Re-creating Elizabethan Hair Designs

Experimenting in Elizabethan Hair

In this hair lesson the aim was to start planning out and re-creating our own Elizabethan looks with all the techniques we had learnt so far, it had to include a bun or a plait and still look like a period hairstyle. We were practicing more of these element so we really had a clear understanding and idea of all the different looks and techniques of the 16th century hair pieces in this era. I decided that I wanted to have crimping in my look as this type of texture was seen a lot in many paintings and portraits in this era and I really felt it was the best technique to create a Elizabethan style.

I started this look by sectioning off certain parts of the hair, I left the front sections of the hair to create a ban of a french plait. Even though if I was to recreate this again I would have re-done this part of the look as it is more of an contemporary style then period. Then using the second section of the hair I split it into two section further down the middle parting. Using the same technique that was used to create the Elizabethan heart shape bun I created this look again. I took both sections and crimped both sides of the hair which as I mentioned would give the look texture and also more volume, I then went on this backcomb each section, starting from the bottom of the head working the way up. This then gave the hair more structure and strength therefore meaning, using a hair prop I could roll it down the hair creating each part of the heart shape.   

When the front sections of the hair was complete I finish off the hair design with the back section of hair. The aim was to either create a bun or a plait as this was the main two looks of the era. I decided to go with french braiding as in my opinion I think looks very neat but also relates very well to the time period. I started by sectioning the back of the head into two and french braided each side (shown in the far left hand image). When having completed this I took the end of each plait and rapped it around the opposite side therefore creating a milkmaid braid. (far right image shows) The final outcome of this look which I believed I achieved quite well but as I already mentioned I would adapt the front section of the hair maybe to rick-racking as this is more of a period style then a simple french braid.  

By Amelia Richmond-Knight

Hair:Crimping

Hair:Crimping 

Heart Shaped Hair Using Back Comb Technique:

In this lesson we were learning to crimp the hair as an extra technique which could add texture with our Elizabethan looks. We started by learning the basic techniques, shown in the first picture I parted the hair down the middle and parted up the side of each side of the head and worked up the head by crimping each section. After crimping the first side I then went on to crimp the other side of the head. Then on one side of the head I sectioned off a smaller part of hair at the front and started from the bottom to the top and backcombed with a pin comb each smaller section shown in the picture below. I then gathered all these pieces of hair together and then rolled it over with my hands and pinned the extra hairs into the head. Because the hair had been backcombed it held its shape but there were little gaps between certain parts of the hair which I just pushed together with the pin comb. The finished look of the backcomb heart shape hair is shown in the picture below.

                                                                                     

Heart shaped Hair Using a Prop:

 Firstly, I again took the first took a small section at the front of head and then with the remainder part of the hair I tied it all back as we did not use it for this part of the look. I then took all the hair at the front and held it up, then while taking the prop at the top of the hair then rapping the hair around the prop all the way down the piece of hair until reaching the scalp. When having it rapped around the prop (shown in the second picture) smooth the hair around the prop so as much of it does not show as possible, then secure it into place with hair pins once you have the right shape. In the Bottom photo it shows the finished look from behind, in my opinion the backcomb look, looks more of the right shaped and I found that it could hold its shape better. On the other hand, the prop method was good to get a shape but I found that it was quite difficult to cover all of the prop and keep it hidden under the hair. If I was too do this look again I think I would do the back combing method as I found it a lot easier to perform and I could adapted the size of the heart shape better through this method.

Contemporary and Elizabethan Examples:

In inspiration of learning how to put together a heart shaped hairstyle using backcombing I waned to research other contemporary versions of this hairstyle. I found this contemporary look and I really liked its interpretation of the Elizabethan era as it includes the bright red hair like Queen Elizabeth 1st but to make it contemporary it has adapted the shape of the heart shape making it more pointed and the hair it neat which I think makes the look apear more structured. I could not find out the reasons behind these designs but if I was to interprete the reasons I would say that the designer has made it structured to represent the other side to Queen Elizabeths 1st personilty as being strong and firm about her desicions and her character. 

 

Comparing the two looks the Elizabethan look is very different in some aspects. This interpretation of the Elizabethan heart hair is very structured but appears more soft compared to the contemporary look as the heart shapes are rounded rather than pointed createing this softer appearence. On the other hand this look does follow the traditonal Elizabethan look and is more suited to the era. 

By Amelia Richmond-Knight

Hair: Curling

Hair: Curling 

When learning to the curl the hair we learnt two different types of curls; first where straight spiral curls which meant you would curl a piece of hair with the tong standing straight up and the second curl was a side curl meaning you would curl the hair with the tong on its side.

I first started by brushing through the hair and then split the hair done the center parting. When having the hair into the two sections on one side of the head I was going to do the straight curls, by doing this I worked from the bottom of the hair to the top. With the first square section at the bottom of the hair I took the heated curling tong and clipped in a piece of hair starting at the end and rolling it carefully towards the head (keeping the tong up-right) and held it there for about 30 seconds. After that you could either push the curl of the tong with the metal end of the pin comb or slowly release it with the tong clip. When released keep it in the rolled shaped standing up straight and pin it against the head. I then continued this all the way up the side of  the head and left them in to set.

The second curl I started on the other side of the head, I used the same technique by starting from the bottom of the head and working my way up but instead I took the tong and curl the curls sideways like in the picture above. Again I would wait about 30 seconds for it to set and then clip in the curl against the head and continue this all over the head.

