Final Hair Design

Here are my notes and designs for my partner to read for my final assessment. I wanted the notes to be very clear so my partner was very confident at pulling off the final look. 

Research: Key Reading

Today I looked at a number of different books to research the Elizabethan Era, I'm already really getting to know the era well and feel more confident creating looks now that I know more about the times and Elizabeth herself. Research is a great way to explore yourself and different projects. I find it helps my ideas progress and develop.

Further from this I found a book called 'Ages Of Elegance' the 'ruff' was talked about as being an appearance discreetly found in 1540. Black had been made fashionable in Italy at the time so the white ruff was seen as a great way to liven things up. A ruffled shape was also used at the end of a shirts sleeve for a touch of added detail similar to the ruff. Later on the book explains that in 1557 the ruff was popular and each country had its own individual ruff. e.g. Spain was known to have higher/thicker material at the top of the neck.

I found another book called: 'Historical Wig Styling: Ancient History to the 1830s' By Allison Lowery this book had a great step to step guide on how to style wigs, I looked through and it was really interesting to see all the different techniques used in different periods of time. On page 16 I found a piece about how to pin curl. The guide showed exactly how to get the most effective pin curl without showing grips. In this image they showed how you can use a round stick to create a pin curl. It almost shows how you can use a figure of eight design to get the pin curls to face different ways.

The Royal Doctors, 1485-1714: Medical Personnel at the Tudor and Stuart Courts: (Elizabeth  Lane Furdell) Quote from the book: "When Elizabeth began to loose her hear steadily after the age of twenty-five, Hemingway made pomades and salves. His unguents did not stop her hair loss, so she changed her hairstyle in 1644 and wore curls to cover the front of her bald head" 
This source was really interesting to read as it shows how Elizabeth and her team tried very hard to come together to make her hair in a better condition but due to dying it with saffron there was no going back and her being so young and her hair falling out left her to have to cover her forehead with curls. I have included curls at the front of my hairline in my design, this is something that relates to the fact that Elizabeth was trying to hide her baldness. 

Slight Change Of Idea

I've been experimenting with a few different ideas with the pin curls at the front of the hair. I've decided to incorporate a braid into the middle section of the pin curls. I started off by pinning the hair at the front but using the plat I twisted it around to use it as its own pin curl.

I liked the effect it gave and want to use dry shampoo for the actual assessment to show a decorative part of my design. I think I want the snow effect to only be on the middle pin curl so that it gives a hint of frostyness but doesn't overpower my piece. 

My idea was badly pinned here due to not having the correct grips, but just to show the idea this is what I want:

Four Images Which Have Infuenced My Final Design

I've been looking through some different hair designs found on Pinterest.com. I'm trying to gather ideas to start designing my final design. I feel I want to use a heart shaped design which can be adapted to be more contemporary. 

Reference: http://uk.pinterest.com/pin/366128644680996425/

This image shows a heart shaped effect with large pin curls at the front I love the way the pin curls almost look like flower buds, this is something I'm definitely going to include at the front of my design. The hair is also slightly messy and backcombed, it shows the curl detail on the backcombed area too which I find interesting. 

This image really inspired me, I found it from Avant Guarde Hair. The hair is textured and flows down the back with body. It reminded me of really large crimped hair as if the crimpers were used on a giants hair! I want to try and find a technique that'll do something similar to this. I'm going to try with straighteners back and forth to see if it gives some kind of effect similar. I like the stiffness look it gives. It's very edgy and high fashion.

Hair and Makeup by 'Admin' of the znnw.com site

This look really relates to Queen Elizabeth, the pale skin, rosy cheeks, invisible eyebrows and softly pink lips. The hair is something I found really interesting too. The padding has height with the pattern of the crimp on top of it showing a decorative way to style the padding underneath. I hope to use a crimping/curling pattern on the top of my padding/quiffs. 

Reference: http://media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/originals/78/2b/9b/782b9b9e123921ec327bfdebc4f87072.jpg

The image here reminded me of the second image on this post. The hair is still structured showing the hair falling down the sides but has a more wiggly motion. If I cannot get the hair to be as structured giant crimps I want the hair to look something similar to this at the sides or even a mixture of the two. As long as its a structured curl I will be happy, I don't want any fluffiness at the long parts of hair that will be falling down. This image also shows height of the hair in a quiff at the mid section of the hair. I like the way they've incorporated flower looking designs at the side too, its something I already want to include in my design. 

From this I'm going to draw my final design to make sure it has all the components of inspiration from this post. 

Practice Of My Design On Me

My final design was made on my own hair. For the Assessment we're in partners and I'm the designer and model for my own hair. This means I have chosen a look which will be suitable on my own hair.

I feel my partner really studied my design well. And how she put together my hair was really well done in good timing. The hair texture at the back is exactly what I pictured for the look. It's come out with a softer crimped giant style which I like. The texture of my hair was easier to crimp as it has a little more length than my partners and it is finer hair so it holds well. Next time for the assessment I will add more hair product such as hairspray to give the look a stiffer effect. 

I'm pleased with how my parter took on my 'roses' idea for the front of the hair and think it looks really effective. 

I hope the assessment goes as smoothy as my practice run. I feel my partner has excelled at producing a similar look to the design idea proposed. 

Design Ideas Rough Sketches

Here I've drawn some rough sketches for my partner to follow in a few of the studio lessons I feel design three will be the one I will develop further to use in my final design ideas.

Research: Elizabeth Rex

Elizabeth Rex is a play from 2000. The characters play Elizabeth with a twist of Shakespearean novels. The play has actors which play women which is a little controversial in our day now but in the Shakesperian times this would've been the norm as women were not allowed to act in theatre. 

The hair and makeup in the show is a little scary as the pale white face has been exaggerated as it has to be extra strong pigments in theatre shows so that it shows up for the whole audience. It almost looks as if the actor is wearing some kind of mask. 

The hair on the wig shows tightly placed pin curls. This is the main reason I've researched into the play because of the hair, I love the way the pin curls sit aside of the face and feel this is something I'd like to recreate into my design. 

I like the heart shaped wig and think the wig department in the show have done especially well to recreate that Elizabethan look. I also feel the makeup looks almost similar in photographs to Elizabeths portraiture which is also an interesting point. The costume is very exact showing a laced gown with a large ruff at the back of the neck too. The show was also made into a TV version featured on Bravo.

Reference:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elizabeth_Rex

Here is an example of the pin curls I want to be shaped around the face.