Title: hair-msg
Subject: period and SCA hair styles
Author: Edited by Mark S. Harris
Last saved by: Mark S. Harris
Keywords: medieval, hair, circlets, wigs, decoration, style, haircuit

hair-msg - 9/28/11

Period and SCA hairstyling and care.

NOTE: See also the files: cosmetics-msg, p-hygiene-msg, perfumes-msg, headgear-msg, bathing-msg, hair-dyeing-msg.

************************************************************************
NOTICE -

This file is a collection of various messages having a common theme that I  have collected from my reading of the various computer networks. Some messages date back to 1989, some may be as recent as yesterday.

This file is part of a collection of files called Stefan's Florilegium. These files are available on the Internet at: http://www.florilegium.org

I  have done  a limited amount  of  editing. Messages having to do  with separate topics  were sometimes split into different files and sometimes extraneous information was removed. For instance, the  message IDs  were removed to save space and remove clutter.

The comments made in these messages are not necessarily my viewpoints. I make  no claims  as  to the accuracy  of  the information  given  by the individual authors.

Please  respect the time  and  efforts of  those who have written  these messages. The  copyright status  of these messages  is  unclear  at this time. If  information  is  published  from  these  messages, please give credit to the originator(s).

Thank you,
    Mark S. Harris                  AKA:  THLord Stefan li Rous
                                          Stefan at florilegium.org
************************************************************************

Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
From: tbarnes at silver.ucs.indiana.edu (thomas wrentmore barnes)
Subject: Re: Hair length
Organization: Indiana University
Date: Tue, 13 Apr 1993 00:34:46 GMT

whheydt at PacBell.COM (Wilson Heydt) writes:
>If I'm not mistaken, the real military penchant for short hair came in
>with World War I.

I think you're right. It was a hygeinic trend (to combat headlice) that
latched onto the current trend towards short hair.
	As I understand it, in period, mens hairstyles went like this:

Roman - short hair, no beards or mustaches (until Hadrian)
Late Roman - short hair, beards and mustaches optional
Barbarian German - long hair, often tied or knotted into a topknot on
the top of the head.  Long mustaches and short to medium length beards.
(Based on observations of Trajan's column and The Burgundian Code by
Katherine Fischer Drew.) 
	At least for 4-5th c. Burgundians, only slaves wore their hair
short and it was a finable offense to grab somebody by the hair. It was
also a finable offense to give a fugitive slave a wig so he could hide
his slave status.

Later Germanic/Frankish - Clean shaven, but with long mustaches, hair
short to medium length.
	Of course, as I mentioned earlier, the Merovingian kings wore
their hair as long as possible.

Norse - Hair Medium Length to very long. In the Saga of the Jomsvikings,
there is a story about how a captured viking with very long blonde hair,
who was to be executed asked his captors to hold his hair away from his
head so it wouldn't be spoiled by the axe. The then jerked his head back
at the last minute, so the hands of the man holding his hair were pulled
under the blade and severed rather than the fair-haired viking's head!
	Beards and mustaches were optional and were worn at any length,
mostly fairly short based on pictorial evidence, but could be long and
braided.

Norman - hair very short in a "bowl cut" that was shaved to the crown of
the head in back. Anglo-Saxon observers mistook Norman knights for
priests because of their oddly cropped hair.
	Strange people who have inflicted this haircut on themselves say
that it is wonderful to fight in, since your hair doesn't get tangled in
your coif.
	The Bayeaux tapestry also shows men with normal "bowl cuts"

12th -13th c. hair is worn to just above the shoulder and is
center-parted with no bangs. Beards and mustaches are rare.

14th c. hair is worn to just above the shoulder and is curled at the
bottom. As the century progresses, the tightness of the curl increases.
Long mustaches and goatee-like beards (often forked in two strands) are
common. Full beards are unusual.

15th. Early in the century, the "bowl cut" comes back into vogue. In
Italy, Burgundy and Germany there are numerous variations through the
century. Too many to describe here.

16th c. Early in the period full, medium length beards are an option and
hair is worn at short to medium length (just above the shoulders).
	As collars got higher and ruffs got wider, hair got shorter
until it was worn very short. Beards and mustaches were an option, but
diminished to a short goatee and well trimmed mustache in most cases.

Lothar \|/
        0

From: lecuyer at wam.umd.edu (CLIS library)
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
Subject: Re: Hair Care
Date: 17 Oct 1993 20:58:24 GMT
Organization: University of Maryland, College Park

Jennifer Geard <bloodthorn at sloth.equinox.gen.nz> wrote:
>used on hair, but does anyone know how hair was washed, combed, brushed, cut, 
>braided, etc, in earlier times? 
>
I don't have a lot of info, and it's mostly viking 'cause that's
what I do. 
Combs have been found in the digs at both Dublin and York for the
"viking" period (9th-10th cent.). They are usually made of wood or
bone and often come with a case. I think the book "The Viking Dig"
has some good pictures.

As to hair styles - A friend of mine brought a book back from
Demark (all in Danish, unfortunately) with some great pictures
of hairsyles found on corpses. The 2 female styles follow:
	divide hair by a part down the middle of you head,
	nose to nape, braid each part until you get it 
	to the bottom of the nape and then merge the 2 together
	and continue braiding. I've never had much luck
	doing this for myself - "hey come here thrall!"

	The other style - divide hair nose to nape and then ear 
	to ear, braid all four parts. I forget what you are
	supposed to do with them afterwards. 

