Plaits and Buns for the Modern Girl and The Virgin Queen
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Whilst doing the research for this blog post, it became apparent that plaits and buns were more common among the people at Elizabeth's court. Most of the plait images I've found are heavily influenced and/or are sourced from people who attended French court. Many of the plait hairstyles I've found look very Renaissance.
It is said that married women would have had their hair pulled up into a bun and then have the rest of the hair covered. I started with modern images, I found it easier to look for picture of modern hair and see the inspiration behind them. In this photo, there are two buns made up from plaits. They look like milk maid braids. Thick and chunky plaits that would have probably been worn by servants in service of nobles. They would be expected to keep their hair out of the way. So for people who weren't rich, plaits and braids were simply used for practicality instead of glamour or style.
Rihanna's simple braids made me think of early Elizabeth I portraits. When her hair was down. I think her hair would have been braided for the portraits but due to the political situation with France, it would have made her look like a French girl so it would have been encouraged for her to leave her hair loose.
This is actually a Italian Renaissance hairstyle but I think it illustrates the importances of plaits and buns. Plaits give adornments something to hold on to. You can see that they've place pearls along the weave of the plait. Bun also worked in the same way as the plaits. You can attach hair pieces to buns, it's also a really good way of minimising the hair. Which would make it easier to dress the hair in the following styles:
It is said that married women would have had their hair pulled up into a bun and then have the rest of the hair covered. I started with modern images, I found it easier to look for picture of modern hair and see the inspiration behind them. In this photo, there are two buns made up from plaits. They look like milk maid braids. Thick and chunky plaits that would have probably been worn by servants in service of nobles. They would be expected to keep their hair out of the way. So for people who weren't rich, plaits and braids were simply used for practicality instead of glamour or style.
Here she is. Queen B. I really enjoyed seeing this when it was first in circulation. It's really easy to see the inspiration behind it. It's possible that there were plaits in this hair style to anchor in some of the padding used. It's almost like a giant messy bun.
This is a still from the film Elizabeth (1998) In the original hairstyle that inspired this, Elizabeth probably had a bun situated in the center, just below the crown. This is where the rest of the hair (nape of the neck, and any hair that wasn't put into the two shapes) would be styled.
Rihanna's simple braids made me think of early Elizabeth I portraits. When her hair was down. I think her hair would have been braided for the portraits but due to the political situation with France, it would have made her look like a French girl so it would have been encouraged for her to leave her hair loose.
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| Anon. n.d |
The Elizabethan side of things:
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| Anon. n.d |
This would have been worn by people that worked in Elizabeth's court. It keeps the hair off of the fair and out of the way. They would have put their hair in a bun at the back so when they put this on they could wrap the ties around the bun that's at the back.
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| Anon. n.d |
This is actually a Italian Renaissance hairstyle but I think it illustrates the importances of plaits and buns. Plaits give adornments something to hold on to. You can see that they've place pearls along the weave of the plait. Bun also worked in the same way as the plaits. You can attach hair pieces to buns, it's also a really good way of minimising the hair. Which would make it easier to dress the hair in the following styles:
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| Anon. n.d |
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| Anon. n.d |
What happens when you combine the two?
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| Anon. n.d |
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