Nashville hairstylist recreates popular hair trends through the decades for Black History Month
There are hairstylists and then there are what some refer to as hair artists, like Shanice Fitts.
The Nashville-based hairstylist, known as Fittshair on Instagram, has captured the attention of hundreds of thousands of followers after sharing a "Black History Month edition" of popular hairstyles through the decades.
Leading with a striking image of herself gloriously rocking a voluminous updo and accessorized by a red flower, in the style of the gardenia worn by iconic singer Billie Holiday, Fitts captioned her video with the hashtag #blackhistorymonthchallenge.
"I told myself to make it a 'thing' to do something creative for February since I’m a creative anyways, and I did," she posted on Instagram. "It was work LOL, but it was fun too," she continued.
Fitts told "Good Morning America" she was inspired to highlight these hairstyles because it was something she had never seen done before by any other stylist. "I wanted to do something fun and creative, but also master those looks."
Throughout her mashup of hairstyles, popular looks worn by legendary names such as Josephine Baker in the 1920s as well as singer Aaliyah in the 1990s are highlighted.
Since posting, Fitts' video has racked up more than 283,000 views on Instagram and over 27,000 likes on TikTok, with lots of fans complimenting her different looks.
Fitts, who has been a hairstylist for almost 10 years, said she started recording the video in January and it took a little over three weeks to finish the looks.
She said does hair almost every day, but on her days off which are Sunday and Monday, she would search for looks to include. Then, she would record two looks at a time weekly. "It was pretty hectic, but I stuck with it and got it done," she said.
While the hairstyles were hard to choose because there are so many to pick from, Fittts said she ultimately just picked styles that she would liked to have worn during those time periods.
"I'm kind of surprised at all of the positive feedback from the video because it was supposed to just be something fun, but I also worked hard -- so I knew everyone would love it," said Fitts.
She added: "After watching my video, I hope someone would feel inspired to make an even better one or create hairstyles similar to keep our Black history looks as current as possible."
Fitts often posts a lot of her work and loads of "hair-spiration" on her social media feeds, and plans to offer virtual classes to those curious to learn how to recreate some of the looks and services she offers.