I will try to get the reference from him, but don't hold your breath,
it won't be anytime soon.

Catherine/Kara

Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
From: ritchiek at sage.cc.purdue.edu (unknown)
Subject: Re: Hairpieces for men?
Organization: Purdue University Computing Center
Date: Fri, 7 Jan 1994 19:32:14 GMT

	Unto Vajk and other men with long hair,
My lord has hair nearly as long as my own, and mine is approaching
waist length.  his hair is very fine so he must be carefull about not
breaking it.  Period methods of retaining the hair I know little about
but Fionnbhar has a Celtic persona so he likes to do lock-ring braid at
the sides.  Small braids with Silver metal ball like things on the ends.
Braids down the back not pulled too tight and fastened with the cloth covered
elastic things are good for your hair and can be found in Manly colors
We get Goody type hair bands and things at our local Target store for Mundane
life. For work Fionnbhar wears pony tails or puts his hair up in a pirate
scarf(when he was doing painting and construction)-Isabeau

Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
From: infomgr at ptri.win.net (Rex Deaver)
Date: Sat, 08 Jan 1994 04:26:01 GMT
Subject: Re: Hairpieces for men?

David Sanders (ae766 at yfn.ysu.edu) writes:
>Greetings all, from Vajk!
>
>A problem has presented itself to me which I have never had before, and don't
>really have even basic knowledge about.
>
>I have long hair, longer even than most women, and it's thick.  Problem is
>that I need to keep it out of my face, especially at work.  Never having had
>hair this long before, I'm not familiar with good ways of doing this.
>
>Rubber bands damage the hair and scalp, but the only other thing I can think
>of that wouldn't look totally feminine is a leather piece of some sort.
>
>So... Does anyone know anything about how men with long hair in period kept
>the hair back?  I would really like to have period solutions to this problem.
>
>With few exceptions, the guys at work already think I'm not quite right, and
>using feminine hairpieces would really set them off!
>
>Thanks.

Greeting Vajk, 

I am just learning to deal with this problem myself! :)  Most of the
things I have seen were various sorts of braiding and/or wrapping,
or tied back with a leather thong as you mention.  Hats are good,
too, also headbands.

For practical purposes, there are available ponytail holders that do
_not_ have big beads or such on them, just plain solid colors. 
That's what I use for day to day. 
------------------------------------------------------
Mathurin Kerbusso...but my boss, whose opinions are NOT mine,
calls me;
Rex Deaver      Internet: infomgr at ptri.win.net 
                CIS UserID: 70744,3171
                Olathe, Kansas  (913) 780-6566  

Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
From: tbarnes at silver.ucs.indiana.edu (thomas wrentmore barnes)
Subject: Re: Hairpieces for men?
Organization: Indiana University
Date: Mon, 10 Jan 1994 02:15:44 GMT

>A problem has presented itself to me which I have never had before, and don't
>really have even basic knowledge about.
>
>I have long hair, longer even than most women, and it's thick.  Problem is
>that I need to keep it out of my face, especially at work.  Never having had
>hair this long before, I'm not familiar with good ways of doing this.

	I too have long hair, I keep it tied back with a hair band in a
pony-tail and trim the bangs so that they stay out of my eyes and off of
my face.  You can get a packet of these "hair-doogies" at any drug store
for about a buck, and a pack will last you for months. I friend of mine
who was growing his bangs out resorted to wearing a baseball cap to keep
the hair out of his eyes until it got long enough that he could
pony-tail it back.
	In period, there were lots of ways that men kept long hair out
of their faces. Sometimes the hair was long enough that it would stay
out of your face by its length - it just hung down your back. In other
periods men came up with various ways of keeping the hair out of their
faces - in my period, the 14th c. metal fillets were sometimes used. IN
the 15ht c. some dandies actually permed their hair (looks gawdawful)
which had the effect of keeping it out of their faces (I presume) but
made it look like their necks barfed. I think that the vikings, and some
other early cultures might have braided their hair. 

	Lothar \|/
		  0

Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
From: moylek at mcmail.cis.mcmaster.ca (Ken Moyle)
Subject: Re: Hairpieces for men?
Organization: McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
Date: Tue, 11 Jan 1994 20:48:03 GMT

 (David Sanders) writes:
>So... Does anyone know anything about how men with long hair in period kept
>the hair back?  I would really like to have period solutions to this problem.

	Mundanely, I use a black velvet ribbon at work (were I wear a
jacket and tie) or when going out, and a soft, leather thong otherwise.

	At events, I never tie my hair back..... I've seen no evidence
(pictorial or written) for ponytails for men of the gentry in mainstream
Western Europe in the high middle ages (I'm Franco-Scot, 14th C).  The
solution is.... hats.  Everyone wore hats.  The little white cloth coifs
are very practicle and were worn very commonly both alone and with other
head gear.... and look absolutely dorky.  I commonly wear a hood wrapped
about my head turban style.... it keeps my shoulder-length hair back quite
well.

	As for *really* long hair.... even when long hair for men was
common in Western Europe, it seems that hair much past the shoulders was
still considered girlish or excessively foppish (I can't give the source
for that at the moment).

