late victorian hairstyles

by the end of the victorian era the hair was very romanticised. the back would show the length of the hair more than previously by hanging far lower weather it was twisted or curled. all the curls were left a lot loser. one of the main differences we can see from mid to late victorian hairstyles is the front, you can notice that the slick middle parting has evolved into a wavy fringe almost. this almost fringe was a beginning of a whole new hair style which was found in the next era. the victorians chose to use this wave effect in different partings and styles but rarely left it straight and slick any more. this is a much more art nouveau style in comparison to the very set hair styles at the beginning of the era.

but with all this curling and waving and padding do you think they left behind those beloved plaits of theres that easy? oh no they just became less tightly wound to the head but actually I think far more complex. A beautiful example of this is from peterson's magazine in 1875

I had an attempt at this hair style also. in preparation for my estella exam 

 the sectioning was kind of similar to the early victorian hairstyles in some seances you still had to have an evenly pin tailed central parting for the style I wanted to re-create.

Mid-victorian Hair styles

the styles in victorian eras although they changed a lot as it was a vast time period you can still see the same structure and ideas but they just evolve. so from the early victorian to mid victorian we can see a more flattering 'romantic' look. the curls and twists begin moving further away from the face not blocking it in so much. the curls are also less tight and the hair styles were beginning to have more tendrils and are more often adorned with flowers then before. bonnets are still in fashion as they were in the early victorian hairstyles but are more varied than the rather standard bonnets from the early
in this sense the bonnets evolve with the hair structures so they can still be secured to the hair without flattening it.

an example of early bonnets structure:

 the general shape of the back of the bonnet actually stays the same a lot leaving a small bun shaped amount at the crown of the head. the images i have sourced here are from the internet and disappointingly i can't find the books they were from only the years which i believe to be 1812. you can see that these hats and bonnets are quite colourful these would be the hats that far more wealthy victorians could own.

of course people who couldn't afford to spend lavish amounts on bonnets and change them there selves they would most likely be looking to the ladies' self instructor in millinery and mantua making, embroidery and appliqué, canvas work, knitting and netting, and crocket- work by R.L Shep. Yes, that is the full name, i know it just roles of the tongue, real catchy. but to a lot of women in the victorian day this was the way to adorn your hair, make it yourself if you can't afford it. pretty similar to us today I guess. 

within this beautifully titled book in 1853 we can see illustrations of the kind of adorning and bonnets they were aiming for in the mid-victorian times

although these may look less elaborate than the earlier bonnets, this is mainly as they are in black and white sketches, and are as plans for women to make them there selves. the change that when looking carefully i noticed is that although the earlier pictures have more varying bows and fronts in comparison to the later ones (again this is just to represent the structure in the later pictures) the back of the bonnets are a lot more accommodating for different shaped hair structures.

as I can't deny I like researching the actual sketches more than portraiture I searched for mid-victorian era hair styles in illustration i found it quite difficult to find the in-between stage of the tight buns and the practically fully let down hair of the late victorian hairs, but in a book I found in the library I stumbled across some beautiful imagery from the mid contrary and you can defiantly see the less restricted shapes, but with clear structure. initially i thought that i would really prefer late victorian hair but after finding this illustration I could be swayed to say that i think this is a very delicate and sophisticated look that i would be blessed to ever be capable of recreating. but I'm defiantly going to try.

Early Victorian HairStyles

As part of our exploration of great expectations we have been asked to research the hairstyles of Queen Victoria's era which was from 1837 to 1901. This is such a large time frame that there are early mid and late victorian hair styles, you can see how the hairstyles evolve in films and TV interpretations of great expectations.

Early victorian hair styles still had elements of Georgian hair styles and something that was still featured in the Victorian era was called the apollo knot. the apollo knot featured a slick middle parting with tight curls right next to the face. and the third section at the back they had high buns in twists and plaits.

This portrait featuring an apollo knot was most likely very very early victorian era.

You can see this Georgian hair style being carried through to the victorian era by Victoria herself in the portraiture by henry colleen (1836) at the age of 17, as a princess the year before she became queen.  

The victorians had advantages and disadvantages on us when creating this hair style. the victorians didn't cut their hair and they grew it very long which helped create the large shapes, twists and buns they found so beautiful. unfortunately to create those tight curls that they felt adorned the face so beautifully (not so sure about that one myself) they needed heat. we certainly take for granted the fact that we can wash our hair with nutritional shampoo and conditioner, on a regular basis, we have heat protector and most of all we have plug in curling tongs. The victorians obviously did not. Instead they had irregularly washed (with drying soap) fragile hair. when thats combined with what was most likely a heated metal rod over coals they're hair was brutal and had the tendency to snap. this meant of course padding. when the women didn't have enough hair themselves in the victorian times they often used pieces.  

so Whilst looking into the early victorian hair styles I also did a practice on my Katy head. following the images I have scene whilst researching it I immediately knew I wouldn't be able to create such structures with the quantity of hair I had but every practice will help me understand the techniques more and will be able to help me in designing a hair style to fit the era that I can create with continuity.

