All About Adelaide, Part One.
The shop has been busy with a number of commissions, and those will be discussed in a future post. The Queens have grown restless and desire their projects be brought to the fore.
This post will feature one of those projects and satisfy at least one of the ladies.
Adelaide will be often be dressed in earlier 18th Century styles. She already has one wig to assist with that aesthetic. Now she will have another, much earlier hairstyle, circa 1720 to 1740.
After researching in that marvelous book, 18th Century Hair and Wig Styling, (listed in the Resources section), the hairstylist got to work on the 'Elizabeth' style.
Here are some lovely ladies' portraits from the period for inspiration:
Unknown lady, attr. Jeremiah Davidson 1740
Henrietta Godolphin, nee Chruchill, Charles Jervas
Portrait of a woman 1748 Robert Feke
A suitable wig was chosen from the shop stock and combed out carefully. Synthetic hair fuzzes up and tangles quickly.
Several wefts were removed from the lower back edges of the wig cap to reduce volume. A few of those extra wefts were stitched to the wig cap to soften the edge around the face, add some lift, and allow for more curls at the front.
There was enough loose hair collected from the hairbrush to create some 'rats' to lift up the hair at the front side of the face and act as a base for a chignon. The remaining hair will fall down Addy's back.
A soft bun or chignon was pinned in place and some braids wrapped around its base. Many small bobby pins were required.
The hairdresser decided to use old fashioned rag curlers for this style. There is many a Youtube video on how to do this, if you wish to try.
Each section of hair was sprayed with warm water first, and then rolled up tightly on a strip of cotton muslin tied tight. Sewing seam clips were used to hold everything in place. Much easier than bobby pins. And less damaging.
The hair took a very long time to dry. Luckily there were other projects to work on in the meantime.
The finally dry curls were lovely and only the very ends were fuzzy or required a trim.
You might have noticed in rag curl pictures that the bun started higher and smaller on the back of the head. This placement gave the hairstyle an early Victorian look. The decision was then made to style the chignon and braided base much bigger and lower in placement. Some of the planned curls were sacrificed for this purpose. A hair net worked hard to keep everything else in place while the curls were gently finger combed.
One or two of the curls were not as bouncy as expected though and were wetted and rolled up again.
The new wefts at the front of the wig were then pulled out of the hair net to create the desired look and soften the style even further. A few more might be added later. Everything still looks flat due to the hair net.
Overall, everyone is happy with the new wig. And the hairstylist promises to stop re-rolling curls.
There is a new package of brown hair nets, and one will be used to keep everything in place in a less obvious way.
The shop, and Miss Adelaide, are very happy with the styling results. The wig will be prominently displayed in the What's New Section once the hairstylist gives the go ahead.
Our next blog post will show off some of the Buyer's new finds for Addy and her brand new chapeaux.
Now if only the sewing team would start on Addy's wardrobe!
Please let us know what you think of the new wig and be sure to pass on links to our site to your friends. We are always grateful for suggestions.
And the ladies adore compliments.