Where does edge styling come from?
Laying edges, doing your baby hairs. Where does the ritual come from? I’ve been asked this question a lot since I launched an edges brush.
Many of us have vague ideas about some kind of Betty Boop-type edge styling back in ye olde times but most of us haven’t heard of the actual mother of edges, Josephine Baker.
Josephine Baker, GENERAL PHOTOGRAPHIC AGENCY / GETTY IMAGES
While I’ve found a few very old photographs and paintings of women with their baby hairs styled before then (see below), Josephine is responsible for bringing edge styling into mainstream consciousness in the 1920s.
Fannie Barrier Williams c.1885
A portion of ‘The Saltonstall Family’ by David des Granges, c.1640
Josephine was an African American performer, known for her iconic dance in a banana-adorned G string (immortalised by Paul Colin’s beautiful poster) and her distinctive ‘eton crop’. Wearing her hair in this short, blunt style, with the lacquered ‘kiss curls’ (which we would now recognise as edge styling) was revolutionary at the time.
Josephine Baker, c.1927. George Hoyningen-Huene/Conde Nast—Getty Images
Josephine moved from the US to France (partially motivated by the poor treatment of Black people in the US at the time - this was the era of segregation and Jim Crow laws), and went on to become one of the most successful entertainers in France. She’s a super interesting woman, and there’s so much more to say about her civil rights activism and work during World War II.
Josephine Baker c.1925. Photo by G. L. Manuel Freres
Advert for BakerFix - Josephine developed her own hair product to allow others to slick their hair in her signature style.
Once Josephine popularised this style, lots of women through the 1920s and 1930s wore kiss curls including, as mentioned, Betty Boop. Then, as far as I can tell, styling your edges largely disappeared until the 1990s.
Frances Dee, 1920s
Betty Boop, c. 1933
During the 90s, Black women started experimenting with swirling and swooping their edges again.
Brandy, 1990s
Nottinghill Carnival, photograph by Giles Moberly
For many of us in 2026, whatever your race, slicking or styling our edges is part of our everyday routine. I think everybody should feel free to do whatever they like to their edges - but, as always, it’s important to be aware of the history and the cultural implications of certain hairstyles. We’ve all seen or experienced particular styles being deemed ‘ghetto’ when one race does it and incredibly stylish when another has a go (never forget Kimmy K’s ‘Bo Derek braids’).
Of course, styling your edges isn’t just about creating intricate shapes. Sometimes it’s just slicking them back. And sometimes you don’t want to do anything to them at all. The thing I love about hair is the infinite ways you can use it to express yourself, and it’s super important for us to remember that Black hair doesn’t have to be slicked, straightened or stretched to be ‘done’.