Traditional Elizabethan Hair Design

Traditional Elizabethan Hair Practice Designs 

Queen Elizabeth I

https://uk.pinterest.com/pin/309692911846988503/

I researched into traditional Elizabethan hair designs and of portraits and women were highly influenced by Queen Elizabeth I, this image shows the hair neatly rounded and pinned tightly to her head, its precise and executes the look well. These portraits were my inspirations and showed me what traditional Elizabethan designs were truly like.

https://uk.pinterest.com/pin/338332990727454414/

Scipione Pulzone (1544–1598) Portrait of Cristina di Lorena (1565-1637)

This image also shows the lift of the hair in a rounded shape that is neatly pinned to her head with showing the high forehead, which was popular and seen to be the thing to do, to show wealth and royalty.

https://uk.pinterest.com/pin/571886852656644332/

This portrait shows a family and you can see all there hair designs are rounded and frizzed a traditional Elizabethan style but with a lot of volume with accessories.

When researching and finding out how in Elizabethans women would have their hair, it was neat, frizzed, in a round shape and spongy like texture. The hair seemed compact with jewellery and accessories too. I tried out some of the classic techniques used throughout the 16th century, including frizzing the hair using crimpers and back comb but I didn't want it out of place as their hair was very perfect and neat in design.

I carried out plaiting, lifting with padding underneath the high quiffs, knotted buns and twisted buns.

Practicing different traditional methods of the Elizabethan hair design

I played around with frizzing the hair with crimpers to give the traditional effect to the hair and to give it lift and structure.

Side view of a lifted, frizzed quiff with rounded shape to symbolise a traditional Elizabethan style.

Front view of the high lift of the quiff in order to give them a high forehead which was intended back in the Elizabethan times and seen as the ideal look to have. I wanted to give the look a classic shape of the Elizabethan style, but with structure and smoothness. 

I struggled a little to make the shape fully symmetrical but I was able to show the shape I tended to create. 

Another side view image of the knotted bun and quiff with use of volume to create this.

Rolling the crimped quiff over in sections to gain a smooth rounded effect

Back view of the sectioned rolled crimped quiff giving it structure and smoothness, showing a defined rounded shape with the plaited bun.

Plaited bun practice and a few more images working with different hair, 

Plaited bun on a model, as I was rarely able to carry out my designs on models as it is an uneven amount of people in class and also my partner on this project was a guy so therefore I had to practice on the katie head. However, next time I will hopefully be able to work for more models for my designs and practices.

Creating the roundness of the buns at the back of the head, getting that smoothness and neat look which was popular in the Elizabethan times.

I also created this design at the back of the head to show and reflect my skills as they got better over the weeks, this shows a true traditional Elizabethan style with adaptations with the french plait into the bun, but I felt this was very Elizabethan with the neat crimped/ frizzed buns on top and with the neat plait work into the traditional knotted bun. I was happy with this look and how it turned out, this design I would like to adapt into a more contemporary version with adding other bits.