Elizabethan Plaits & Buns Modern Interpretations

 

Image of Buns, plaits and adornments from Ages Of Elegance.

For Elizabethan plaits and buns I found this picture on the left in (insert book name). I absolutely love this image as the hair is not covered by a cowl or French hood, you can simply just see all of the intricate plaits, buns and adornments. I like how it is almost unimaginable how they could create such elaborate ties back in them times as they would not have had the luxury's of hair pins ect.





 I have chosen 3 images of modern plaits and buns that I find inspiring. I have found these styles from the runway and the red carpet, they are in no way intended to directly look like Elizabethan hairstyles but think they all have very close links.

The first image I found is of a milk maid braid, I love how intricate yet simplistic this look is. The only thing about this hairstyle that makes me think of the Elizabethans is the plait, as women's hair would often be plaited and sown around the back of their head, in this modern version it is platted round the circumference of her head and is slightly messy and wispy, I like how it isn't perfect, women in the Elizabethan times would spend hours making sure that every strand of hair was in place and I think this messy modern version would look beautiful with an embroided hair net attached to the back.

 I chose this braid because it is so ultra modern, the reason that it made me think of Elizabethan hair was because of queen Elizabeth's curls, when watching the film Elizabeth (1998) the curl in her hair is almost frizzy In some of the scenes as if the curl has been brushed out, so this braid really inspired me, it would look beautiful with some adornments in like ribbons and pearls, it would have an Elizabethan vibe but would be very subtle.



I chose this bun because all though it is a modern technique it  reminds me of how Elizabethan hair would have actually been, it is very controlled and neat and is obviously for a red carpet event. There is loads of intricate details that would have taken hours to create, because of this it reminds me of how only affluent women would have been able to afford having their hair done, this is because this isn't an every day style and probably would have cost a lot of time and money. The difference between this and Elizabethan styles is that this is probably beyond what they could have created as we have the luxuries of hair pins, and hairspray.


After looking at these images I had a little experiment with creating modern versions of these hairstyles, I played with using buns, plaits and ribbons to create modern versions of these hairstyles.

At first I started by creating a French braid, but instead of picking up a full section I only picked up a tiny section of the hair, this looked really effective and I wanted to play on this more by getting a needle and a ribbon and sewing it down the braid, then took it a step forward by weaving it in and out of the strands around the head, I wanted it to look like the beaded hair nets that they wore but incorporated into the hair, but instead I think it masked the effectiveness of the braid.

Instead of trying to tweak the braid to make me like it I had another idea, I wanted to try and re create the heart shape hairline that the Elizabethans love and I thought a good way to do this would be to use tiny braids. However to make this look more effective I would need to plait the hair around chicken wire to get the hold I want, I would also like to thread beads on top of the plaits. I really like this idea so I will be drawing it up into a design as I believe it is a good modern interpretation of Elizabethan hair.

D'Assailly G (1968). Ages of elegance : five thousand years of fashion and frivolity.. Paris: Hatchette. p1 - 30.