Wiggle Plaits and Back Combing

Wiggle Plaits

When creating a wiggle plait it is important to brush through the hair so there are no knots. It isn't as hard as it appears, you firstly start by creating a simple plait down the head. Once you have done that you hold the middle section of the plait and gently push the other two sides up towards the top of the plait.

Back combing

When back combing you simply grab a section of hair and back comb in the direction of the hair in order to get a much fuller look. Make sure you take your time and not rush it so you are able to get the best possible outcome.

I learnt that it can be very difficult to back comb on someone who has very fine hair so a technique which I was taught was to apply crimpers to the root of the hair first and then begin your back combing. This is because the heat will thicken the hair, giving it more volume to gain an effective result.

Starting off the back combing

Back view

Front view

Contemporary Elizabethan Hairstyles

I have done some research into contemporary Elizabethan hairstyles and two very famous people who have always been well know for their hair is Lady Gaga and Amy Winehouse.

I feel this image of Lady Gaga relates back to the Elizabethan era because of how her hair is all swept back off her face with frizzy bits around the front of her head. The height of the hairstyle also fits in with the Elizabethan era because it was extremely popular to have big hair. However Lady gaga has made it contemporary by having very long dreadlocks and colouring her hair bright white. Her hair is also very messy and untidy where as in the Elizabethan times their hair would be looking immaculate with every hair in place. Lady Gaga's pale make-up with red lips also relates back to the Elizabethan period as well as the ruff she is wearing. 

http://mwafrika-nywele.blogspot.co.uk/2013/12/only-gaga-can-look-this-good-with-that.html

Secondly there is Amy Winehouse who was always well known for her huge beehive hairstyle. The padding and the big thick hair made it look very much like the Elizabethan times, although it's amde contemporary as she still always kept her side fringe dangling down her face where as in the Elizabethan period all the hair would be swept right back off the face. Amy's hair also looked a lot more untidy and was never as neat as the Elizabethan's hair.

http://sites.psu.edu/guliajurule/2014/10/21/amy-winehouse/

Creating Elizabethan Hairstyles - Working on each other

We now began practising on each other rather than just working on our styling heads. I knew it would be different from working on the head but I have styled friends hair before so I wasn't too worried. I did find that working on a person was much easier than working on the styling head.

The first Elizabethan hairstyle I created was a heart shape design including curls and crimping.

I began by sectioning the hair into a T-section leaving two strands of hair at the left and right side of the front of the head. I then crimped each section and created a small plait in the middle of both sections, leaving some hair left out from the front and back. I placed two pads and pinned them into the plait, to do this I pierced Kirby grips through the tight on the padding and twisted them into the plait to keep the padding in tightly. I then back combed the rest of the hair on the left and right section brushing all the hair over the pads making sure there were no gaps showing. With the hair left at the front I used the curlers to curl the strands of hair and clip them up. At the end I managed to create a crimped heart shaped design with tight curls at the front of the head. 

Next I created an Elizabethan hairstyle by just using plaits. I started by sectioning the hair into two sections at the back and a section at the front. I began French plaiting the front of the hair starting from the left, making my way round to the right and pinning it under using Kirby grips. I then created normal plaits down the left and right section and pinned them over using Kirby grips to create a loop each side. Beth's hair is braided and I found it very interesting and useful working on her hair. 

Padding (hair rats) and Shaping

To create this design I started by taking a section of hair from the front of the head but leaving a small section out for me to curl. When curling the front section of the hair I thought the curls weren't as tight as I would have liked them to have been and I think this is due to me taking big sections of hair to curl, rather than keeping them small. I then took a bigger section of hair from behind the curls, big enough to cover the padding and then crimped this section of hair. I then created a small French plait in the crimped section of hair to attach the padding to. To keep this plait in place I wrapped the end back over the top of the plait and pinned it into place with Kirby grips.

