Beehives Are Iconic for a Reason—Here's How to Get the Look

Chicago is a city known for bringing us deep dish pizza, Ferris wheels, and skyscrapers. But one of the city's key historical innovations that often gets overlooked is the beehive hairstyle.

Made popular by Chicago salon owner Margaret Vinci Heldt, this hairstyle broke the low-volume norms of its time. Page boy cuts and flipped-out styles were all the rage until Heldt, who won the 1954 National Coiffure Championship, was asked to create something entirely new for the editor of what is now Modern Salon magazine in 1960. The inspiration behind Heldt's ideation was to create a style that could fit under her beloved fez hat. It was on the set of the magazine's shoot—while photographing the tall, towering shape of hair secured by a bee's pin—that the name "beehive" was coined.

"Beehives are known for their gravity-defying height and structure," says LA-based hairstylist Anna Lyles-Gots. "The style is characterized by its top volume, and a very solid silhouette with the sides pinned back." These infamous silhouettes became impossible to miss in the 1960s, with leading ladies like Audrey Hepburn, Brigit Bardot, Aretha Franklin, Barbara Streisand, and first lady Jacqueline Kennedy all taking a liking to them.

And while it defined the era of the early 1960s, this style has remained a classic staple in hairstyling ever since. Modern-day starlets including Amy Winehouse, Adele, and the Queen Bey herself (Beyonce Knowles), have all worn this look on the red carpet in the last twenty years.

We've rounded up a handful of our favorite celeb-worn beehives, plus an expert-approved breakdown on how to achieve the style from the comfort of your own home.

How-To Create A Beehive

1. Begin with dry hair: No matter your texture, always start dry. "The goal is to turn your hair into a workable fabric that you can sculpt," according to Lyles-Gots.
2. Back-brush the top: At the front of the hairline, just behind the bangs or desired parting, "take a two-inch horizontal panel of hair," says Lyles-Gots, and lift it up to a 90-degree angle from the head before backcombing or back brushing with a boar bristle brush. Continue this all the way down your mohawk section until you've reached the nape of your neck.
3. Back-brush the sides: Continue to backcomb your hair, using vertical sections on each side, all the way around the head. This preparation will create a bit of a hair nest but stick with it. "Afro or brushed out kinky hair should skip the backcombing," notes Lyles-Gots.
4. Sculpt your shape: "Use your fingers to pull your shape back and/or up into the desired height and silhouette," says Lyles-Gots. You can also apply a light layer of hairspray onto your hairbrush and gently brush your sides back for a sleek contrast to your volume up top.
5. Twist and secure: Once you've found your desired placement for each of your three main sections (top and sides), "twist your ends in at the back and pin to secure," says Lyles-Gots. Hairpins work great, but for heavier, more stubborn hair types, keep a few reliable bobby pins on hand as well for extra security. Lyles-Gots recommends misting your style all over with a solid-hold hairspray such as Bumble and bumble's Does It All Spray ($32) or L'Oreal Paris's Elnett Extra Strength Unscented Hairspray ($12).