Modern Elizabethan hairstyles

     

               

I decided to look at some hairstyles that I think would be modern versions of Elizabethan style. Many looks and styles are based on this style nowadays with catwalks using hairstyles such as braids, plaits and using accessories in the model's hair. Even for events such as weddings and parties, hairstyles such as fishtails plaits and braids are very popular. All of this originated from the Elizabethan era in which Queen Elizabeth I changed fashion and style and became what we now see as a fashion icon. The Queen herself loved hairstyles such as braids, high buns and even backcombed hair.

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This first image shows a very detailed bun at the back of the model's head. The style looks like the model is wearing a loose but pinned bun at the bottom of her head with all of her hair at the front being slipped back. Around the bun, there is a pattern where her hair looks like small circles which would have been created by wrapping the hair around the bun and creating small circles by placing elastics in certain places. The hairstylist has added some accessories which I think make it look more Elizabethan as Queen Elizabeth loved wearing things in her hair, especially pearls.

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The second image shows a very contemporary braid starting at the front of the head. Elizabethans liked wearing their hair in braids or plaits but it wouldn't have looked too similar to this. The braids that they would have worn during that era would have been more at the bottom of their hair rather than the front although they did enjoy having the front of their hair in a heart shape in which they often plucked their hairline back in order to achieve this and this hairstyle kind of shows the heart shape at the front of the model's head, before the plait starts. I could imagine seeing this hairstyle on a catwalk or in a fashion magazine. I like how the hairstylist has pulled a small piece of hair down either side of the model's head.

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A hairstyle that Elizabethans quite liked was a fishtail plait. It was more common for the plaits to be at the end of the hair rather at the front like in the previous style. This reminds me of a hairstyle a wealthy woman during that era would have worn. I really like this type of hair design as I think it looks very classy but it is also a style you could wear to a party or something you would see in a fashion magazine. I also like how the hair isn't too tight and it quite loose as it gives it a more edgy look whereas I think a very tight plait and slicked hair would be suited to more of a catwalk look.

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Another example of a plait near the front of the hair. This plait isn't directly at the front of the head as there is a bit of hair showing but it is similar. I could imagine Queen Elizabeth wearing her hair like this when sitting on the throne with her crown on top. The hair at the back has been brought round and tucked into the plait at the front of the model's hair. I think this hairstyle is more contemporary as I don't think this style of plait would be something you would have seen in the Elizabethan era but it is very similar to a sort of style that would have been popular back then.

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Again, this is a hairstyle that I could imagine Queen Elizabeth having. She was known for mostly having her hair curly whenever she wore it down and it looked very similar to this but ginger. Buns were also popular during her reign and she quite often would her hair in one. I like this combination where her hair is half up and half down. I think the style does look more contemporary as this style of bun looks very modern like she is using a bun ring in her hair.

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This is a very contemporary hairstyle but I can see how it has been taken from an Elizabethan look. A very popular hairstyle during the era was to wear the hair in two big backcombed buns that almost look like a heart on top of the head so that part looks very Elizabethan but the designers have added a full fringe (which was not known at all during the Elizabethan era) and they have added a bow on top of the buns and added some white to the model's fringe. This is my favourite hairstyle out of them all because I really like how contemporary it looks but also how you can tell it has been taken from an Elizabethan hairstyle.

Working on other people

This was the first time working on a partner rather than on our Katie heads. We had to think of our own design and create it. I chose to include a bun and a plait into my idea. I started off by sectioning the hair with my pintail comb and then crimping the bottom half. I took the very front pieces of hair and fish plaited them and clipped them onto the head to hold them in place while I created a padding for the front of the hair so it has a high quiff look. I brought the hair round at the back and created a long, twisty bun shape and gripped it into place. The last detail I added to the look was bringing the fish plaits round the quiff and clipped above the bun.

        

I am quite pleased with this design and how well it turned out for the first time working on someone else. I am not too confident about doing hair but this had made me a lot more confident about practising designs on other people.

Creating a fish plait

The last style we created was a fish plait, this was the only look that I already knew how to do so I wasn't too nervous about creating this one.

To create this look, I sectioned a small piece of hair off and split it into two equal parts. The next step was to take one small piece from the side that you are starting the plait off with and bringing it over to the other side, then you take a small piece of hair from that side and bring it over to the other side and you keep doing this until you reach the end and you have achieved a fish plait in the section of hair. You can also do this style on the full head rather than just a section of it.

I am very pleased with how my fish plait looked, my tutor gave me some feedback and said it was really nice but a little too tight so I will take that into consideration for when i'm next creating this style.

French Braid - practical

The first plait we created was a french braid. I was very nervous to try this one as I have never done this style before. We were told to first practise on a part of the hair before moving on to the whole head.

I took a section of the hair and clipped the rest off.

To create a french braid, you have to create one normal plait at the top then when you next bring a piece over from the outside, you take a piece of hair from outside the plait into it to create the braid.

This is what my french braid looked like, I think it went okay for my first try but I definitely need a lot more practise for this style. I also would have liked the braid to have curved round the head, rather than going straight down so that is also something I need to work on but for my first go, I am happy with the result.

I then moved on to create this style on the whole head. I found this very hard, I took the same steps as when creating it on one part of the head but working with a larger amount of hair was quite hard.

This is what my finished style looked like. I wasn't too happy with it as it looked too loose and messy. I am going to keep practising at this style the most out of them all as I found this one the hardest.

Creating a plait bun

Creating a plait bun

You start off by putting the hair into a ponytail on the crown of the head and then you plait the hair to the bottom and grip it with a small elastic.

You then take the plaited hair and wrap it round to create a bun and grip it into place.

This is my finished piece. Out of all the buns, this was my favourite one to create. I really like the look of this style, it reminds me of a rose flower and it looks really neat aswell. I still need to work on making the hair neater but I am happy with this for my first time creating the style.

A Twist Bun

Creating a twist bun

To create this, you place the hair in a ponytail and you twist it round until you reach the end and keep hold of it rather than place an elastic in the end of it.

You then take the hair and wrap it round in a bun shape and grip it into place.

The last step was to pull the bun down slightly so it created more of a bun shape rather than it looking too circular on the head.

And this is my finished result of this style. I found this a lot easier than the 4 piece bun to create as this had a lot less steps. I do still need practise to neaten the bun and hair up but I am very happy with what I created.

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)

      

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 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.