Saturday, 31 January 2015

How the hairstyles changed during the Victorian era

1830-1840: If comparing to the previous times, the topknot became higher and less wide, consisting of flat loops and bows of hair, sometimes intertwined with braids, pearls, leaves and flowers, etc. The hair was still brushed out flat and sleek and was almost invariably parted in the centre.The decorative curl moved firmly tpo the sides, usually covered part or all the ear, and became almost as prominent as the topknot itself. In 18434, a note from Paris proclaimed that two plaits upon the temples were still fashionable.
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    This time the hairstyles were actually on their way down. The topknot shrank often to a mere knot, a twist, or a small bow, and moved to the back of the head. The enormous clusters of side curls drooped and became long spiral curls or braids or occasionally disapeared entirely. the parting took on various forms-a centre parting front to crown; a centre parting for the front hair only forming bandeaux; a parting on either side, the top being brushed straight back; or two short diagonal parting in a V-shape. The body of the hair was still flat and sleek, the softening effect coming from the side curls.  
    By the end of the decade the hairstyles had undergone an almost complete transformation and retained very few reminders of those of early thirties.

1840-1850:  The general style established at the end of the previous decade continued with minor modifications. The hair was still sleek and flat on top with the same variety of partings.The bun was sometimes as high as the crown but usually lower. The side hair was still important, consisting usually of one or more spiral curls, especially for evening wear; but frequently the curls became braids, which were dressed in curious long loops, exposing the ears. Later, the braids, when used, were more likely to be coiled in front of the ear. During the course of the decade, side curls or braids became less and less important, though they were still worn in the evening; and the bands of hair were simply brought down over the ears and carried to the back. Sometimes the top of the ear was allowed to show. The hair was parted front to back in the centre. Flowers, feathers, lace, cut-.out cloth leaves, artificial grapes, etc., were worn in the hair, especially in the evening.  
1850-1860: Long hair in this era was greatly admired and envied, and hair was beginning to attract attention for its ornamental value off the head as well as on. A glance at plates will show the general trend of the hair during this decade. Braids continued in popularity. Those who wished to create a sensation, have reintroduced the practice of wearing powder in the hair. Others, carrying the matter still further, have made this fashion more costly by adopting gold and silver hair powder: gold for brunettes and silver for Italian blondes.
    In 1856 Godey's gave an enlightening account of the fashion of the period: "There is no one given stule- as the once invariable French twist-or the all-pervading plaits. No fashionable woman makes an elaborate hair-dressing for the morning the different engagement of the day demanding a use of the bonnet would interfere with it... A fashionable woman puts up her hair as simply as possibly in the morning- a twist or a knot behind and plain bandeaux in front, unless her hair curls naturally. This is the most suitable style hor home unless it is dressed for dinner or evening. Ribbons are the only suitable decorations...."
     " For the simple home wear there are several favourite styles. The braid passing through the bandeaux or front hair and crossing the top of the head, as the past season, leaves a space behind, which lately become accostomed to see filled by a twist or a knot...."

    "For evening or dinner parties ,the styles of cache peigne are varied and elegant. Some are entirely of flowers- for young married ladies a mixture of flowers and blonde or flowers,blonde and ribbon. This style of headdress is the most suitable for a young girl whose hair is in that uncomfortable state passing... to a woman's graceful length or where the hair is just growing out after sickness or baldness."
    In 1859 the very populat English book on etuquette, entitled The Habits of Good Society, declared that a lady's hair should, in ordinary life, be dressed twice a day, even if she does not vary the mode. To keep it col and glossy, it required being completely taken down in the middle of the day, or in the evening according to the dinner.hours. The taste in dressing it in the morning should be simple, without pins, bows, or any auxiliary to the best ornament of nature.
    By the end of the decade the supplying of artificial hair had become a major industry.



1860-1870:  This was the decade pf chignon and, with it, enormous quantities of false hair. At first the emphasis was primarly to the back and very low, usually with no important detailin front of the ears; but soon the false hair spread like a cancer in all directions until often a lady wore so manu different hair pieces that her own hair was completely obscured.The hair from France and Italy was the most desirable. Also women started to dye their hair into dark brown or black as it was the most prefered colour. Little girls wore their hair in short frizzed curls. Powdering the hair was reported to be all the range in fashionable circles, with gold and silver powder, being considered particularly elegant. Later, an insane fashion has run upon golden and other light tints for ladies' hair. Brunettes would seem to have gone out of vogue, and blondes to have comein.

