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I'm trying to find the word for this kind of hairdo. It was fashionable during the 60's and several movie stars adopted that look on one occasion or another. Jane Fonda was one of them. I think. Usually around five inches tall, sometimes these hairdos would reah ten inches! I'm trying to describe a relative of mine in an old wedding picture, and would appreciate any help.

tall 60's-style women's hairdo

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18

This hairdo is called a beehive. Although there is sometimes hair hanging at the side of the head, this style differs from a bouffant in that the hair at the side of the head does not also attempt to have increased volume. It draws this lower hair style from the pageboy.

It originated as one of a variety of elaborately teased and lacquered versions of "big hair" that developed from earlier pageboy and bouffant styles.

(Wikipedia)

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Michael J. Bayly, in Dusty Springfield: Woman of Repute identifies her style, complete with the picture shown in OP's question:

From her earliest days in music, Dusty Springfield was never short of trademarks. Her distinctive heavy mascara look started she says, simply as the result of being short-sighted and having to remove her glasses when applying her eye-makeup. Whatever the reason, Dusty's "panda-look" consolidated a fashion trend, as did her bouffant, bee-hive hairdo which according to one wit, looked like it was designed for smuggling footballs. (emphasis added)

(c) Michael J. Bayly, 1997-2006

enter image description here

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5

Ian MacDonald called it out in the question's comments, but this is a beehive hairstyle:

The Beehive is a woman's hairstyle in which long hair is piled up in a conical shape on the top of the head and slightly backwards pointing, giving some resemblance to the shape of a traditional beehive.

Google Images has quite a few examples of beehives.

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    I think "Bouffant" is another possibility. images – Hot Licks Mar 7 '15 at 2:57
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    Nah, I think bouffants spill over to the sides while beehives do not. Certainly, both are mountains of hair atop the head. – Adam Katz Mar 7 '15 at 3:02
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    In fact, one of the Google images that appears on the "Bouffant" page is the exact image used above. – Hot Licks Mar 7 '15 at 3:07
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    The point is that "beehive" was pretty much unknown prior to the 60s. If the relative's photo is from that era then it's probably a beehive. If it's from much earlier then it's very likely what would have been called a "bouffant" at the time. Pompadour is another possibility. – Hot Licks Mar 7 '15 at 13:07
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    @HotLicks The picture was taken in 1964. – Centaurus Mar 7 '15 at 16:08

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