	.....Cinaed de Moray
/------------------------------------------------------------------------\
|Kenneth C. Moyle                                      MOYLEK at McMaster.Ca|
|Computing Services Coordinator (Sciences)    ...!uunet!mnetor!maccs!kenm|
|Computing and Information Services                                      |
|McMaster University  -  Hamilton, Ontario (Canada)                      |
\------------------------------------------------------------------------/

Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
From: treid at morgan.ucs.mun.ca (Ambrose)
Subject: Re: Hairpieces for men?
Organization: Memorial University of Newfoundland
Date: Wed, 12 Jan 1994 19:14:49 GMT

I have well past shoulder length hair and as well wear it tied back most
of the time mundanely. (Being a Biochem student, it make working in a
lab easier to handle and less dangerous). At events, I usually wear a
braided leather hand band. It look appealing (at least better than afore
mentioned "dorky hats") and helps some what in keeping it out of my
face. The head band will not help much in the wind though, unlike a pony
tail. I don't know how period it is, but for guys with long hair around
here (Newfoundland) It is the preveliant choice other than just letting
it hang loose.

Hope that Helps

Ambrose
-- 
   Ambrose is/was/will be Todd Reid reachable at treid at morgan.ucs.mun.ca

Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
From: jbeltzner at TrentU.CA
Subject: Re: Hairpieces for men?
Organization: Trent University, Peterborough
Date: Thu, 13 Jan 1994 05:51:43 GMT

Cinaed de Moray writes:
>	As for *really* long hair.... even when long hair for men was
>common in Western Europe, it seems that hair much past the shoulders was
>still considered girlish or excessively foppish (I can't give the source
>for that at the moment).
>
>	.....Cinaed de Moray

	I'm not sure where you found this information, but I know that in the
earlier middle ages (before the year 1000, at any rate), the Franks felt that
long hair was a sign of marshall prowess.  Therefore the longer one's hair was,
the better a warrior they supposedly were.  This seems to imply that some of
the Franks, especially their kings, kept their hair VERY long... as a matter of
fact, I recall one instance where a king was conquered and deposed, and to keep
him from causing trouble, they cut his hair.  When he threatened to grow it
back, they were forced to kill him.
	I wish I could reference this for you, but I don't have my books with
me right now... oh well.  I wish they'd hurry with those CD ROM books... ;)

In service,
Malachai Shel Ha Cheitz Shavar,
Who feels that the ancient Kings of the Franks would not react well to being
called "foppish"
Petrea Thule, Septentria, Ealdormere
JBELTZNER at TRENTU.CA

Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
From: rorice at bronze.ucs.indiana.edu (rosalyn rice)
Subject: Re: Period hair ornaments?
Keywords: hair ornament styling
Organization: Indiana University, Bloomington IN
Date: Fri, 17 Jun 1994 04:09:39 GMT

	Greetings from Lothar,

	In the 14th c. for men's "formal" clothing (court garb) fine circlets
were worn towards the very end of the century. Other than that, for men,
the solution seemed to be to wear your hair short enough that you didn't
have to worry about, or wear a hood. 

	For women, there are LOTS of things you can do. First of all, as
you said, you can braid it. This is what most women would have done, even
if they were unmarried. Depending on the time and the period you would
have put it into some sort of headdress or used some sort of thin cloth
circlet to help hold your hair and the headdress in place. If you were
married woman, a nun, or an older woman you would have worn the wimple and
the veil in addition. If you were unmarried you would have just braided
you hair and worn a headdress which showed most of your hair. 
	There are many different fashions depending on country, decade, or
social class, so I can't describe them here, in spite of the fact that you've
given me the fact that your persona is from Northern England. Even in that
area there were lots of different styles over time. 

	For a basic idea of what was going on ca. 1330 look at marginal
illuminations from the Luttrell psalter (there's a nice illo of a serving
woman doing up her lady's hair. The servant has a simple single braid, the
lady has a more complex 'do.). For an overview of what women were wearing
look at inscised stone and and brass effigies from the period. This 
gives you as good an overview as you're likely to get. 

	In the meantime, take heart in the fact that hairpins ARE period.
They've been found in 14th c. London excavations. (BTW, check out Dress
Accessories from Archeolgical Digs in London. for a couple of pictures
of partial headdresses from the period.)

	Lothar 

From: wildgoose at gateway.ecn.com (Keith Cunningham)
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
Subject: Period hairstyles advice?
Date: 16 May 1995 20:07:30 -0700
Organization: West Coast Computer Products

Period to when?

11 Century Celt wore the hair down and held back with a head band.  They
also wore felted hats of extreme uglyness.

13 Century Wore the hair braided [two down the side in front of the ears
and one down the back.

15-16th Century were wearing the hair just like those of the Contient
[except about 50 years behind the trend]

Beyond that not much is known and this is based upon paintings and drawing
made by auslanders.  Shear speculation [pun intended]
Slante'
keith Cunningham
Cain MacRob MhicMiron Connyhaim of Connyhaim

Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
Subject: Re: Period Hairstyles
From: una at bregeuf.stonemarche.org (Honour Horne-Jaruk)
Date: Tue, 04 Jul 95 09:13:03 EDT

Michael Carson <mourning at raven.cybercom.com> writes:

>      A friend of mine who is a hairstlyist is planning to open a merchant sta
> this fall.  Does anyone have any pointers to good sources on the topic, favor
> or other thoughts?  Please e-mail me, at mourning at raven.cybercom.com, or post
> 
>                                                    Rhys ap Ieuan
>                                                m.k.a. Michael Carson
>                                                mourning at cybercom.com
> 
	Respected friend:
	Amazon Vinegar and Pickling Works Drygoods, 2218 E. 11th St.,
Davenport Ia. sells _Fashions in Hair_, Corson, 304pgs, 3,500 illos,
$98.50 US. It looks like the best in-print reference that covers our entire
era... and for a pro hairstylist it's tax-deductible!