After that I then got some padding and placed it over the plait making sure it was an appropriate size to fit this side of the head. I then pinned the padding in place and to do this I used Kirby grips to pierce through the tight and twisted the grip around and pushed it into the plait to keep it in place. I pierced it a few times around the padding to make sure it was secure.

Next I got the crimped section of hair and gently brushed it over the padding to cover it, making sure no gaps were showing. I tucked the ends of the hair under the padding and used Kirby grips to keep it there, also making sure the hair grips didn't show.

After creating that, I then pinned the curls up on top of the head in front of the padding to finalise my Elizabethan hair design.

I was very happy with the outcome seen as this was my first attempt, although I feel I still need some more practice to improve certain parts such as, the curls and increasing the height of the hair over the padding.

Curling, Crimping and Frizzing

Here are some images which I researched, they show how their hair was curled and crimped.

Source: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2337774/Is-proof-Virgin-Queen-imposter-drag-Shocking-new-theory-Elizabeth-I-unearthed-historic-manuscripts.html

Source: http://weheartit.com/entry/48846152

Source: http://www.themakeupgallery.info/period/c16/uk/elizabeth/elizabethr.htm

Curling

In order to get the best curl you should get a small section of hair, place the end of the hair under the metal clasp at the end of the tongs and carefully roll the tongs up the head with the hair wrapping around it. Always hold the curling tongs vertically as close to the root as you can without burning the person so you are able to create a nice shape. To get a nice tight curl it is better to use small sections of hair and always hold the curl in place with a Kirby grip so the curl stays tight as this will help it to last longer as well. 

Crimping

It is very simple to crimp only as long as you hold the hair straight so you are able to get the best possible effect. You just grab a small section of hair and brush it through so there are no knots, you comb to the top of the roots, pull it down and place the crimper's onto the hair. You hold it there for approximately 10 seconds depending on the thickness of the hair and go down the length of hair in sections so that every part of the hair is eventually crimped. You can get a lot of volume from crimping and it gives the hair a lovely texture.

After creating this look I brushed the hair design out to see how it would look. The curls looked a lot more natural and the crimping looked a lot frizzier and more bushy. I preferred the hairstyle before brushing it out.

Crimping the hair with grips and straightners

You simply get a small piece of hair, place it in between the Kirby grip and twist the hair around the hair grip from one side to another. To get a tight curl again use smaller sections. When you have twisted all the hair you can keep it in place with a Kirby grip and then gently press the straightners on the hair which is tucked around the hair grip and hold for approximately 5 seconds. Then take the grip out and you will be able to see a lovely, tight curl.

After creating this look I then brushed it out to see what effect it would give. It made the hair look extremely frizzy and I thought it will be a great style to use if you were trying to create an afro hairstyle. 

Elizabethan Hair

Having red or fair hair was very popular in the Elizabethan times as you would be referred to as an upper class women. Sometimes Elizabethan women would dye their hair yellow with saffron, cumin seed, celandine and oil in order to follow fashion. Queen Elizabeth was very lucky that she naturally has red colour hair, although she did have over eighty wigs which she also used and these were known as periwigs. It was very vital for Queen Elizabeth to keep up her image of being a beauty of a 'virgin queen' and she always had a pale complexion with red cheeks and lips to match her required look.

Many Elizabethan hairstyles were created for the upper class fashions and ruffs or ruffles were extremely popular and were built on gauze wings which were raised at the back of the head. Frizzy hairstyles was also another popular style for the women. It was important for the women to always keep their hair looking long because the full natural beauty of this was displayed by the young women. This is because it was a clear sign of a virgin and was the most liked hairstyle for a woman to have on her wedding day and the bride would beautifully decorate her hair with fresh flowers. Once a women did become married she would then sweep her hair back and a lot of the hair would be covered by a form of head covering. Usually long hair would be put back into a bun, although the front and sides of the hair was where most of the hair design was showing, so extra attention was given to these parts.

