Evaluation

I have enjoyed looking at the Elizabethan era and discovering the techniques that were used in that time. I feel I have learned a lot about the basics of hair as well as adding onto this with in-depth research into Elizabethan hairstyles and techniques.

Before coming to this course I had no experience and I feel that over the past few weeks my work has got neater and more presentable as my confidence with hair has grown.

I feel this project has helped me develop ideas and project my designs across to a partner.

I feel I should have handled my time better during the project and done a lot more practice of my designs outside of class. This would have helped me refine the designs and get them looking their best. This is something I will improve on for future projects.

I was extremely pleased with my partner. I felt we were both able to communicate our ideas to each other really well and we were both committed to the project and our designs. This helped in instances where designs had to be tweaked to fit the other partners capability meaning we could achieve the designs to the best standard they could be.

My Final Assessment of My Partners Design

These are the final images for my hair assessment. Although I do think I achieved some of the techniques well I do feel this whole look could of been executed better. I think the placement of the padding is too far back which means the front of the hair is not raised enough for it to be visibly Elizabethan. However this does make the hair look more bridal and contemporary. I think if I were to do it again I would use tight padding rather than rats because this give a stronger, more structured padding effect whereas in these images it looks very natural. The techniques this design features are curling, buns, backcombing, plaiting and padding. Layna was great at communicating her design and she definitely adapted the design to my skill level which was very considerate and made the design easier to achieve. 

Partners Final Design

Needed

·      Curlers

·      Tail comb

·      Clips

·      Padding

·      String of pearls

Method

1.   Brush the hair through

2.   Section off the front section that will be needed to cover the padding and clip it away.

3.   Create a third tiny section at the front and clip.

4.   French plait the hair where you would like to place your padding.

5.   Pin the padding into that plait so it is secure.

6.   Take a small curling iron and curl the front section of the hair.

7.   Backcomb at the root and pull back to cover the padding and pin in place.

8.   Tie the remaining hair back into a ponytail and use to create a bun.

9.   Pin a string of pearls across the head in front of the padding.

10.                 Pull back the front section of the hair over the ears and pin in place to hide the ends of the pearls.

My Final Hair Design

This is how my final design turned out during my partners final assessment. Im really pleased with the way my partner was able to relay the design chart and instructions I gave her. 
The design was a heart shaped front coming into a bun at the back, leaving cured tendrils loose and accessorising the bun. This design uses a lot of traditional elements but updates them and makes them more contemporary by having a loose, relaxed feel about it. All my previous designs feature padding and so I knew I wanted to use that in my final design. 
I asked Layna to use a medium barrelled curler on the bottom layer of hair that was left out as tendrils as this helps update the look since its a lot larger of a curl that that seen in the Elizabethan era. This look involves techniques such as padding, curling, plaiting, bun and accessorising. Im really happy with what Layna produced. she was able to complete the design in the time given to a great standard. I will make my next design more complex as both me and my partner are now more advanced in hair and more complex designs will be achievable.




 

Needed

· Paddle brush

· Tail comb

· Large curler

· Small curler

·Padding

·Hair tie

·Bracelet

·Pins

Method

1.   Section off the front section of the hair in two. Make one of the sections bigger than the other as one needs to cover the padding and the other is to curl and lay over the padding as decoration.

2.   Create your plait to attach your padding to. French plait from one side of the head to the other and pin down.

3.   Attach padding to the plait

4.   Backcomb the middle section of the hair at the root and pull backwards to cover the padding.

5.   Tuck the hair under and secure with pins.

6.   Curl the front section we left out with a small curler and place the curls over the padding to create ringlets going back over the head. Pin down.

7.   Take the top two thirds of the remaining hair at the back of the head and create a bun

8.   Take a small piece of the remaining hair and plait it. Wrap this around the base of the bun to conceal the hair tie.

9.   Curl the remaining hair with a large curler and leave loose.

10.                 Attach the bracelet to the top of the bun and secure with pins.

Working up to My Final Design

To get my final design I went through a lot of design ideas. All of them included padding so I knew this was something I wanted to incorporate into my final look. I tried using different textures and shapes in each design. Some worked better than others.

This design included two round padding techniques that met each other in the middle to create almost a bun shape. The bottom of the hair was left out and I used the geisha pin technique to create a zig zag tendril. Although I really do like the shape of the design here it's very difficult to get all the hair up into padding and being a beginner at hair I thought it best to not take this risk on my final assessment. 

