How to recreate Elisabeth of Austria's hairstyles?

[meteor]

I have searched all over the internet for instructions on how to create gorgeous, elaborate Sissi's hair styles, but couldn't find anything. :( It's a bit distressing that even hair styling gurus who bravely do Lord of the Rings and Game of Thrones styles won't attempt Sissi's styles because they require too much hair/work.

I know the empress had something like ankle-length hair plus servants styling her hair for at least 3 hours a day, but is there nothing that can be done to achieve a somewhat similar look?
For example, can this particular style be done with a few braids left down and looped a bit at the back plus a few coronet/headband braids pinned around the head? Or am I too naive?
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/fd/Erzsebet_kiralyne_photo_1867.jpg/220px-Erzsebet_kiralyne_photo_1867.jpg
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-z0zQxGpVxog/ThxNjkNtavI/AAAAAAAAATU/3uUq8L5Cgm8/s1600/image1459.jpg
http://media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/236x/53/10/21/531021af94546881ab53f6ba17aa6776.jpg

[Sarahlabyrinth]

Oh what a gorgeous style (swoon)....

[Larki]

Oh my gosh, beautiful!! I have no idea how you could recreate it, though.

[Seeshami]

Challenge accepted

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CNpMVlgykvo

[meteor]

Challenge accepted

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CNpMVlgykvo

Wow! Seeshami, that's genius! :D Awesome tutorial! Thank you so very much! :flowers:

[Seeshami]

:bow:

I already have another less complicated idea but I will save it for when I don't have a final to reformat.

[Sarahlabyrinth]

That is a mindblowing tutorial, Seeshami, well done!

[chen bao jun]

That was fun to watch.

[Chromis]

Drat my thin ends! I just tried it, but I don't have enough length at knee yet doing a false crown to have more than a tiny loop for the bottom part. I could likely do pigtails though and use one for the top and one for the loop. Otherwise I'd need to do a real crown braid since those don't eat as much length, but it really looks more like a false crown with how proud the braid on top sits. Even doing a Dutch crown the braid is embedded in a little more if this make sense.

I got a bit excited actually. The false crown is my favourite style, but right now I wrap one-and-a-half times which leaves the tassle to hide right in the middle of my forehead. Awkward!

[meteor]

Drat my thin ends! I just tried it, but I don't have enough length at knee yet doing a false crown to have more than a tiny loop for the bottom part. I could likely do pigtails though and use one for the top and one for the loop. Otherwise I'd need to do a real crown braid since those don't eat as much length, but it really looks more like a false crown with how proud the braid on top sits. Even doing a Dutch crown the braid is embedded in a little more if this make sense.

I got a bit excited actually. The false crown is my favourite style, but right now I wrap one-and-a-half times which leaves the tassle to hide right in the middle of my forehead. Awkward!

I was thinking... does one actually need to do a "full" coronet (false crown) or could you just pin the top of the coronet like a headband and let the remaining end of the braid hang and loop behind?
Basically, when one wraps the braid under (below ears), all that hair is just hidden instead of being used to create the long view from the back. So maybe a headband thing on top instead of a 100% full coronet might help?

[Madora]

Nice video, Seeshami!

Meteor, I've been obsessed with Elizabeth's gorgeous multi braid hairstyle for decades (after seeing those magnificent
Winterhalter portraits in the Hofburg).

About the only place you can get an accurate idea of how the style looked are the "Sisi" films, starring Romy Schneider, made in German, in the 1950s. There is also a US compilation of the 3 Sisi films in English, entitled "Forever My Love". The hairstyles in the film are to die for! All wigs, of course, but magnificent just the same. Here is a collage I made featuring a small portrait of Elisabeth from the back, showing the roped braids, plus stills and one screen capture from Forever My Love:
http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w225/07Erzbet/62914Sisibraidcollage_edited-1.jpg (http://s177.photobucket.com/user/07Erzbet/media/62914Sisibraidcollage_edited-1.jpg.html)


I so wish Janet Stephens, the lady who does the historic hairstyling on You Tube, would tackle this! Sisi had the most incredible head of hair!