to create this look it was actually surprisingly easy. and coming from me that must be easy. to start with I obliged to the victorian specialty, slick centre parting. i created this look with a trusty pin tailed comb. I combed back all of the front of the hair back with no parting then following the nose up to find the centre of the face created a straight line directly back to the crown of the scalp. at this point i gently pulled the hair to one side to create a parting. unfortunately on a katy doll the hair doesn't fall quite as evenly as it would with natural hair. So i knew it was even i looked in the mirror and took the pin of my pin tail comb and took across any strands that were out of place. these corrections are key in the victorian look as it was a large part of the desired finish. then from roughly just behind the ears i sectioned the back of the head off so i have three sections two symmetrical at the front of the head and the remaining of the back of the head.

at the back of the head i simple got two sections out of the hair twisted them around one and other and then twisted it into a small bun which was secured by pins. with the two side sections they were both also sectioned into four long strips of hair down the side of the head, each one equalish, i then used the heated curls straight against the face curled in and held for roughly 4-5 second on each to make sure the curl is set well. to make sure the curls don't drop when taking the tongs out i released the hair bit by bit  and used the comb to push the hair off the curlers in the same shape.

i think my final outcome is ok for a first timer but obviously it would be much more beautiful and i would be able to get a lot more creative if it was long human hair. like the elizabethans had, i am really excited to start working with a partners hair but i foo feel sorry for them as my hair is certainly much shorter and most likely just as damaged as a victorians hair.

Horrific Introductions

An introduction to horror? now that I'm going to be horrific at. horror has so many different meanings and so many different interpretations to every one surely? what scares one person will never necessarily scare the next. I'm scared of a lot of gore, and yet i love the re-creations and the make-up/ prosthetic side to horror. so I'm probably on the right course. 

as a task to begin us on this journey of a new project we were asked to read great expectations. to some people I could see the colour fade out of their cheeks as we were set a dreaded reading task, and for once I wasn't one of them. fortunately for me I have read great expectations a good 4 times but its always best to refresh the memories. however personally I can't see the horror in this book, I understand that it is dark and there is a lot of misfortune but essentially I see it as a adventure or a journey book. not written in the most exhilarating way and there isn't hidden treasure at the end, but as a journey of character. Pip's journey is one of becoming a gentleman and what that entailed back in the day of dickens, its a book of problem solving and love. Obvious to everyone from a film/ tv or make-up front the character to focus on would be miss Havisham but again i do not see her as the horrific scary woman that she becomes i actually see her as a beautiful woman who was in love and became decayed and fragile by what happened when love breaks down a woman. 

So, I guess on that point it was a horrific introduction to horror as essentially although I like to make people look like their dying i am a die hard romantic over horror any day. 

Understanding Victorians and their Influence

victorian body Ideals

whilst looking into victorian beauty ideals one of the books that stood out to me the most was fashion and eroticism : the deals of feminine beauty from the victorian era to the jazz age, written by Valerie Steele (1985) published by oxford university press.  Valerie Steele has published books with very feminist views and had studied female ideal's in many different ways. In this book I found her point of view very refreshing, she looks at the connotations that were attached to beauty ideals in the victorian era and compares that with the current connotations whilst underlining shifting fashion ideals from the early nineteinth century to the twentieth. My attention was brought to a woman's sexual appeal in the victorian era and how they may portray this in comparison to the way we do now.

I think this illustration shows the way women in the victorian era showed their allure in a much different way. although in this illustration they covered majority of their body their are no legs or arms on show from reading this book I can now acknowledge they are enhancing the shape that was desired at the time, a small cinched waist whilst also having large hips and curvaceous size. the ruffles ad lace work to make areas look larger and although it is not tight to the skin they were cleaver to keep a mans mind wondering and it was all about the idea and silhouette they created. The victorian era is often linked to corsets as it was one of they're famous methods to slim areas without removing any curves. This is still in an age where size and wealth go hand in hand and although the idea of a slender figure has began to ebb in, a curvaceous woman still symbolises high status. In a sense the victorians actually began the fetishism of sexual culture yet in such a different way. as this illustration exhibits, the victorians way of showing flesh provocatively was to show their shoulders. or leave even more to the imagination and wear fine lace over the shoulders which would reveal only glimpses of skin colour underneath, this was scene as a way of keeping dignity.

the method of glimpsing skin through lace has been interpreted by women ever since,  you can see how drastically it has changed throughout the times and the same has come with the connotations of corsets.  In catwalk today we see undergarments, wether it be corsets or lace, starting to feature much more. In a lot of peoples opinions foundation garments should be for your own private domain. but in catwalk today it is beginning to re-emerge as the victorians saw it, an essential to producing the final desired effect. They smooth, they lift and they cinch to perfection. Catwalk has always been daring, but cat walk clothing is still controversial in public. This is due to the role of clothing and its connotations. Clothing has the power to connote morality in concealing, as well as generate lust and wanton behaviour. Yet the very eroticism evoked by risqué clothing or lingerie attracts through being suggestive and sexual promise. a nude body is less interesting than a partially clothed one because it's entirely exposed and all the mystery is revealed.

Either way when it came to victorian body ideals and the way they wanted to be perceived it seems they may have got it right. it is interesting to see how small things they used to do have actually been the beginning of something much more ostentatious and now it may have even become a competition  between the women of different eras to create a couture to allure our men the best.