Hi there and welcome back to my blog! This blog is going to be about the rococo era and will include the journey of creating my own rococo style wig and makeup design. First of all, lets start off with a little bit of history.
Hairstyles in the 18th century were always curled, waved or frizzed before styling. When larger hairstyles came into fashion, pads made of wool or human hair would be used to add height. In the 1750s, the hair was waved and pulled back with only an inch or so of height. This was then arranged in curls, a twist or a braid. In the evening, a couple of curls hanging over the shoulder was desired. Adornments such as ribbons, pearls, jewels or flowers were used. In the 1760s, women's hair grew taller and was often styled in a round egg shape. Loose hanging curls were again worn mainly in the evening. In the 1770s, huge wigs were extremely popular. 'Pouf' is a term used to not only refer to the wig but also its adornments (ships, birdcages, ribbons, flowers, feathers, pearls, etc). The wig was usually in a rounded balloon shape, which can stand up straight off the head or lean back towards the crown of the head. Barrel curls were placed around the head, pointing towards the crown of the head. Ringlets would often hang down the neck (Cleave, 2009). A large wig could tower several inches above the forehead and be decorated by flowers, strings of pearls, and ostrich feathers (Figure 1), transforming the wearer into some kind of walking sculpture (Bussagu and Reiche, 2009).
Figure 2: The Duchess (European Film Awards, n.d.).
Figure 2 (above) is an industry example of a rococo style wig. The film 'The Duchess' is set in the rococo era, which could have been guessed by the huge wig with the ringlets coming down from the back. This hairstyle is sleek and follows the 'egg' shape of most rococo wig styles. This is a more traditional style of rococo wig done in industry. Figures 3 shows a more modern interpretation of the rococo era, in the Netflix TV series 'Bridgerton'. They have also included different hair textures that are common with BAME communities (Figure 4). This is brilliant designing. It is so inclusive and shows that everyone is accepted and catered for.
Design
Figure 5 (left) is an image of my initial design for the rococo module. It is important to design your style or character before starting any project because this allows you to get all of your ideas out so you can visibly see them. It also allows for other people to see your ideas and give you constructive criticism if needed. Designing allows for problem solving which is a key skill to have. When designing in industry, others will say to change things and this is normal as no one gets everything correct first time (Davis and Hall, 2012).
Figure 6 (right) shows the design for the roller set that was going to be done on the wig.
Figure 7 (left) shows the face chart that was completed when designing the rococo character. I knew from the beginning that I wanted to go fairly traditional with the hair, but have the makeup very avant garde and bold. The colour pink is very feminine which is why this is the main colour for the look. Because the makeup is so structural with the squared off eyebrows, I wanted to still have the femininity within the image. Men and women in England wore obvious cosmetics - makeup was not intended to look natural and it was even called 'paint' (Cleave, 2009). Because of this research, I wanted to go big with the makeup to show I have understood the era and how they used their products, but modernise it and put my own twist on to it.
Choosing a Wig
When choosing a wig for this project, the history of the era was taken into account. A white acrylic wig was chosen as I thought this would reflect the rococo theme very well. White is the colour of the main powder used to powder wigs back in this era (Figure 8).
Henry IV of France started powdering his hair to hide his greying hair, but Louis XIV was the one who introduced white hair powder. After this, most powders came in white as this was the most popular colour. These powders did also come in brown, grey, pink, orange, blue or violet and were applied with a bellows, with a powder puff for the touchups. The person getting powdered would have their face covered with a one shaped mask (Cleave, 2009).
Setting the Wig
Once the wig had been chosen, it was time to set it. Unfortunately the wig that was chosen was extremely matted and knotted, so a set could not be done straight away (Figure 9). First, the wig had to be brushed out as best as I could, and then a steamer had to be used in order to get all the tangles and knots out of it. Once steamed, the wig was like brand new and was ready to be set (Figure 10).
Figures 11, 12, 13 & 14: Rococo Wig Set Images (O'Connor, 2021).
The figures above show the completed roller set for the rococo wig. Medium-small sized rollers were used as the wig needed to be quite curly to create the waves that will go up into the frame. Because this is an acrylic wig and because of the state it was in before it had been steamed, the wig had lots of flyaway hairs which made the set look really messy in comparison to the human hair wigs I have been working on throughout the module. Another wig of better quality could have been chosen, but I wanted to persevere as this was the wig colour I had wanted and I had designed for.
Creating the Wig Frame
Figures 15, 16 & 17: Creating the Wig Frame Images (O'Connor, 2021).
