The extravagant puffiness and lavishly teased coiffure known as the bouffant is one of the most iconic of hairstyles. Voluminous and gravity-defying, the bouffant is a product of vanity, a style immortalized by aristocratic women in France in the 18th century and later adopted in the 1960s as the beehive, a conical cushion of hair that set new heights in fashion. But who were the historical figures that popularized the trend for big, heavily lacquered hair, and does anyone still wear this larger-than-life hairdo?
Click on and celebrate this most flamboyant of high-rise hairstyles by combing through this gallery.