hair-msg - 1/12/08 Period and SCA hairstyling and care. NOTE: See also the files: cosmetics-msg, p-hygiene-msg, perfumes-msg, headgear-msg, bathing-msg, hair-dyeing-msg. ************************************************************************ NOTICE - This file is a collection of various messages having a common theme that I have collected from my reading of the various computer networks. Some messages date back to 1989, some may be as recent as yesterday. This file is part of a collection of files called Stefan's Florilegium. These files are available on the Internet at: http://www.florilegium.org I have done a limited amount of editing. Messages having to do with separate topics were sometimes split into different files and sometimes extraneous information was removed. For instance, the message IDs were removed to save space and remove clutter. The comments made in these messages are not necessarily my viewpoints. I make no claims as to the accuracy of the information given by the individual authors. Please respect the time and efforts of those who have written these messages. The copyright status of these messages is unclear at this time. If information is published from these messages, please give credit to the originator(s). Thank you, Mark S. Harris AKA: THLord Stefan li Rous Stefan at florilegium.org ************************************************************************ Newsgroups: rec.org.sca From: tbarnes at silver.ucs.indiana.edu (thomas wrentmore barnes) Subject: Re: Hair length Organization: Indiana University Date: Tue, 13 Apr 1993 00:34:46 GMT whheydt at PacBell.COM (Wilson Heydt) writes: >If I'm not mistaken, the real military penchant for short hair came in >with World War I. I think you're right. It was a hygeinic trend (to combat headlice) that latched onto the current trend towards short hair. As I understand it, in period, mens hairstyles went like this: Roman - short hair, no beards or mustaches (until Hadrian) Late Roman - short hair, beards and mustaches optional Barbarian German - long hair, often tied or knotted into a topknot on the top of the head. Long mustaches and short to medium length beards. (Based on observations of Trajan's column and The Burgundian Code by Katherine Fischer Drew.) At least for 4-5th c. Burgundians, only slaves wore their hair short and it was a finable offense to grab somebody by the hair. It was also a finable offense to give a fugitive slave a wig so he could hide his slave status. Later Germanic/Frankish - Clean shaven, but with long mustaches, hair short to medium length. Of course, as I mentioned earlier, the Merovingian kings wore their hair as long as possible. Norse - Hair Medium Length to very long. In the Saga of the Jomsvikings, there is a story about how a captured viking with very long blonde hair, who was to be executed asked his captors to hold his hair away from his head so it wouldn't be spoiled by the axe. The then jerked his head back at the last minute, so the hands of the man holding his hair were pulled under the blade and severed rather than the fair-haired viking's head! Beards and mustaches were optional and were worn at any length, mostly fairly short based on pictorial evidence, but could be long and braided. Norman - hair very short in a "bowl cut" that was shaved to the crown of the head in back. Anglo-Saxon observers mistook Norman knights for priests because of their oddly cropped hair. Strange people who have inflicted this haircut on themselves say that it is wonderful to fight in, since your hair doesn't get tangled in your coif. The Bayeaux tapestry also shows men with normal "bowl cuts" 12th -13th c. hair is worn to just above the shoulder and is center-parted with no bangs. Beards and mustaches are rare. 14th c. hair is worn to just above the shoulder and is curled at the bottom. As the century progresses, the tightness of the curl increases. Long mustaches and goatee-like beards (often forked in two strands) are common. Full beards are unusual. 15th. Early in the century, the "bowl cut" comes back into vogue. In Italy, Burgundy and Germany there are numerous variations through the century. Too many to describe here. 16th c. Early in the period full, medium length beards are an option and hair is worn at short to medium length (just above the shoulders). As collars got higher and ruffs got wider, hair got shorter until it was worn very short. Beards and mustaches were an option, but diminished to a short goatee and well trimmed mustache in most cases. Lothar \|/ 0 From: lecuyer at wam.umd.edu (CLIS library) Newsgroups: rec.org.sca Subject: Re: Hair Care Date: 17 Oct 1993 20:58:24 GMT Organization: University of Maryland, College Park Jennifer Geard <bloodthorn at sloth.equinox.gen.nz> wrote: >used on hair, but does anyone know how hair was washed, combed, brushed, cut, >braided, etc, in earlier times? > I don't have a lot of info, and it's mostly viking 'cause that's what I do. Combs have been found in the digs at both Dublin and York for the "viking" period (9th-10th cent.). They are usually made of wood or bone and often come with a case. I think the book "The Viking Dig" has some good pictures. As to hair styles - A friend of mine brought a book back from Demark (all in Danish, unfortunately) with some great pictures of hairsyles found on corpses. The 2 female styles follow: divide hair by a part down the middle of you head, nose to nape, braid each part until you get it to the bottom of the nape and then merge the 2 together and continue braiding. I've never had much luck doing this for myself - "hey come here thrall!" The other style - divide hair nose to nape and then ear to ear, braid all four parts. I forget what you are supposed to do with them afterwards. I will try to get the reference from him, but don't hold your breath, it won't be anytime soon. Catherine/Kara Newsgroups: rec.org.sca From: ritchiek at sage.cc.purdue.edu (unknown) Subject: Re: Hairpieces for men? Organization: Purdue University Computing Center Date: Fri, 7 Jan 1994 19:32:14 GMT Unto Vajk and other men with long hair, My lord has hair nearly as long as my own, and mine is approaching waist length. his hair is very fine so he must be carefull about not breaking it. Period methods of retaining the hair I know little about but Fionnbhar has a Celtic persona so he likes to do lock-ring braid at the sides. Small braids with Silver metal ball like things on the ends. Braids down the back not pulled too tight and fastened with the cloth covered elastic things are good for your hair and can be found in Manly colors We get Goody type hair bands and things at our local Target store for Mundane life. For work Fionnbhar wears pony tails or puts his hair up in a pirate scarf(when he was doing painting and construction)-Isabeau Newsgroups: rec.org.sca From: infomgr at ptri.win.net (Rex Deaver) Date: Sat, 08 Jan 1994 04:26:01 GMT Subject: Re: Hairpieces for men? David Sanders (ae766 at yfn.ysu.edu) writes: >Greetings all, from Vajk! > >A problem has presented itself to me which I have never had before, and don't >really have even basic knowledge about. > >I have long hair, longer even than most women, and it's thick. Problem is >that I need to keep it out of my face, especially at work. Never having had >hair this long before, I'm not familiar with good ways of doing this. > >Rubber bands damage the hair and scalp, but the only other thing I can think >of that wouldn't look totally feminine is a leather piece of some sort. > >So... Does anyone know anything about how men with long hair in period kept >the hair back? I would really like to have period solutions to this problem. > >With few exceptions, the guys at work already think I'm not quite right, and >using feminine hairpieces would really set them off! > >Thanks. Greeting Vajk, I am just learning to deal with