Accessories

Accessories in the Elizabethan era were very big, as for the women the more you show off the better. Hair accessories were a big part too, like ribbons, gems and jewels, feathers and anything else that they could put in their hair to show off their wealth and status.

Ribbons

• (DIY braids and Hairstyles, 2013)

 (4 braided Hairstyles for long hair, 2015)

 

You can easily add a ribbon to plaits and twists within a hair design you just simply tie it to the top of the plait or hair twist you wish to use and incorporate it into the design, if its a plait add it to one of the sections of hair, the twist you just twist it in and so forth, this adds an extra pop of colour and dimension to a hair design and gives it a nice finish.

Jewels

• (Back to topArtist, 2015)

A lot of victorian women wore  jewels in their hair, mainly pearls. Pearls were a sign of purity and they were easy to clip into the hair. Nowadays you can get pearls on pins, clips, slides, everything that can make it easier for you to use. You can also use old necklaces, bracelets and earrings.

Little diamonds and crystals were also stuck into the hair, rubies and other gemstones were also used too.

Other

Why not try adding old broaches into your hair design? They already come with a clip t easily slide into the hair and they add that extra bit of sparkle to your design.

• (Vintage hair...), 2015)

More Modern Hair Designs

I absolutely love this Alexander McQueen design, the hair just looks fantastic! I love how it is really messy yet it still manages to look classy and elegant, there was definitely a lot of backcombing involved to create this heart shape and I really like how it is so big and rounded.

• (News - new fashion 2013, latest fashion news for women & men 2013, 2009)

This design on model Lily Cole I really liked. I love how it is a real contemporary design yet there are definitely hints of Elizabethan history in the design. The design has that heart shape but it looks sort of reversed with the middle parting at the top and the actual shape of the hair is at the bottom with a level top. The hair is big and bold which I really like and I love how messy it is yet still looks very classy.

• (Justneeks and profile, 2013)

I find this design really cool, the way they have created the heart shape but completely changed  the hair and how it looks by making the heart shape pointed and with a strange criss cross effect throughout right on the top of the head. Something that nobody would really think about to do and then I really like how they still have managed to keep the high forehead yet have the curl details there too and how they have painted the hair yet the redness of the models hair peeps through creating more depth to the hair. Such an ingenious hair design.

http://api.ning.com/files/kV4MbYiv7oQl37D17XcbF3BHxZZv7Bz5BuAsj0PDBLcS1bvLBlVUGe8kN9Ip3lJ9uWoj7JdAnfVgS0e
A2KEXgyRGSGn8Nbc9/1082087472.jpeg (Accessed: 3 December 2015).

Practice of Hair Design

I really liked the hair design that I got given by my partner, Ellie. At first I thought the hair design looked far too simple and easy but when it actually came to practicing it, I found it a lot harder as it was the little details that needed to be perfected which made it tricky.

For the hair design Ellie wanted three clear sections to the head so what I first did was separate the hair into the sections I wanted. This was actually quite a hard thing to do as you had to work out the perfect size of the sections so that later on I could join all the different parts up. I then crimped the top two sections of the head that would create the heart shape and then back combed those sections and used padding to create the heart shape. This was fine as I had done this in previous lessons. 

Then it was time to tackle the bottom section, this I found a bit more difficult. I crimped the bottom half of the hair and then divided that section into two for the padding to go in later on. I started with the left hand side and used the padding, I found it a lot more harder doing the bottom half of the head as it felt like everything was the opposite way round, how you roll it up ad have to pin it. Actually placing the grips in the hair in a way that would secure the padding was quite difficult as it was hard to get my fingers in without ruining the hair. 

Then I did the right hand side and joined the two together to create one big roll at the back of the head, this was quite simple as I just had to take my pintail comb and tease the hair together covering any gaps. 

The next step I found super difficult and that was going the top part of the heart shape to the bottom part of the heart shape on the sides of the head as Ellie wanted them all to be connected. There was quite a large gap in between the two and not as much hair to cover it so I had to work with it a fair bit with my pintail comb to pull the parts together, the hair became a bit loose at this point also so i had to try and pin it all up. In the end though it did come together with a little bit of frustration!

The last part of the hair design was just to add individual pearls into the hair, the pearls were pins so it was easy to slip them in and make sure they would stay. Ellie wanted the pearls to be symmetrical which made it a little bit harder because in some cases there was more hair on one half of the head than there was on the other so sometimes the hair pins would go in well one side but just fall out on the other side. 

All in all I a very happy with the amount I have practiced this design and how far its come together, it looks very simple but it was actually pretty difficult and challenged my practical skills in a good way which I am grateful for.

Alexander McQueen

Alexander McQueen is always known for his extravagant clothing designs and catwalks, he puts on a very good show. One of his catwalks, (2013/14), portrayed some incredible looks inspired by Elizabethan times.

The models had their hair up tight to the head, then they had this beautiful beaded cage like headpiece covering the face which reminds me very similarly to the Elizabethan Caul that women used to wear with the beaded criss cross design.

• (Groom and architect, 2013)

The hair underneath was also very detailed, the whole head was covered in little very tight ringlets  made by the hair and stuck down keeping the shape of Elizabethan hair but adding a modern twist although that little hair design was seen in Elizabethan times.

 (McQueen’s Elizabethan inspiration, 2013)

I really love this design and the modern twist put into this to keep it up to date, I love the concept of having the caul like headpiece over the whole face incaging the model.

