Much of the focus of Nancy's style is usually on her clothing and impeccable accessories, however, most of the time, readers are more interested in her hair color rather than her hair style. I decided to do a bit of exploring of the texts and illustrations to read a little more about our favorite sleuth, and a little about her hair styles, and, occasionally, those of her friends.

Nancy starts out in the first books of the series wearing a cloche hat over her wavy blonde bob. Nancy's hair, from the earliest of Tandy's illustrations hatless, appears to resemble loose finger waves, but is tightly sculpted on 1933's The Password to Larkspur Lane. By the mid to late 1930's, it is more of a below the chin, wavy bob, reminiscent of Judy Garland in the Andy Hardy movies. From text descriptions, it must be low-maintenance, but still requires hairpins (The Secret of the Old Clock, both versions)Nancy's hair is longer as she moves into the 1940's, and in some cases, very glamourous. Her bow-bedecked hair on the cover of The Clue in the Jewel Box, very much resembles Vivien Leigh in opening scenes of Gone With the Wind. (Many of Leigh's hairstyles, including this famous style and other pompadour variations actually influenced 1940's style). Many fans think Nancy resembles Betty Grable as she descends into the cave on 1946's The Mystery of the Tolling Bell. Postwar Nancy soon loses her hats, and as a more casual teenager, has less mature hairstyles. Tandy depicts pageboy styles on two of his last three covers, before coming full circle to show bobbed hair in, The Clue of the Leaning Chimney.

Bill Gillies, who is often criticized by many fans, illustrates Nancy with one of the two most distinctive styles, the wavy pageboy (think Grace Kelly). This style was very popular in the 1950's, and is considered classic preppie yet today. It is this Nancy image that was used on spine symbols until the demise of matte-covered yellow spines. Rudy Nappi keeps Nancy conservative, but shorter, probably in keeping with the text of The Ringmaster's Secret, which requires a quick haircut to resemble Bess Marvin. Apparently by 1953, Bess was tired of being obsessed with her luxurious locks and is sporting a George Fayne look. Internal illustrators, however, continue to use shoulder-length styles on Nancy, despite Nappi's covers. A striking example of Nappi's work, however, is the colorful illustration from The Haunted Showboat, where Nancy has a true red pageboy. This pageboy only remains the choice of most other artists until 1965, with a few exceptions, such as 1968's The Ghost of Blackwood Hall, internals.

Polly Bolian, in designing the Reader's Club or Cameo editions, makes a radical departure. Although the promotional poster uses images identical to Showboat, Bolian is very much in keeping with the current art trend of the late fifties. Fashion illustration of the era adored a figure exemplified by Audrey Hepburn, the tall, willowy female. (See Walt Disney's Sleeping Beauty for another example.) Nancy has the tousled cropped hair popular with sporty, up-to-date girls, as do most of her friends. Helen Corning is one of the only females illustrated with longer hair in this series, in contrast to her depiction in standard G & D illustrations. Ironically, Bolian's Nancy is nearly identical to the uniform Nancy used in Nappi's blue end paper designs, which show Nancy with shorter hair in all 22 of the cover scenes chosen.

Nappi's largest body of work, the cover updates of 1962, changes Nancy's look to her other most enduring, a flip. In contrast to the more casual Nancy Nappi illustrated in the 1950's, most of the updates feature a girl very inspired by the Kennedy White House, with her sleek hair in step with her smart suits and dresses. Variations on this flip continue to be used for years, by both Nappi and by the internal artists, including the "stick figure" era. The classic 56 continue to show Nancy with some version of a flip or other shoulder-length style to this date.

Series fans were disappointed by some 1970's television series images, with Pamela Sue Martin as an auburn tinged brunette. Martin wears curled, layered styles popular in the era, but also shows some extreme styles popular in the disco age.

How do you imagine Nancy Drew? With curly blonde hair? A cool, conservative pageboy? Or a trendy Mary Tyler Moore flip? Truly, I imagine in series book land, that even in the late 1980's Nancy's hair was closer to Lisa Whelchel than to Lisa Hartman. (If you can place these last two actresses, you remember vinyl LP's, too.)

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