Elizabethan vs Contemporary

Elizabethan vs Contemporary

Whilst researching Elizabethan hairstyles, I noticed a lot of high end fashion designers have used the Elizabethan era for inspiration on the catwalk. Designers such as Coco Chanel and Alexander McQueen. They have used their taste for fashion and transformed the traditional Elizabethan look to a powerful contemporary look for people of the 21st century.  

http://www.emmafarrellmakeup.com/tag/alexander-mcqueen/

As you can see the traditional heart shaped style that was usually worn by Queen Elizabeth has been recreated for Alexander McQueen's catwalk for Spring/Summer fall 2010.

The portrait below shows Queen Elizabeth I with her heart shaped hairstyle back in the 1500s.

http://www.luminarium.org/renlit/elizface3.htm

In my opinion Queen Elizabeth wore it better, she added pearls and flowers to her hair which I feel gave it a bit more to look at historically. McQueen's catwalk is a good copy although it doesn't have much to it other than shape.

Martina's Contemporary Elizabethan Design.....

     

      Martina's Final Design

We were unable to do intense practising for Marina's Look, So she practised on herself and sent me images to practise on my dolls head

• Firstly crimp the whole head , apart from the ends of the hair, these will need to be curled once the crimping is completed
• Secondly section the hair into 3 parts the front should only be wide enough to twist and the middle enough to cover the padding
• In the middle sec ion create your braid for the padding to sit securely 
• Shape and place the padding using pins to secure in place
• Bring the hair back to cover the padding and pin in place
• For the front piece gently twist and hold in place with a clear band, the ends of the hair should drop into a curl
• Leaving the front as it is, scrape the middle and back of hair into a ribbon.

Plaits & Buns.........

Plaits & Buns

French Braid

This is one of few techniques i knew how to achieve before this unit.

• Section the hair using a pin tail comb
• Section the parted hair into three sections
• Plait towards the root of the hair

Fish Tail Plait

• Separate the hair into two sections
• Taking a small part from one section, add on top of the other side
• Repeat this process for the opposite section
• And repeat the process until you get to the end of the hair.

Buns

• Style the hair into a ponytail
• Separate into four sections
• Back comb each section
• Pin under into the ponytail

My Contemporary Elizabethan Design......

My Hair Design

Excuse my crazy drawing, I'm not good at putting pencil to paper but here is my design.

My stylist understood my design more verbally as my picture isn't great at all. Hopefully next term my drawing improves.

But I must say looking at my design and comparing it to my final look i'd say Martina nailed it

The Final Looks......

Martina's Design (Timed Assessment) 

Here it is! Martina's design, styled by me.

Front View

Back View

Side View

file:///Volumes/NO%20NAME/DCIM/100CANON/IMG_9924.JPG

My Attempt at Elizabethan Hair.....

Elizabethan Hair Attempt

Heres my 1st attempt practising an elizabethan look on a human head. I found the task easy as my model has afro hair. I found it crimped instantly, and the whole head didn't need to be crimped to achieve this design.

The padding also covered well due to the amount of hair i had to work with. I am happy with this design as it was my 1st attempt, but it could have been neater and maybe a bit more to it.....

My Fav Modern Elizabethan Hairstyle....

Modern Elizabethan Hair

http://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/hilliard-queen-elizabeth-i-l00128

This portrait of Queen Elizabeth herself shows the curl detail in which elizabethan women wore. Looking at the portrait I would also say the hair is completely pinned up, she may have even had the back styled in a bun. Her hair is accessorised with little red and cream flowers i can't make out which type from the photograph, but on her clothing the flowers resemble roses, possibly she's wearing roses in her hair. Flowers was usually worn as a fragrance in the elizabethan era.

The Queens forehead stands out like many of her other portraits, this was to signify power and wealth.

The Portrait was painted by Nicholas Hilliard 1575. 