this problem myself! :) Most of the things I have seen were various sorts of braiding and/or wrapping, or tied back with a leather thong as you mention. Hats are good, too, also headbands. For practical purposes, there are available ponytail holders that do _not_ have big beads or such on them, just plain solid colors. That's what I use for day to day. ------------------------------------------------------ Mathurin Kerbusso...but my boss, whose opinions are NOT mine, calls me; Rex Deaver Internet: infomgr at ptri.win.net CIS UserID: 70744,3171 Olathe, Kansas (913) 780-6566 Newsgroups: rec.org.sca From: tbarnes at silver.ucs.indiana.edu (thomas wrentmore barnes) Subject: Re: Hairpieces for men? Organization: Indiana University Date: Mon, 10 Jan 1994 02:15:44 GMT >A problem has presented itself to me which I have never had before, and don't >really have even basic knowledge about. > >I have long hair, longer even than most women, and it's thick. Problem is >that I need to keep it out of my face, especially at work. Never having had >hair this long before, I'm not familiar with good ways of doing this. I too have long hair, I keep it tied back with a hair band in a pony-tail and trim the bangs so that they stay out of my eyes and off of my face. You can get a packet of these "hair-doogies" at any drug store for about a buck, and a pack will last you for months. I friend of mine who was growing his bangs out resorted to wearing a baseball cap to keep the hair out of his eyes until it got long enough that he could pony-tail it back. In period, there were lots of ways that men kept long hair out of their faces. Sometimes the hair was long enough that it would stay out of your face by its length - it just hung down your back. In other periods men came up with various ways of keeping the hair out of their faces - in my period, the 14th c. metal fillets were sometimes used. IN the 15ht c. some dandies actually permed their hair (looks gawdawful) which had the effect of keeping it out of their faces (I presume) but made it look like their necks barfed. I think that the vikings, and some other early cultures might have braided their hair. Lothar \|/ 0 Newsgroups: rec.org.sca From: moylek at mcmail.cis.mcmaster.ca (Ken Moyle) Subject: Re: Hairpieces for men? Organization: McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada Date: Tue, 11 Jan 1994 20:48:03 GMT (David Sanders) writes: >So... Does anyone know anything about how men with long hair in period kept >the hair back? I would really like to have period solutions to this problem. Mundanely, I use a black velvet ribbon at work (were I wear a jacket and tie) or when going out, and a soft, leather thong otherwise. At events, I never tie my hair back..... I've seen no evidence (pictorial or written) for ponytails for men of the gentry in mainstream Western Europe in the high middle ages (I'm Franco-Scot, 14th C). The solution is.... hats. Everyone wore hats. The little white cloth coifs are very practicle and were worn very commonly both alone and with other head gear.... and look absolutely dorky. I commonly wear a hood wrapped about my head turban style.... it keeps my shoulder-length hair back quite well. As for *really* long hair.... even when long hair for men was common in Western Europe, it seems that hair much past the shoulders was still considered girlish or excessively foppish (I can't give the source for that at the moment). .....Cinaed de Moray /------------------------------------------------------------------------\ |Kenneth C. Moyle MOYLEK at McMaster.Ca| |Computing Services Coordinator (Sciences) ...!uunet!mnetor!maccs!kenm| |Computing and Information Services | |McMaster University - Hamilton, Ontario (Canada) | \------------------------------------------------------------------------/ Newsgroups: rec.org.sca From: treid at morgan.ucs.mun.ca (Ambrose) Subject: Re: Hairpieces for men? Organization: Memorial University of Newfoundland Date: Wed, 12 Jan 1994 19:14:49 GMT I have well past shoulder length hair and as well wear it tied back most of the time mundanely. (Being a Biochem student, it make working in a lab easier to handle and less dangerous). At events, I usually wear a braided leather hand band. It look appealing (at least better than afore mentioned "dorky hats") and helps some what in keeping it out of my face. The head band will not help much in the wind though, unlike a pony tail. I don't know how period it is, but for guys with long hair around here (Newfoundland) It is the preveliant choice other than just letting it hang loose. Hope that Helps Ambrose -- Ambrose is/was/will be Todd Reid reachable at treid at morgan.ucs.mun.ca Newsgroups: rec.org.sca From: jbeltzner at TrentU.CA Subject: Re: Hairpieces for men? Organization: Trent University, Peterborough Date: Thu, 13 Jan 1994 05:51:43 GMT Cinaed de Moray writes: > As for *really* long hair.... even when long hair for men was >common in Western Europe, it seems that hair much past the shoulders was >still considered girlish or excessively foppish (I can't give the source >for that at the moment). > > .....Cinaed de Moray I'm not sure where you found this information, but I know that in the earlier middle ages (before the year 1000, at any rate), the Franks felt that long hair was a sign of marshall prowess. Therefore the longer one's hair was, the better a warrior they supposedly were. This seems to imply that some of the Franks, especially their kings, kept their hair VERY long... as a matter of fact, I recall one instance where a king was conquered and deposed, and to keep him from causing trouble, they cut his hair. When he threatened to grow it back, they were forced to kill him. I wish I could reference this for you, but I don't have my books with me right now... oh well. I wish they'd hurry with those CD ROM books... ;) In service, Malachai Shel Ha Cheitz Shavar, Who feels that the ancient Kings of the Franks would not react well to being called "foppish" Petrea Thule, Septentria, Ealdormere JBELTZNER at TRENTU.CA Newsgroups: rec.org.sca From: rorice at bronze.ucs.indiana.edu (rosalyn rice) Subject: Re: Period hair ornaments? Keywords: hair ornament styling Organization: Indiana University, Bloomington IN Date: Fri, 17 Jun 1994 04:09:39 GMT Greetings from Lothar, In the 14th c. for men's "formal" clothing (court garb) fine circlets were worn towards the very end of the century. Other than that, for men, the solution seemed to be to wear your hair short enough that you didn't have to worry about, or wear a hood. For women, there are LOTS of things you can do. First of all, as you said, you can braid it. This is what most women would have done, even if they were unmarried. Depending on the time and the period you would have put it into some sort of headdress or used some sort of thin cloth circlet to help hold your hair and the headdress in place. If you were married woman, a nun, or an older woman you would have worn the wimple and the veil in addition. If you were unmarried you would have just braided you hair and worn a headdress which showed most of your hair. There are many different fashions depending on country, decade, or social class, so I can't describe them here, in spite of the fact that you've given me the fact that your persona is from Northern England. Even in that area there were lots of different styles over time. For a basic idea of what was going on ca. 1330 look at marginal illuminations from the Luttrell psalter (there's a nice illo of a serving woman doing up her lady's hair. The servant has a simple single braid, the lady has a more complex 'do.). For an overview of what women were wearing look at inscised stone and and brass effigies from the period. This gives you as good an overview as you're likely to get. In the meantime, take heart in the fact that hairpins ARE period. They've been found in 14th c. London excavations. (BTW, check out Dress Accessories from Archeolgical Digs in London. for a couple of pictures of partial headdresses from the period.) Lothar From: wildgoose at gateway.ecn.com (Keith Cunningham) Newsgroups: rec.org.sca Subject: Period hairstyles advice? Date: 16 May 1995 20:07:30 -0700 Organization: West Coast Computer Products Period to when? 11 Century Celt wore the hair down and held back with a head band. They also wore felted hats of extreme uglyness. 