Rebekah Newman: Red Heads and Royalty: Hair accessories

Higher status would have fair, red hair, the women replicating Queen Elizabeth’s hairstyles. Surprisingly in most Elizabethan portraits the hair doesn’t look like it is that bad a condition and this is probably because they used wigs a lot of time, due to different diseases of the time and harmful products they used women often suffered from hair loss, even Queen Elizabeth herself and used wigs.

The shade and size of the hair also depended on the status, the shaped were often bold, heart shaped being popular at the time.

These hair accessories were often worn for being practical, symbolic, they may have been for cultural or religious reason but a lot of the time for decoration. They were made out of different materials including things like netting, lace and ribbon, different types of cotton and silk. The designs of these different hair accessories often were crocheted, being artistic and having pearls and jewels on them.

Cauls were made from cloth, and were often decorated with pearls and jewels, they mostly covered a back part of the hair. Similar to them also bun covers were used, to add interest to a simple bun.

(https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=caul+hair+accessory&es_sm=93&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=bp-AVLGaD8-y7QavuoDwDQ&ved=0CAgQ_AUoAQ&biw=1366&bih=624#tbm=isch&q=elizabethan+caul&facrc=_&imgdii=_&imgrc=KFFdAsqbB5q5UM%253A%3Bm0uGKLX0GPixbM%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fmedia-cache-ak0.pinimg.com%252F736x%252F12%252F3b%252Fb7%252F123bb70783a909c5634d7dda0d618c93.jpg%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.pinterest.com%252Fpin%252F176484879120990621%252F%3B330%3B409 )

(http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=9Z6vCGbf66YC&pg=PA204&lpg=PA204&dq=caul+hair+accessory&source=bl&ots=YL-dCSn5qe&sig=VNcYhGAjXvF8zewRQZ5o5ktRiBs&hl=en&sa=X&ei=i5mAVNmzHuy67ga_mIHACg&ved=0CEkQ6AEwCA#v=onepage&q=caul%20hair%20accessory&f=false)

A French hood was a rounded shape, Anne Boleyn is known to have introduced it into England. It was worn fitting to the head, covering the ears, and often had jewels or pearls for decoration. The portrait below of Queen Elizabeth as a young girl shows her wearing a French hood, majority of them being black, made of satin, taffeta or velvet.

(https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=french+hood&es_sm=93&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=0p-AVJX3A4u67gbD9oGABQ&ved=0CAgQ_AUoAQ&biw=1366&bih=624#facrc=_&imgdii=_&imgrc=9WvmBApZAWkZXM%253A%3BHUsoISfSAFET6M%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.elizabethancostume.net%252Fheadwear%252Fpics%252Fannebhood-sm.jpg%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.elizabethancostume.net%252Fheadwear%252Ffrenchhood.html%3B166%3B176)

(http://www.elizabethancostume.net/headwear/frenchhood.html)

The Attifet was a heart-shaped headdress with a point that dips over the forehead, the front of the attifet was held in shape by a wire frame. It dipped to a point over the forehead and then curled up and back in an arc on both sides. The attifet was typically made of silk or linen, and was often made of lace with added pearls. It was normally white, although there was also a black variant known as a widow's hood.

(https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=attifet+headdress&espv=2&biw=1366&bih=624&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=ZKCAVLnTEMPZ7gbykoGYBg&ved=0CAgQ_AUoAQ)

(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attifet)

The Pillbox style of hat often had a veil and was attached to the back of the hair, like most Elizabethan hair accessories it was often decorated with pearls and jewels.

(https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=pillbox+hat+elizabethan&es_sm=93&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=paCAVPH4D-bO7gbEl4CoCQ&ved=0CAgQ_AUoAQ&biw=1366&bih=624#facrc=_&imgdii=_&imgrc=7SwRDeEOI3s_VM%253A%3BHeyeswZgtB4wIM%3Bhttps%253A%252F%252Fs-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com%252F236x%252F49%252Fa7%252F0f%252F49a70f83e3aa46115601af7ae4e1fdb7.jpg%3Bhttps%253A%252F%252Fwww.pinterest.com%252Fcrownedheads%252F1550-1600-round-hat-pillbox-escoffion%252F%3B236%3B248)

The Coif was a close fitting material, often used to cover the hair, mainly seen in Elizabethan images as being white, it was worn by higher and lower classes as the different ranges of material it could be made from.

(https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=coif&es_sm=93&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=P6GAVNCGO5GU7QbfmIGACA&ved=0CAgQ_AUoAQ&biw=1366&bih=624#tbm=isch&q=elizabethan+coif&facrc=_&imgdii=_&imgrc=fvNCv-AFHb3A9M%253A%3Bf_1SgUl0svDX-M%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fweb.comhem.se%252F~u31138198%252Fbilder%252Fmordhuvudbonad.jpg%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fweb.comhem.se%252F~u31138198%252Fwhitecap.html%3B420%3B438)

After learning about the different hair accessories we were then let loose to try out the different styles on our heads. The first style I tried was the simple french plait. At first I found this difficult because I normally do the 'dutch' plait so I had to be taught the normal way.