Hello there and welcome to this weeks blog! This weeks entry is going to be all about the Edwardian era and the movement of women's suffrage.
The suffrage movement was not just for women to gain the vote, but to change the public's perception of women as a whole, and how women perceive themselves (Purvis and Maroula, 1998).
In the 1890s, women wore their hair like 'Gibson Girls', which soon came to be the look of the era as this look not only symbolised female attractiveness, but symbolised independence and strength.
Women of all classes wore their hair like this, taking inspiration from the singer and actress Camille Clifford (Figure 1), who was actually considered as Britain's "Gibson Girl"(Sherrow, 2006).
According to Conway (2004), women's hair showed their status; when a girl was ready for marriage they would start to wear their hair up, whereas long hair worn loose was seen as a symbol of youth, and in older women, a sign of promiscuity. She goes on to say that women's hair was mainly worn in a pompadour* style which was brushed over large rats to create volume and width. They were then decorated with adornments such as flowers and feathers.
*A pompadour was worn by both men and women. The female pompadour is a tall hairstyle originally built around a wire frame, however in the Edwardian period, the hair would be swept over a ball of false hair, known as a "rat". The male pompadour is combed back off the face with no parting which was often worn by Elvis Presley (Sherrow, 2006).
To the right, Figure 2 shows an example of an industry standard Edwardian hairstyle as 'Titanic' was set in the Edwardian era. The left image is the recreation, and the right image is the actual person they were trying to be. The hair is worn in the typical pompadour style with lots of volume and wave. The hair is also dressed with a feather. I would have expected a little more volume at the front of the hair, however, the style has been very accurately depicted.
Figures 3, 4 & 5: Edwardian Set Images (O'Connor, 2021).
The figures above show the roller set for the Edwardian hairstyle. The rollers at the front of the hairline have been directed backwards and the rollers towards the nape of the neck have been rolled upwards, all set on base for maximum volume. Because smaller rollers were used, when the rollers were taken out, the curls produced were very tight and in ringlets with lots of volume at the root, which is exactly what was required for the style (Figure 6).
Figures 7, 8, 9 & 10: Edwardian Style Images (O'Connor, 2021).
Figures 7, 8, 9 & 10 (pictured above) are the final images of the dressed out Edwardian style before being put on a model. This hairstyle turned out extremely well, with the final results being very effective and very representative of the era. The use of a handmade hair rat meant a successful pompadour style with lots of height was achieved. The hairstyle, from all angles, is very effective as it definitely gives the silhouette of an Edwardian hairstyle. This is one of the best and most accurate hairstyles produced so far in the period hairdressing module and definite improvements are being made each week. Confidence in working with hair is growing too, which is reflected in the styles being produced each week. Belcher (n.d.) says that having confidence in your work can actually help you push yourself to accomplish more, and achieve better results each time.
Having looked at the images again, there are gaps in the quiff in the front of the hairstyle. As a viewer, this was quite distracting and found that it takes away from the Edwardian vision. Not enough time was taken to really brush through the roller set, which is one of the reasons for the gap in the front; another reason being that there was not a sufficient amount of backcombing done to try hide the gap. Brushing the hair thoroughly after setting the wig will relax the hair and minimise any lines or marks where rollers have been, and backcombing makes the style secure (Roemuss, et al., 2018).
Thank you for reading this weeks blog. Final images of the wig applied on a model can be found in the Period Hairdressing Portfolio section of the website.
Next week we will be looking at the Elizabethan era and the reign of Queen Elizabeth I.
See you then:)
Alysha
Reference List:
Belcher, L. (n.d.) The Impact of Confidence on Work Performance [Online]. Available at: https://smallbusiness.chron.com/greatly-improve-motivation-outlook-57019.html (Accessed 17th January 2022).
Conway, J. (2004) Make-up Artistry, Oxford, Heinemann Educational Publishers.
Getty Images. (n.d.) Camille Clifford [Online]. Available at: https://www.gettyimages.co.uk/detail/news-photo/camille-clifford-actress-circa-1900-news-photo/141163748?adppopup=true (Accessed 17th January 2022).
O'Connor, A. (2021) Edwardian Set Images [Own Images]. York.
O'Connor, A. (2021) Edwardian Style Images [Own Images]. York College, York.
O'Connor, A. (2021) Set Before Dressing Out [Own Image]. York College, York.
Purvis, J. and Maroula, J. (1998) The Women's Suffrage Movement, Manchester, Manchester University Press.
Roemuss, K., Green, M. and Palladino, L. (2018) Professional Hairdressing: Australian and New Zealand Edition, 2nd ed, South Melbourne, Cengage Learning Australia.
Sherrow, V. (2006) Encyclopedia of Hair, Westport, Greenwood Press.
Thompson, E. and Bonner, M. (2020) 19 'Titanic' Characters With Their Real-Life Counterparts [Online]. Available at: https://www.cosmopolitan.com/entertainment/movies/g14435920/titanic-real-characters-photos/?slide=9 (Accessed 17th January 2022).
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