• (Alexander McQueen, 2013)
  
  

  
  

Sam McKnight for Chanel

Chanel's Pre-Fall show inspired by the Elizabethan times was full of incredible hair designs.

The models had high hair lines on their foreheads, a backcombed or padded front and top part of the hair created that raised up area above the forehead and at the back was plaits intertwined into the hair design. I absolutely love the back of this design as the plaits are so beautifully places it just adds some extra detail to the design.

The hair looks like it was crimped but a large crimp to create the structure for the hair and I think that backcombing was used also.

• (Young, 2012)

Jewels like pearls were added into the hair designs just like they would of been back in the Elizabethan era.

• (Young, 2012)

The backs of the hair was incredible with large plaits and braids going up the back of the head, beautiful detailing.

Plaiting

In another practical lesson we learnt how to plait 3 different ways. Plaits were another big thing for Elizabethan women and their hair, they were good to plait ribbons in and other accessories, they added a simple yet effective extra bit of detailing and another way for the women to show off!

The first plait we learnt was the basic 3 strand plait, this is a plait that most people know how to do, and it is super simple!

What you will need:

• Pintail Comb
• Hair Bobbles
• Hair Brush

1. Brush the hair
2. Take a section of the hair that you wish to plait
3. Split this section into 3 parts and hold with your fingers
4. Starting from the top wrap the sections over one another, so, if you start with the left section you wrap it over the middle so that the original middle is now on the left, then you wrap the right over the middle section, repeat this until you have no more hair to plait
5. Secure the bottom with a hair bobble

The next plait that we learnt was a french plait, this is a lot harder to do as you have to take extra parts of the hair into the plait whilst keeping it tight.

What you will need: 

• Hair Brush
• Pintail Comb
• Hair Bobbles

1. Take a section of the hair that you wish to plait, make sure this section is a bit larger than that of your 3 strand plait
2. Starting from the top of the head, take a layer and split it into 3 sections
3. Plait this once just like you did for the 3 strand plait
4. Now when you go to do the second plait take a section of hair closest to the end of the section you just plaited and add it to that section
5. Do this for all 3 sections when plaiting and carry this on until you have no more hair to plait
6. Keep the plait very tight to the head as you can otherwise have a lot of loose hair and it won't look very smart
7. Secure bottom with a hair bobble

My first attempt at a french plait with just a section of hair chosen

My attempt at a full head french plait, it is a bit loose and I need to practice my tightness more

The last plait we learnt to do was a fishtail plait, I find this plait a lot easier than the french plait as there aren't as many sections you need to worry about.

What you will need:

• Pintail Comb
• Hairbrush
• Hair bobble

1. Brush the hair
2. Take a section of hair you wish to use and split it into two parts
3. Take a small section from the back of one half of the hair, and pull it over its own section passing it to the other section. This now stays with its opposite section
4. Do the same from the other section now, and repeat it until you have no more hair to plait
5. This plait doesn't need to be really tight, it looks worse the more tight it is
6. Secure with a hair bobble 

Buns

In one of our hair lessons we started to learn different buns and how you can form 3 different buns in different ways. In Elizabethan time a lot of Elizabethan women wore buns, it was a simple and neat way to have your hair up and it also looked very elegant. 

What you will need:

• Brush
• Pintail Comb
• Hair bobble
• Hair Grips
• Hair Pins

The first bun technique we learnt was the section bun. This is a very simple technique to create a larger, very smooth, rounded bun on the top of the head.

What you need to do:

1.  Brush the hair getting all tangles and knots out
2. Take a small/thin hair tie and tie a ponytail at the top/back of the head
3. Section your hair into 4 parts, these will create the bun shape
4. Next you take one section of hair and you told it under itself towards the hair bobble to create a section of the bun
5. Pin it with hair grips to secure it tightly
6. Repeat for the other 3 sections evenly spacing them out
7. You need to make sure that the opposite section to the one you are doing is at an even height so the bun looks tidy
8. Next what you need to do is take your pintail comb or even easier a hair pin and slowly start pulling two sections of the bun together closing the gap in-between them
9. Once the space is closed use that same hair pin to pin it together to keep it in place, we use a hair pin here because it is easier to fix into the hair for this type of bun and can be easily hidden
10. Repeat steps 8 and 9 for the rest of the sections
11. After that smooth over with your pintail comb making sure it is nice and neat
12. Hairspray if needed

Bun in all 4 sections

This is what the completed bun should look like.

An even shape across the whole bun, nice and neat

The next two buns we learnt to do are very very simple, both wrap around buns, one with a plait and one just twisted.

What you will need:

• Pintail comb
• Hair brush
• Hair pins
• Hair grips
• Hair bobble

1. Brush the hair
2. Tie the hair into a high ponytail and secure with your bobble
3. Wrap the ponytail around the hair bobble 
4. Tuck the end under the bun and secure with a hair grip
5. Secure the rest of the bun to the head with hair pins

This bun is a lot smaller and tighter than the section bun, but a lot easier and still very effective.

 The last of the buns is the plait bun, with a similar technique to the wrap bun but just with an added plait to it.

What you will need:

•  Hairbrush
• Pintail Comb
• Hair bobble
• Hair grips
• Hair pins

1. Brush the hair
2. Tie the hair into a high ponytail
3. Plait the hair doing a simple 3 section plait
4. Wrap the hair around the hair bobble
5. Secure the end of the plait under the bun using a hair grip
6. With some hair pins tidy up the bun and pin down anything that needs to be