Practising my Final Look with Terri-Anne

Here are some step by step images of Terri-Anne practising my look. As I had gone through it with her before, she seemed fairly confident in recreating the look. We set a timer so that she could see how long it took here, and all in all only took her about 40 minues. When she created the entire look I was really impressed with how we'll she' d followed my intructions. I only had to ask her to change really small things, such as loosening the bob a tiny bit so that it had more of messy look. 

Creating hair rats

For my final design, I would need 2 hair rats to create the heart shape. I found these really easy to make. I used a pair of tights, that I cut to size and filled with cotton pads. You can use cotton wool balls, or wadding, but I found cotton wool pads worked well as they were the right diameter to create the height that I wanted. When I first practised with the hair rat, I made one that was too large for my hair, and showed through quite a lot and my hair didn't quite cover it.

This was the first hair rat I created. It was too large for my hair, but it was also the wrong colour, as my hair is so dark, I would need to create one that was made from black tights so it blends with my hair better, should any peek out accidentally.

This was the second rat I created. As you can see its much smaller, and I made it from black tights. Terri-Anne and I then tested it again and found it worked much better.

Practising my Partners Design

My partner for the final assessment is Terri-Anne. For her final design, Terri-Anne wanted to create a mohican hairstyle, with the sides completely slicked down and then frizz her hair up into the mohican hairstyle. When Terri-Anne first showed me her design I was a little apprehensive, as I am not very confident with hair and her style appeared quite difficult and complicated. Once she talked me through it and demonstrated it for me however, I felt much more confident in creating it. 

We first practiced the hair style in the studio with Lottie. I really struggled at first with slicking the hair up and keeping it in place on top of her head, as she had originally suggested I use hair grips to secure the hair, as it was what had worked for her when she practised her design. However, her hair is very thick and quite heavy, so we found the best way to secure the hair would be to seperate the hair into three ponytails down the centre of her head. This worked a lot better, and actually helped the sides look a lot more sleek. I then used hair pins to grip the hair over any gaps that were created and pin in any fly away hairs. Once this was done, I crimped the hair that was in the pony tails, and then proceeded to brush out the crimp, and backcomb the hair to create huge, textured hair. This worked really well with Terri-Anne's hair, as it is so thick and long, and I really feel she chose a design that worked really well with her hair. Once all the hair was backcombed I then gathered it along the sides and pinned it inwards to finish off the shape.

For the final design, Terri-Anne had glued pearls onto hair slides which she wanted me to pin along the sides of the mohawk to finish off the look. She also had purple hairspray which she wanted sprayed on the top of the mohawk to add a furthur contemporary twist.

All in all I found this look easy enough to create, especially after my initial doubts, and I was quite pleased with the way it turned out in the practice. I timed myself doing it as well, and found it took about 40 minutes in total to create without crimping the hair, and we both agreed that the hair would be crimped prior to the day of the assessment. I went over to Terri-Anne's the night before the assessment and crimped it for her ready for the next day.

My Chosen Design

I decided on this design for my final design as I think it is the one that best reflects both Elizabethan and contemporary influences. I also think it is the design that will work best with my hair, as my hair is quite short and will be easy for my partner to put into a bob shape. I have also decided to curl the ends of my hair to give it a softer look than if I was to frizz or crimp my hair. 

My Hair Designs and Experimentation

Throughout the Redheads and Royalty project, the elements that have stood out the most for me, have been the effort Elizabethan men and women put into their looks and their beauty regime. Image was absolutely everything to them, and the lengths they went to to achieve the perfect image is remarkable, and extreme, but definitely not unlike todays society. For women, fair hair was extremely fashionable, and sign of nobility, so they would use various bleaching methods to alter their natural hair colour. Some of these methods were extremely “out there”, but undeniably amazingly creative, and the thought that went into them is remarkable. These extreme methods undoubtedly caused severe damage to the hair, especially as they didn't have the conditioning products we have today. One of the reasons frizzy hair was so popular was because after all the excessive hair colouring and styling, that was the texture their hair was left with. Frizzy hair was favoured by Queen Elizabeth, and therefore all the ladies of the court followed suit.