13 Century Wore the hair braided [two down the side in front of the ears and one down the back. 15-16th Century were wearing the hair just like those of the Contient [except about 50 years behind the trend] Beyond that not much is known and this is based upon paintings and drawing made by auslanders. Shear speculation [pun intended] Slante' keith Cunningham Cain MacRob MhicMiron Connyhaim of Connyhaim Newsgroups: rec.org.sca Subject: Re: Period Hairstyles From: una at bregeuf.stonemarche.org (Honour Horne-Jaruk) Date: Tue, 04 Jul 95 09:13:03 EDT Michael Carson <mourning at raven.cybercom.com> writes: > A friend of mine who is a hairstlyist is planning to open a merchant sta > this fall. Does anyone have any pointers to good sources on the topic, favor > or other thoughts? Please e-mail me, at mourning at raven.cybercom.com, or post > > Rhys ap Ieuan > m.k.a. Michael Carson > mourning at cybercom.com > Respected friend: Amazon Vinegar and Pickling Works Drygoods, 2218 E. 11th St., Davenport Ia. sells _Fashions in Hair_, Corson, 304pgs, 3,500 illos, $98.50 US. It looks like the best in-print reference that covers our entire era... and for a pro hairstylist it's tax-deductible! <snip> (Nah, I don't work for them, I just like them.) Yours in service to the Society- (Friend) Honour Horne-Jaruk R.S.F. Alizaunde, Demoiselle de Bregeuf C.O.L. SCA Una Wicca (That Pict) From: afn03234 at freenet.ufl.edu (Ronald L. Charlotte) Newsgroups: rec.org.sca Subject: Re: Request help with Garb Date: 8 Aug 1995 12:48:25 GMT Lila Richards (lila at lynx.CO.NZ) wrote: : Greetings to the Knowne Worlde from Caitlin ni Cumhaill na Cruachan. (deletia) : Also, does anyone have information (or suggestions) for what to do, or what : ladies would have done in period, with hair that is *very* thick and curly, : and never grows much beyond shoulder length. This is a major problem for me : when wearing an Irish-style veil that covers only the back portion of the : head, and it occurs to me that, since I'm living proof that such hair is : genetically possible (I have Welsh, English and a little Scots ancestry - I : suspect the Welsh is to blame!), it must also have occurred in the Middle : Ages. So what did these ladies do!? I'm loath to grow my hair all to one : length, as it's so thick. (I once broke a hairbush on it!) Any suggestions : will be more than gratefully received. There is pretty good evidence that hairpieces and false hair additions were not unheard of. There is a fairly intact example in the HMSO volume _Dress Accessories_ on page 292. Being (usually) organic material, these pieces seem likely to be fairly rare in the archaeological finds, but they do (and did) exist. -- al Thaalibi -- An Crosaire, Trimaris Ron Charlotte -- Gainesville, FL afn03234 at freenet.ufl.edu From: hmschdodd at aol.com (HmSchDodd) Newsgroups: rec.org.sca Subject: Re: Request help with Garb Date: 8 Aug 1995 20:13:39 -0400 Make a scarf of something rough--linen, or cotton gauze--at least 25" square, and tie it like a headscarf, knotted beneath your hair, If the square is big enough and your hair is short enough, tuck the tail of the scarf in, creating a snood-like thingie. A veil can be set on top of that if you want. AElflaed From: liversen at physiology.medsch.ucla.edu (Lori Iversen) Newsgroups: rec.org.sca Subject: Re: hair - to braid or not? Date: 13 Aug 1995 18:53:07 GMT Organization: UCLA wgielau at awinc.com (Wolfgang Gielau) says: >I have a wonderous question on the history if any on the way hair was >worn on maids as well as married ladies. > >can any one help in pointing me in the right direction? >Vichery of Appledore, AnTir Ah, yet another issue subject to interpretation. There are those who "know" that ALL married ladies covered their hair, and ALL maidens wore theirs loose and flowing; just as there are those who "know" that hair styling was as subject to the whims of fashion as any other bodily adornment. Richard Corson wrote a book on the history of hair styles; it seems to be the standard reference on the subject (sorry, I don't remember the name, probably because it's something truly clever like "The History of Hair"). I suggest checking primary sources (i.e., paintings, sketches, woodcuts, etc. from whatever period you're interested in recreating), making an educated guess and modifying what you find to suit modern hair styling methods and implements, and then doing whatever you damn well please. Cheers, Alexis % Lori Iversen % % The Valley, CA % From: Barb at DISTANT-CARAVANS.reno.nv.us (Barbara Morgan) Newsgroups: rec.org.sca Subject: Re: hair - to braid or not? Date: 17 Aug 1995 22:24:54 GMT Organization: Great Basin Internet Services, Reno, NV wgielau at awinc.com (Wolfgang Gielau) says: >I have a wonderous question on the history if any on the way hair was >worn on maids as well as married ladies. > >can any one help in pointing me in the right direction? I have been >braiding ladies hair now since I first joind and most of the braids have >been many braids braided together. > >thank you for listening - cheery bye > >Vichery of Appledore, AnTir I have documentation somewhere that says ladies from the verious tribes in the Middle East wore their hair braided in 3, 5 or 7 braids(always an odd number, under their headdress or veils. This might seem over kill but I've tried it. It's alot cooler then one braid at those really hot events. Amaryllis Barb at DISTANT-CARAVANS.reno.nv.us http://www.greatbasin.com/~caravan/ From: psyche at io.org (Psyche) Newsgroups: rec.org.sca Subject: Re: hair - to braid or no Date: 16 Aug 1995 16:29:36 -0400 Organization: Internex Online, Toronto, Ontario, Canada (416 363 3783) Wg> can any one help in pointing me in the right direction? I have been Wg> braiding ladies hair now since I first joind and most of the braids Wg> have been many braids braided together. It would really depend upon which time period you're looking at. For example in the Tudor era (acording to the books I have read), women (married or not) wore their hair either loose or bound (braids, snoods, hairnets, whatever). BTW, the way to wear one of those Tudor hats (the beret-style) depends upon how you are wearing your hair. If it's loose, you wear the hat horizontally, but if your hair is dressed (usually in a snood or the equivalent), you wear the hat tilted to the left, exposing the left side of the hairdo. ... *Lisa Hartjes * Edelgard Erszebet von Wuerttemberg * From: psyche at io.org (Psyche) Newsgroups: rec.org.sca Subject: Re: hair - to braid or no Date: 18 Aug 1995 09:58:54 -0400 Organization: Internex Online, Toronto, Ontario, Canada (416 363 3783) Li> is this the way you think they look best? If the former, do you have Li> Do you mean that this is the way women wore flat caps *in period,* or Li> a period source that you can prove is definitive? If so, Li> great -- could you either post it or email it to me? If the latter, It was from a text which dealt with women's clothing, based upon the study of period portraits, woodcuts and other sources. I can't for the life of me remember what book it was, but I have sneaking suspicion it was in the great big book of costuming by Davenport. I'll have to see if I can find my notes.... Lady Edelgard PS. A flat cap looks better tilted slightly back away from my face. :) From: sandradodd