History, As Told By Your Hair

How many times have you ever looked at a photo of yourself from the '90s and thought: Where the hell was I going with that hairstyle?! It's that reaction which Vahram Muratyan, author of Paris versus New York, explores in a section of his latest book, About Time. It's about time, if you couldn't guess, and exactly how we measure it. "The goal was to describe my generation through this angle of milestones and breaking news alerts," Muratyan says.

For Muratyan, hair played a role alongside those milestones. "I love to observe how fashion cycles work, who's behind a style revival, who or what defines a decade," he says. "Hindsight tends to remember only the 'positive' aspects of the 'good 'ol days.' With the help of art references, TV-series — especially period dramas like Mad Men or Downtown Abbey — sometimes 'fake nostalgia' is created. That is fascinating to me."

So, Muratyan created two separate illustrations — one for dudes and one for gals. The guys' styles range from an afro to a full-on bro beard to today's hipster pompadour. Ladies, on the other hand, get the Kate Moss grunge hair, Diana Ross volume, and a short, cropped bob.

In choosing his styles, Muratyan opted to leave four years between each look "to show how fast we get tired of something." And, it's true. The differences between some of these styles is insane, and it just shows how quickly our idea of "what's cool" can change. "I'm not pretending that everyone had the same looks back then — or today — but there are defining personas," he says.

So, basically, that bad haircut you thought you had in '97 actually speaks to what was happening at the time. Congrats — your mane is part of the zeitgeist.

Click through to see the hilarious (and super amazing) illustrations.

The gals get everything from the shag to the hipster ponytail. Today's look? A textured pixie.

Dudes have done everything from punk rock mohawks to sideburns and sweat bands. The '80s were a rough time for everyone, guys.

The cover of the book, which is on sale now!