    The following is a series of reports from The Lady's Friend for 1869:
February: "In the matter of the hair dressing everybody seems to adopt her own peculiar style, but the hair is certainly not drown so much away from the nape of the neck. Curls are more in favour than ever. One belle wore the hair off from the face in front, with a mass of curls falling from the top of the head onto the shoulders. The puff of hair which seems now inevitable accompagniment of all kinds of chignons, is brought further forward than it used to be, and bandeaux of velvet and hair are often worn infront of it with gold or pearl, silver or diamond ornaments in rhe centre. Birds, bees, and butterflies are a great deal worn, and sprays of flowers or leaves appear invariably to fall onto the shoulders. The only exception admitted this winter by the elite to the tortoise-shell comb, is the comb enriched with real jewels and precious stones."
March: "The hair is worn higher than ever...For ball coiffures the ornaments are very few. Ladies wear such a profusion of curls and frizettes that the head would really become overloaded if flowers, feathers, or any other sort of trimming were added to them. A tiny jewelled coronet or a strong of pearls, one simple flower or white plume, is all that really looks well."
April: "Diadems are in great vogue. Who does not like to adorn herself just like an empress, queen, or princess? Diadem combs fastens all the hair brushes upwards from the forehead, leaving the temples free."
May: Chignons are to be abolished by the select world of Paris, and ladies who would be thought "good form"are to endeavor to dress their hair themselves or to look as if they dressed it: for "when the work of a professional is manifeston the head, prestige ceases". In the daytime, the hair, simply braided, will be confined within the meshes of a net and far from assuming a pyramidal shape, will rather fall loose. For the evenoing it will be sufficient to place a simple wreath upon the head, a garland of roses, sweet briar, or clematis. The artificial hair must return to its proper place, but always concealed and not, as it has too long been, the principal, not to say the whole ornament of the head."


1870-1880: The few who had abundant hair of their own wore it in thick plaits, turned up and fastened at the top of the head, the arrangement completed with a bow of ribbon. The fashion still required the appearence of plenty, the drooping chignons which are formed of large torsades or loose twists of hair. The pad is a large but soft fluffy thing, composed of a number of long, sausage-like separate pieces, only held togetherat the top. This is fastened under back hair, which is divided in as many braids as there are separate pieces. Each of these pieces must be entirely covered with trhe real hair, after which the torsades or plaits are made, and of an enormous size they are when done up in that way. In front the hair is dressed higher than ever, and towers high above the forehead. Few ornaments are worn in the coiffure: one diamond star or one flower is often the only ornaments.
    In July the magazine reported that the hair is worn straight down the back in waved ripples and confined in a net, the front hair arranged in small bandeaux and brushed back from the temples. Another mode is to wear long long braids of hair flat to the head, falling down the back and in a net. The year 1872 finds wide ribbobs fashionable. Gray hair has come to be so much admired that it is displayed rather than concealed. Consequently hair dyes and false fronts are out of fashion. A great many ornamental pins are now worn in the plaits of hair, which are fashionable for evening toilets.
    The July styles show more simplicity.The bandeaux were completely raisedoff the forehead and temples and puffed out, but to soften the curve of these bandeaux the hair is waved in a particular way; just on the top a few curls play over the brow but without covering covering it. The chignon is composed of the thick drooping loops of hair called marteaux and of one large plait; it is placed much higher than was the case in the winter and fastened with handsome tortoise-shell comb with elaborate openwork beading.
    The September report, striking a more permissive note, tells the reader that the style of hair-dressing is, like everything else, left very much to personal taste, but there is a tendency to a less drooping style of coiffure. The hair is raised off neck, and the plaits, or large coques, placed much higher and fastened with a tortoise-shell comb.
    Although the chignon was officially dead.But the passing of chignon did not mean the false hair.






















