaded floral headpiece and fingertip veil.”
Wear it now: the halo shape never really left. Swap the baby’s breath for something seasonal and it reads current, not costume.
7. The Headpiece Sampler (Seven Heads, One Page)
We’re realizing it wasn’t even about the hair back then, it was the headpiece. Seven headpieces on one page and not one of them is subtle. Symphony numbered every style (#3013, #3048) so you could order your favorite by phone: a tiara over a pixie cut, two different flower halos, a juliet cap with pearl dangles, a beaded hat, and a pearl drape that hangs across the forehead. Headpieces were their own department in the 80s, with their own ads and their own style numbers.
Look for: the beaded hat in the bottom row. Bridal hats were serious business, and our tiara-and-veil hairstyle guide is the modern descendant of exactly this page.
8. The Curled Bob with a Tiara
The hair was short and sassy and chic. This one is a newspaper ad for a Florida bridal fair in July 1987, curled bob under a proper tiara, complete with a champagne buffet promise (“See a Fabulous Showcase of Dazzling Bridal Fashions. Enjoy a Complimentary Champagne Buffet!”). This ad has all the black-and-white mall-event energy that makes you want to call the number and reserve two seats.
9. The Short Spiky Crop with a Lace Band
Short hair did not sit out the decade. This Las Vegas store ad put a teased crop and a lace band under a veil with the wingspan of a satellite dish, all on a hot pink background, over copy that declares it “The West’s Most Spectacular Bridal Store. Dedicated to: The Enchantment and Beauty of Brides.” Vegas has never once undersold anything.
The giveaway: the headpiece is doing the volume work the hair can’t. Short 80s bridal hair always came with reinforcements.
10. The Pearl-Braid Headband over a Bun
That braided pearl headband looks a little like a bread basket, but is still sort of chic? The 80s were so confusing! La Sposa shot it in black and white, hair in a low bun with roses tucked behind the ear, the pearl braid sitting where a tiara would go. Our wedding veils guide covers the modern versions of everything this company was selling.
11. The Swept-Back Updo with a Cathedral Veil
The swept back hairstyle with a cathedral veil will never go out of style. Christos went the other direction from the pouf race with it, plus a retailer list that runs from Neiman Marcus to Saks to Kleinfeld. This was the ad for the bride who flipped past ten perms and thought, not me. The veil still hits the floor, though. It was 1988, after all.
12. The Sleek Minimal Crop
Proof the minimal bride existed in 1988! Carolina Herrera ran this black-and-white couture ad with the model’s hair short, smooth, and completely unteased. This is a timeless look, and it aged better than almost anything else on this list.
13. Wispy Bangs Under Everything
Wispy bangs were a mood in the 80s. And look how versatile: Juliet Veils shot one model in five different headpieces, and her bangs stay out in every single one. The flower wreath, the pearl spray, the braided band, they all sat BEHIND the bangs. The bangs were not negotiable.
14. The Baby’s-Breath Forehead Band
A hairstyle for every mood and headpiece. Chance Bridal Veils of San Francisco numbered all five looks (style 3547-709 is the baby’s-breath band across the forehead) and printed a dealer directory that runs from Mesa, Arizona to Fond Du Lac, Wisconsin. Some of these store names deserve their own article. Seven To Heaven. The Golden Asp. Your Heart’s Desire.
Ask your mom: which bridal shop she bought from. If it had a name like The Golden Asp, we need to hear about it in the comments.
15. The Porcelain Flower Crown
This is a whole mood and we’re here for it. A Texas company announced “the premiere of the Coronation Collection: exquisite ‘porcelain’ flower headpieces and bouquets,” and the hero look wraps porcelain leaves and flowers around the whole side of the head. The sunburst version in the bottom corner deserves its own paragraph, and possibly its own article.
16. The Designer Hat Moment
Even Oscar de la Renta was in on it. His “Forever Wedding Collections” spread ran two brides side by side: one in a structured lace hat with a bow, one under a cloud of tulle that starts at her crown and just keeps going.
17. The Curly Topknot with a Bow
The black bow veil on the burgundy dress is one wardrobe change from a music video. Darva put the bride in a curly topknot with a little bow at the base and tendrils left loose at the temples, and put her maid of honor in burgundy taffeta with that BLACK bow veil. Daring, for 1988.
18. Hair Down in Full Curls
Finally, the hair-down option. P.C. Mary’s of Houston ran both choices in one frame: full curled hair worn completely loose under a flower halo on the left, and the swept-up baby’s-breath version on the right. If you wore your hair down at an 80s wedding, this is the exact volume level that was expected of you.
Wear it now: loose curls with a flower halo is on half the boho Pinterest boards right now. The 80s got there first, with more hairspray.
19. The Pearl Drape
Ilissa’s “Golden Awards” gown came with loops of pearls draped across the forehead over a full head of dark curls, plus a champagne-colored gown in a year when almost everyone else was in white. This is the headpiece for the bride who saw the Symphony sampler page and said, more.
20. The Fringe-Era Glam Updo
Eve of Milady named this collection “Ecstasies,” lit the set like a soap opera dream sequence, and swept the bride’s hair up into a glam roll with a tulle pouf pinned at the crown. The gown has beaded fringe at the shoulders. It is the single most 1988 image we found, and we found a lot of 1988.
The One Thing Every 80s Bride Had
The 80s was full of bangs, volume, and Empire State Building-high buns and crowns. It was a wild time that brought us so many classic movies, music, and wedding looks we can’t help but be nostalgic for it all! So, you might hate or love these hair looks, but either way they will make you say WOW.
If your mom still has her headpiece in a box somewhere, that is prime something borrowed material. And if you find her wedding album while you look for it, we want to see the hair! Tell us in the comments which one of these your mom (or you!) wore.
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