at aol.com (SandraDodd) Newsgroups: rec.org.sca Subject: Re: hair - to braid or not? Date: 15 Aug 1995 21:05:35 -0400 <<There are those who "know" that ALL married ladies covered their hair, and ALL maidens wore theirs loose and flowing; >> And when? And where? I remember a couple of stories of queens wearing their hair loose for coronations (like weddings, I guess...). I wear mine two braids down the front and a veil lots of times. If I wear it down the back, I either loop the braid up or make sure the veil covers the whole braid. Nothing goofier looking than a braid coming out the back of a veil, but two in the front longer than the veil is in lots of pictures and effigies. I haven't seen pictures of many braids braided into one, though. Doesn't mean there aren't any; I haven't seen any. I agree with the advice about looking at portraits and such. AElflaed From: Ed Luxenburg <73042.3240 at CompuServe.COM> Newsgroups: rec.org.sca Subject: Re: hair - to braid or not? Date: 19 Aug 1995 02:08:46 GMT According to Giraldus Cambrensis (late 12th cent) among the Welsh, both men and women "cut their hair short, shaping it around the ears and eyebrows". -- Andrea Hughett Luxenburg From: ej613 at cleveland.Freenet.Edu (Maureen S. O'Brien) Newsgroups: rec.org.sca Subject: Re: hair - to braid or no Date: 26 Aug 1995 00:21:38 GMT Organization: Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH (USA) Sorry to join this thread late, but I read a book of English comments (period) on Irish society, and one of the writers commented on Irish fashion, including regional hair and hat styles. In Munster, for example, unmarried women wore their hair in a single braid with a riband across the front of their heads. Some city's women wore hats as big around as a cheese, etc. Rude, nasty comments, but informative nonetheless. -- Maureen S. O'Brien We are like the roses --- ad451 at dayton.wright.edu We are forced to grow. From: ej613 at cleveland.Freenet.Edu (Maureen S. O'Brien) Newsgroups: rec.org.sca Subject: Re: hair - to braid or no Date: 26 Aug 1995 14:20:53 GMT Organization: Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH (USA) In a previous article, ej613 at cleveland.Freenet.Edu (Maureen S. O'Brien) says: >Sorry to join this thread late, but I read a book of English comments >(period) on Irish society, and one of the writers commented on >Irish fashion, including regional hair and hat styles. In Munster, >for example, unmarried women wore their hair in a single braid with >a riband across the front of their heads. Some city's women wore >hats as big around as a cheese, etc. Rude, nasty comments, but >informative nonetheless. Found the book on the catalog. It was: _Elizabethan Ireland: a selection of writings by Elizabethan writers on Ireland._ Edited by James P. Myers, Jr. Archon Books, 1983. ISBN: 0208020349. I still can't remember the writer's name, but the selection came from his correspondence to a friend, which was then published (in period, I believe.) Wait until you read his comments on plackets. Pretty nasty, pretty funny, but provided by a pretty good observer withal. (But what I wouldn't give for a time machine and a concealed camcorder...) -- Maureen S. O'Brien We are like the roses --- ad451 at dayton.wright.edu We are forced to grow. From: Julie Adams <savaskan at electriciti.com> Newsgroups: rec.org.sca Subject: To Hat or Not To Hat (was: Accuracy of Costume Editors) Date: 24 Jan 1996 02:52:04 GMT Organization: Savaskan Anatolians gileshill at aol.com (Gileshill) wrote: There are severeal historical documents >(letters, literature, etc.) where women at their wedding are wearing their >hair down and uncaught. > >Lady Ghislaine d'Auxerre I can't recall where I read this, but I remember that there were some period cultures where the bride's hair was ritually bound up by other married women and widows in her family after the wedding night (maybe 14th cent. Sweden?..hmmm) I know that at least in Germany, a folded linen cloth called a Kirchenhaube was worn in Church, and brides wore a Kronbraut (bridal crown) which actually was often pretty ugly contraption with various colored beads and spangles of different sizes, ...sort of reminiscent of Carmen Maranda as a 16th century bride...I have seen several examples of originals in various milinery collections. With her crown, the bride wore her hair braided up, but her maidens: "Tischjungfrau" could have their hair down. I think anyone who has camped out or lived in a primitive situation, where bathing is a difficult and time consuming enterprise, will know that it is easier to keep hair clean and comfortable when worn up and covered. In a late 16th cent. Englishman's account of Germany, he describes the locals as bathing a lot (approximately once a week) in comparison to his own native England. I don't know exactly how often he was implying that Englishmen bathed, but I know I would be at least wearing my hair in braids, if not up and covered, even if I was only bathing once a week. The other issue we don't have to deal with in the modern world so much is lack of, or uneven, heating. While great furnaces warmed the homes of the upper classes, the heat was still not particularly even, (which is why they had steps and usually a place to sit on them for warmth "the hotseat"). Since so much heat is lost from your head, it only makes sense to cover it in cool weather and at night. I believe that while 16th century German maidens were allowed to wear their hair loose, it seems that most have their hair up and covered most of the time, except for special occasions and warm summer days. Julianna Newsgroups: rec.org.sca From: piusma at umdnj.edu (Matthew Pius) Subject: Re: Long hair(mens) in old times Organization: Univ. of Medicine and Dentistry of NJ Date: Wed, 2 Jul 1997 18:34:12 GMT Andrew Calvin <acalvin at flash.net> writes: >I know that this may be a stupid question, but you gents and maidens >would probably be the best to know this. I have long hair, and the other >day, my friend asked me if I kenw how men tied long hair back in ancient >and medival times. I replied to him that I didn't know. He bet me 10 >dollars that I couldn't find out in a month. I have been unable to find >out so, here's the question that I am passing on to you: > With what did men tie their long hair with in old times? I think you're friend may have been giving you a trick question. I can't think of any depictions I've seen of men with long hair tied back prior to the 18th century. Any depiction I can think of in SCA period of a man with long hair, he's letting his manly locks flow freely. On the other hand, in Muslim countries, there are references to topknots (one that I recall is of angels using the topknot as handle to carry a man up to heaven). One presumes that this would have been worn under a turban, or some other head covering, as well. -Ibrahim al-Rashid (mka Matt Pius) From: XSimmons <"jls9" at MSG.TI.COM> Newsgroups: rec.org.sca Subject: Re: Long hair(mens) in old times Date: Wed, 02 Jul 1997 14:21:58 -0500 Organization: Texas Instruments Matthew Pius wrote:<snip> > On the other hand, in Muslim countries, there are references to > topknots (one that I recall is of angels using the topknot as handle to > carry a man up to heaven). One presumes that this would have been worn > under a turban, or some other head covering, as well. > > -Ibrahim al-Rashid > (mka Matt Pius) Intriguing. I am searching my brain for fuzzy memories of Persian miniatures (destroyed, alas) that showed men with their turbans knocked off. (This is post-battle humiliation of the loser, or display of strong emotion--at the sight of the draped and swathed figure of his true love, the hero falls into a lovestruck swoon.) Seems I've seen a minority of heads with a pony tail on top and the rest of the head shaved close (sort of a reverse tonsure). This somewhat resembles the Chinese boy's hairstyle, except it isn't braided. The quality of artwork in the few examples I recall (_This rumor is not adequate for A&S documentation!