Introduction to Elizabethan Hairstyles

Introduction to Elizabethan Hair

When I think of Elizabethan hair, the first thing I tend to think about is the red colour and big hairstyles. Elizabeth I always appeared to have her hair in tight curls or frizzed in some way at the front. From this a lot of big round or heart-shaped hairstyles were created at the front of the head. These shapes were often created by placing the hair "over wires or pads to create a heart-shaped frame around the head." (www.chertseymuseum.org/hair). The hair would often be wigs and it's well known that Elizabeth herself owned a lot of wigs.

It was also very common for women of status to wear things in their hair such as as gold or pearls. Andre Hurault-Sieur de Maisse, who was the French ambassador at Elizabeth's court in 1597 decribed Elizabeth's hair as a "great reddish-colored wig, with a great number of spangles of gold and silver, and hanging down over her forehead some pearls"  (www.eyewitnesstohistory.com/elizabethI.htm). The film 'Elizabeth: The Golden Age', shows many of these kinds of hairstyles:

As well as pearls and gold, wealthier women would also wear things like feathers and ribbons (although ribbons would also be worn by people who were not as wealthy). Occasionally we can also see hats being worn in portraits by Elizabeth. 

The wealthy women who could afford it would try to emulate Elizabeth's hair as she set the fashions at the time and it's clear to see through portraits the influence she had:

(A portrait of Lady Mary Kytson, it is clear to see that people who could afford it would often emulate Elizabeth's hairstyles.)

 (Portraits of two unknown Elizabethan women showing tight curls in the hair and pearls as decoration.)

Chertsey Museum , 2015, Hair: The Styling of Society (Viewed18/10/2015) Available from: http://www.chertseymuseum.org/hair

Eyewitness to History, 2004, An Audience with Queen Elizabeth I (Viewed 18/10/2015) . Available from: http://www.eyewitnesstohistory.com/elizabethI.htm

(Elizabeth: The Golden Age, 2007, Directed by Shekhar Kapur)

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/bf/Queen_Elizabeth_I_by_George_Gower.jpg

http://englishhistory.net/tudor-img/monarchs/eliz1-rainbow.jpg

http://www.tudorplace.com.ar/images/Kytson,Mary(CRivers).jpg

https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/2e/c8/0b/2ec80b683e649e997ed2f2a69830b5a8.jpg

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e1/Attributed_to_Marcus_Gheeraerts_II_-_Portrait_of_an_Unknown_Lady_-_Google_Art_Project.jpg