<snip>

	(Nah, I don't work for them, I just like them.)
				
                                Yours in service to the Society-
                                (Friend) Honour Horne-Jaruk R.S.F. 
                                Alizaunde, Demoiselle de Bregeuf C.O.L. SCA
                                Una Wicca (That Pict)

From: afn03234 at freenet.ufl.edu (Ronald L. Charlotte)
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
Subject: Re: Request help with Garb
Date: 8 Aug 1995 12:48:25 GMT

Lila Richards (lila at lynx.CO.NZ) wrote:
: Greetings to the Knowne Worlde from Caitlin ni Cumhaill na Cruachan.

(deletia)
: Also, does anyone have information (or suggestions) for what to do, or what
: ladies would have done in period, with hair that is *very* thick and curly,
: and never grows much beyond shoulder length.  This is a major problem for me
: when wearing an Irish-style veil that covers only the back portion of the
: head, and it occurs to me that, since I'm living proof that such hair is
: genetically possible (I have Welsh, English and a little Scots ancestry - I
: suspect the Welsh is to blame!), it must also have occurred in the Middle
: Ages.  So what did these ladies do!?  I'm loath to grow my hair all to one
: length, as it's so thick.  (I once broke a hairbush on it!)  Any suggestions
: will be more than gratefully received.

There is pretty good evidence that hairpieces and false hair additions 
were not unheard of.  There is a fairly intact example in the HMSO volume 
_Dress Accessories_ on page 292.

Being (usually) organic material, these pieces seem likely to be fairly 
rare in the archaeological finds, but they do (and did) exist.
--
	al Thaalibi -- An Crosaire, Trimaris
	Ron Charlotte -- Gainesville, FL
	afn03234 at freenet.ufl.edu 

From: hmschdodd at aol.com (HmSchDodd)
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
Subject: Re: Request help with Garb
Date: 8 Aug 1995 20:13:39 -0400

Make a scarf of something rough--linen, or cotton gauze--at least 25"
square, and tie it like a headscarf, knotted beneath your hair,  If the
square is big enough and your hair is short enough, tuck the tail of the
scarf in, creating a snood-like thingie.  A veil can be set on top of that
if you want.  

AElflaed

From: liversen at physiology.medsch.ucla.edu (Lori Iversen)
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
Subject: Re: hair - to braid or not?
Date: 13 Aug 1995 18:53:07 GMT
Organization: UCLA

wgielau at awinc.com (Wolfgang Gielau) says:
>I have a wonderous question on the history if any on the way hair was 
>worn on maids as well as married ladies.
>
>can any one help in pointing me in the right direction?

>Vichery of Appledore, AnTir

Ah, yet another issue subject to interpretation.  There are those who
"know" that ALL married ladies covered their hair, and ALL maidens
wore theirs loose and flowing; just as there are those who "know" that
hair styling was as subject to the whims of fashion as any other bodily
adornment.

Richard Corson wrote a book on the history of hair styles; it seems to be
the standard reference on the subject (sorry, I don't remember the name,
probably because it's something truly clever like "The History of Hair").

I suggest checking primary sources (i.e., paintings, sketches, woodcuts,
etc. from whatever period you're interested in recreating), making an
educated guess and modifying what you find to suit modern hair styling
methods and implements, and then doing whatever you damn well please.

Cheers,
Alexis

% Lori Iversen    % 
% The Valley, CA  %  

From: Barb at DISTANT-CARAVANS.reno.nv.us (Barbara Morgan)
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
Subject: Re: hair - to braid or not?
Date: 17 Aug 1995 22:24:54 GMT
Organization: Great Basin Internet Services, Reno, NV

wgielau at awinc.com (Wolfgang Gielau) says:
>I have a wonderous question on the history if any on the way hair was 
>worn on maids as well as married ladies.
>
>can any one help in pointing me in the right direction?  I have been 
>braiding ladies hair now since I first joind and most of the braids have 
>been many braids braided together.
>
>thank you for listening - cheery bye
>
>Vichery of Appledore, AnTir

I have documentation somewhere that says ladies from the verious tribes in
the Middle East wore their hair braided in 3, 5 or 7 braids(always an odd
number, under their headdress or veils.  

This might seem over kill but I've tried it.  It's alot cooler then one
braid at those really hot events.

Amaryllis
Barb at DISTANT-CARAVANS.reno.nv.us
http://www.greatbasin.com/~caravan/

From: psyche at io.org (Psyche)
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
Subject: Re: hair - to braid or no
Date: 16 Aug 1995 16:29:36 -0400
Organization: Internex Online, Toronto, Ontario, Canada (416 363 3783)

 Wg> can any one help in pointing me in the right direction?  I have been 
 Wg> braiding ladies hair now since I first joind and most of the braids
 Wg> have  been many braids braided together.

It would really depend upon which time period you're looking at.  For example
in the Tudor era (acording to the books I have read), women (married or not)
wore their hair either loose or bound (braids, snoods, hairnets, whatever).
BTW, the way to wear one of those Tudor hats (the beret-style) depends upon
how you are wearing your hair.  If it's loose, you wear the hat horizontally,
but if your hair is dressed (usually in a snood or the equivalent), you wear
the hat tilted to the left, exposing the left side of the hairdo.

