Hi there and welcome back to my blog. This week we will be researching into the Elizabethan era and the reign of Queen Elizabeth I.
Elizabeth I reigned for 44 years and was also named the 'Virgin Queen' because she never married (Biography, 2017). She is seen as one of the most liked monarchs in all of British history because she was accessible to her people unlike other monarchs (Lee, 2020).
In terms of hairstyling, the heart shaped silhouette appears repeatedly over the Elizabethan era. This was created by dressing the hair over rats, or even wire frames. Hairstyles were styled with waxes, and due to excessive hairstyling, frizzy hair textures became apparent throughout the era. Adornments were a MUST in this era; jewels, pearls, chains, and crosses were used to draw attention to the hair (Lowery, 2019). Queen Elizabeth I wore a lot of pearls as seen in Figure 1. Due to the popularity and beauty of Queen Elizabeth I, red hair was very popular in this era, however blonde was still very popular.
Elizabethan Men
At the beginning of the era, men wore short hair. However, towards the end of the era longer hair gained popularity. Curly or wavy hair also grew in popularity towards the end of the era, with iconic figures like playwright, William Shakespeare (Figure 2), sporting long wavy hair. Balding men would wear wigs to keep up with the trends of long flowing hair (Lowery, 2019).
There are lots of industry standard examples of Queen Elizabeth I look recreations: The Virgin Queen, Elizabeth I, Elizabeth. Personally, I think that Elizabeth: The Golden Age portrays a very accurate representation of Elizabeth as they really capture her hair and makeup well, no wonder this film is award-winning for its period hair and makeup! As you can see in Figure 3, 'Elizabeth' is pictured with the classic heart-shaped silhouette with a large frilly collar and very pale makeup.
Figures 4, 5 & 6: Elizabethan Set Images (O'Connor, 2021).
Due to it being such a staple hairstyle in this era, a recreation of the heart-shaped silhouette hairstyle has been done. Figures 4, 5 & 6 (above) show the Elizabethan roller set completed. This is a directional, on base roller set completed up to the crown of the head with medium sized rollers. Two rows of rollers have been set in the nape of the neck with the rest of the hair tied up in a bun as this is not needed to be set.
Figures 7, 8, 9 & 10: Elizabethan Style Images (O'Connor, 2021).
Pictured above (Figures 7, 8, 9 & 10) are the final images of the Elizabethan hairstyle dressed out before being applied on a model. The hairstyle reflects the era well with the distinctive heart-shaped silhouette. Elizabeth wore hairstyles that were tightly curled with lots of frizz. This hairstyle does not reflect this, however, because the hair is not curly enough because of the size of the rollers used. To achieve a more accurate representation, small perming rods should be used as they will produce the tight curls needed (Ross and Beauregard, 2013). Due to the frizziness of Elizabeth's hairstyles, the flyaways are not so much of a problem, although preferably it would be a little neater. The bun at the back of the head has plait detailing and includes a chain of pearls, which was very apparent in many of Elizabeth's hairstyles.
Instead of rolling up the hair like victory rolls, hair pads could have been used and the hair could have been pin curled up as this was a signature style of Elizabeth's which can be seen in Figure 11: an action shot of Margot Robbie playing Elizabeth in the film 'Mary Queen of Scots' which was actually portrayed by hair and makeup designer Jenny Shircore, who won an Oscar for the makeup and hairstyling in 'Elizabeth' almost 20 years prior (Rao, 2018).
Figure 12 shows an image of the makeup that was applied onto the model. The pale skin, rosy cheeks and stained lips was known as 'the Mask of Youth' worn by Queen Elizabeth I to help maintain the image of the 'Virgin Queen'. The white cake was made up of white lead and vinegar (known as ceruse), but later this was found to be poisonous (Lowery, 2019).
DID YOU KNOW? They sometimes made false eyelashes out of mouse fur.
Once the wig had been applied on to the model, it was clear that there has been a slight issue with the balance of the wig as one side of the heart shape is little bit larger than the other side. This was an improvement to be made in a previous week, so to have repeated the same mistake, means much more effort needs to go into to getting the balance and symmetry correct on a hairstyle. This week, costume has been thought about well and the final images include a frilly collar, which is an absolute staple for the historical monarchy. As an overall image, the era has been reflected successfully with those few improvements.
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 1920s!
See you then:)
Alysha
Reference List:
Biography. (2017) Queen Elizabeth I [Online]. Available at: https://www.biography.com/royalty/queen-elizabeth-i (Accessed 17th January 2022).
Britannica. (n.d.) Elizabethan Society [Online]. Available at: https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/The-clash-with-Spain (Accessed 17th January 2022).
Cichowski, H. (2019) 16 Other Great Royal Movies To Watch Besides Mary Queen Of Scots [Online]. Available at: https://thewhisp.mommyish.com/entertainment/movies/royal-movies-watch-after-mary-queen-of-scots/13/(Accessed 17th January 2022).
Lee, S. (2020) The Reign of Elizabeth I, Oxon, Routledge.
Lowery, A. (2019) Historical Wig Styling: Ancient Egypt to the 1830s, 2nd ed, Oxon, Taylor & Francis.
O'Connor, A. (2021) Elizabethan Makeup [Own Image]. York College, York.
O'Connor, A. (2021) Elizabethan Set Images [Own Images]. York College, York.
O'Connor, A. (2021) Elizabethan Style Images [Own Images]. York College, York.
Rao, S. (2018) How Margot Robbie transformed into Queen Elizabeth I for ‘Mary Queen of Scots’ [Online]. Available at: https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/how-margot-robbie-transformed-into-queen-elizabeth-i-for-mary-queen-of-scots/2018/12/13/6137db26-eda1-11e8-8679-934a2b33be52_story.html(Accessed 17th January 2022).
Ross, D. and Beauregard, A. (2013) Hair Care Basics That Save Money, Bloomington, iUniverse LLC.
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