In English

slang A slang is a vocabulary (words, phrases, and linguistic usages) of an informal register, common in everyday conversation but avoided in formal writing and speech. It also often refers to the language exclusively used by the members of pa ...

, a Croydon facelift (sometimes council house facelift, or in

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...

a Millie facelift) is a particular

hairstyle A hairstyle, hairdo, haircut, or coiffure refers to the styling of hair, usually on the human head but sometimes on the face or body. The fashioning of hair can be considered an aspect of personal grooming, fashion, and cosmetics, although ...

worn by some

women A woman is an adult female human. Before adulthood, a female child or adolescent is referred to as a girl. Typically, women are of the female sex and inherit a pair of X chromosomes, one from each parent, and women with functional u ...

. The hair is pulled back tightly and tied in a bun or ponytail at the back. The supposed result is that the

skin Skin is the layer of usually soft, flexible outer tissue covering the body of a vertebrate animal, with three main functions: protection, regulation, and sensation. Other animal coverings, such as the arthropod exoskeleton, have different ...

of the

forehead In human anatomy, the forehead is an area of the head bounded by three features, two of the skull and one of the scalp. The top of the forehead is marked by the hairline, the edge of the area where hair on the scalp grows. The bottom of the fo ...

and

face The face is the front of the head that features the eyes, nose and mouth, and through which animals express many of their emotions. The face is crucial for human identity, and damage such as scarring or developmental deformities may affect th ...

are pulled up and back, producing the effects of a facelift.

Traction alopecia Traction alopecia is a type of alopecia or hair loss caused by a chronic pulling force being applied to the hair. It commonly results from a person frequently wearing their hair in a particularly tight ponytail, pigtails, or braids with increased ...

, a type of gradual hair loss, can result from hairstyles that tightly pull the hair in this manner.James, William; Berger, Timothy; Elston, Dirk (2005). ''Andrews' Diseases of the Skin: Clinical Dermatology''. (10th ed.). Saunders. . This hairstyle is frequently portrayed in the

media Media may refer to: Communication * Means of communication, tools and channels used to deliver information or data ** Advertising media, various media, content, buying and placement for advertising ** Interactive media, media that is inter ...

as belonging to young women from the lower

social class A social class or social stratum is a grouping of people into a set of Dominance hierarchy, hierarchical social categories, the most common being the working class and the Bourgeoisie, capitalist class. Membership of a social class can for exam ...

es, particularly the

Chav "Chav" (), also "charver", "scally" and "roadman" in parts of England, is a British term, usually used in a pejorative way. The term is used to describe an anti-social lower-class youth dressed in sportswear. * * * * Julie Burchill descri ...

subculture ('' Ned'' in Scotland, ''Millie'' in Northern Ireland). The term is thus considered derogatory because it portrays people from

Croydon Croydon is a large town in South London, England, south of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Croydon, a Districts of England, local government district of Greater London; it is one of the largest commercial districts in Greater Lond ...

as being lower class. ''Croydon'' can be replaced by the name of any other unfashionable residential area. The ''

Croydon Guardian The ''Sutton & Croydon Guardian'', also known as ''Your Local Guardian'', is a weekly free local newspaper published by Newsquest that covers the South London boroughs of Sutton and Croydon, as well as surrounding areas. The newspaper is publish ...

'' newspaper jokingly suggested that the style may have originated with the ancient Egyptian Queen

Nefertiti Nefertiti () () was a queen of the Eighteenth Dynasty of Egypt, 18th Dynasty of Ancient Egypt, the Great Royal Wife, great royal wife of Pharaoh Akhenaten. Nefertiti and her husband were known for their radical overhaul of state religious poli ...

References

*''Brewer's Britain and Ireland'', compiled by John Ayto and Ian Crofton,

Weidenfeld & Nicolson Weidenfeld & Nicolson Ltd (established 1949), often shortened to W&N or Weidenfeld, is a British publisher of fiction and reference books. It has been a division of the French-owned Orion Publishing Group since 1991. History George Weidenfeld ...

, 2005,

External links

* Hairstyles Youth culture in the United Kingdom Pejorative terms {{fashion-stub

See also

References

External links