Curls and Frizz
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The first picture I ever saw of Elizabeth I was a portrait of her with long flowing locks. I find it really interesting to see that throughout her life she turned to shorter curled and frizzy hair. Frizz seemed to be really popular in the Elizabethan Era but in the present day, there are a million and one products that all promise to remove/eradicate/tame frizz. I think that is quite an interesting reverse of the times.
This extract from a website has proven to be a very interesting read:
Elizabethan Hair Style - a comment dating back to 1583.
During the Elizabethan era pamphlets were printed and distributed commenting on life in Elizabethan England. A writer of one such pamphlet was a well travelled Londoner called Philip Stubbes. He was believed to have been born c1555 and died c1610. He was well educated and attended both Oxford and Cambridge University. He was also a strict Elizabethan Puritan and held firm views on any social practices which, in his view were, unfitting true Christians. He named his work " The Anatomie of Abuses " in which he strongly criticised many of the fashions of the Elizabethan era. It was entered in the Stationers' Register on 1 March 1583. This pamphlet includes his view and some valuable information about Elizabethan hair styles:
"Then followeth the trimming and tricking of their heds in laying out their hair to the show, which of force must be curled, frizled and crisped, laid out on wreathes & borders from one eare to an other. And lest it should fall down, it is underpropped with forks, wyres, & I can not tel what, rather like grim stern monsters, than chaste christian matrones. Then on the edges of their bolstered heir (for it standeth crested round about their frontiers, & hanging over their faces like pendices or vails with glasse windows on every side) there is layd great wreathes of gold and silver, curiously wrought & cunningly applied to the temples of their heads. And for feare of lacking any thing to set foorth their pride withal, at their heyre, thus wreathed and crested, are hanged bugles, ouches, rings, gold, silver, glasses , & such other gewgawes and trinckets besides, which, for that they be innumerable, and I unskilfull in wemens terms, I cannot easily recount."
(Elizabethan Hairstyles, Elizabethan Era Hairstyles, Elizabethan times Hairstyles, Coifures, hairdos, no date)
I find it fascinating that there were people so vocal about their opposition for the fashion trends that Elizabeth I led. It was a crime to go against the Queen and yet this person chose to have pamphlets made and distributed. It's really interesting to read some of the points he makes as he stresses that following these fashion trends goes against God and the Church; yet Elizabeth painted herself as the Virgin Queen and this would place her in such high esteem next to the Virgin Mary.
The fashions that were followed were that younger women would wear their hair down and free flowing while married women would be expected to keep their hair up and off of their faces.
Elizabeth was said to have favoured the curls that are present in every single one of her portraits. I hadn't even begun to think about HOW curls were created. There are mentions in many articles about tongs that were used. I can't seem to find a photo of them anywhere. I think this might be due the rarity of the item so maybe not many survived over the years. Another way they would achieve curls would be rag doll curls. Using scraps of material and wrapping the hair in them tieing it in a knot and sleeping with theses in. I know, because I had this done many a time. This probably was a peasants method as the Queen would have access to luxury items like hair pins, which would that mean she could have people put finger made curls in her hair and then have them set that way.
"By the time of the Elizabethan era fashion had changed and frizzy hair came into fashion. This was achieved by curling the hair with hot tongs and was a hairstyle much favored by Queen Elizabeth I. Tudor hairstyles for the court were led by the Queen. Upper class fashion, which included hairstyles, was highly elaborate - and necessary to achieve attention and success at court." (Tudor hair, no date)
I really like how frizz is used in this era. It makes the idea of using hair pieces/adornments/covers easier because the texture the frizzed hair gives makes it easier to work with. Hygiene in the Tudor times was shocking, so hair washing wasn't treated as religiously as we treat it. I know many people who wash their hair every single day because they can't stand the idea of the natural oils making their hair look greasy.
During the 1980s it was incredibly popular to have permed or crimped hair. It's one of those trends that people look back at now and cringe at. My mum has a photo of her with a perm. It's almost like a rite of passage now, to see your parent's perm photos. My nan always deterred me from having a perm because she says after a while it makes your hair go all straw like and just a ball of frizz. If you google 'bad perm' you get some really good unintentional homages Elizabethan hair.
