Early 19th century hairstyles

[Medvssa]

I thought many of you might like this (very picture heavy!) LJ post, with many portraits from 1800 to 1830, with many great hairstyles. I hope it inspires some people to try :D Enjoy!

http://community.livejournal.com/lamodeillustree/64107.html

ETA:

late eighteenth century hair part two (http://community.livejournal.com/lamodeillustree/63767.html) 1780-1799 (2 of 2?)

late 18th century hair - part two (http://community.livejournal.com/lamodeillustree/62104.html) 1780-1799

late 18th century hair - part one (http://community.livejournal.com/lamodeillustree/61911.html) 1750-1779

Early 18th century hairdos (http://community.livejournal.com/lamodeillustree/61694.html) 1700-1749

late 17th century hair (http://community.livejournal.com/lamodeillustree/60976.html) 1652-1658

early 17th century hair (http://community.livejournal.com/lamodeillustree/60826.html) 1605-1640

[toodramatik]

I wonder how bad their hair smelt :D

[Medvssa]

Eh, why? :confused:

[toodramatik]

Well, I'd think they'd keep those hairstyles for days on end. In hot weather. =o

[Medvssa]

I don't see how those hairstyles would sustain a night's sleep, no matter how carefully they slept. All these portraits are of high society people (they could afford a portrait by Ingres after all...) who had a host of servants to make their 'do everyday. Several times if necessary.

[toodramatik]

Crazy times.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a304/theoldvicarage/1775.jpg

I like that one. Her hair. Her "I'm so much better than you" expression. She's cool.

[AutumnLeaves]

Thank you for these links. I love art and these portraits were no exception. The hairstyles were fun too!

[FrannyG]

Thank you for the links. They are really beautiful works of art, from the actual paintings to the hair.

[jel]

Thank you for posting these, Medvssa!

The 19thC hairstyles have inspired me to do more braided buns and braid/bun combinations :D

[Nini]

I don't see how those hairstyles would sustain a night's sleep, no matter how carefully they slept. All these portraits are of high society people (they could afford a portrait by Ingres after all...) who had a host of servants to make their 'do everyday. Several times if necessary.

Well, they would often sleep in a sitting position. So the hair would only be touched up in the morning.

Quite a few would wear powdered wigs.

And the personal hygiene would've sent us kicking and screaming today. As it was often a matter of covering up what was already there instead of having a good wash;)

Nini

[tiny_teesha]

i love art, so naturally i really enjoyed this post!! I've always been confused as to what era contains which sort of styles, this has helped clear it up a bit! :)
Thank you for this post!

[frizzinator]

Thank You Medvssa! As always, your links are fantastic!

[lora410]

I have to say the trend of putting ones long hair up hasn't faded since back in the very old days. I also find it so neat how long hair back then then was norm and these days it is the oddity. Amazing how centuries can change as tiem goes on. It makes me wonder what the trend will be 100 years after I have parted this earth.

[Amoretti]

Those are fabulous links, Medvssa. Thanks!

[Lamb]

I wonder how bad their hair smelt :D

Depending on how much time and servants the woman wearing the hair had, the smell might have been bearable. Scented lotions and potions were widely used for setting real and fake hair. The curls in the front were usually held in place with curlers, and it was not uncommon to have "detachable" curls... not to mention the curls existing only in the painter's imagination! :cool:

[Medvssa]

Everyone, you are very welcome :flower:


Well, they would often sleep in a sitting position. So the hair would only be touched up in the morning.

I have never heard that before. Hairnets and sleeping caps, certainly, yeah.


Quite a few would wear powdered wigs.

In the 18th century, yes. And powdered their own hair too. Not in the 19th century, although hair pieces and rats were very common.


And the personal hygiene would've sent us kicking and screaming today. As it was often a matter of covering up what was already there instead of having a good wash;)

Nini

I don't really think this applies as much when it comes to 18th and 19th century's high society. Earlier times, yeah perhaps.

Unless taking a bath once a week, just using your basin for morning washes, and going WO with your hair sends you kicking and screaming, it doesn't send me kicking and screaming.

You also have to think that the clothing customs were very different. They would be sent kicking and screaming because we do not wear underwear so that none of our outer garments are in contact with the body. That would be EWW to them. Of course those were changed daily.

[Molster]

And everybody (more or less) had similar standards of hygiene, so smells were normal.

It's only today in our water-on-tap, deodorant-crazy and hyper-clean society that we notice bodily odours, because in this modern mass-media driven world we've been conditioned to think of it negatively. Most of us have lost true empathy with our ancestors' standards and way of life.

