Just a bit of nonsense but do you remember when boys and girls had their hair parted on different sides?

Question

Today I uttered those immortal words I vowed never to do. Chatting to 2 of my grandchildren, I said "When I was your age".
I can't remember how we got to talking about hair, but they didn't believe me when I said boys and girls used to have their hair parted on different sides, boys one side, girls the other.

Was it a myth my grandparents conjured up or was it true, if so, which side?

If anyone dares to say I'm dotty, blame it on the germs I'm fighting with.

Answer 1

You'll be pleased to hear you're not dotty. The official parting for girls was right and obviously left for boys.I can remember my Mother trying to give me a right parting but it didn't stay because my hair had , and still does have a natural, just off centre left parting. Both of my brothers conformed but my middle sister had dead straight hair with a tendency to part in the middle and the youngest sister ,the only one of us to have long hair had ringlets and my Mother gave her a middle parting which she to this day still moans about !

Answer 2

Hah! You said it. I also vowed I would never. Haven't slipped up yet. But the day will come. Mostly in the 60's the guys had crew cuts. My father parted his hair, but for the life of me I cannot remember which side. I never realised there was a "side" for girls and a "side" for boys. You learn something every day. I thought you parted your hair where it naturally parts, if you know what I mean.

Answer 3

Yup. You're right. Boys were parted on the left and girls on the right.
Also, jacket buttons on the left lapel for boys and right one for girls.
Boys trousers zip fly at the front, girls' on the side (usually the right if memory serves from my girlfriends at the time).
Most boys "dressed to the left", but I couldn't decide which side girls 'dressed' although it was fun investigating.

All this started to fizzle out in a big way following the 70's punk era. That was when boys started to sport names like "Darren" and "Greg".

At school both sexes had royal blue blazers but boys had a gold ring around the cuff and girls had a silver ring (as well as the button differences). We all thought this was so that the headmaster (remember them?) could tell the difference (he was a bit old fashioned and probably didn't check for trousers versus mini-skirts).

Answer 4

Clothing is STILL different. At least the origins on that one had some sense at the time. With men it had to do with ease of drawing a sword. - women had to do with holding and nursing children. I remember being told about the part thing, but have nearly always parted mine in the middle. Now I just get it cut for a middle part and let it fall where it will. :-)

Answer 5

Yes, this is true! Goodness gracious it's an absolute age since this was done.....boys hair was parted left to right and girls was right to left. The same as buttons on shirts n blouses...boys L>R, girls R>L.....we have also said "When we were your age" to our Grandsons too and every time we see them they want to hear stories from "the olden days". They were completely gobsmacked when we told them we didn't have a television in the Living room and definately not one in the bedroom lol. We like this section because of questions like yours....thank-you for taking us down Memory Lane again! xxx

Answer 6

I do indeed remember when parts were worn by gals & guys. I love watching old movies & seeing the hairstyles from those yesteryears. Talk about laugh!!! My mom used to set my hair in bobby pins every night so it'd look nice for school the next day. I looked like I'd put my finger in an electrical socket when my baby fine hair was combed out. Yikes!!!!! I look at my old school pictures & can't believe what I'm seeing. ~lol~ Then there were the Tonette perms for little girls. There were paper dolls inside the box to keep us entertained. Remember?

Answer 7

Yes my Nan used to say that too but I can't remember which side was which. Just as important was which side you buttoned you clothes too, I can remember knitting a baby jacket for my daughter only for my Nan to tell me after that the buttonholes were on the wrong side for a girl. Thank goodness for zips!

Answer 8

Yes its true, we were just as much victims of fashion fads as the younger generation are today.
I remember crew cuts,Mohican hair cuts,all the men wore a suite in winter or for any kind of formal occasion and in summer a tweed jacket with grey flannel baggy trousers

Answer 9

Oh I certainly DO remember those days...which fell by the wayside pretty quickly when most of the boys ended up with crewcuts!!

And jackets did up on opposite sides...blouses and shirts as well. Even IN THE BEGINNING women's jeans had to be zipped up on the OPPOSITE side from the mens even with the zipper in front! That one was awfully annoying.

Answer 10

Wow it looks like most girls part their hair on the left side. I part mine on the left too because that's where my prettiest blond streaks are for some reason.