The texture of Elizabethan hairstyles is probably what stood out the most for me, when studying both period and contemporary images. The texture, combined with the different shaped and heights they would create in the hair gave it such character, and if you look at a contemporary image of Elizabethan hair, you can pinpoint exactly what era it is from without being told, because it is that unique in history and still makes such a statement today.

My Designs

        

For my first hair design, I was quite inspired by this picture I found on www.ghd.com 

I loved the texture in her hair, and the shape and volume that was created. I wanted to create a look that was similar in shape, but I wanted the curls to be a bit tighter, and the hair slightly bigger. This portrait of the Unknown Lady, really gave me an idea of the kind of texture I'd want to create for this look.

http://www.pinterest.com/pin/238479742741744241/

To do this, I used a curling wand or iron and curl my hair right from the roots, as we did in the studio. My hair is naturally curly anyways, so when it is curled further it tends to go really bouncy. The only problem I had is that my hair is quite short and not very thick, so I might not be able to get the desired height and shape I wanted. I would add hair extensions in and curl them to create the length and extra hair I needed. I also like added a plait into the design, going across my forehead to add a furthur contemporary Elizabethan twist, as well as framing the face and the hairstyle. I used crepe hair for the plait, as my hair is not long enough to create the full plait I wanted for the look.

Although I really love this look, when I tested it out, it didn't quite have the Elizabethan feel I really wanted, and I felt it was a little bit too contemporary. 

This hairstyle was actually inspired by a contemporary Elizabethan hairstyle I'd seen from Alexander McQueen's S/S 07 runway.

http://www.handbag.com/beauty/i448786/springsummer-07-hair-trends-step-back-in-time-alexander-mcqueen.html#a417815

I loved the nod to the heart shape commonly seen in Elizabethan hairstyles, but it was almost a deconstructed love heart, and was a lot messier than it would have been in the Elizabethan times. I also loved the height and structure of the style. I wanted to create a similar feel with this hairstyle, adding large props to either side of the hair to lift it into this love heart shape, and then take the middle section of the hair and roll it around a smaller prop to create a quiff. The hair would be crimped to give it beautiful Elizabethan texture, and also to make the hair appear messier and more voluminous. I decided to keep the fringe in this hairstyle, as I think it adds a really contemporary twist as obviously fringes were not the fashion back in the Elizabethan times. It would work with my hair because I have a full fringe.

This design was inspired by the famous love heart shape in the hair that we see in so much Elizabethan portraiture.
I love the pinned under bob as I think its a classic contemporary hairstyle, but I thought to give it a bit of shape and height, some hair rats could be added to create the love heart shape and create an almost romantic, feminine Elizabethan style, much softer than some of the harsher styles we saw Elizabeth wear, that were designed to give her a more masculine approach.

This was a hairstyle created in the studio, and gave me an idea for how I would possibly like my fringe to look in my final design.

Technical Post: Crimping/ Creating Contemporary Elizabethan Hair

Crimping

I found crimping particularly fun, as it is so easy to do, but gives such incredible, versatile texture to the hair. You can literally leave the hair crimped and put it in an updo with hair props for a beautifully textured look, or brush the crimp out for gorgeous volume and/or frizz, perfect for Elizabethan looks. The more you brush out crimped hair, the bigger and frizzier it goes.

To crimp hair:

-Section the hair.

-Starting from the hair at the nape of the neck take a section only a few centimetres deep and place the section of the hair in between the two crimping irons. From the back section work on the two sides together until you reach the top of the head reaching the two front side sections. Ensure to get as close to the root as possible but be aware that the crimpers are hot, so make sure to check your model is always comfortable.

-Continue crimping the side sections until the whole section of hair is crimped.

To create a shape in the hair, I sectioned off the front of the hair, and took a large hair prop and attached it, as before to Terri-Anne’s hair. I definitely think it worked much better with crimped hair, as the texture made it easier to work with the hair, and it just looked a lot nicer.