1880-1890: Masses of hair continued to be worn throughout the eighties, occasionally drooping low on the neck but more often concentrated on the top and the back of the head, being held in place with large pins or decorative combs. The hair was softer around the face than it had been. The side hair was usually gently waved, and during the early part of the decade a fringe across the forehead was fashionable. A slightly fluffy effect was the result. Frequently the front hair was false as well as the torsades, puffs, rolls, and curls. Small clusters of fòluffy curls could be bought and stuck n wherever there happened to be an empty space. Larger pieces conveniently attached to combs could also be had. Late in the decade the styles were less fluffy and rose higher. The jeweled hairpin was in great demand.


        


Books: "Fashion in Haair(The First Five Thousand years)" by Richard Corson 

Wednesday, 28 January 2015

Introduction to the brief

     During this new term we, the students from the Make-up and Hair Design course(1st year), were given a new project on which we are going to work. The unit is called " Gothic Horror". In this period of time we are going to develop an understanding of how to create an image of characters focusing on their make-up and hair for films and television.
     The brief is composed of several parts:
1. The first part of the brief is based on creating looks for 2 of the protagonists from the novel "Great Expectations" by C. Dickens, which are Miss Havisham and Estella(or Pip).
2. The second part of the brief is Continuityin which we will need to show our ability of recreating the same look of Miss Havisham. I can understand the importance of this skill especially for somene who wants or will create a career on film sets.
3. The other part of the brief is to create Pip's or Estella's look based on our notes and facecharts.
4. The last part of the brief, allows us to show our skills and creativity for creating 2 characters using references to Gothic Horror as the main inspiration. We are asked to create two characters, Claudia and Quentin  for a TV intro.
 At the end of these tasks we will need to make an informal prsentation of our progress, in which we'll show our development and improvement whithin this period of time.

Sunday, 18 January 2015

About Victorian hair

    The book "Compacts and Cosmetics(Beauty from Victorian Times to the Present Day) by Madeleine Marsh affirms that the luxuriant looks were integral to feminine charm and lack of make-up was compensated for by extravagant hair care. Beauty manuals recommended brushing the hair for ten minutes minimum, up to four times a day... "For evening, dinner hair ought to be dressed in four rolls either side or finished off behind with a Marie Antoinette chignon, frizzed very much", advised The Englishwoman's Domestic Magazine in 1863.
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    If the hair didn't frizz naturally, or was simply too thin for fashionable hairstyles, they could try a wig. Hairdressers offered everything from curled fringes to full on wigs. Wigs were not without their problems. Cartoonist illustrated them falling off,and as contemporary photographs demonstrate, all too often false hairpieces were anything but invisible, sitting on top of the head like a small furry animal. Also the false hair could transmit the skin diseases of its original owner.
    The alternative to a wig were frizzing your own hair with curling papers and pins which, as the Baronesse observed, was an uncomfortable process, or using curling tongs.
    Despite the risks of burning, cutling an crimping irons were standart dressing table items. Various new models were introduced in the Victorian and Edwardian periods and if you came up with a good design, it could make your fortune.
    Elaborate Victorian hairstyles, and drying effects of curling, stimulateddeman for pomades, hair oils and bandolines(gum-containing setting lotions). Victorian Newspapers were filled with advertisments for hair restorers, pomades, dyes, but curiously to modern eyes the one product missing from a seemingly endless list of lotions and potions was Shampoo, which in the 19th century had a slightly different meaning: the word shampoo derives from the Hindi verb champo, meaning to press or massage.
    Every etiquette guide stressed that washing and personal hygiene were the very cornerstones of beauty, virtue and domestic harmony. Harriet Hubbard Ayer said: "To my thinking one must be clean before one can be really good. Dirt and religion do not blend." She also recomended  a minimum of one bath a day(preferably two). in order to avoid "the sin of dowdiness" which could cost a woman both her good looks and her husband.

Books: "Compacts and Cosmetics(Beauty from Victorian times to the present day)" by Madeleine Marsh