I remember pining for a set of babyliss crimpers as a younger girl. I coveted them so badly! My favourite plate that came with the Babyliss set was a 'bamboo' effect. This edged into the 90s. Instead of whole head of hair done, it was a trend to have a strip or two that were crimped.
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This extract from a website has proven to be a very interesting read:
Elizabethan Hair Style - a comment dating back to 1583.
During the Elizabethan era pamphlets were printed and distributed commenting on life in Elizabethan England. A writer of one such pamphlet was a well travelled Londoner called Philip Stubbes. He was believed to have been born c1555 and died c1610. He was well educated and attended both Oxford and Cambridge University. He was also a strict Elizabethan Puritan and held firm views on any social practices which, in his view were, unfitting true Christians. He named his work " The Anatomie of Abuses " in which he strongly criticised many of the fashions of the Elizabethan era. It was entered in the Stationers' Register on 1 March 1583. This pamphlet includes his view and some valuable information about Elizabethan hair styles:
"Then followeth the trimming and tricking of their heds in laying out their hair to the show, which of force must be curled, frizled and crisped, laid out on wreathes & borders from one eare to an other. And lest it should fall down, it is underpropped with forks, wyres, & I can not tel what, rather like grim stern monsters, than chaste christian matrones. Then on the edges of their bolstered heir (for it standeth crested round about their frontiers, & hanging over their faces like pendices or vails with glasse windows on every side) there is layd great wreathes of gold and silver, curiously wrought & cunningly applied to the temples of their heads. And for feare of lacking any thing to set foorth their pride withal, at their heyre, thus wreathed and crested, are hanged bugles, ouches, rings, gold, silver, glasses , & such other gewgawes and trinckets besides, which, for that they be innumerable, and I unskilfull in wemens terms, I cannot easily recount."
(Elizabethan Hairstyles, Elizabethan Era Hairstyles, Elizabethan times Hairstyles, Coifures, hairdos, no date)
I find it fascinating that there were people so vocal about their opposition for the fashion trends that Elizabeth I led. It was a crime to go against the Queen and yet this person chose to have pamphlets made and distributed. It's really interesting to read some of the points he makes as he stresses that following these fashion trends goes against God and the Church; yet Elizabeth painted herself as the Virgin Queen and this would place her in such high esteem next to the Virgin Mary.
The fashions that were followed were that younger women would wear their hair down and free flowing while married women would be expected to keep their hair up and off of their faces.
Elizabeth was said to have favoured the curls that are present in every single one of her portraits. I hadn't even begun to think about HOW curls were created. There are mentions in many articles about tongs that were used. I can't seem to find a photo of them anywhere. I think this might be due the rarity of the item so maybe not many survived over the years. Another way they would achieve curls would be rag doll curls. Using scraps of material and wrapping the hair in them tieing it in a knot and sleeping with theses in. I know, because I had this done many a time. This probably was a peasants method as the Queen would have access to luxury items like hair pins, which would that mean she could have people put finger made curls in her hair and then have them set that way.
"By the time of the Elizabethan era fashion had changed and frizzy hair came into fashion. This was achieved by curling the hair with hot tongs and was a hairstyle much favored by Queen Elizabeth I. Tudor hairstyles for the court were led by the Queen. Upper class fashion, which included hairstyles, was highly elaborate - and necessary to achieve attention and success at court." (Tudor hair, no date)
 |
| (No Date) |
During the 1980s it was incredibly popular to have permed or crimped hair. It's one of those trends that people look back at now and cringe at. My mum has a photo of her with a perm. It's almost like a rite of passage now, to see your parent's perm photos. My nan always deterred me from having a perm because she says after a while it makes your hair go all straw like and just a ball of frizz. If you google 'bad perm' you get some really good unintentional homages Elizabethan hair.
 |
I remember pining for a set of babyliss crimpers as a younger girl. I coveted them so badly! My favourite plate that came with the Babyliss set was a 'bamboo' effect. This edged into the 90s. Instead of whole head of hair done, it was a trend to have a strip or two that were crimped.
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