Via Shorpy.com; the caption reads “Washington, DC circa 1926. Marcel Beauty Shop, Connecticut Avenue.”
Click on the image to see a larger version, and all the glorious detail of those mannequins and their perfect Marcel waves.
This lovely lady is Helen ‘Curl’ Harris – an original Swing Fashionista! She was an entrepreneur at a time when women (let alone African-American women) were a rarity in business. A self-made graduate of the Skidmore Vocational School and the Philadelphia Charm and Model School, she ran and operated numerous beauty businesses in Philadelphia (Curl’s Beautyrama, Curl’s Beauty Salon and Charm Service, and Curl’s Moderne Beautyrama) as well as created her own line of make-up and hair products. Ella Fitzgerald and Josephine Baker were among her clients.
Source: Emory University Library via Omega418’s Flickr Stream