_) was not of the most sublime. An angel handle, eh? I'd just assumed it was to keep the hair from showing, and perhaps an antiheat measure. These Muslims seem to have picturesque imaginations. Thank you for the tidbit, al-Rashid. If I ever find good documentation for my memory, I'll post it in my ethereal keep. ( http://geocities.com/Heartlands/Meadows/5533 ). Salaam Ly Meara al-Isfahani From: Falcone al Rasool ibn Muhajir <falcone at bellsouth.net> Newsgroups: rec.org.sca Subject: Re: Long hair(mens) in old times Date: Wed, 02 Jul 1997 13:20:05 -0400 Organization: Elvegast, Winmasters' Hil, Atlantia Salaam, Andrew, Salaam!! Andrew Calvin wrote: > > I know that this may be a stupid question, but you gents and maidens > would probably be the best to know this. I have long hair, and the other > day, my friend asked me if I kenw how men tied long hair back in ancient > and medival times. I replied to him that I didn't know. He bet me 10 > dollars that I couldn't find out in a month. I have been unable to find > out so, here's the question that I am passing on to you: > With what did men tie their long hair with in old times? > Your answer would be greatly appreciated. > Respectfully, > Andrew The arabs and sihks used a small bit of woolen thread to tie their hair up at the tip-top of their head, then placed a skull cap over it. Over that went a turban. Andrew, I expect half of the ten bucks.;) Falcone From: hoopty2112 at aol.com (HOOPTY2112) Newsgroups: rec.org.sca Subject: Re: womens hair Date: 3 Aug 1997 12:38:48 GMT You can always do the fake-wrapped-braids look, and pull your real hair back. All you would need would be a veil, an appropriate circlet or padded head-roll, fake hair (you can get that in nearly all shades at a beauty supply store with the popularity of extensions), and whatever you would choose to wrap the braids in. Make the braids out of the fake hair and wrap them, attach them to the circlet, attach the veil, hot glue everything, and you will have a nice 12th century look that you just put on and GO! There is all kinds of fun you can have with fake hair!!! Margarethe von Augsburg From: gwynnypoo at aol.com (GwynnyPOO) Newsgroups: rec.org.sca Subject: Re: womens hair Date: 6 Aug 1997 06:33:34 GMT >You can always do the fake-wrapped-braids look, and pull your real hair My Lady does this and I REALLY appreciate it! She looks wonderful, nobody knows but me (and a few choice friends), and should I mention the time saved! Oi! Love it, Gwyn O Glan Y Mor Date: Thu, 7 Aug 1997 18:22:45 -0700 (PDT) From: Cynthia Virtue <cvirtue at well.com> To: sca-arts at raven.cc.ukans.edu Subject: Re: headdresses question (fwd) Gwyn says this is bouncing from her mailer, so I'm sending it for her. ---------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: Thu, 7 Aug 1997 15:08:02 -0700 From: gcarnegi <gcarnegi at quiknet.com> > > I did a large search awhile back for someone on this list looking for > details on hairdresing. The best book I found which also had a lot of > veils and such included was: > Calderini, Emma. > Acconciature antiche e moderne. Testo di Eva Tea. > [Milano] Sperling & Kupfer [1963] > 510 pages , Bibliography: p. [513]-[514] > Text in Italian, English, French, and German. > (sorry- I don't have the ibsn/issn for this book) > > This book is LARGE with 4 illustration per page. They are redrawings from > original works but the reference for the orginal work and all the details > are right beside it. If I remember right, most of the critical material > was in french or italian but some pretty good notes were also given in the > other languages. > > There were some other interesting things that came out of the that search > like this: > Taylor, Lisa, McFadden, David Revere. > Hair. > [New York, New York : Cooper-Hewitt Museum, 1980] > Includes chronology and bibliography . > Subjects: Iconography, Hair, clothing and dress 4th Century B.C.-20th > Century A.D. > > Gwyndolynn Anne the Obscure > West Kingdom From: ghazallah at aol.com (Ghazallah) Newsgroups: rec.org.sca Subject: Re: Arabic Facial Tatoos Date: 9 Aug 1997 17:15:26 GMT I just wanted to say a bit about Henna. I use it on my hair and it makes it very strong and shiny. At Pennsic, I put it on my hands and feet. It lasts on me about a week and is very graceful-looking. I recommend using different types, though. For hair, I use Rainbow brand, which is consistent in the color from application to application and lasts at least until my roots start showing. Mix it with yogurt and it's easier to wash out, and leaves the hair silky. For hands, go to an Indian grocery store and buy it pre-mixed in tubes with very fine nozzles. You can also buy stencils and just slather it on. I love the stuff. Ghazallah al-Qamar Date: Thu, 18 Dec 97 12:07:29 From: "Arianne de Dragonnid mka Grace Schosser-Payne" <arianne at trimaris.com> To: "sca-arts at raven.cc.ukans.edu" <sca-arts at raven.cc.ukans.edu> Subject: Re: 12 - 13th Head gear or head wear On Wed, 17 Dec 1997 12:58:27 -0800, Yvette Baker wrote: >With one exception. What to wear on my head. As a >woman from 12 - 13th (still working on persona) century >I am in a quandry about what to wear on my head. > >I have long hair with bangs. Those pesky bangs make lots >of trouble when it comes to headgear. So I am wondering. Speaking as a lady of 1196 Normaundie (Normandy, in France), I hope I can be of assistance. Excluding the bangs, which I've only seen in period on young girls, your hair seems perfect for our period. First, you want to either part it down the middle and braid it or put it in one big braid in the back. It was during our period that ladies would wrap their hair in casings (see below) to decorate it and make it appear longer and thicker. CASINGS: I've not found a good pattern for them, but I came up with a good design myself. First, I took rags of a nice, soft fabric (preferably LONG rags of a lighter-coloured fabric than you plan on making the casing out of) and tore them into 4-6 inch wide strips. The wider these strips are, the more hair it looks like you have. I then took a good hair-type rubber band and folded three of the strips over it, with varrying (sp?) amounts of fabric folded over (I suggest 6 - 12 inches). I then braided the three strips together (it works better if you roll the torn edges to the inside or take the time to cut the rags), stopping every time I got to the end of a rag (including the three short ones). This looks neater if you trim the ends down a little and overlap. Continue until the braid is the desired length -- 46 inches is good for me, and I'm 5'9". Let the size of the braid taper naturally, and use a rubber band to end it. It's good to take a nice tassel and secure it to the bottom of the braid. Then you want to take a NICE, period-looking fabric and cut a rectangular piece long enough and wide enough to wrap completely around the braid with room for seams and your real hair (9" x 48" for my measurements). Hemstitch up one long side and the top, then fold up a good seam allowance at the bottom and start wrapping, aligning things so the edge doesn't really show. Starting at the bottom, sew the casing to the braid, stopping about six inches below where your hair ends. Secure two barrettes to the top rubber band (these get put in your hair right at the base of your braid to hold up the casing. Try it on, putting your braid through the rubber band and wrapping the casing around the two braids. Find out where the edge of the casing lines up with the rest of the casing, and mark. Take it off and sew a nice trim around the casing every 6-12 inches along the length of the casing (different trims?) so it looks like you have circles of trim around the casing. Use modern closures like snaps disguised by the trim. As for the rest of your headgear, you can chose between a gorget and a wimple to cover your neck and top it off with a long oval veil. (I understand the veils tended to shorten over the 13th century and the wimples to become more covering.) You can chose to keep that in place with a pair of fibula (fibulae? -- decorative period safety pins), a thin band that might be decorated, or a little cap that the experts agree was probably knitted (which at least one period sculptor has shown UNDER all that headgear). >Would a thin band with ribbons attached in back be in that >period? How about a smallish pillbox type hat with veil >under the chin and trailing in back, kind of a barbette look? >And was gauzy fabric available at that time for veils? While the thin band would be period, I've not seen the ribbons done that way in our period. I have seen the pillbox and veil look for late 13th - early 14th century dress, although you would need a barbette, aka a gorget (if I have my definitions right; I'm a bit foggy on that). As for gauzy fabrics, they were available but bore no resemblance to the scrunchy artificial fibre ones of today. Instead, look to fine white muslins and other similar fabrics. I once read (in a borrowed SCA publication that was booklike but not a CA) that they often wove patterns in the fabric they used for headgear by weaving portions back and forth separately -- I'm thinking a heavy sort of lace. BTW, if anyone knows which publication I'm talking about, I'd like to know. Arianne de Dragonnid From: Fideli <jfideli at bookworm.suffolk.lib.ny.us> Newsgroups: rec.org.sca Subject: Re: Renaissance Hair styles Date: 16 Sep 1998 22:17:43 GMT katiayna at aol.com (Katiayna) wrote: > I am looking for information on period (Renaissance, Europe) hair styles > for women. Does anyone out there know any good web sites or books that > might have this information. > > -Puller Greetings, I just found the book I had mentioned before, yes its still me Xaviar the Eccentric, just using a very slow txt only system....dam ;unix......anyway Both the following books are by Richard Corson. Fashions in hair: the first five thousand years; London 1980......ISBN 0 7206 3283 8 You should find this most interesting, and although there are more male then female drawings, it should help you in what you seek. Also a good one by the same is. ........... Fashions in makeup, from ancient to modern times. London, 1972. ISBN 0 7206 04311 Have fun, I have loved using the these books Xaviar the Eccentric xaviar_the_eccentric at yahoo.com Date: Fri, 07 Jan 2000 17:52:26 -0500 From: rmhowe <magnusm at ncsu.edu> To: Karen at agent.infodata.com Subject: Hair Braiding and Ribbons http://www2.kumc.edu/instruction/academicsupport/itc/staff/rknight/Briana3.htm http://www.virtue.to/virtue/articles/Index.html I got asked the whereabouts of articles for hair braiding today. Just in time for Twelfth Nite. Magnus [sent to me by phlip at morganco.net] From: grace <polgara at shell.aros.net> To: Midrealm List <sca-middle at midrealm.org> Date: Friday, January 28, 2000 8:45 PM Subject: [Mid] Hair Ideas #1 (Long!) This is the first of two (or maybe three) installments. Most of the comments will be reprinted exactly as they came across the Aerie (with minor editing for readability), with the author of the comments credited at the bottom. This first is a very good style, especially if you are not fortunate enough (as I am not) to have long, thick hair. 1. Take 2 thick lengths of false hair (usually available at craft stores) and braid them. Wrap them in strands of pearls or beads or ribbons (or all 3!) and secure strands with rubber bands (the invisible type) at ends and bobby pins as necessary. 2. Now twist braids together and secure to each other. You can vary the look by making the braids of varying thickness and/or use different braiding techniques on each braid. Secure ends together with rubber bands so that what you have looks rather like a fancy circlet made of hair. 3. Part your hair down the center and set braids on top of head. They should be long enough so that they sit at the top just behind the hairline, and the ends should be at the nape of the neck. 4. Take a section of hair at the temple and loop it up and over the braid crown, and pull through down behind braids so that section of hair now comes back out underneath braids. Repeat at other temple and at nape of neck so braid ends are covered by your own hair. 5. Take the majority of your hair at nape of neck and twist into a loose bun at nape of neck (it invariably looks weird if you braid this section, too). Be sure to leave *lots* of loose strands of hair down. 6. Secure braids and bun to head with as many bobby pins as necessary. 7. Curl all loose strands of hair into small ringlets. Finger comb. 8. Take lots of small to medium combs and decorate by hot gluing bits of appropriate costume jewelry to them. Secure in hair in any pattern that pleases you. As a finishing touch take a ribbon and place it across your forehead and thread ends (this needs a pretty long ribbon) through hair as pleases you and tie off behind head. Secure a drop pearl or other bit of jewelry to ribbon at center of forehead. This style will work on any hair long enough to wrap the real hair about the braids. It is not appropriate for bangs, like *most* period styles, so pin them back first if you have them. The Snood 1. Measure around your head (from over the top to the nape of the neck, (think of the position you would wear a modern headband at) and cut a pretty piece of ribbon trim to that length. 2. Sew the ends together so that now you have a circle. 3. Lay out your fabric and put a dinner plate on it (you can experiment with bigger or smaller sizes but this is a good general size to go with) and cut your fabric in a circle, using the plate as a guide. 4. Pleat your fabric onto the inside of the band of trim. Make the pleat that will sit at the top of your head fairly wide and slowly gather the pleats more tightly towards the bottom of the trim where you've sewn the ends together. This will ensure that the snood will hang properly rather than poofing out all around your head and looking more like a pillow. Sew fabric onto trim. 5. (Optional) You can sew small combs into the snood to hold it securely in place or you can simply secure it with bobby pins. I think the combs end up giving it a nicer look myself, no pins showing. 6. (Also optional) It is very Italianate to tie a ribbon that crosses over the forehead and ties off behind the snood. It helps secure the snood and can make the whole thing look more dressy, especially if you secure a drop pearl to the ribbon at the center of the forehead or some other ornament, like a necklace charm. Also, you can secure the snood with a circlet (circlets will be covered later). 7. Fabrics - Use something light that has a lot of drape so it will hang well, avoid stiff fabrics. 8. Decoration - you can bead or put pearls on the fabric of the snood, embroider or cross-stitch on it or make a crosshatch pattern with narrow ribbon over the fabric of the snood. Pearls look especially nice at the intersections of the crosshatching. 9. The Hair - You can simply pull it back in a ponytail and tuck it inside the snood. You can leave a few tendrils out to frame the face as well. The Muffin Cap 1. Proceed as above except... 2. Use a stiffer fabric, cotton is great, usually in cream or white, and... 3. Pleat evenly all the way around. The muffin cap is *supposed* to poof out evenly all around behind your head. The muffin cap is more suited to peasant or middle class English garb. The French Hood 1. Use a headband to build upon. 2. You can use cardboard but plastic canvas is more like buckram (which can be hard to find) and more durable. Cut the plastic canvas in a crescent moon shape that will fit the headband. 