Hair Today, Gone Tomorrow — Marine Corps Sets New Female Hairstyle Standards (Video)

Written by Beth Ford Roth/KPBS

The Marine Corps has established new standards for how female troops wear their hair.

Partial braids? Yes! Eccentric directional flow? No!

As of Dec. 16, when MARADMINS released its Uniform Board 213 results, the following changes were effective immediately:

"EXAMPLES OF HAIRSTYLES CONSIDERED TO BE FADDISH OR EXAGGERATED AND THUS NOT AUTHORIZED FOR WEAR IN UNIFORM ARE (THIS LIST IS NOT ALL-INCLUSIVE); LOCKS AND TWISTS (NOT INCLUDING FRENCH ROLLS/TWISTS), HAIR SCULPTING (ECCENTRIC DIRECTIONAL FLOW, TWISTS, TEXTURE OR SPIKING), BUNS OR BRAIDS WITH LOOSE HAIR EXTENDING AT THE END...

"FOREIGN MATERIAL (I.E., BEADS, DECORATIVE ITEMS) SHALL NOT BE BRAIDED INTO THE HAIR..."

The Marine Corps Times attempted unsuccessfully to contact members of the Marine Corps Uniform Board who made the changes, to find out what triggered the mane modifications...

...[and] for more clarity on what qualifies as faddish or eccentric, but it appears commanders will have a certain amount of discretion in determining what does — or does not — meet standards.

I thought this might be a fun time to break out a 1973 U.S. Marine Corps training film, shot at MCRD San Diego. It's called "...And A Few Good Men," and it gives you an idea of how much hairstyles have changed (or haven't, if you live in Southern California) in the last 40 years. Enjoy!