Hair was always combed back off the forehead as fringes were definitely not in fashion back in the Elizabethan era. Queen Elizabeth's favourite hair was frizzy although it did depend on the type of hat worn to how the hair would be styled.

There were a number of head coverings in which were worn in the Elizabethan era to keep most of the hair covered. Some of which are listed below:

• The Coif which was also known as the 'biggin' and this was worn by all children.
• The French Hood which was a half moon, or crescent, style band or brim coming away from the face. The edges were often decorated with pearls or jewels. 
• The Atifet which is much the same as the French Hood although this is with a heart shaped crescent and were often decorated with lace trimmings.
• The Caul which was the hair net they used to cover all the hair at the back of the head.
• The Pillbox style of hat which had a veil attached to the back of it. 

Source: http://thepragmaticcostumer.wordpress.com/2012/01/09/fashions-least-sexy-accessories-the-coif/

Source: http://www.sixwives.info/tudor-hats.htm

Source: http://www.sixwives.info/tudor-hats.htm

Source: http://www.cardinal-creations.com/joomla/index.php/classes/tudor-lady-class

Source: http://webspace.webring.com/people/lo/oonaghsown/curves/pill_box_hats.htm

It was just as important to have the appropriate hairstyle for men as it was for the women. In the Elizabethan times the fashion began as men having short, cropped hair and gradually became longer later on in the period and it was necessary for men with long hair to have curly and curl it with a hot iron. A long amount of time was taken for men to have their desired look for their hair and they used gum or wax to keep their hair looking immaculate. 

Men also used to have beards during the Elizabethan era as it was very fashionable to do so. The beards were cut into a number of different shapes such as, oblong, round, square or pointed. They didn't require help from a barber due to them being kept long. To keep their beards in place they used starch.

http://www.sixwives.info/tudor-hair.htm

Source Information: www.elizabethan-era.org.uk/elizabethan-hair-styles.htm

Creating Plaits and Buns

Source: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2253649/The-secret-beautiful-braids-Kirsten-Dunsts-pretty-hair-style-huge-year-Heres-look-home-.html

Source: http://diyfashionsense.wordpress.com/

Basic Plait

The first plait I created was just a basic plait. To do this I divided my hair into three sections and then took the right section and crossed it over the middle section so that the right section was now the new middle section. I then took the left section and crossed it over the middle section and I repeated this procedure until there was no more hair available to plait. 

French Plait

Here I created a normal French plait and to do this I simply sectioned the hair into three strands making them all even, I then held two strands in one hand and the third I held in the other. I created a few rows of a regular plait by taking the strand on the right and crossing it over the centre and then I took the strand from the left and crossed it over the centre. I continued this pattern crossing the strands diagonally over the centre strand but gradually incorporating other pieces of hair. When I had added in all the hair I continued it as a regular plait until I reached the end of the strands. 

I then created a backwards French plait which was the same procedure except I plaited under each strand rather than on top which gives a raised plait opposed to a flat plait. The tighter you do it the more raised it becomes. 

Left- Normal French Plait / Right - Backwards French Plait 

Fish Tail Plait

To create this look I divided the hair into two large sections. I then pulled a thin strand of hair from the outside of the left section and repeated the same on the right. I kept alternating sides until I reached the bottom of the plait.

Here I incorporated my fish tail plait in with the French plaits in which I created.

Bun using a donut

Here I just simply combed the hair and tied it all into a ponytail. I then placed all the hair from the ponytail through the hole of the donut and spread the hair out over the top over the donut. I made sure there were no gaps showing and clipped the hair underneath the donut using kirby grips.

Bun without using a donut

To create this look I combed the hair and tied it all into a ponytail. I then sectioned the hair in the ponytail and began to back comb each section from the root as this helps to create volume. I then smoothed each section out, clipping them in place with grips. I made sure each section joined together nicely so there were no gaps showing. I prefer using this technique opposed to a donut as I feel it gives it a more bigger and fuller look.