... *Lisa Hartjes     * Edelgard Erszebet von Wuerttemberg *

From: psyche at io.org (Psyche)
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
Subject: Re: hair - to braid or no
Date: 18 Aug 1995 09:58:54 -0400
Organization: Internex Online, Toronto, Ontario, Canada (416 363 3783)

 Li> is this the way you think they look best?  If the former, do you have
 Li> Do you mean that this is the way women wore flat caps *in period,* or
 Li> a period source that you can prove is definitive?  If so,
 Li> great -- could you either post it or email it to me?  If the latter,

It was from a text which dealt with women's clothing, based upon the study
of period portraits, woodcuts and other sources.  I can't for the life of
me remember what book it was, but I have sneaking suspicion it was in the
great big book of costuming by Davenport.  I'll have to see if I can find
my notes....

Lady Edelgard

PS.  A flat cap looks better tilted slightly back away from my face.  :)

From: sandradodd at aol.com (SandraDodd)
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
Subject: Re: hair - to braid or not?
Date: 15 Aug 1995 21:05:35 -0400

<<There are those who
"know" that ALL married ladies covered their hair, and ALL maidens
wore theirs loose and flowing; >>

And when?  And where?  I remember a couple of stories of queens wearing
their hair loose for coronations (like weddings, I guess...).

I wear mine two braids down the front and a veil lots of times.  If  I
wear it down the back, I either loop the braid up or make sure the veil
covers the whole braid.  Nothing goofier looking than a braid coming out
the back of a veil, but two in the front longer than the veil is in lots
of pictures and effigies.

I haven't seen pictures of many braids braided into one, though.  Doesn't
mean there aren't any; I haven't seen any. 

I agree with the advice about looking at portraits and such.
AElflaed

From: Ed Luxenburg <73042.3240 at CompuServe.COM>
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
Subject: Re: hair - to braid or not?
Date: 19 Aug 1995 02:08:46 GMT

According to Giraldus Cambrensis (late 12th cent) among the 
Welsh, both men and women "cut their hair short, shaping it 
around the ears and eyebrows".
-- 
Andrea Hughett Luxenburg

From: ej613 at cleveland.Freenet.Edu (Maureen S. O'Brien)
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
Subject: Re: hair - to braid or no
Date: 26 Aug 1995 00:21:38 GMT
Organization: Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH (USA)

Sorry to join this thread late, but I read a book of English comments
(period) on Irish society, and one of the writers commented on 
Irish fashion, including regional hair and hat styles.  In Munster,
for example, unmarried women wore their hair in a single braid with
a riband across the front of their heads.  Some city's women wore
hats as big around as a cheese,  etc.  Rude, nasty comments, but
informative nonetheless.
-- 
Maureen S. O'Brien		We are like the roses ---
ad451 at dayton.wright.edu		We are forced to grow.

From: ej613 at cleveland.Freenet.Edu (Maureen S. O'Brien)
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
Subject: Re: hair - to braid or no
Date: 26 Aug 1995 14:20:53 GMT
Organization: Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH (USA)

In a previous article, ej613 at cleveland.Freenet.Edu (Maureen S. O'Brien) says:
>Sorry to join this thread late, but I read a book of English comments
>(period) on Irish society, and one of the writers commented on 
>Irish fashion, including regional hair and hat styles.  In Munster,
>for example, unmarried women wore their hair in a single braid with
>a riband across the front of their heads.  Some city's women wore
>hats as big around as a cheese,  etc.  Rude, nasty comments, but
>informative nonetheless.

Found the book on the catalog.  It was:
_Elizabethan Ireland: a selection of writings by Elizabethan writers
on Ireland._ Edited by James P. Myers, Jr. Archon Books, 1983.
ISBN: 0208020349.

I still can't remember the writer's name, but the selection came from
his correspondence to a friend, which was then published (in period,
I believe.) Wait until you read his comments on plackets.  Pretty 
nasty, pretty funny, but provided by a pretty good observer withal.
(But what I wouldn't give for a time machine and a concealed camcorder...)
-- 
Maureen S. O'Brien		We are like the roses ---
ad451 at dayton.wright.edu		We are forced to grow.

From: Julie Adams <savaskan at electriciti.com>
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
Subject: To Hat or Not To Hat (was: Accuracy of Costume Editors)
Date: 24 Jan 1996 02:52:04 GMT
Organization: Savaskan Anatolians

gileshill at aol.com (Gileshill) wrote:
 There are severeal historical documents
>(letters, literature, etc.) where women at their wedding are wearing their
>hair down and uncaught.
>
>Lady Ghislaine d'Auxerre  

I can't recall where I read this, but I remember that there were some period cultures where the bride's hair was ritually bound up by other married women and widows in her family after the wedding night (maybe 14th cent. Sweden?..hmmm) I know that at least in Germany, a folded linen cloth called a Kirchenhaube was worn in Church, and brides wore a Kronbraut (bridal crown) which actually was often pretty ugly contraption with various colored beads and spangles of different sizes, ...sort of reminiscent of Carmen Maranda as a 16th century bride...I have seen several examples of originals in various milinery collections. With her crown, the bride wore her hair braided up, but her maidens: "Tischjungfrau" could have their hair down.

