Introduction

For this unit, I’ll be required to do research for my ‘Fundamentals of Hair and Postiche - Redheads and Royalty blog. I’ll be posting up a wide variety of techniques I learn during class, going more into depth of the historical Elizabethan era, and creating contemporary hair designs. I’m looking forward to this unit as it'd enable me to learn new skills and develop existing ones. To be fair, I’m not so strong with hair therefore it’d be a sort of challenge for me which I’m more than willing to take on. I also think it’d be interesting to learn about how much hairstyle’s have changed during the years.

Elizabethan hair:

‘Just like pale skin was popular, so was fair hair. Women used different substances to dye their hair for example urine, cumin seeds, saffron and oil. Dyes such as red and sometimes yellow were very popular, similar to Queen Elizabeth’s hair. Hairstyles for women were always led by the Queen. Upper class women usually spent more money and time on achieving elaborate hairstyles to receive attention whereas the lower class would normally wear common hairstyles such as plaits or braids in order to be comfortable whilst working. Some also used to cut their hair and sell it to make wigs for the upper class.

Younger women used to style their hair down and leave it flowing to represent purity until marriage. On their wedding day they used flowers to adorn their hair and after having wed they closed it (usually into a bun) so head coverings can be pinned to it. The front and sides of the hair was paid a lot of attention to as usually those were the only areas displayed.

During this era wigs were also very fashionable. They were mostly worn by women who had thin hair, or those that wanted their hair to be a different colour.  Some women would even shave their natural hair off just so they could wear wigs all the time in order to get that ‘fair hair’ look. Queen Elizabeth was believed to have over 80 wigs, often referred to as ‘Periwigs’. Hair was generally adorned with expensive jewels and hair pieces that only the upper class were able to afford.

Frizzed hair, similar to what we call crimped hair today was also quite popular. One thing that wasn’t popular however was fringes. Women used to comb their hair away from their forehead or even pluck the hair from their hairline to show they have a high forehead.

Head coverings such as veils, hats, cauls or coifs were used to adorn and cover most of the hair. Many of the hats were designed with feathers, pearls, glass jewels, gold thread, lace, spangles, and embroidery.

•      Coifs – (also known as the ‘Biggin’) was worn by all children. These were similar to caps, made of white material tied right under the chin. They were worn to keep the hair in place.
•           French hoods – this was introduced by Queen Elizabeth I’s mother. These were shaped similarly to a half moon, styled away from the face. They were designed with pearls or glass jewels called ‘bilaments’ and the veil covered the back of the hair.
•          The ‘Atifet’ – this was similar to the French hood however shaped similarly to a heart. They were often white colour with lace trimmings.
•          Cauls – (also known as a hair net) this was designed to cover the hair at the back of the head. It was made of fabric and sometimes designed with spangles. 
•          The ‘Pillbox’ – this was a normal hat which often had a veil attached to the back.

Hairstyles for men were just as important as they were for women. At the beginning of the era men used to wear short closely cropped hairstyles however this changed as time went on.  Towards the end of the era it was more popular to have long curly hair, which was normally achieved with hot irons and wax or gum to keep the hair in place. A lot of time was spent on the grooming the hair. Beards were also very popular for men. The cuts usually changed with the fashion of the day going from round to square, from oblong to pointed and from short to long. Beards were normally kept in place with starch. Upper class Elizabethan men were usually more elaborately dressed than the women with their hair and beards receiving the same amount of attention as they did.’

Elizabethan hair styles (no date) Available at: 
http://www.elizabethan-era.org.uk/elizabethan-hair-styles.htm (Accessed: 3 December 2015).

Kodie Mootz (2015) Elizabethan hairstyles. Available at: 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=biZA6U3It2g (Accessed: 3 December 2015).

Looking at these two portraits from the Elizabethan era, I noticed they both have a reddish, ginger tone to them. The texture on both hairstyles seems quite frizzy with very small curls. The shape of the hair on the left image is big and round with curls coming down the sides. It is adorned with a lot of pearls. The shape of the hair on the right image is a heart. Again, it is quite big yet balanced on both sides. It is adorned with something similar to a  headdress, or a crown. Both ladies in the portrait have extremely high hairlines. 

Blog - Fiona Tanner hair and makeup artist in London (no date) Available at: http://www.ftmakeuplondon.com/blog.php (Accessed: 3 December 2015).

HowStuffWorks (2013) Tudor-Englad era history. Available at: https://www.pinterest.com/meshea01/tudor-englad-era-history/ (Accessed: 3 December 2015).