Our hairstyle is a definable part of our style and personality and the characters of Coronation Street are no different. There’s the red hair of fiery Rita Fairclough, Elsie Tanner, Irma Ogden, Suzie Birchall, Jenny Bradley, Fiz Brown and Teresa Bryant and then there’s the perms of prim and proper Annie Walker and Emily Bishop.
Both Bet Lynch and Deirdre Barlow have adapted different hairdos over the years while Hayley Cropper’s had the same do for 15 years! Hilda Ogden kept her hair tidy with curlers of course while Ena Sharples had her hairnet!
Gail Platt had long locks for 27 years on-screen before getting a chop to coincide with her new relationship with Tricky Dicky. Mum Audrey has had various dos over the years – she is a hairdresser after all!
Few women on the street have grown old gracefully with exceptions including Ena Sharples, Minnie Caldwell, Blanche Hunt, Maud Grimes and Sylvia Goodwin who’ve adapted the silver look. Phyllis Pearce opted for a blue rinse. Vera Duckworth’s hair turned purple after an error by Candice Stowe in 2003!
Of the men of course you’ve got the great quiff of Ken Barlow that’s been a feature on the show since Episode 1. Alf Roberts had a back-combed hairstyle for 30 years as did Stan Ogden while Brian Tilsley, Kevin Webster and Curly Watts all adopted a mullet in the 1980s. And there’s some men we’ve begged for them have a haircut over the years – there’s David Platt, Jamie Baldwin, Adam Barlow and Ryan Connor (they all did eventually!)
There have been many men with a receding hairline and some have been in storylines involving getting a toupee like Fred Gee, Reg Holdsworth and Norris Cole.
There have been many crimpers on the street over the years: Valerie Barlow, Audrey Roberts, Denise Osbourne, Fiona Middleton, Maxine Peacock, Tom Ferguson, Maria Sutherland, Candice Stowe, Sarah Platt, David Platt, Claudia Colby and Natasha Blakeman. But they’re not very good because characters go for a haircut and come out with the same amount of hair!!
Have you got a favourite character hairdo? Who’s got the most iconic hair? My favourite has to be redhead Rita, but I guess you know that already! She’s had so many dos over the years, it’s incredible!
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Other hairdressers over the years include Elsie Tanner's nephew Bernard Butler, Natalie Barnes' sister Debs Brownlow, and Jon Welch, who worked alongside Denise Osbourne...
ReplyDeleteI love coming across old footage of Kevin's mullet and the moustache.
ReplyDeleteThe only good thing I could ever say about the character of Kirsty was that her curls were gorgeous!
When I started watching back in the sixties, I could only pick out one word in ten, ( I'm in Canada, and I think the accent was a lot thicker then.)If it hadn't been for Ray Langton and his gorgeous mop of hair, I might have given up.
ReplyDeleteHow about Audrey’s hairdressing salon where the customers look the same going out as they did going in. The only hairdressers left in the world with those big hairdryers you sit under with a control switch
ReplyDeleteEddie Windass had the smartest, most coiffed hairstyle of any of them.
ReplyDeleteHayley has a most distinctive bob which is as much a part of her persona as is the red anorak. Steve's hair is always changing though there's less and less of it as the years pass.
ReplyDeleteRita's hair..she must take it off and put it on the bedpost at night. It never moves...a hurricane couldn't budge it.
ReplyDeleteLiz McDonald has had countless hair styles (and several different colours) over the years..
ReplyDeletePhyllis Pearce, now there was a great character. And a great rinse!
ReplyDeleteMaria and Leanne alays have nice hair, Michelles is very shiny, Audreh has a lion's mane that doesnt match her profession, Gails hair always looks wierd - too thick, Izzy never seems to comb hers, Anna's lank locks should be covered in a cafe, Ritas is so big and mereiunged it looks ridiculous, Dreary has a hairstyle that suits her at her age. Gloria's wig looks skanky.
ReplyDeleteDeirdre's late 1980s brillo pad was so brilliant! I love Deirdre!
ReplyDelete