Marc by Marc Jacobs Autumn/Winter 2013-2014 Catwalk

All images found: http://www.vogue.co.uk/fashion/autumn-winter-2013/ready-to-wear/marc-by-marc-jacobs/full-length-photos/gallery/924042

The hairstyle chosen for this collection reminds me greatly of Elizabethan hairstyles and I feel as though it may have been inspired by the Elizabethan period. The curls, frizz and volume remind me greatly of the ideals for Elizabethan beauty in that era. In the images the curls have been frizzed out and backcombed, to add more texture and volume, which I believe has made it more appropriate for modern fashion trends as it’s not as tight and structured as the Elizabethan hairstyles. I feel like these hairstyles are really feminine and beautiful and can easily draw connections to the style in the Elizabethan era. 

Vivienne Westwood's Spring/ Summer 2013 Collection

All Images found at: http://www.vogue.co.uk/fashion/spring-summer-2013/ready-to-wear/vivienne-westwood

In Vivienne Westwood’s S/S 2013 catwalk for her collection her models hair were styled in a way that reminded me a lot of Elizabethan hairstyles. Many of the styles worn by the models were different, however in my opinion they all seems to have some connection to the hairstyles that were fashionable in the Elizabethan era. Ranging from frizzed up-dos to curled and eccentric looking frizzed hair. The shape of some of the up-dos resembles the style of the Elizabethan era, as they are often large and rounded, with some appearing to be slightly heart shaped, iconic to the era. The body and texture of the hairstyles is the biggest component that reminded me of Elizabethans. They were renowned for their body and texture in their hair and I feel it has been recreated in a contemporary way brilliantly in these styles. I love the use of messy frizz and this is something I aim to have recreated in my design. 

Practicing my partners design

Practice One:

My partner designed her final look to have a sort of crown of roses made from her hair, going around the front of her head and for this to follow her hairline down to her ears. She then wanted the rest of her hair crimped, from the top of her ears to bellow and for this line to follow around her head and for the hair at the top of her head to be almost slicked down. She then said that she would like to add an adornment to her hair, where the crimp meets the slicked down hair and that this will be the divider between the two sections of hair. 

I found this hairstyle really challenging at first and it took a long time for me to get to grips with how to do the roses. I have never previously done anything like this before and it was really difficult, however after looking online for different tutorials on how to create these roses I gave it a go. We attempted many different techniques with many not working however towards the end we found a technique that worked particularly well. For the technique that worked, I needed two sections of hair and for them to be of an even size, then spraying one section with hairspray and coating it. I then took straighteners and heated this section and then eventually straightening it properly, causing it to be stiff. I repeated this with the other section. I then took one of the sections and twisted it around, causing it to spiral. Then I rolled it up and pinned it into place using hair grips. Then I took the other section and wrapped it around the looped piece of hair and pinning this in place again. After repeating this and creating a few roses, we decided that these looked the best and that we would use this method again. After spending a long time on the roses, we decided to try the crimping. As I have done a lot of crimping before I found this straight forward and easy. To complete the hairstyle we decided to quickly pin some pieces of hair, even though we wouldn’t do this in the final design, it was merely done as a test to see how it would look when replaced with adornments such as jewellery. 

I need to practice creating the roses as this is the only thing I drastically struggled with, however now that we have found a technique that works I can use this and practice it myself and hopefully get to a good enough standard for the final assessment. 

Corrie Nielsen Autumn/Winter 2011

All images found : http://www.vogue.co.uk/fashion/autumn-winter-2011/ready-to-wear/corrie-nielsen/full-length-photos/gallery/593496

The style of hair presented on the catwalk greatly reminds me of the hair that was worn throughout the Elizabethan ere, ranging from the styles of the upper-class and monarchy to the lower/working classes. The braided and tightly curled up-dos remind me a lot of the styles worn by the working class in Elizabethan times, not much height or texture however beautiful detail in the braiding and tight curls that have been delicately placed in an up-do. Whereas the more extravagant styles strongly remind me of the hairstyles of the upper-classes and monarchy, very frizzy, wild and some of the shapes slightly resemble a heart shape, a key feature in the style of Elizabethan hairstyles. I love how the styles are all different, yet very feminine and beautiful. 