The figures above show the stages of making the wig frame for the rococo design. Armature wire was used to create the frame which was then wrapped in netting and sewed on tightly. After this, some crepe hair, which was a similar colour to the wig, was sewn onto the frame ready for the hair to go cover (Baker, 2012). This helps to blend the hair into the frame so it isn't as obvious that there is a frame underneath the hair. This was then sewn into the wig to make it secure and sturdy.
Dressing the Wig
Figure 18 (left) is an image of the wig halfway through being dressed out. As you can see, finger waves have been created using metal sectioning clips to keep the crests in shape. This was rather difficult to style because the hair wouldn't backcomb properly because it was an acrylic wig, so the hair wasn't spreading like I had wanted it to.
At this stage it became clear that the wig frame was made slightly too large where the hair only just managed to reach the top of it. This caused gaps at the top of the dressed out wig, which luckily were covered up by flowers and feathers.
Final Wig Design
Figures 19, 20, 21, 22, 23 & 24: Final Rococo Wig Images (O'Connor, 2022)
The images above show the final Rococo wig. The wig has been embellished with a floral design with feathers at the top, with a cascade of flowers falling down the waves at the front. It features 2 barrel curls on each side of the head. These barrel curls are continued in the back of the head, and are pointing towards the crown of the head. Ringlets of hair have been left out ash the back of the head too, which was very historically accurate. The wig design is very representative of the Rococo era and has been completed to a high standard. The ringlet curls were a bit too loose for the effect I wanted, so in future smaller rollers would be used to create a tighter curl.
The Makeup
Figure 25 (left) shows the makeup that was applied for the Rococo brief. An avant garde style makeup was chosen because the hair was so traditional. I thought the bold makeup would really suit the wig design as it creates a finished look, with the pink makeup matching the pink roses used to embellish the wig.
The overall images are of extremely high standard and I am very pleased with the outcome. I think I have created a very effective piece of work that truly represents the Rococo era. Even just looking at the silhouette, you would know that this was a Rococo style wig.
Thank you for coming on the journey with me across the period hairdressing module!
Until next time:)
Alysha
Reference List:
Baker, P. (2012) Wigs and Make-up for Theatre, TV and Film, Oxon, Routledge.
Betancourt, B. (2021) Queen Charlotte's Extravagant Afro in Bridgerton Was Inspired by Who Else but Beyoncé [Online]. Available at: https://www.harpersbazaar.com/culture/film-tv/a35166325/bridgerton-hair-makeup-march-pilcher-interview/ (Accessed 18th January 2022).
Bussagu, M. and Reiche, M. (2009) Baroque & Rococo, New York, Stirling Publishing Co., Inc.
Cleave, K. (2009) Rococo Beauty Tips [Online]. Available at: http://www.gbacg.org/finery/2009/rococo-beauty-tips/ (Accessed 14th January 2022).
Davis, G. and Hall, M. (2012) The Makeup Artist Handbook, 2nd ed, Oxford, Focal Press.
European Film Awards. (n.d.) The Duchess [Online]. Available at: https://www.europeanfilmawards.eu/en_EN/film/the-duchess.10528 (Accessed 18th January 2022).
HistoryRevealed. (n.d.) Did rococo wigs really have mice? [Online]. Available at: https://www.historyrevealed.com/eras/18th-century/did-rococo-wigs-really-have-mice/ (Accessed 18th January 2022).
O'Connor, A. (2021) Creating the Wig Frame Images [Own Images]. York College, York.
O'Connor, A. (2021) Face Chart [Own Image]. York College, York.
O'Connor, A. (2021) Initial Design [Own Image]. York College, York.
O'Connor, A. (2021) Rococo Wig Set Images [Own Images]. York College, York.
O'Connor, A. (2021) Wig After Steaming [Own Image]. York College, York.
O'Connor, A. (2021) Wig Before Steaming [Own Image]. York College, York.
O'Connor, A. (2021) Wig Set Design [Own Image]. York College, York.
O'Connor, A. (2022) Final Rococo Wig Images [Own Images]. York College, York.
O'Connor, A. (2022) Rococo Finger Waves [Own Image]. York.
O'Connor, A. (2022) Rococo Makeup [Own Image]. York College, York.
Weinstock, T. (2021) How Bridgerton’s Hair and Makeup Artists Created the Show’s Romantic Looks [Online]. Available at: https://www.vogue.com/article/bridgerton-romantic-hair-and-makeup (Accessed 18th January 2022).
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