3. Cover it in the fabric of your choice. 4. Sew it to the front edge of the headband. 5. The veil - historically in black velvet (use cotton velveteen, modern velvet is totally wrong), measure to no lower than your waist, no higher than the middle of your back. Sew veil to upper edge of your crescent. 6. (Optional) You can decorate the crescent with pearls, beads, trims and you can make the crescent just about any height you are comfortable with, though I'd stop at anything wider than 6 inches at its widest point. This is the basic and simplest version of the French Hood. 7. The Hair - Simply secure hair in ponytail and coil into bun at nape of neck, secure with bobby pins. No tendrils left out, though the hood should sit back far enough to show the upper part of the hair. Veil & Circlet Historically, veils were cream or white no matter what color of garb they were worn with. Don't use a heavy or stiff or slippery fabric! Muslin, once washed and the sizing goes away, makes excellent veil material. Never use more than 2 yards, this is, after all, six feet of fabric and more than sufficient! :) You can either simply finish off the edges at either end (this is very traditional and can be draped about the head in a variety of ways, it's up to your imagination) and call it good or you can cut it in a semi-circle, leaving the edge that will be the front and frame your face straight. You secure the veil with a circlet. In Artemisia, there's a custom that we don't wear metal circlets, but here's how to cheat, if your Kingdom also has that custom. 1. Take a piece of boning and measure snugly but comfortably around your head. Sew ends of boning together. 2. Take a trim close to the width of the boning and sew to the boning on the outside. I prefer to use either silver or gold braid trim. This gives the appearance of metal but isn't and thus violates no sumptuary laws anywhere. It also looks more authentic than using ribbon trim or any trim with a pattern, though these can look very pretty, if not period. You can also decorate them with beadwork or pearls. If you have chosen veil fabric that is not too slippery, this circlet will secure it very well without the need for additional bobby pins, and it is very lightweight and comfortable as well. 3. The Hair - Hair is worn coiled in a bun at the nape of the neck. Norman Braid Cases 1. Part hair down the middle and braid in 2 separate braids. Even I can do this one. :) 2. Here's where it gets interesting. About halfway down your braid, the braid cases start. These are 2 tubes of fabric the same circumference as your braids. You can make them as long as you'd like, though to the knee was just about as long as everyone went, mid-thigh is popular. The portion of the tube not filled with your hair is filled with fiberfill which keeps them from dragging down your own braids, because it's lightweight. 3. Insert your braid ends into the top of the braid case. You may need to leave them open a ways so that you can manipulate your hair into them more easily. 4. Take reallllly long ribbons and tie the braid case to your braid at the top of the case, winding it around several times to secure it. Then cross the ribbon at even intervals all the way down the braid case to the ends and tie off. 5. (Optional stuff) You can use false hair to stick out the end of the braid case (this was done in period) or simply narrow the case down to a point. Bells or other ornaments were often sewn to the ends of braid cases. You can sew the ribbon directly to the braid case so you don't have to mess with it every time you put them on. You can decorate the cases with pearls, beads, trims, etc. 6. To Wear - Braid hair in 2 separate braids, put braid cases on, lay one braid forward over each shoulder. Put on veil. Put on circlet to secure veil. This is "the" Norman look. The above suggestions are courtesy of: Madonna Lucia (lamia at mcn.net) More to come in the next message! In service to The Dream, Cecily ___________________________________________________________________________ |\ _,,,---,,_ grace /,`.-'`' -. ;-;; polgara at aros.net |,4- ) )-,_..;\ ( `'-' http://www.aros.net/~polgara/ '---''(_/--' `-'\_) fL "Si hoc legere scis nimium eruditiones habes." [sent to me by phlip at morganco.net] From: grace <polgara at shell.aros.net> To: Midrealm List <sca-middle at midrealm.org> Date: Friday, January 28, 2000 8:57 PM Subject: [Mid] Hair Ideas #2 (Long!) Second of three installments on ideas of period hairstyles. Again, most of this is reprinted exactly as it came across the Aerie (Artemisia's mailing list), edited only for readability. --- First of all I would like to thank the wonderful and inventive Lucia who enlightened me on what to do with my hair. I printed out your instructions and tried them on a friend and myself last night. Lacking a realistic-looking false braid, I tried it with our natural hair. I discovered that I could "cheat" a way to get a somewhat similar effect (I think) without being fortunate enough to have long flowing tresses reaching past my rear end. I have always been very marginal at braiding hair, worse at braiding my own, and inept at using safety pins (they never hold and always stick out strangely) so if I can do this, anybody could! To start with, my hair is all one length (no bangs) and if the curl is stretched out, it would just about reach to my bra-strap. I think this method wouldn't work with hair shorter than mine. I wasn't certain how the wispy tendrils of hair would work, so I didn't attempt them after a failed attempt on my friend. However they could probably be put in if you know how they should look. First part your hair in the middle and put behind your back. Take one handful of hair on each side, at the base of your neck and underneath your other hair and bring forward. No part in your hair should be visible at the back, as your other hair will cover it. Braid each section and secure with hair ties. Take two *very* long ribbons and push them together through the top loop of your braid near your skull. Take the other end of the ribbons, bring around the nape of your neck and push through the top loop of your other braid. You should have continuous ribbons hanging loose by each braid. Wrap each braid in ribbons, making sure to hide the hair tie. Knot the ribbons at each end of the braid securely. Now clip or tie the rest of your hair into a low ponytail back out of the way. I found it easier to make the bun after the braids are taken care of. Bring up each braid around your head so they cross at your center part by your hairline. Cross braids over, then take the loose part of each braid and wrap it around the other braid going back downwards. When you run out of braid, continue wrapping with the ribbons. You can pull on the braids and ribbons to make this really tight. When you reach the nape of your neck again, knot the ribbons under your ponytail of loose hair and either let hang loose or hide them. Let your clipped hair down. You should now look like you are wearing a tight headband of braided and ribboned hair. If you do it right, it will look continuous and the ends of your braids at the top of your hair will be covered by ribbons. It should be tight enough that no bobby pins are necessary to secure in place. (Yay!!!!) Now you can make wispy tendrils or whatever. Then take the rest of your hair and make a bun at the nape of your neck and secure with bobby pins (guess what was the trickiest part for me). The bun will hide the ribbons and the beginnings of your braids. The finished result? A braided and ribboned headband of your own hair, and a bun at the back. Nobody will be able to figure out how you did it. You can add