As you all know, a historical costume is more than just the dress you wear. It is the accessories - shoes, purses, jewelry, etc. - makeup (if applicable), and hair you pair with your gown that makes for a complete look.
Accessories are fun. Makeup is usually pretty simple.
But then there's hair.
HAIR!!!
It's always my problem, and probably yours too, especially if you have short hair. I've come to the conclusion that most historical hairstyles can be fenagled so long as you can get your hair into a french twist or pony tail. Unfortunately, that's just not an option for many of us who have bobs or pixie cuts. We have to be more creative and use more tools.
All this being said, future Titanic-era hair how-to posts are in the works, but we need to start with an overview. Here are some contemporary images of various coiffures and styles, and my feeble commentary as to how I think they were done:
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| This page was intended to show bandeau decorations - and what a great idea! - but it's also helpful with the hair styles. The three we can see show what appear to be high buns or knots in back, and quite a lot of hair up front that hangs around the face and is then swept loosely to the back. All of these styles have started with being waved/curled, to add pliability to the hair. |
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| For those of us needing the full-coverage evening option, something like this beaded and be-tulled cap might work. Not much going on here, but you can see there is still a little hair sticking out the front of the cap, to frame the face |
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| This style starts with hair that has been or is curly. You can wet set your hair in rollers to get maximum spring, and brush out vigorously, smoothing with your hands, to get the soft waves. The back is twisted into a bun, the hair at the sides is loosely pulled back over the ears. |
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| The other three hairstyles shown for the above link, 1911 |
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| Here is another illustration how-to, if any of this makes sense. It appears to be twisted ponytails, with the front and back sections that pulled back loosely. |
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| Regency ladies will find this familiar, but the bandeau here is actually hair. Very creative :-) |
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| Another illustration showing a bandeau decoration. The hair here has all been curled prior and worked into rolls high on the head. |
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| These are styles for teenagers, but the updo styles would work for ladies as well. Most of these are loose twists on already wavey or curled hair |
Before we get into the tutorials (later), here are some tips:
- Waved or curled hair, to begin with, is your friend. If you have straight hair, wet-set your hair on rollers before you do your styling.
- If curled hair is the bane of your existence, braiding is your new best friend.
- Switches will save you - switches are lengths of false hair that ladies used to achieve these bigger, fuller styles. If you are a short-haired lady, switches are the key.
- Bandeaus and hair decorations are an excellent way to blend between switches and your real hair
- So long as you can get your real hair into an french twist, you're all good.
- So long as you can get your hair into a ponytail, you're all good.
- If wigs are your way, try these styles on a long, wavy or curly one.
- If all else fails, you can acceptably cover all of your hair with a bejeweled cap.