My Final Look

My Contemporary Design (Final)

Heres my final design, styled by Martina

Front

Side

Back

Curls & Crimps

Curls, Crimps & More Curls

To achieve the crimped effect you will need to crimp the hair.....And heres what you do

• Section the hair into small parts
• Apply the crimp to one of the small sections
• Hold down on the hair for 12 seconds
• Release the crimper and the hair should be crimped
• continue crimping to the ends of the hair

For curls 

• Section the hair into smaller sections that you would for crimping
• Starting at the end of the hair wrap it around the curling tong, wrap towards the root but be careful not to burn the scalp
• Again hold for 12 seconds
• Loosen the tong, then completely release the hair
• Hold the curl in place using a hair grip.

For Frizz

Exactly the same process of crimp, however once the hair has been crimped comb the hair through this will create your bushy frizzy look.

Padding & 'Making Rats'

Padding and Making Rats

The Elizabethans would generally have ‘BIG’ hair; in this unit I have been shown how to create the “rats in your hair” look

You have two options you can use stockings stuffed with tissue or loose hair in hairnets to create your padding.

I found loose hair in hairnets best. Firstly add the hair to the hairnet the amount of hair all depends on how big you wish your padding to be. Once happy with the size tie a knot in the net to hold the hair in place.

On the hair select where you wish your padding to sit, you will need to plait/braid this section of the hair. Using hairpins secure the padding to the plait/braid (the pins will secure the padding in place)

Using the remaining hair cover the padding, making sure it is no longer visible

Your Padded hair should look something like this…….

 

Traditional Day Elizabethan Looks.....

      Traditional Elizabethan Hairstyles

Elizabethan hairstyle timeline dating from 1560-1589

http://www.elizabethanenglandlife.com/elizabethan-hairstyles.html

Elizabethan Hairstyles were very big and bold, usually elizabethan women would dye their hair Red or Blonde as a sign of status using herbs such as turmeric.

The hair would normally be pinned up in the tightest curls, buns, plaited, back combed or ringlets.

Some would even have bald heads and wear wigs instead. They would also pluck their brows and hairline to define their foreheads.

http://www.elizabethanenglandlife.com/elizabethan-hairstyles.html

Final Evaluation.....

My Evaluation

Personally I have never had any form of interest or passion about hairdressing or hairstyling, and I couldn't of styled my own hair even if I tried. 

But this unit has taught me so much from plaiting, curling, crimping and even washing hair at a sink, I now feel that I have the confidence to try different styles with my own hair and probably wouldn't panic if someone asked me to help style theirs.

My Partner for my timed assessment (Martina) was really considerate by the fact I hadn't worked with hair before. Her design was simple and easy to achieve but for the camera in my opinion looked outstanding if I don't mind saying so myself. I was nervous about working with someone who already had experience in the hair field, as I believed it would be harder to achieve their look. However I would now say its better working with someone experienced as I feel it’s like working with a teacher as they can always guide and correct you where necessary.

I am extremely happy about the end result of my assessment and feel that I carried out everything to the best of my ability. I think for my next semester I will definitely attend every hair class as much as I can, as I have missed a few this term. Other than that little hiccup I’m prepared and ready for my courses next chapter.

Contemporary Elizabethan Looks....

Contemporary Elizabethan Hair styles

I was asked to research contemporary elizabethan hair, My favourite design was Beyonce's Mrs Carter World tour advertisement. I liked it as initially I wasn't phased by the elizabethan era, and didn't have much interest in elizabethan hairstyles. However having reached Contemporary hairstyles and seeing one of the biggest celebrities pop up, has changed my whole outlook.

Some of the looks I have found are so edgy and unless researching for this project i wouldn't of associated them with the Elizabethan era.

Take a look....

Beyonce's Contemporary Elizabethan Hair Style for her 'Mrs Carter' World Tour

http://pixgood.com/elizabethan-era-hairstyles-for-men.html