pearls and jeweled hair combs etc. it's just that I don't have any so I couldn't experiment. I am certain that the finished result doesn't look quite like Lucia's masterpiece, however it seems like a decent approximation I could make with my own medium-length hair, and I was able to easily do it myself. Ada Cormaic <adacormaic at yahoo.com> --- The other part of this equation is, don't wash your hair. All the fabulous hair styles were achieved because their hair was not squeaky clean. It wasn't dirty either. It just cracks me up when I hear people say 'My hair is filthy! I haven't washed it for a day! Then after we do wash it, we stick a bunch of chemicals in it that make it look as if it hasn't been washed. And then we stick more chemicals in it to condition it and then wash them out with a shampoo that complete strips the hair. But the manufacturers love it. They just keep ruining our hair, so we keep buying more product. If you brush your hair 100 strokes every night, it will go along way to conditioning and strengthening your hair. Anyway, if you want to do work your hair into a fabulous braid, you want your hats to stay on better do not wash your hair for at least 2 days before. Oh god, I can hear the squeals of pain now! Be sure to brush it before bed every night. Then when you go to do the style, you will not need as many pins or as much hairspray. And you will also give your hair and scalp a much needed break from the beauty supply industry. Kathlene (khopkins at cyberhighway.net) --- One more! In service to The Dream, Cecily ___________________________________________________________________________ |\ _,,,---,,_ grace /,`.-'`' -. ;-;; polgara at aros.net |,4- ) )-,_..;\ ( `'-' http://www.aros.net/~polgara/ '---''(_/--' `-'\_) fL "Si hoc legere scis nimium eruditiones habes." [sent to me by phlip at morganco.net] From: grace <polgara at shell.aros.net> To: Midrealm List <sca-middle at midrealm.org> Date: Friday, January 28, 2000 8:48 PM Subject: [Mid] Hair Ideas #3 This last installment is mostly a reference of period art and the hairstyles in it. --- With regard to Italian Fashion during the Rennaissance I turn to the following sources: A Treasury of Art Masterpieces from the Renaissance to the Present Day; Masterpieces of Italian Art; The Complete Paints by the Master of Line-Durer; Art in Venice. Portraits from 1400 through 1600 show that in Italian paintings there seems to be many single subject depictions of men wearing some type of headcoverings (Portrait of a Youth - Giovanni Bellini, Jacob Fugger, the Wealthy - Durer) while paintings with many subjects or group scenes (Feast in the House of Levi - Paolo Veronese, The End of the World - Luca Signorelli) show men without headcoverings or a mixture. Women sometimes wear no headcovering (Portrait of a Young Venetian Woman - Durer, Portrait of a Venetian Woman - Durer, The Mystical Marriage of St. Catherine - Paolo Veronese) other than elaborate hairstyles although sometimes they are depicted wearing simple turbans or scarves during domestic occupations such as caring for a child (Sacra Conversazione - Palma il Vecchio, The Presentation of the Virgin in the Temple-Titian). Durer in particular does show single subject portraits with no headcoverings for women or men, however many of his subjects, especially male, do wear headcoverings. Might a theory be presented that headcoverings were worn for portraits much like today we spiff up for family pictures? Also, might the group portraits showing a wide variety of heads both covered and uncovered show that headcoverings were a matter of fashion choice rather than necessity? Please keep in mind this is just a short glance at portraiture during the Italian Renaissance from a few sources. Kristiane <wolfsong at utah-inter.net> --- In service to The Dream, Cecily [sent to me by phlip at morganco.net] From: Marie Lillian Vibbert <mlv4 at po.cwru.edu> To: sca-middle at midrealm.org <sca-middle at midrealm.org> Date: Monday, January 31, 2000 1:31 PM Subject: [Mid] hair ideas for the longish sort I was very frustrated starting out at all the period hair style material available for those with short locks, and none for those who could actually pull off a period length, so I thought I'd share what I've learned for those who share my over endowedness of hair and are interestes: First off, having lots of hair doesn't make this easier. It's a lot easier to pin in a false extention exactly where you want than make your real hair do it. Secondly, I don't mean to diss extentions. They're handy, and I've seen conclusive documentation for hairstyles that could only have been done with additional hairpieces. I have a few period hair styles I use. The first is that classic elizabethan top roll. Grasp the hair on one side of your temple and twist it, work around the head, slowly gathering all the hair you have into one long twisting rope. After you've made it all the way around the head, continue twisting to get the whole of your hair nice and twisted, then tuck that coil in under the twist around the head. Take a largish comb to sweep up the bangs and secure them behind the roll. I find one bobby pin is enough to hold the whole mess up, provided you have enough hair to make half again another pass. This takes hair of at least mid-back length. You can then decorate with pearl-toped pins or whatnot. The second is for "templets", a nice 14th century 'do. Braid your hair in two braids at the nape of your neck, bring them forward and cross over the forehead, bobby pining into place. If you want, you can put wire into the braids to make sure they fall horizontal to the face. To really keep them in place, you need a circlet or padded bourlet, ideally worn high and back to accentuate that lovely high forehead. Another popular hair style are the "princess leia buns". If you can put up with the constant star wars references. Mind you, Leia herself _definately_ had falsies to get them that big. I've seen a wide variety of the double-bun look, including having the double buns with a sort of bourlet of fake hair around the top like a circlet, the double-buns-with circlet or cage, or you can just have two braids looped up on each other. I've had nothing but misery trying to use a snood with buns, but that may be my own lack of proper pinning. Either my hair gets loose and pulls the snood out, or the snood gets loose and hangs like a fishing net around my head. ah well, enough babbling. Thought it might help. Lyonnete, the hairy. :) From: Gwen Morse <goldmoon at REMOVE.geocities.com> Newsgroups: rec.org.sca Subject: Re: woad is me Date: Sun, 09 Jul 2000 15:43:00 -0400 On Sat, 8 Jul 2000 07:05:22 -0800, "Sean O'Leary" <manxcat9 at hotmail.com> wrote: >No, skipping the hair-liming. There's fun and all that, but lime seems a lot >less healthy than being blue for a couple weeks. > >-Irial Feasruadh hIarn !in >-(Irial Red-beard O'Hearnon) >-mka Sean O'Leary >-Anchorage AK Here is an except from email exchanged between myself and a British re-encactor, that can point you in the right direction in case you decide you WOULD like to use the "limewash" look. At 05:19 PM 4/28/98 +0100, "Paul Attard" wrote: >> I know enough about woad >>to find it on my own, but, I was wondering what the group uses for lime >>wash? > >Well.... if we were being totally authentic we should use lime with a >dash of urine, but this, as you can imagine is not very nice in summer >and tends to make your hair fall out. Very popular with flying insects >of all kinds. The urine stops the lime burning your scalp... Thank the >gods for small mercy's > >We actually use.....wait for it.....Kaolin! this is totally inert and >brushes out easily at the end of the day. It is also an excellent cure >for Diarrhoea. >MMMMMMmmmmm brings back happy memorys of camp fire cooking! > >> Is there a re