At the height of its popularity in the '80s, the perm was everywhere, from Jennifer Gray in Dirty Dancing to Meg Ryan in When Harry Met Sally; nobody was putting the hairstyle in a corner.

When did perms become fashionable?

Perms were all the fashion rage from the 1950s and many women have maintained their curls into old age — but fewer hairdressers still offer them.

Why were perms so popular in the 80's?

Traditional 80s perms were meant to be huge! The bigger the better, the higher the hair the closer to god, tease it to Jesus! Spiral perms were a big hit in the 80s allowing people a lot of little curls, filling out their style and achieving hair heights never possible before.