Current understanding of Elizabethan hair

I don't know a lot about the Elizabethans but I do know a little bit about fashion and makeup back in that era. When Queen Elizabeth I took reign, there was a big change in fashion, whether that be clothes, hair, makeup or even art such as paintings and drawings. After she got her heart broken, Elizabeth called herself The Virgin Queen and vowed to be pure to her country and people. She liked to wear pearls as this showed power and wealth but she also started to change the way she looked.

There is evidence to show that the older the Queen got, the more makeup she wore. She started off a young princess with her nice gown, ginger hair and no makeup and then she started wearing white foundation, pink blusher, red lipstick and mascara. Makeup in that era was a sign of power, you could tell if someone had money just by looking at them and this is what separated the wealthy from the poor.

• (Elizabeth I of England, 2015)

        

• (Elizabeth I of England, 2015)

       

• (Contact, 2015)

      

• (megtekintése, no date)

 As for her hair, she had basic hairstyles when she was princess and would usually just wear her hair all up in a bun and as she got older, she started to have more detailed designs like braids or plaits or she would wear her hair all down and curled. Accessories were also added such as pearls, ribbons, pendants and crowns. A very popular accessory from the Elizabethan era was a 'caul' which is a type of net that resembles a french hood and would usually clip to a lower bun.

• (no date) - An Elizabethan Caul

For the lower class women of this era it was a lot different, the women would most often wear their hair in a bonnet to protect it and keep it away as they would be working in fields all day. Children's hair was quite often plaited if it was long and to make it a little decorative, string or ribbons would be added and intertwined with the plait.

One of my favourite hairstyles from this era is the corset braid where it consists of one braid on each side of the hair and a ribbon in the centre, connecting to each braid. I really like this look and think it looks quite contemporary but also Elizabethan, you also see this hairstyle quite frequently on catwalks and runways now.

• (Teksti and Hairdays, 2014) - Corset Braid

Elizabeth liked to have her hair tied up mostly, she would often be seen having a bun or a braid in her hair. Other times, she would wear her hair down and have quite a lot of padding and backcombing in it to give it volume and a strong structure. Strong foreheads were very popular and many woman used to pluck their hairline back to create a heart shape including the Queen herself. For hair colour, red was a colour that everyone wanted because Queen Elizabeth had this colour, the rich women could afford to buy dye for their hair and would often be seen having this colour or dark brown, for poor or middle class women, their hair colour would often be blonde or brunette.