I think anyone who has camped out or lived in a primitive situation, where bathing is a difficult and time consuming enterprise, will know that it is easier to keep hair clean and comfortable when worn up and covered. In a late 16th cent. Englishman's account of Germany, he describes the locals as bathing a lot (approximately once a week) in comparison to his own native England. I don't know exactly how often he was implying that Englishmen bathed, but I know I would be at least wearing my hair in braids, if not up and covered, even if I was only bathing once a week. The other issue we don't have to deal with in the modern world so much is lack of, or uneven, heating. While great furnaces warmed the homes of the upper classes, the heat was still not particularly even, (which is why they had steps and usually a place to sit on them for warmth "the hotseat"). Since so much heat is lost from your head, it only makes sense to cover it in cool weather and at night. I believe that while 16th century German maidens were allowed to wear their hair loose, it seems that most have their hair up and covered most of the time, except for special occasions and warm summer days. 

Julianna

Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
From: piusma at umdnj.edu (Matthew Pius)
Subject: Re: Long hair(mens) in old times
Organization: Univ. of Medicine and Dentistry of NJ
Date: Wed, 2 Jul 1997 18:34:12 GMT

Andrew Calvin <acalvin at flash.net> writes:
>I know that this may be a stupid question, but you gents and maidens
>would probably be the best to know this. I have long hair, and the other
>day, my friend asked me if I kenw how men tied long hair back in ancient
>and medival times. I replied to him that I didn't know. He bet me 10
>dollars that I couldn't find out in a month. I have been unable to find
>out so, here's the question that I am passing on to you:
>    With what did men tie their long hair with in old times?

        I think you're friend may have been giving you a trick question.  
I can't think of any depictions I've seen of men with long hair tied back 
prior to the 18th century.  Any depiction I can think of in SCA period of 
a man with long hair, he's letting his manly locks flow freely.

        On the other hand, in Muslim countries, there are references to 
topknots (one that I recall is of angels using the topknot as  handle to 
carry a man up to heaven).  One presumes that this would have been worn 
under a turban, or some other head covering, as well.

                                        -Ibrahim al-Rashid
                                                (mka Matt Pius)

From: XSimmons <"jls9" at  MSG.TI.COM>
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
Subject: Re: Long hair(mens) in old times
Date: Wed, 02 Jul 1997 14:21:58 -0500
Organization: Texas Instruments

Matthew Pius wrote:<snip>
>        On the other hand, in Muslim countries, there are references to
> topknots (one that I recall is of angels using the topknot as  handle to
> carry a man up to heaven).  One presumes that this would have been worn
> under a turban, or some other head covering, as well.
>
>                                         -Ibrahim al-Rashid
>                                                 (mka Matt Pius)

   Intriguing.  I am searching my brain for fuzzy memories of Persian
miniatures (destroyed, alas) that showed men with their turbans knocked
off.  (This is post-battle humiliation of the loser, or display of
strong emotion--at the sight of the draped and swathed figure of his
true love, the hero falls into a lovestruck swoon.)

Seems I've seen a minority of heads with a pony tail on top and the rest
of the head shaved close (sort of a reverse tonsure).  This somewhat
resembles the Chinese boy's hairstyle, except it isn't braided.  The
quality of artwork in the few examples I recall (_This rumor is not
adequate for A&S documentation!_) was not of the most sublime.

An angel handle, eh?  I'd just assumed it was to keep the hair from
showing, and perhaps an antiheat measure.  These Muslims seem to have
picturesque imaginations.

Thank you for the tidbit, al-Rashid.  If  I ever find good documentation
for my memory, I'll post it in my ethereal keep.  (
http://geocities.com/Heartlands/Meadows/5533 ).

Salaam
Ly Meara al-Isfahani

From: Falcone al Rasool ibn Muhajir <falcone at bellsouth.net>
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
Subject: Re: Long hair(mens) in old times
Date: Wed, 02 Jul 1997 13:20:05 -0400
Organization: Elvegast, Winmasters' Hil, Atlantia

Salaam, Andrew, Salaam!!

Andrew Calvin wrote:
> 
> I know that this may be a stupid question, but you gents and maidens
> would probably be the best to know this. I have long hair, and the other
> day, my friend asked me if I kenw how men tied long hair back in ancient
> and medival times. I replied to him that I didn't know. He bet me 10
> dollars that I couldn't find out in a month. I have been unable to find
> out so, here's the question that I am passing on to you:
>     With what did men tie their long hair with in old times?
> Your answer would be greatly appreciated.
>     Respectfully,
>         Andrew

The arabs and sihks used a small bit of woolen thread to tie their hair
up at the tip-top of their head, then placed a skull cap over it.  Over
that went a turban.

Andrew, I expect half of the ten bucks.;)

Falcone

From: hoopty2112 at aol.com (HOOPTY2112)
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
Subject: Re: womens hair
Date: 3 Aug 1997 12:38:48 GMT

You can always do the fake-wrapped-braids look, and pull your real hair
back. All you would need would be a veil, an appropriate circlet or padded
head-roll, fake hair (you can get that in nearly all shades at a beauty
supply store with the popularity of extensions), and whatever you would
choose to wrap the braids in. Make the braids out of the fake hair and
wrap them, attach them to the circlet, attach the veil, hot glue
everything, and you will have a nice 12th century look that you just put
on and GO! There is all kinds of fun you can have with fake hair!!!