Saturday, 17 January 2015

Victorian beauty


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  The Victorian period begins in 1837(when Victoria became a Queen) and ends in 1901(the year of her death).
    In that era the beauty was all aboput the inner beauty: the women should be pure, virtuous and who knew where their place is. The most important aspects of this era were- modesty, morality and a life devoted to conservative religious values. Women were expected to govern in private spheres, even if the industrial revolution changed the way how people worked and lived. They should have been safe from dirtiness of the factories, but also silent and out of sight.
       In that era the beauty was all aboput the inner beauty: the women should be pure, virtuous and who knew where their place is. The most important aspects of this era were- modesty, morality and a life devoted to conservative religious values. Women were expected to govern in private spheres, even if the industrial revolution changed the way how people worked and lived. They should have been safe from dirtiness of the factories, but also silent and out of sight.
    Victorian beauty standarts dictated that women where pale, quite, gentle and delicate creatures. This is why, the elaborate cosmetics, hairstyles and fashion from the previous times were considered vulgar in Victorian era. Hairstyles were very modest, wearing soft curls. If a respectable woman wore make-up, it was with a very light touch and soft natural colours. If someone wore bold make-up, they were none of whom were considered a respectable woman.
    "Compacts and Cosmetics (Beauty from Victorian times to the present day)" is a book written by Madeleine Marsh where I could improve my research with much more details.
     It starts with a description of the clothing: "...They wore pointed buttoned boots, tight kid gloves,ect." The Victorian beauty was expected to sacrifice comfort for costraint.It was also dangerous, because of the massive volume of the dresses, they had to be very attentive while walking near a fireplace,etc. The fashionable silhouette was immobilising and rampantly artificial, but the one area of the body , where in theory at least, no artifice was allowed- was the face.
    The classic image of the Victorian beauty was: a peaches or cream complexion, cherry ripe lips, a pair of sparkling eyes, fringed by soft, fluttering lashes. All these aspects were expected to be natural, a gift from God. As the author says: "... Improving the mind was sure-fireway of improvising the appearence."
 
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  •     Home-made remedies and secret make-up: Fair skin and lily-white complexion for hands were de rugeur to distinguish a lady from the weather-beaten working classes. Fashion journals advised never stepping outside without a protective armoury of accessories including gloves, bonnet, veil and parasol.
        "The Toilette of Health"(1834) recomended a concoction of bitter almonds,oxymurite of quicksilver and sal ammoniac to remove suntan; suggested distilled joice from green pineapples for taking away the wrinkles and pimpernel water to blanch the complexion. "Fresh beans, boiled in water, crushed and applied as a poultice on the freckles", will produce excellent effects. Greasy skins are benefitted by washing in the juice of fresh cucumbers.
        Basically as long as make-up was virtually imperceptible, worn only in the evening, and preferably, home-made, you could get away with a little bit of it.
        " The Toilette of Health " suggested darkening the eyelashes and brows with elderberry juice, burnt cork and burnt cloves; recomended rouging the cheecks bu rubbing them with a red ribbon soaked in brandy.
  • Buying a perfect skin: Skincare was a booming industry. By the late 19th century, the cold cream(was a long established cooling moisturiser) was produced by everybody from provicial chemists to the smartest Bond Street perfumers, who supplied their upper class clientele with "delicately fragranced" preparations. Complexion whiteners were another Victorian favourite. There was a huge range of mass-produced potions designed to blanch the skin, and remove spots, freckles and socially inferiorsign of sunburn.
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  • The Fragrant Lady: Face creams were not the only acceptable Victorian beauty products. In a world of a certain hygiene, perfume was another requisite...Etiquette manuals advised ladies to stick to gentle and natural fragrances: eau du cologne, rose, violet, lavander and orris root. A refined woman will always reject odours which are too strong, advised Baroness Staffe in " The Lady's Dressing Room" (1893).
















Books:  " The meaning behind the mask( Why women wear make-up)" by Madeleine Ogilvie
    " Compacts and Cosmetics (Beauty from Victorian times to the present day)" by Madeleine Marsh

