My Final Hair Design

For my final design I looked in lots of different places for inspiration. I wanted to go for a look with plaits in as I am a fan of them and they were used in the Elizabethan era. I looked to use techniques such as plaiting, curling and backcombing. During my research I came across ‘Odalisque’ magazine, which displays fashion, photography and visual arts that engage the viewer, Odalisque presents artistic and unusual images and while going through some of the images I came across a shoot called ‘Sovereign Solitude’ photographed by Aaron Feaver, I took a lot of inspiration from the hair designs in these images. Hair and makeup art Jenna Tucker created a contemporary hairstyle by using plaits and hair accessories. I really liked the hairstyle used in this shoot and felt that I could even use it for a look to wear out, therefore felt it was perfect for a contemporary design. Without a doubt I think the hair accessories completely make the look and give it an Elizabethan feel the piece of material with the cross pattern on it and the French hood all scream Elizabethan. 

image links:

http://odalisquemagazine.com/articles/2013/03/30/sovereign-solitude-photography-by-aaron-feaver

Also for my final design I looked at some Elizabethan portraits for inspiration: 

I chose this image for inspiration because of the way the hair is at the front, I like the parting in the middle and the way the hair kind of folds back. During my research I couldn't really find many portraits with plaits in and this was the closest thing to it. 

Before choosing my final design I also designed 2 other hairstyles. I looked at different techniques like padding and using ribbon for these.

My first design here I chosen not to use because I felt that it wasn’t contemporary enough, I felt that it was too Elizabethan and for my final design I wanted a more contemporary look. For this design I used padding, crimping and curling.

My second design I chose not to use because I felt that it was a bit too simple and didn’t really show a wide range of technical skills to achieve, it was a bun with ribbon wrapped around and tied at the top. 

The chosen hair design:

Modern vs Elizabethan

Contemporary Elizabethan hair is hair that has an Elizabethan influence, for example it could have crimping in it but also has a modern aspect to it. I think these images are contemporary for a few reason, the first image shows crimping, a popular styling technique used in the Elizabethan era, it is contemporary because of the different types of textures, also the hair is worn down. For the second and third image the height and texture of them makes them Elizabethan, but the shapes make it less so.  Contemporary Elizabethan hair styles are often seen on catwalks and are popular in fashion. Some contemporary hairstyles I found while researching were:

Padding

Padding would also have been used in the Elizabethan era to create the height with the elaborate hairstyles. Some examples of Elizabethan hairstyles with padding in include:

To create a padding look, crimp/ curl the hair for decoration and height and section the front of the hair. Plait behind the crimpled hair (French) and use this to attach the padding. To create the padding you can use an old pair of tights and some tissues. Using grips attach to the plait at the top and bottom and then pull the hair back over the padding and grip into place. If you’ve curled the front section you can then pin the curls into place for decoration.

 Below is images of when I tried padding:

Image link:

https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=curls+and+crimping+in+elizabethan+hairstyles&es_sm=93&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=dw96VKL5G5Kx7QbE0YDAAg&ved=0CAgQ_AUoAQ&biw=1366&bih=667#tbm=isch&q=padding+hairstyles&spell=1&facrc=_&imgdii=_&imgrc=Kano4LfrEWZmxM%253A%3Bsdy9SdbfUeCKqM%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.virtualhaircare.com%252Fimages%252FAHFA08%252FCreative%252520Colourist%252FCOL_NANCY_RAO%252Fup-dk.jpg%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.virtualhaircare.com%252Fvirtual%252520salon%252Fblow%252520and%252520style%252Fhairup_gallery.htm%3B300%3B424

I think this image shows an Elizabethan women with padding, from the image I can tell that it may have padding on both sides. 

Afro Curls

You can also create another way of achieving a crimped look or ‘afro curls’ will just using a hair pin and some straightening irons. To do this you should use a square section of hair, using a long grip wrap hair round in a figure of 8. Once all hair is used, use another grip to keep in place and place straighteners over the hair, once the hair appears flat and shiny leave to cool down. Once cool remove the grip and undo the hair, you can keep it as a curl or brush out to give afro affect. I think the afro curls would have been quite popular during the Elizabethan era because they would of given off the curled affect with the volume as well. 

Below is an Elizabethan portrait I think has afro curls:

When I tried afro curls myself:

Curls and Crimping

Curls and crimping featured a lot in Elizabethan hairstyles, they would have used different techniques to achieve these and they obviously wouldn’t have the latest Remington curler. In Lottie’s lesson we learnt how to achieve these curls and crimps.

For curls, section the hair you want to use. Place the end of the hair in the clip of the curling iron and twist it round will all the hair is wrapped around, holding it upright for about 7 seconds. Then release the clip and let the curl fall if worried that the curl will drop you can use a grip and hold it in place.

Some examples of curls in Elizabethan hairstyles are shown below.

These are the curls I tried out in lesson.

For Crimping, section the hair you want to use, starting at the root make your way down the hair going through each section of hair giving off a crimped affect. The crimped style was also very popular in the Elizabethan era examples include. 

I think this is a contemporary version of crimping at it has the height and texture of an Elizabethan hairstyle but also has a modern feel to it, with the models clothes and makeup. 

And the crimping i tried out in lesson:

Image links:

https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=curls+and+crimping+in+elizabethan+hairstyles&es_sm=93&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=dw96VKL5G5Kx7QbE0YDAAg&ved=0CAgQ_AUoAQ&biw=1366&bih=667#imgdii=_

https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=elizabethan+portraits&espv=2&biw=1366&bih=667&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=jA96VPC5G--P7Aa2-4H4Bg&ved=0CAYQ_AUoAQ#tbm=isch&q=elizabethan+hairstyles&facrc=_&imgdii=_&imgrc=P3tfMl7rfr5BHM%253A%3BVJaPbO_3Vf1g8M%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Ftrystancraft.com%252Fcostume%252Fwp-content%252Fuploads%252F2011%252F07%252Fsca-hair-QElizabeth1580.jpg%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Ftrystancraft.com%252Fcostume%252F2011%252F07%252F15%252Felizabethan-hairstyles-1560-1600%252F%3B269%3B300