          Margarethe von Augsburg

From: gwynnypoo at aol.com (GwynnyPOO)
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
Subject: Re: womens hair
Date: 6 Aug 1997 06:33:34 GMT

>You can always do the fake-wrapped-braids look, and pull your real hair

My Lady does this and I REALLY appreciate it! She looks wonderful, nobody
knows but me (and a few choice friends), and should I mention the time
saved! Oi!     Love it, Gwyn O Glan Y Mor

Date: Thu, 7 Aug 1997 18:22:45 -0700 (PDT)
From: Cynthia Virtue <cvirtue at well.com>
To: sca-arts at raven.cc.ukans.edu
Subject: Re: headdresses question (fwd)

Gwyn says this is bouncing from her mailer, so I'm sending it for her.

---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Thu, 7 Aug 1997 15:08:02 -0700
From: gcarnegi <gcarnegi at quiknet.com>
> 
> I did a large search awhile back for someone on this list looking for
> details on hairdresing.  The best book I found which also had a lot of
> veils and such included was:
> Calderini, Emma.
> Acconciature antiche e moderne. Testo di Eva Tea. 
> [Milano]   Sperling & Kupfer [1963] 
> 510 pages ,       Bibliography: p. [513]-[514]
> Text in  Italian, English, French, and German.
> (sorry-  I don't have the ibsn/issn for this book)
> 
> This book is LARGE with 4 illustration per page.  They are redrawings from
> original works but the reference for the orginal work and all the details
> are right beside it.   If I remember right, most of the critical material
> was in french or italian but some pretty good notes were also given in the
> other languages.
> 
> There were some other interesting things that came out of the that search
> like this:
> Taylor, Lisa,  McFadden, David Revere.  
> Hair.
> [New York, New York : Cooper-Hewitt Museum, 1980]
> Includes chronology and  bibliography .
> Subjects:  Iconography,   Hair, clothing and dress  4th Century B.C.-20th
> Century A.D.  
> 
> Gwyndolynn Anne the Obscure
> West Kingdom

From: ghazallah at aol.com (Ghazallah)
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
Subject: Re: Arabic Facial Tatoos
Date: 9 Aug 1997 17:15:26 GMT

   I just wanted to say a bit about Henna.  I use it on my
hair and it makes it very strong and shiny.  At Pennsic, I put it on my
hands and feet.  It lasts on me about a week and is very graceful-looking.

   I recommend using different types, though.  For hair, I use Rainbow
brand, which is consistent in the color from application to application
and lasts at least until my roots start showing.  Mix it with yogurt and
it's easier to wash out, and leaves the hair silky.  For hands, go to an
Indian grocery store and buy it pre-mixed in tubes with very fine nozzles.

   You can also buy stencils and just slather it on.  I love the stuff.

Ghazallah al-Qamar

Date: Thu, 18 Dec 97 12:07:29
From: "Arianne de Dragonnid mka Grace Schosser-Payne" <arianne at trimaris.com>
To: "sca-arts at raven.cc.ukans.edu" <sca-arts at raven.cc.ukans.edu>
Subject: Re: 12 - 13th Head gear or head wear

On Wed, 17 Dec 1997 12:58:27 -0800, Yvette Baker wrote:
>With one exception.  What to wear on my head.  As a
>woman from 12 - 13th (still working on persona) century
>I am in a quandry about what to wear on my head.
>
>I have long hair with bangs.  Those pesky bangs make lots
>of trouble when it comes to headgear.  So I am wondering.

Speaking as a lady of 1196 Normaundie (Normandy, in France), I hope I can be of assistance.

Excluding the bangs, which I've only seen in period on young girls, your hair seems perfect for our period.
First, you want to either part it down the middle and braid it or put it in one big braid in the back.  It was during our period that ladies would wrap their hair in casings (see below) to decorate it and make it appear longer and thicker.

CASINGS: I've not found a good pattern for them, but I came up with a good design myself.  First, I took rags of a nice, soft fabric (preferably LONG rags of a lighter-coloured fabric than you plan on making the casing out of) and tore them into 4-6 inch wide strips.  The wider these strips are, the more hair it looks like you have.  I then took a good hair-type rubber band and folded three of the strips over it, with varrying (sp?) amounts of fabric folded over (I suggest 6 - 12 inches).  

I then braided the three strips together (it works better if you roll
the torn edges to the inside or take the time to cut the rags), stopping every time I got to the end of a rag (including the three short ones).  This looks neater if you trim the ends down a little and overlap.  Continue until the braid is the desired length -- 46 inches is good for me, and I'm 5'9".  Let the size of the braid taper naturally, and use a rubber band to end it.  It's good to take a nice tassel and secure it to the bottom of the braid.  

Then you want to take a NICE, period-looking fabric and cut a rectangular piece long enough and wide enough to wrap completely around the braid with room for seams and your real hair (9" x 48" for my measurements).  Hemstitch up one long side and the top, then fold up a good seam allowance at the bottom and start wrapping, aligning things so the edge doesn't really show.  Starting at the bottom, sew the casing to the braid, stopping about six inches below where your hair ends.  Secure two barrettes to the top rubber band (these get put in your hair right at the base of your braid to hold up the casing.  Try it on, putting your braid through the rubber band and wrapping the casing around the two braids.  Find out where the edge of the casing lines up with the rest of the casing, and mark.  

Take it off and sew a nice trim around the casing every 6-12 inches along the length of the casing (different trims?) so it looks like you have circles of trim around the casing.  Use modern closures like snaps disguised by the trim.

