My Journey with the Elizabethans - Modern Hairstyles made Elizabethan

In order to create the best possible hair design for my assessment that I can, I began to make collages of some possible hair designs that I could create.  Using some modern hairstyle images that I found on the internet and that I liked, I cut, drew and stuck things on them to give the hairstyles a more Elizabethan twist.

This first image was the one that I decided best fitted my interpretation of a 'smart' hairstyle.  I chose to use this photo as it is a classic contemporary hairstyle.  During the Elizabethan era, when women wore their hair up it would all be up and out of the way, whereas today a lot of women wear their hair in a ponytail.  A ponytail is still an up do, with the hair pulled back off of the face, however it is a more modernised up do.

This first design idea shows a row of pin curls at the front of the head, with rows of plaits going back on the head and into a ponytail.  I have also added a hair piece to go around the ponytail, as during the Elizabethan era they used a lot of props in their hair.  The hair piece, I imagine, would have ribbon wrapped around it.  The Elizabethan aspects of this design is the row of pin curls at the front of the head. The hair being braided back on the head is also an Elizabethan twist to the hairstyle, as plaits and twists were popular during the Elizabethan era.  The contemporary twist to this design is the fact that the hair has been brought back into a ponytail, rather than a bun.  Ponytails are more contemporary, as during the Elizabethan era women would have been expected to sweep all of their hair up.

This second image is one that I found on the internet when looking at contemporary buns for some inspiration.  I liked the original image of the bun because I like the texture that is shown on the top of it, with the different strands of hair being crossed over one another.  I chose this image to annotate and create on because the hairstyle is designed so that all of the hair is up, off of the face and pulled back into a bun.

This design shows a row of barrel curls pinned on top, at the front of the head, with two spiral curls hanging loose at either side of the face to frame it.  The rest of the hair is then brought back into a bun, finishing off with a piece of ribbon tied around it for extra security.  This hair design is very Elizabethan in the sense that all of the hair is up on the head.  The bun is an Elizabethan idea, although I have chosen a more contemporary style of bun for this design.  The barrel and spiral curls are the main intended Elizabethan aspects of the design.  I have chosen to use the barrel curls in this design, as I believe that they will give the hair more texture at the front of the head, whereas pin curls tend to sit flatter on top on the head.  I like the way that the spiral curls frame the face, as this gives the design a more finished look and incorporates the face with the design a bit more, rather than just finishing above the ears.

    I found this third image, again, whilst researching some images of contemporary buns and up-dos for inspiration for my final design.  When I came across this image with the bow made out of hair, I knew that I wanted to experiment with the shape and style of this, because it is a very contemporary and very different kind of up-do.  In the original image, I liked the way that the hair was all slicked back on the head before going into the bow, as this creates different textures and volumes within the hairstyle.

    The way that I have adapted this third design idea, is by adding a row of pin curls at the front of the head.  The rest of the hair will then be scraped back to make a bow shape, out of the hair.  The design will be finished off by wrapping a piece of ribbon around the head twice, just to give it a little extra detail.  The main Elizabethan aspect of this design is the pin curls at the front of the head.  However the fact that all of the hair is up and off of the face is very Elizabethan too, as they were never seen to wear their hair down.  The contemporary twist it that the up-do is a hair bow, rather than a bun or some sort of design that uses a hair rat.