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1780s Hair Experiment
Aug. 23rd, 2018 03:04 pmI figured I needed to do a test drive on hair, just so I had some sort of handle on the whole thing. I decided against a wig, because it's going to be WAY too hot on my trip to have a bunch of plastic on my head. For reference, my hair is a few inches past my shoulders and I have long bangs that reach to my mouth.
Last night I dampened my hair and put all of the front half into sponge curlers, using the small to medium curlers. I curled them all in the direction away from my face. Left them in overnight. I cut two big hair donuts (those plastic net thingies that are rolled up and look like donuts) open, so that they were long rolled up tubes of plastic net, to use as rats. After tying back my back, uncurled hair, I took out the curlers and ran my fingers through the curls. Then I bobby-pinned on the two long rats to my head, reaching from just behind one ear to just behind the other, with the join in the middle. I sort of loosely gathered and smoothed the curls over the rats and bobby-pinned behind the rats, leaving the ends all curly. I made sure to keep it loose over the ears since portraits show the ears covered. I used a small hair donut cut in half to create rolls/buckles by just rolling a piece of hair around it. It's black and my hair is black, so it doesn't show and it helps my slippery hair stay in the right shape. This was done behind the ear, one on each side. I also used some of my pomade from LBCC Historical applied to the ends of the hair to keep them in check. The back straight hair I loosely braided and pinned up. My hair is too short for a good chignon/back hair style. But if I had curled that hair, I could leave it hanging down or put tie it in a low pony tail. Also, when I wear a cap, nobody would be able to see the top of the chignon pinned up, so doesn't matter! Pictures!
Front (my camera decided to focus on the camera instead of my head, but you get the idea), side, and back (which looks pretty terrible).
I also tried draping my unfinished cap on, just to see how it'd look. (The cap right now is just a finished band and ruffles. Still needs the caul.) I like it!
In the process, I referenced Kendra's 18th Century Hair & Wig Styling and this Instagram thingie I saw on Pinterest by a costumer named Mia, whom I don't know but who has some great costumes.
Last night I dampened my hair and put all of the front half into sponge curlers, using the small to medium curlers. I curled them all in the direction away from my face. Left them in overnight. I cut two big hair donuts (those plastic net thingies that are rolled up and look like donuts) open, so that they were long rolled up tubes of plastic net, to use as rats. After tying back my back, uncurled hair, I took out the curlers and ran my fingers through the curls. Then I bobby-pinned on the two long rats to my head, reaching from just behind one ear to just behind the other, with the join in the middle. I sort of loosely gathered and smoothed the curls over the rats and bobby-pinned behind the rats, leaving the ends all curly. I made sure to keep it loose over the ears since portraits show the ears covered. I used a small hair donut cut in half to create rolls/buckles by just rolling a piece of hair around it. It's black and my hair is black, so it doesn't show and it helps my slippery hair stay in the right shape. This was done behind the ear, one on each side. I also used some of my pomade from LBCC Historical applied to the ends of the hair to keep them in check. The back straight hair I loosely braided and pinned up. My hair is too short for a good chignon/back hair style. But if I had curled that hair, I could leave it hanging down or put tie it in a low pony tail. Also, when I wear a cap, nobody would be able to see the top of the chignon pinned up, so doesn't matter! Pictures!
Front (my camera decided to focus on the camera instead of my head, but you get the idea), side, and back (which looks pretty terrible).
I also tried draping my unfinished cap on, just to see how it'd look. (The cap right now is just a finished band and ruffles. Still needs the caul.) I like it!
In the process, I referenced Kendra's 18th Century Hair & Wig Styling and this Instagram thingie I saw on Pinterest by a costumer named Mia, whom I don't know but who has some great costumes.