[Undomiel]

Challenge accepted

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CNpMVlgykvo

Awesome attempt :)

[Chromis]

I was thinking... does one actually need to do a "full" coronet (false crown) or could you just pin the top of the coronet like a headband and let the remaining end of the braid hang and loop behind?
Basically, when one wraps the braid under (below ears), all that hair is just hidden instead of being used to create the long view from the back. So maybe a headband thing on top instead of a 100% full coronet might help?

I tried to put my placement similar to where she has hers, so it does indeed take a full wrap around the head. I just tried holding my night braid as if it were a headband farther back and that did give me a bit more for a loop....but it was still only about two or three inches long looped. Nowhere near as glorious as Sissi's!

[meteor]

:thudpile:Wow, Madora! :D Those are gorgeous pictures! With hair like that, who needs a crown? :D
And those Sissi movies deservedly turned then-unknown Romy Schneider into a star.

...I'm wondering, could it be a combination of coronet braids (headband braids) and horseshoe braided bun made with multiple braids instead of just 2 braids? Since her hair was extremely long, the loops of the horseshoe braids would be pretty long too.

[Quasiquixotic]

Wow! Seeshami great tutorial!

Madora excellent photo montage.

This is beautiful hair!

[Seeshami]

Double post

[Madora]

Meteor, here's a link to the German Long Hair Network re: the Sisi hairstyle on a Sisi Barbie doll. Scroll down to poster Cerenia whose post is dated 25.02.10 (February 2, 2010). The end product is lovely: http://www.microsofttranslator.com/BV.aspx?ref=IE8Activity&a=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.langhaarnetzwerk.de%2FphpBB3%2F viewtopic.php%3Ft%3D6821%26start%3D15

[Seeshami]

Now on to the other idea. I am pretty sure it is what everyone has been thinking but why write when I can camera? Be back in 20 minutes.

edit:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5IHpzecbd_M

[meteor]

Now on to the other idea. I am pretty sure it is what everyone has been thinking but why write when I can camera? Be back in 20 minutes.

edit:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5IHpzecbd_M

That looks great! :D Thank you so much for such a useful video, Seeshami! You are awesome! :D

I love how beautiful and yet very hair-friendly this style is. Only braids stacked/intertwined and pinned. Looks amazing and nothing damaging at all. :)

[Lady melissa]

Youtube says the vid is not available? :( Maybe not for Belgium?

[Seeshami]

I will check my settings but nothing should be blocked as its all original content. Very odd....

Edit: YouTube errors out on that video on my phone so it must be the video. I will investigate in the next few days.

[eadwine]

I watched it back when, so it must be a setting or something in the vid.

[Vrindi]

Yeah I'm still getting that its unavailable too. :(

[Seeshami]

The mystery has been solved. My down right refusal to have a google plus profile was making all my videos, no matter what, unviewable. It has been fixed!

[Vrindi]

The mystery has been solved. My down right refusal to have a google plus profile was making all my videos, no matter what, unviewable. It has been fixed!

The only reason I have a G+ profile is for videos.

[meteor]

I should update this thread, because I just saw this video by Loepsie:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-nZX7IA9nY4

There aren't many Youtubers who attempt Sisi's style (that requires a ton of bobby pins and patience and even more tons of hair!), and I think Loepsie did such a beautiful job! :applause

[lapushka]

Yes, I saw that a few days ago on my feed. She did well, didn't she? :D

[meteor]

^ Oh yes, she did a great job! :agree: And goodness, it's such an iconic style to try! ;)
I'm pretty excited about Loepsie's plan to try different hairstyles of different famous women throughout history. Should be awesome! :thumbsup:

[lapushka]

Yes, and I loved her hair history series as well! Especially when she got to the 80s. OM gosh! :lol:

[meteor]

^ Oh yes, she nailed the awesomeness of that era! :agree:
Loved it and her make-up history series, too! :thumbsup:

[lapushka]

:lol: Well, we're obviously big fans, meteor! ;)