Great links and beautiful art, Medvssa.

[tiny_teesha]

Medvssa- I read somewhere that they would bath 1 time a year, normally in May or June. That may be what the 'kicking and screaming' person was on about (i'm too lazy to read the thread agian to say who it was)

[StephanieB]

Well, I'd think they'd keep those hairstyles for days on end. In hot weather. =o

Nope.

Most people (men and women, in the 18th century) wore powdered wigs, or, at the very least, additions.

That wasn't all their own hair; it was human hair (from poor women, who sold their hair for much-needed money) added to their own. In most of those pix, the ahir inside/underneath the top hair that you see, is ... what we'd call 'extension' today OR just a balled-up bunch of human hair that was wrapped into one's one hair.


Usually, one's hair was done daily, or every other day, by one's maid. (In parts of Asia, women often slept in a seated position, or with their neck on a wooden bar so their head hung over, and their hair wasn't mussed. In Europe, that wasn't common.)

European upper class women usually washed their hair between once and thrice a month, average.

How is that different from many (most?) people here?

[StephanieB]

I see a lot of silly outdated misconceptions here in this thread.


Our medieval ancestors (I'm talking about Europe, now) bathed far more regularly than 19th-century historians used to think.

How is it that no one here has learned 20th-century knowledge - never mind 21st-century knowledge about the Dark Ages and the Middle Ages and the Renaissance - in Europe??

Medieval Europeans (nobility, that is) bathed quite frequently... often together, communally. (less in the winter, true... but they didn't have indoor heating like we've got today, either; the ancient Romans had indoor heating, hot water pipes run underneath their floors, but that was lost in the Dark Ages.)

One of the de rigueur host[ess] necessities, when people came to your castle/manor/home was a bath (after food & drink, and after your horses were looked after). Bath tubs were set out in front of the fireplace, filled with heated water, and one's guests were left to ennjoy their bath. Often, if the place was large enough and the owner rich enough, the bath tub was put in one's chamber, in front of the fire, and one bathed with one's spouse... with the servants present and attending you in your bath, and with your host & hostess sitting nearby, talking to you. (chatting) It was a social occasion.

There are tons of woodcuts and drawings and other artwork - as well as text descriptions - that show this. It's common knowledge.

Quite often, period artwork and text showed public 'bath houses', in which rooms full of tubs, with persons of both genders in the tubs, bathed and chatted and socialized happily.

Only the seriously repressed Victorians believed that medieval people never bathed. (or showed their bodies and kept prudish modesty)
Before that era - people knew better; After the Edwardians - people knew better.

[StephanieB]

I have to say the trend of putting ones long hair up hasn't faded since back in the very old days. I also find it so neat how long hair back then then was norm and these days it is the oddity. Amazing how centuries can change as tiem goes on. It makes me wonder what the trend will be 100 years after I have parted this earth.

The reasons why women (unless they had to sell it OR were doing serious penance) never cut their hair are found in the bible.

Pretty much, it's the same reason why Tridentine Roman Catholics, and Amish & Mennonites, cover their "crowning glory and power".

Tridentine Catholics veil. Amish (generally) cover with a mini- indoor bonnet and a bigger outdoor bonnet. Mennonites use both the Amish-style bonnets and veils. Many Baptists wear hats. It's all part and parcel of the same biblical scriptures.

[Lamb]

I see a lot of silly outdated misconceptions here in this thread.


Our medieval ancestors (I'm talking about Europe, now) bathed far more regularly than 19th-century historians used to think.

How is it that no one here has learned 20th-century knowledge - never mind 21st-century knowledge about the Dark Ages and the Middle Ages and the Renaissance - in Europe??

Medieval Europeans (nobility, that is) bathed quite frequently... often together, communally. (less in the winter, true... but they didn't have indoor heating like we've got today, either; the ancient Romans had indoor heating, hot water pipes run underneath their floors, but that was lost in the Dark Ages.)

One of the de rigueur host[ess] necessities, when people came to your castle/manor/home was a bath (after food & drink, and after your horses were looked after). Bath tubs were set out in front of the fireplace, filled with heated water, and one's guests were left to ennjoy their bath. Often, if the place was large enough and the owner rich enough, the bath tub was put in one's chamber, in front of the fire, and one bathed with one's spouse... with the servants present and attending you in your bath, and with your host & hostess sitting nearby, talking to you. (chatting) It was a social occasion.

There are tons of woodcuts and drawings and other artwork - as well as text descriptions - that show this. It's common knowledge.