Description of Estella from the "Great Expectations" by Charles Dickens

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    Estella is one of the main characters from the "Great Expectations" by Charles Dickens.This character is the prove of Miss Havisham's beartbreak, as Estella was raised by her. She was educated to freeze the hearts around her, but Pip falls inlove with her even if she is rude with him. She hardly knows him for five minutes, but she had the courage to tell him that he has "coarse hands" and "thick boots".  For Pip she was the ideal of life among the upper classes, but in reality she is efrom even a lower class than Pip as she is the daughter of Magwitch.
    Estella appeared as a character that demontrate that one's happiness and well-being do not depend on one's social position: Instead of marrying Pip who would do anything to make her happy, she married the cruel nobleman Drummel, who made her life a living hell.
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    Despite her behaviour : "never had any such thing" as tenderness and that she has "no heart…no softness there, no sympathy,sentiment,nonsense" the author ensures that Estella is still a nice character. C. Dickens foresees the inner spirit of her which explains what Pip would love in her. Estella continues to hurt Pip constantly even if it is noticeablea that this is not what she really wants and at the same tine she knows who to blame for it: Miss Havisham:  "Do you reproach me for being cold? You? … I am what you have made me. Take all the praise, take all the blame… All I possess is freely yours. All that you have given me, is at your command to have again. Beyond that, I have nothing. And if you ask me to give you, what you never gave me, my gratitude and duty cannot do impossibilities. "
    Thanks to her life experience, I mean the marriage with Drummel, she learns how to trust her feelings.In the final scene of the novel, she has become her own woman for the first time in the book. As she says to Pip: “Suffering has been stronger than all other teaching... I have been bent and broken, but I hope into a better shape.”.

Thursday, 15 January 2015

Description of Pip(Philip Pirrip from "Great Expectations" by Charles Dickens)

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    Philip Pirrip, called Pip, is the main character in the famous romance "Great Expectations" by Charles Dickens. Pip is an orphan boy who was raised "by hand" by his sister Mrs Gargery and her husband Mr Joe Gargery.
    As there is no description of himself because he has the role of the protagonist and also as a narrator. I can only say my own opinion about this character. He appeared to me as an imature child because of his behaviour at the beginning of the romance. Also as a very generous person As he helped the prisoner even he was conscious of the consequences.
    Pip appears also as a person with a huge desire to improve his knowledge. So, this is the prove that he knows very well what ignorance and poverty is. After he had met Estella with whom he fell inlove at first sight, the desire of being a gentleman became his biggest dream, wich came truth but without reaching the goal of getting married with Estella.
    When he had the opportunity to become a gentleman, every his action was as a real gentleman was suppoused to act. He was very kind and he learnt all the good manners in a very fast way.
     From my point of view he is also a preson who becomes very affected by opinion of other people. I arrived at this conclusion because when he was a child, his dream was to become a smith. After he met Estelle who told him how ugly his hands were and he started to feel ashamed of this, so he decided to be a gentleman. And when he became a gentleman he felt embared of his origin, being a countryman, even if his main characteristics haven't changed.

Description of Miss Havisham (Great Expectations)

 
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    Miss Havisham is one of the main characters from the "Great Expectations" by Charles Dickens. In the book Miss Havisham is described as an old,mad woman who lives in a house where the day-light is never passing through the windows. She always wears the wedding dress, for every single day of her life. This kind of life is the result of a tragic event: the day of her wedding, when at 20 to 9, Miss Havisham received a letter from the man that was suppoused to be her husband, in which he tells her that he won't be present at the ceremony.
    After that dramatic heartbreak, she left everything in the way it was. This aspect is regarding also her appearence. Apart her wedding dress, she is also always wearing only one shoe, as during that day, by that time she didn't manage to put on the second shoe. From the book we can find also different details regarding her appearence: " Miss Havisham had also bridal flowers in her hair, but her hair was white. Some bright jewels sparkled on her neck and on her hands.... Sunken eyes, rounded figure..." . Pip sees her as  a skeleton with dar eyes and a weird smile.
     Miss Havisham adopted Estella as a person who to love an educated her in a way to be cruel, with a heart made of ice, who cannot love and who cannot feel any other kind of feelings. This element shows us how much she really needed to have someone by her side, and even if she taught Estella to be cruel, her heart was full of love and warmth.
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     Miss Havisham is the character that attracted my attention more that any other character. Her personality,her way of being eccentric and her power. Even if she never went out of her house, she managed anyways to show herself as a powerfull woman that can have the controll of everything.
    I definitely can understand her behaviour and also why she maintained her wedding appearence. Usualy people say: " What doesn't kill you, makes you stronger!". Her strong character is the result of her broken heart, but we also can notice her weakness through her appearence. The fact that she kept everything the way it was, shows that she have never forgotten about that day. It shows her pain and her huge desire of turning back in time for living again and again that day that was suppoused to be the happiest day of her life. It shows that she didn't have enough power to begin a new chapter in her life. The disapointment was more powerfull then her inner spirit.