Amy Winehouse wholly embraced her love for the '60s, and itwasn't apparent just in her music, which channeled the throwback sound of girlgroups like the Ronettes. The "Rehab" singer, who was found dead in her Londonhome Saturday and was buried Tuesday, also adopted a signature hairstyle madepopular during that era--the beehive.
When Winehouse was introduced to U.S. audiences in 2006 whenpromoting her sophomore album "Back To Black," her hairdo was a distinctivepart of her image.
Winehouse's poufy mane which stood no less than 5 inches tall,so closely resembled that of lead Ronette singer Ronnie Spector that theveteran performer thought she was looking at a photo of her younger self whenshe saw a picture of Winehouse in the New York Post.
"I don't know her, I never met her, and when I saw that pic,I thought, 'That's me!' But then I found out, no, it's Amy. I didn't have on myglasses," Spector told the Village Voice.
The hairstyle made its debut in 1960, and was conceived byMargaret Vinci Heldt, then a stylist for the Chicago-based Modern Beauty Shopmagazine. Inspired to showcase something different for the February 1960issue, Heldt conceptualized the new hair design.
"I went home, and I thought, 'What am I going to do thathasn't been done before?" Heldt, now 92 and retired, told the Associated Pressin January.
Heldt waited until her family was asleep one night beforeshe started styling the hair on a mannequin head, trying to emulate the shapeof a small black velvet hat.
"Before you know it, something was coming out," she said."And I thought, 'I like this.'"
The magazine, now called Modern Salon, dubbed the look "thebeehive."
Heldt was amazed to see her style evolve and rise inpopularity.
"It grew into bigger and bigger, higher and higher; itdidn't just stay a beehive," she told AP. She said the hairstyle was especiallyappealing to short women who desired to look taller.
"The showgirls, they loved it because it made them willowyand tall," she said.
Now, 50 years after its inception, Heldt is receiving moreaccolades. The trade association Cosmetologists Chicago announced plans toaward a scholarship based on creativity in her name. And the Chicago History Museum plans to includeHeldt's mannequin head and velvet hat in an upcoming exhibit on the history ofthe beehive.
The beehive was more than just a hairstyle for the late,troubled pop star. When asked if she ever had good hive days and bad hive daysduring an interview with Reuters, the singer offered a decisive, matter-of-factresponse.
"Never. Never," she said. "My hair is always on point, evenif the rest of me is really naff."
In an interview with Vogue, Winehouse suggested that she hadan emotional connection to her hair. "The more insecure I feel, the bigger mybeehive gets," she said.
Margaret Vinci Heldt photo credit: Caryn Rousseau, Associated Press
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