Quite often, period artwork and text showed public 'bath houses', in which rooms full of tubs, with persons of both genders in the tubs, bathed and chatted and socialized happily.

Only the seriously repressed Victorians believed that medieval people never bathed. (or showed their bodies and kept prudish modesty)
Before that era - people knew better; After the Edwardians - people knew better.

VERY true. Thank you, Stephanie, for this post.
I would also like to point out that labelling medieval (predominantly Catholic) culture "dirty" did not begin with the Victorians. Early Protestant authors were keen on pointing out the lack of hygiene among monks... I remember William Tyndale writing soemthing nasty about Carthusians along those lines. I'll dig it up sometime.

A sermon on the education of the Christian maiden, by a Hungarian archbishop in the late 17th century, actually points out that before you go visit someone, you should wash your face and hands and tidy your hair to honor your host and hostess. A book on health and hygiene from about the same time also warns readers that "frequent washing and combing of the hair keeps maladies of the head (or scalp) away." Also, herbal baths and washes were prescribed for a numbert of smaller and greater ailments, from the common cold to rheumatics.

[Medvssa]

Thanks girls for clearing that up. I did not intend this thread to become a discussion on our ancestor's hygiene habits, but sadly that seems unavoidable :rolleyes: I guess the corset bashing will start anytime now :grin:

[nappywomyn]

Wow - most educational! I'll have to come back later and admire the hairstyles, but this thread has been a learning process in & of itself!

[LadyMoon11]

I enjoyed those photos very much- thanks for the links, Medvssa.

I recognize many of those portraits form my art and history books, but it is nice to see them listed chronologically like that, and to see and appreciate them for the hair styles as well as for the historical aspect.

[thetokenlady]

I love the elaborate curls. You'd really have to have a servant to get that kind of look, no way you could do it yourself! What did they use to make those curls? Heated rollers, or something that more resembled a curling iron? (heated on the stove or fire, of course). No temperature control on those, imagine the damage! And the styles where it looks like she has a giant bubble on her head, wow. Must have been a wig, or at least a very large rat to get a 2 foot beehive, lol.

[janaana]

I've really enjoyed looking through these. There are some lovely styles there, although I kept wishing I could somehow get them to turn round so I could see what's going on at the backs of their heads! If only I had a maid to do my hair each morning!

[Marchpane]

Ooh wow, thanks for posting this! I definitely have to bookmark this thread. I love historical hairstyles and getting ideas of how to incorporate them into my hairstyles now. The fashion was pretty awesome too, I think hehe. Very cool!!

[mrs carol]

Thank you for posting these, I love the old styles.

[Medvssa]

Another link: http://community.livejournal.com/lamodeillustree/64577.html

Medieval miniatures, there are some hairstyles to be seen. A fake? crown braid wrapped with ribbon seems popular.

[vindo]

I like the most natural looking hairstyles the best. So everything rokkoko like I did not really care for too much. A lot of the high society people actually wore powdered wigs back then since many peoples natural hair was infested with lice and often even shorn.
Bathing was a rare thing since people believed it could get you sick so they used lots of parfumed powder...ok but luckily that was a short time period.

I really liked 1626, the braids around her head, it actually looked like it was all her real hair ;) Anyone have an idea how it is made? I think it is two braids one higher up and one at the nape...
1834 was nice too but you gotta have huge braids..:(

[Marchpane]

I like the most natural looking hairstyles the best. So everything rokkoko like I did not really care for too much. A lot of the high society people actually wore powdered wigs back then since many peoples natural hair was infested with lice and often even shorn.

I agree, the late 1700's just got way too extreme. Too much excess, and especially in the hair lol. But it's interesting- because a lot of them had to have their hair shorn, when the Regency era came around a lot of the styles were made to work with the short hair so many people had- like those scarves they wrapped around their head. Or the bangs all around their face. So pretty too! I love that era. ^_^

[paper]

I really enjoyed the pictures and the history lesson. :) Thanks for sharing.

[Ciel]

These are truly works of art. Thanks for posting this. :)

[Najade]

Thanks for posting the links! This gives me inspiration:)

[hurricane_gia]

Medvssa- I read somewhere that they would bath 1 time a year, normally in May or June. That may be what the 'kicking and screaming' person was on about (i'm too lazy to read the thread agian to say who it was)

Perhaps if you were too poor to have a giant tub for taking baths, and you had to bathe in a river, you might only fully immerse your body in water during the summer months, but that doesn't mean you didn't clean yourself. Anyone with access to clean water could do what we now call a "sponge bath" every day, with a bucket of water and a cloth. You can get very clean using just a bucket of water and a washcloth -- if it's clean enough for a 21st century hospital then it's clean enough!