Elizabeth I (1998) and Elizabeth The Golden Age (2007)

Image 1: https://uk.pinterest.com/pin/476466835550031097/

Image 2: https://uk.pinterest.com/pin/557531628844151799/

Image 3: https://uk.pinterest.com/pin/159737118006424565/

Image 4: https://uk.pinterest.com/pin/570127634049452078/

Image 5: https://uk.pinterest.com/pin/494762709033394984/

These still are taken from the films Elizabeth I and Elizabeth The Golden Age which were based on the life of Elizabeth I. The hair in the films is an amazing example of the Elizabethan ideal for beautiful hair. Many people saw their queen as a style icon and copied her look from her clothes, makeup and hair. The hair in both films is a great example of the hair as the styles all have plenty of body, texture, curls, frizz and shape to them, whether that is a rounded shape or a heart shape. The hair in both of these films also are often adorned with decorations another key feature of Elizabethan hair, and they would adorn it with things like pearls, hats, crowns or jewels. The hair stylists in these films recreated really beautiful Elizabethan hairstyles.  

Initial Ideas:

Idea 1:

After completing the bridal hair challenge, I found that I really loved the visual given off by a waterfall braid and decided that I wanted to use this within my final hair design. I think it’s really modern, fashionable and because of this I was eager to include this in a hairstyle combined with Elizabethan aspects. Another aspect I wanted to include in my final design was crimped hair as I think it looks extremely Elizabethan and I adore the texture, frizz and volume that it ads to any hair. Every time I’ve used crimped hair I have loved the outcome that it had produced and I knew from the beginning that this is something that I would like to use. I was particularly inspired to use this in my final design when I found images online of the Oscar De La Renta 2012 S/S catwalk in which many of his models had frizzed hair and I thought that it looked beautiful a long side his work. After picking my two favourite aspects of styling I hair I then put them together into one design. 

I decided on having the a middle parting, almost slicked down and really straight until the tops of my ears, when a waterfall braid would section this slicked down modern look from the frizz that I wanted from the bottom of the waterfall braid down to the ends of the hair. I then wanted this crimp to be brushed out and backcombed in areas so that it really stood out against the slicked down top half of the hair and separating braid. I also wanted either a broach or necklace at the middle of my hair at the back where the braids would meet, to cover the meeting and joining point.  All of these aspects put together are the idea for my final design and the next step is to swap ideas with my partner and start testing out each other’s designs. 

Idea 2:

Even though I had already decided on the hairstyle that I wished to use for my final piece I decided to have another design that I could use, in case there were problems with my original design. This is one of the other design that I created. For this hairstyle I wanted two French plaits going down from a middle parting at either side of the face. Then when it got to just the top of the ears, it would then go into a normal plait which can be wrapped around the back of the head and meet in the middle.  With the top of the hair being well backcombed yet smooth on the top so that there is plenty of volume. Then when it gets to the plait, or just above the ear, I would like that to be crimped and then brushed out slightly and backcombed again, so that there is plenty of frizz and volume.  I feel like this design is also a modern twist on old hairstyles and even though I really like this design I won’t use it for my final design as I prefer my first design by far and feel like that is the best contemporary take on an Elizabethan inspired hairstyle that I could create. 

Practice of the waterfall braid:

After the technical lesson I decided that I needed to practice creating a waterfall braid more and went home and recreated the braid on my Katie head. I found that after a few attempts that I had managed to grasp how to create this braid and as I started it again and again the results became much better and it was a more uniform look, with each braid looking more and more similar. To create this braid I used the same process as during the bridal hairstyle technical session. I was very happy with these outcomes and I feel comfortable recreating this look on other people now.