 

This design included one piece of padding but towards the lower neck almost creating a chignon. I then should of put padding into either side of the head to create something which resembled a heart shape however I thought back combing would be enough. It didn't give that defined heart shape I was reaching for. I felt this design was too contemporary and didn't fit enough with the Elizabethan brief. 

I was not happy with this design or its execution. I wanted the front to be a heart shape going into a bun at the back with the plaits creating a cage over the hair to mimic those that the Elizabethans wore to accessorise. However the placement of the padding made the hair more of a round shape. It wasn't equal on both sides and looked unfinished. The design also didn't work with my partners hair. She has short layers and so the plaits always looked messy. There also wasn't enough hair for each section I need so I had to adjust this design to something that would work with my partner more. 

My Final Design 

This is the design chart for my final design. It includes a heart shaped padding in the front which will be covered by ringlet curls to add texture. At the back of the head the hair will go into a bun lined with a plait to hide the hair band and accessorised with a jewelled bracelet. The bottom of the hair will be left out and curled. 

This is the accessory which will sit at the top of the bun. 

Elizabethan Hairstyles- Plaits and Buns

Plaits and buns were a popular way to keep the hair up during the 16th century and still are today. 

The below image is a close up of the painting The Way To Calvary by Jacopo Bassano which hands in The National Portrait Gallery in london. Painted during the 16th century it depicts an image of a woman wearing her hair in a plait around the head. This would have been a very common way for women to wear their hair in the Elizabethan era.

Jacopo Bassano, (1544), The Way To Calvary [ONLINE]. Available at:http://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/jacopo-bassano-the-way-to-calvary/*/x/82/y/-92/z/2[Accessed 04 December 14].

It was common for the women to decorate their hair using jewels and also ribbon. Although more contemporary plaits we see arent accessorised, Oscar De La Renta gave us this version of the plait on his spring summer 2010 runway. The Elizabethan technique of taping is evident here with the ribbon flowing through the models plaits.

Style. 2010. Oscar de la Renta Spring 2010 Ready to Wear. [ONLINE] Available at:http://www.style.com/fashion-shows/spring-2010-ready-to-wear/oscar-de-la-renta. [Accessed 04 December 14].

I like this image of Beyonce because not only is she wearing her hair in a bun but because of her braids it is a completely contemporary Elizabethan look.

Peter Webber. 2013. How were Beyonce and Jay-Z able to visit Cuba?. [ONLINE] Available at:http://theweek.com/article/index/242410/how-were-beyonceacute-and-jay-z-able-to-visit-cuba. [Accessed 04 December 14].

In class we learnt how to do plaits and buns. I was already familiar with the classic 3 strand plait but we learnt 2 other techniques as well as how to make the perfect bun.

French Plait

Needed:

·Section clip

·Pin tail comb

·Gown

·Clips & Hair Pins

·Hair Band

Method

1.   Put the gown over your client to protect their clothes.

2.   Do a consultation with your client, checking the hair and asking if they have any allergies. Asking them whether they dye their and check the condition.

3.   Create a clean, wide section using your pin tail comb.

4.   Split the section into three equal sections.

5.   Plait as normal. Adding tension to get the sections tight.

6.   Take a section from the right hand side.

7.   Take the hair over the top, into the middle and plait as normal

8.   Same with the left hand side.

9.   Continue until there is no hair left.

Fishtail plait

1.   Part the hair into two equal sections

2.   Bring the back of the hair round so it sits on the other side of the hair

3.   Continue until there is no hair left.

4.   Take care to make each section equal.

 

Bun

1.   Brush the hair neatly into a ponytail and secure with a hair band.

2.   You should now be left with a ponytail structure.

3.   Split this pony into 4 equal sections.

4.   Grabbing a section, back comb a tiny bit from underneath. This gives it structure very important for someone with heavy hair

5.   Take a clip. Roll the section underneath itself to create a barrel curl.

6.   Place one clip at the front section and one on the other side to secure the roll.

7.   Do exactly the same to the other 3 sections around the head.

8.   Next take hair pins. Start to move the hair around so it joins and at the very base, pinch. bring it in and join it all together to form a classic bun shape.