Sweet Victory

It was the mid-1940s: War had finally come to an end, and in the midst of the ensuing celebration (and there was plenty of it!), hair conscious women suddenly felt a strong urge to design a new hairstyle to further push the parties. And what's more fitting than a victory roll?

"We're going to miss all the celebrations if we have to pose much longer!" Zimbio.com.

The term "victory roll" originated from a fighter plane maneuver, but clever women felt it better represented their new 'do, which consisted of delicate "rolls" throughout the hair.

Making a victory roll today is as simple as using curling irons and a blow dryer, but since the forties didn't have any of those fancy options, sleeping in tight pin curls was generally required to create the hairstyle.

By putting their hair into pin curls before calling it a night, women ensured they'd be greeted in the morning with beautiful, bouncy curls. But who wants bouncy curls when everyone else has those neat victory things? No one, that's who, so those perfect curls were then styled into equally-perfect rolls placed and pinned on top of the head.

Gwen Stefani often wears modified victory rolls. 14Gwen.com.

As the excitement from the end of World War II slowly decreased, so did the popularity of victory rolls. Come the 1950s, women had already traded their rolls for relaxed, soft curls, and by doing so made the hairstyle an image of the 1940s only.

Women today can be spotted wearing the look for parties and other retro affairs, but if the victory rolls and all they stand for will ever be needed again in the future is unknown. For now, wear them for your own personal victories!