After finishing the hair and its all pinned in then go and remove and take all the pins out. The hair would have time to have set so the curls should stay in tact. To improve on my look I found that I needed to curl each piece of hair longer as some were not as curly as others and seemed to drop. As you can see from the picture below the left side of the head has loses smaller curls from the upward curls and the right hand curls are tighter and bigger from the side ward curls.

We then as an extra technique we were shown how to add a brickwork effect to the hair (using the diagram below) which we achieved by brushing out the middle back section of the hair and following the brick pattern down the hair. I did this by working this time the top of the hair to the bottom with the side ward curl technique. This was used in the hair to give the hair more lift and make it appear more full/thick.

By Amelia Richmond-Knight

The Fundamentals of Hair and Postiche: Experimentation

The Fundamentals of Hair and Postiche: Experimentation

In this lesson we were learning about Tudor hair styles and hair pieces that were popular at that time which I have written about in a previous blog and how they could inspire us/ help us with our ideas for our recreation of the modern Tudor look and hairstyle.Some of these hair pieces included; Hair nets, French hoods, Snoods and many more. We were then given picture of Elizabethan hairstyles and contemporary styles to give us ideas to try out in that lesson to inspire us for our final ideas. which we then attempted some ideas of our own in class to experiment. 

Ribbon Incorporated looks:

In this look I parted the hair down the center of the head using a pin tail comb and then plaited each side with a simple three strand plait attaching ribbon within each plait. Then I twirled the plaits around on each side of the head to create a bun which I pinned into place. Overall, I really liked this look but on the other hand I did find that the hair fell down when pinning it in and also was quite simple. Therefore to improve this look I need to secure the hair in place better I could have done this by first with each section putting them into pigtails and then continuing with the rest of the look. Overall, this type of technique could be used in my final design but maybe in a more complex way as I mentioned before I think this look is a bit simple but I could for example in-bed the ribbons into french braids which may look a bit more complex and appealing to the eye. 

   

Abstract French Plaits:

 

I first got inspiration for this look when studying reference picture like these in class, I picked ones like these as I really like french braids and the milkmaid braid which I really wanted to incorporate into a practice design and this is what I did. In this look I parted the hair into three sections with a pin curl comb and started to french braid down the right, middle and left hand side of the head and then finished each braid with a normal three section plait. Then by taking the right and the left hand braids I wrapped them round the lower side of the head to create a milk-maid braid which was then pinned into place. To make the look more abtrast and more interesting I took the middle plait and by using the bottom of the plait I sectioned it into two then with the two sections I then plaited them as a normal three way plait and added them to the milkmaid braid. Overall, I really liked this look as I liked the layered effect of the plaits on top of each other and the way it was wrapped around the head. To improve on this look I would section the partings better to make the look appear cleaner and more appealing to the eye. 

By Amelia Richmond-Knight

The Fundermentals of Hair-Basic Hair Styles

Buns:Hair Styles

Today for the Fundamentals of Hair we were taught different styles of buns and the correct way to portray them on our manikins. Our first advice was just the simple task of being taught how to put the manikin head onto the our chairs to begin the practice. As I have never done any hair before all the equipment was very new to me and everything that was being explain was helpful information.

We were then given a quick demo from our lecturer on the different buns; high Bun, twisted bun and plait bun. The demo given was very helpful and we were all then given just under two hours to attempt these looks ourselves on our manikins.

HALF UP/DOWN BUN:

1. I started with the manikin head with just straight plain hair and did not attempt to put any heat on it, the only prep done was to brush the hair with a paddle brush.
















2. Next I separated the hair line to create a new parting from just around the ears all the way round with a pin comb brush and gathered the top part of the hair section to create a ponytail.

3. I then parted the ponytail into four sections (of roughly even sides) then backcomb the underneath of the hair only in one direction until it could stand on it own. I did learn that I should only backcomb in one direction on the hair which gives the hair better structure and hold which I will do next time I attempt this look or any looks similar. 

     

4. Then with the already prep piece of hair I folded the hair over into a kind of curl on top of the head and pinned it into place underneath near the scalp with two bobby pins. (tip-to have the jagged side of the pin facing down when putting in clips). 

5. I then continued steps 3 and 4 with the other three sections around the head. 

6.When having all sections done between each section there are gaps which need to be closed using other loser clips I gathered the hairs together with each four sections at a time and pinned into place completing the finished look. 

REFLECTIVE: 

In this look I found the step by step instructions made it easier to complete but with more practice and time put in this look it can have a detailed outcome. On the other hand, I did struggled covering the gaps on the last step as I found the hair was quite fine to work with. If I was to do this again I may make the bun smaller to make the hair appear thicker and have less gaps showing. 

TWISTED BUN AND PLAIT BUN:

1. In the first step I did the same like in the half up/down bun and parted the hairline with a pin comb brush and with the ponytail I twisted the tail (but not to tight).

 2. Then I rapped the twisted tail round the centre of the bun and pinned it loosely into place with a bobby pin.

 3.The lastly, to tidy up the look of the bun of any part sticking out I got some loose clips and secured those parts into place.

PLAIT BUN: 

With this look it involved the same steps as the twisted bun but instead of twisting the hair I plaited the hair before hand and continued with the other steps.

REFLECTIVE:

This look was not to difficult to achieve but again the steps where quite straight forward. The only problems I had was with the twisted bun is I twisted the hairs too much it made it hard to pin into place. In conclusion, I would make the bun a lot looser to make it easier to pin into place.

BY AMELIA RICHMOND-KNIGHT