1770s fancy hair

[jennylafleur]

Alright my beloved Pin Posse I need your help.

I will have this lovely green ball gown by Saturday and I have no idea how to wear my hair for the occasion! My little cotton cap is not dressy enough so I need an actual hairstyle. Preferably something simple (I don't have my hair stylist this weekend nor a lot of time to fuss with it that day). The period for the event is the early 1770s.

Any brilliant suggestions or online sources to recommend? *looks hopeful*

Comments

[strawberrykaren.livejournal.com]

I know these aren't exactly right for the early 1770s, of course ... but they do make for nice up-dos that have a more interesting shape than just a plain bun.
http://intimelyfashion.com/hair/edward1.html
http://intimelyfashion.com/hair/gibson1.htm
http://intimelyfashion.com/hair/gibson2.htm
(Perhaps with a few of the ringlet-curls in fake hair close to your hair color, pinned just under the knot?)

She also has Regency styles at http://intimelyfashion.com/hair/regency1.html and http://intimelyfashion.com/hair/regency2.html ... which are closer temporally to the early 1770s, but I think they're different aesthetically.

If you can't get good answers here, maybe you could get in touch with the women who do the Fop Fest (http://www.triafata.org/fopfest/) and see how they dress their hair?

[jennylafleur.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the links - I'll go check those out! :>

[demode.livejournal.com]

1770s hair is always very simple -- I usually go for something a la Madame de Pompadour -- put some wave into my hair and put it into a only-slightly-loose bun, and do some trailing ringlets.

[jennylafleur.livejournal.com]

Oh yes, how you wore your hair with your green robe à la française - so pretty! :>

[joysdaughter.livejournal.com]

Pomopadour is 50 years too early. This is more what you want. Puufy on top - lots of back combing. Take most of the back up in fat sausage curls - doesn't matter if they go up and down or sideways, or make some braids and cross them in the back. Then make ringlets, fat as possible, with the rest and leave hanging.

http://www.artchive.com/artchive/G/gainsborough/duncombe.jpg.html

Should give you an idea.

[joysdaughter.livejournal.com]

That should read 30 years too early. Damn typing in the dark!!

[jennylafleur.livejournal.com]

Oh thanks - some very helpful info there indeed!

[sewphisticate.livejournal.com]

Think "beehive" front, with ringlet back. Should be easy--just rat, rat, rat the front for height, with smooth on top, and rag-curl the rest. That Gainsborough photo cited by joysdaughter is good. Important safety tip: Don't forget to spray the heck out of it with steel-gripping hair laquer of choice. People get sweaty at dances, and the perspiration raises the humidity of the room (no kidding), which is one of the reasons so many really nice do's fall out during the eveing.

[jennylafleur.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the hair spray tip - I won't have thought of that!

You're so smart! :>

[jennil.livejournal.com]

Yay! Seeing that portrait makes me feel better about my "Gala" hair from last year. I was so disappointed that my fancy hat didn't want to be, and had no back-up plan, ha ha ha! I wasn't keen on the idea of really ratting my hair (which I understand involves putting all kinds of hair products, and then holding the hair up and brushing down the strands, creating a nest of matts - *shudders at the thought of trying to comb that out the next day*) so I bought a few of those snap-together "hair rats" and made a sort of halo with it, then pulled my hair up and over it, securing it in place with many bobby pins and then a large amount of aqua-net (and in the strongest one available, no less) hairspray. The feathers I stuck in to cover the mess of pins in the middle of the "halo" (and because I really, really wanted to be wearing black & white feathers on my head somehow, LOL!) but if I had more hair I probably could have fashioned ringlets and pinned them in place. Too bad my own hair is not nearly thick enough for that - it almost couldn't cover the rats - so false hair for making 18c curls is definitely on my "to someday purchase" list. ;)

Good luck!

[jennylafleur.livejournal.com]

Thanks Jenni!