Technical Post: Adding Hair Rats/Props

Hair Rats/Props

This week we learnt about adding props to the hair to create volume and shapes in the hair. The look we went for was adding two props to create the classic Elizabethan heart shape on the head.

Hair Rats/Props: You can make these by taking a piece of stocking, and stuffing it with wadding or cotton wool. Use a lighter coloured stocking for fair hair and a dark couloured one for dark hair.

To achieve this look:

-Curl the hair, as done in week 4. Make sure the hair is curled right from the root.

-Section off the front of the hair.

-Make two small plaits (french or normal) behind these sections to use to secure the padding. A french plait will work better as it is more secure.

-Attach the prop to the plaits using grips, and pierce the grip through the tights.

-Once the prop is secure on the head, cover it with hair from the front, pinning it under the back of the prop. Be sure to cover the whole prop with the hair, and use pins to move the hair into place and secure it.

-Adjust the hair until you get a heart shape, and secure with hair pins.

I found this task quite tricky. I did not curl Terri-Anne’s hair well enough from the root, as her roots were still straight when I put the prop in. The prop I used was also slightly too large for the section of hair that I used, so you could see quite a lot of it sticking through her hair. Next time I will curl the hair right from the root, and use a smaller hair prop.

Creating Collages- Adding Elizabethan detail to Contemporary hairstyles

"To make the hair yellow as golde. Take the rine or scrapings of Rubarbe, and stiepe it in white wine, or in cleere lie; and after you have washed your head with it, you shall weatte your hairs with a Spoonge or some other cloth, and let them drie by the fire, or in the sunne; after this weatte them and drie them againe."

Giovanni Ruscelli (Alessio), The secretes of reverende maister Alexis of Piemount, 1568

For this collage, I based it on the quote above. I took pieces of sponge, and cut them up into small pieces. I then dipped them in glue and then gold glitter to resemble pieces of gold to represent the favoured hair colour of the Elizabethans. I then glued a piece of red ribbon to a thicker piece of gold ribbon to represent the colours mentioned in the quote (gold of the hair and red of the fire). The ribbon was also a very Elizabethan touch, and I liked the regal feel of the red and gold combination.

 My second collage was also based on the quote. I tried however, adding Elizabethan detailing to very short contemporary hair. To make the bow, I chose a piece of orange ribbon with gold trimmings. This was to represent the colour of the fire mentioned in the quote and because the colour of the ribbon reminded me of the firey colour of Queen Elizabeths hair. I then make a kind of headband out of gold ribbon, again, because it had a royal feel to it.
Although I like this design very much and the Elizabethan details are there, it reminds me more of a 1920's flapper headband rather than Elizabethan.

This collage was inspired by the tight curls seen in so many Elizabethan portraits. I had the idea to create a mass of curls that were springy and bouncy, with a plait going across the forehead, to furthur show the Elizabethan influence.

This design was inspired by the famous love heart shape in the hair that we see in so much Elizabethan portraiture.
I love the pinned under bob as I think its a classic contemporary hairstyle, but I thought to give it a bit of shape and height, some hair rats could be added to create the love heart shape and create an almost romantic, feminine Elizabethan style, much softer than some of the harsher styles we saw Elizabeth wear, that were designed to give her a more masculine approach.

This hairstyle was actually inspired by a contemporary Elizabethan hairstyle I'd seen from Alexander McQueen's S/S 07 runway.I loved the nod to the love heart shape again, but it was almost a deconstructed love heart, and was a lot messier than it would have been in the Elizabethan times. I also loved the height and structure of the style. I wanted to create a similar feel with this hairstyle, adding large props to either side of the hair to lift it into this love heart shape, and then take the middle section of the hair and roll it around a smaller prop to create a quiff. The hair would be crimped to give it beautiful Elizabethan texture, and also to make the hair appear messier and more voluminous. I like the fringe in this hairstyle, as I think it adds a really contemporary twist as obviously fringes were not the fashion back in the Elizabethan times.

http://www.handbag.com/beauty/i448786/springsummer-07-hair-trends-step-back-in-time-alexander-mcqueen.html#a417815