[hurricane_gia]

Depending on how much time and servants the woman wearing the hair had, the smell might have been bearable. Scented lotions and potions were widely used for setting real and fake hair. The curls in the front were usually held in place with curlers, and it was not uncommon to have "detachable" curls... not to mention the curls existing only in the painter's imagination! :cool:

There's a wonderful scene in the movie, "Wives and Daughters" (set in the 1830s) where you see a woman's dressing table. She has a head-shaped wig stand with a selection of pre-curled hair pieces pinned to it. It's pretty cool. It includes her elaborate "apollo knot" bun. It gives me the impression that all he had to do was put her real hair in a bun, and then pin on her front curls and pin on the apollo knot and she was good to go!

[bohemian]

Really beautiful paintings! I love how hair styles change so dramatically over the century's. If I walked down the street with some of the more elaborate styles Id get some long looks. On the other hand, to dress and have my hair like that in a period setting for one day in my life would be really awesome!!! *sighs and imagines wistfully*

[FlowerHair]

Beautiful pictures!
I'm happy that nowadays women can choose more freely whether to wear their hair long or short etc.

It would be interesting to see how worker women wore their hair, not just the upper class. I guess most of the time when you see a servant in a picture from those days, she wears a head rag or something similar. They probably didn't have the time or resources to wear elaborate updos...

[Siowiel]

Concerning workingclass haristyles, you could check out "Geschichte des Kostuems" (Hitsory of Costume) by Erika Thiel. I think it is not available in an English translations, but the pictures are usually enough. She starts out iwth the very early European dresses until the early 1990 and has always a section with pictures of the "working class" from calendars, chronics etc.

Keeping the hair covered was popular among them for a very long time (even after it went out of fashion in the upper-class), so I assume the hair was bunned or braided beneath it.

[Marchpane]

Concerning workingclass haristyles, you could check out "Geschichte des Kostuems" (Hitsory of Costume) by Erika Thiel. I think it is not available in an English translations, but the pictures are usually enough. She starts out iwth the very early European dresses until the early 1990 and has always a section with pictures of the "working class" from calendars, chronics etc.

Keeping the hair covered was popular among them for a very long time (even after it went out of fashion in the upper-class), so I assume the hair was bunned or braided beneath it.

Oh, neat. I'm interested in working class hairstyles, especially because it's so difficult to find examples. The paintings are all of aristocrats. ^_^ I'll have to check that book out. Would it be easier to find in Germany? Where could I find it there, do you think?

[bgarrison]

thanks for the links. they're so interesting!

[Siowiel]

Oh, neat. I'm interested in working class hairstyles, especially because it's so difficult to find examples. The paintings are all of aristocrats. ^_^ I'll have to check that book out. Would it be easier to find in Germany? Where could I find it there, do you think?

It can be ordered in every bookstore in Germany, and most major librarys have it, as long as they have a section on historical clothing at all.

It can be ordered via amazon.com, I checked, but it could be rather costly, especially at the current ratio euro - US-dollar (don't know about canadian dollars, though).

I am wondering, would I be allowed to scan pictures of the book and send it via email to other interested people? Would that be a violation of copyright? I'd be willing to do this if it is legal to do so.

[MagmaMaggie]

And everybody (more or less) had similar standards of hygiene, so smells were normal.

It's only today in our water-on-tap, deodorant-crazy and hyper-clean society that we notice bodily odours, because in this modern mass-media driven world we've been conditioned to think of it negatively. Most of us have lost true empathy with our ancestors' standards and way of life.


Ain't it the truth!

Thanks for this thread, I have greatly enjoyed it. I am a big fan of history- a romantic at heart.

[Anlbe]

I love those hairstyles, so pretty - but hellish to reproduce.
Feathery ringlets were the fashion in the early 19th century and they take careful cutting and alot of ragging or curling irons to produce. Every morning, every evening unless you were lucky enough to have natural well behaved curls. Then they got married and wore a cap all day so only had to do fancy hairdos when dressing for supper which must have been a great relief.


Not going to get into the cleanliness discussion but on the subject of haircare they didn't sleep in those hairdos, sitting up or otherwise, hair would be ragged or plaited. Also hair pieces weren't that common in the regency period (wives and daughters is set slightly later) as there was no particular virtue in having long hair or alot of it. In fact they thought it very odd that in the eighteenth century people hadn't cut their hair but had it go all the way down their back!