As for the rest of your headgear, you can chose between a gorget and a wimple to cover your neck and top it off with a long oval veil.  (I understand the veils tended to shorten over the 13th century and the wimples to become more covering.)  You can chose to keep that in place with a pair of fibula (fibulae? -- decorative period safety pins), a thin band that might be decorated, or a little cap that the experts agree was probably knitted (which at least one period sculptor has shown UNDER all that headgear).

>Would a thin band with ribbons attached in back be in that
>period?  How about a smallish pillbox type hat with veil
>under the chin and trailing in back, kind of a barbette look?
>And was gauzy fabric available at that time for veils?

While the thin band would be period, I've not seen the ribbons done that way in our period.  I have seen the pillbox and veil look for late 13th - early 14th century dress, although you would need a barbette, aka a gorget (if I have my definitions right; I'm a bit foggy on that).  As for gauzy fabrics, they were available but bore no resemblance to the scrunchy artificial fibre ones of today.  Instead, look to fine white muslins and other similar fabrics.  I once read (in a borrowed SCA publication that was booklike but not a CA) that they often wove patterns in the fabric they used for headgear by weaving portions back and forth separately -- I'm thinking a heavy sort of lace.  BTW, if anyone knows which publication I'm talking about, I'd like to know.

Arianne de Dragonnid

From: Fideli <jfideli at bookworm.suffolk.lib.ny.us>
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
Subject: Re: Renaissance Hair styles
Date: 16 Sep 1998 22:17:43 GMT

katiayna at aol.com (Katiayna) wrote:
>  I am looking for information on period (Renaissance, Europe) hair styles
> for women.  Does anyone out there know any good web sites or books that 
> might have this information.
>  
> -Puller

Greetings, I just found the book I had mentioned before, yes its still me Xaviar the Eccentric, just using a very slow txt only system....dam ;unix......anyway

Both the following books are by Richard Corson.

Fashions in hair: the first five thousand years; London 1980......ISBN 0 7206 3283 8

You should find this most interesting, and although there are more male then female drawings, it should help you in what you seek.

Also a good one by the same is.

........... Fashions in makeup, from ancient to modern times.  London, 
1972.     ISBN 0 7206 04311

Have fun, I have loved using the these books

Xaviar the Eccentric
xaviar_the_eccentric at yahoo.com

Date: Fri, 07 Jan 2000 17:52:26 -0500
From: rmhowe <magnusm at ncsu.edu>
To: Karen at agent.infodata.com
Subject: Hair Braiding and Ribbons

http://www2.kumc.edu/instruction/academicsupport/itc/staff/rknight/Briana3.htm

http://www.virtue.to/virtue/articles/Index.html

I got asked the whereabouts of articles for hair braiding today.
Just in time for Twelfth Nite.

Magnus

[sent to me by phlip at morganco.net]
From: grace <polgara at shell.aros.net>
To: Midrealm List <sca-middle at midrealm.org>
Date: Friday, January 28, 2000 8:45 PM
Subject: [Mid] Hair Ideas #1 (Long!)
 
This is the first of two (or maybe three) installments. Most of the 
comments will be reprinted exactly as they came across the Aerie (with 
minor editing for readability), with the author of the comments credited 
at the bottom. 
 
This first is a very good style, especially if you are not fortunate 
enough (as I am not) to have long, thick hair. 
 
1.  Take 2 thick lengths of false hair (usually available at craft 
 stores) and braid them. Wrap them in strands of pearls or beads or 
 ribbons (or all 3!) and secure strands with rubber bands (the 
 invisible type) at ends and bobby pins as necessary. 
2.  Now twist braids together and secure to each other.  You can vary the 
 look by making the braids of varying thickness and/or use 
 different braiding techniques on each braid.  Secure ends together 
 with rubber bands so that what you have looks rather like a fancy 
 circlet made of hair. 
3.  Part your hair down the center and set braids on top of head.  They 
 should be long enough so that they sit at the top just behind the 
 hairline, and the ends should be at the nape of the neck. 
4.  Take a section of hair at the temple and loop it up and over the braid 
 crown, and pull through down behind braids so that section of hair 
 now comes back out underneath braids.  Repeat at other temple and 
 at nape of neck so braid ends are covered by your own hair. 
5.  Take the majority of your hair at nape of neck and twist into a loose 
 bun at nape of neck (it invariably looks weird if you braid this 
 section, too).  Be sure to leave *lots* of loose strands of hair 
 down. 
6.  Secure braids and bun to head with as many bobby pins as necessary. 
7.  Curl all loose strands of hair into small ringlets.  Finger comb. 
8.  Take lots of small to medium combs and decorate by hot gluing bits of 
 appropriate costume jewelry to them.  Secure in hair in any 
 pattern that pleases you.  As a finishing touch take a ribbon and 
 place it across your forehead and thread ends (this needs a pretty 
 long ribbon) through hair as pleases you and tie off behind head. 
 Secure a drop pearl or other bit of jewelry to ribbon at center of 
 forehead. 
 
This style will work on any hair long enough to wrap the real hair about 
the braids.  It is not appropriate for bangs, like *most* period styles, 
so pin them back first if you have them. 
 
The Snood 
1.  Measure around your head (from over the top to the nape of the neck, 
 (think of the position you would wear a modern headband at) and 
 cut a pretty piece of ribbon trim to that length. 
2.  Sew the ends together so that now you have a circle. 
3.  Lay out your fabric and put a dinner plate on it (you can experiment 
 with bigger or smaller sizes but this is a good general size to 
 go with) and cut your fabric in a circle, using the plate as a 
 guide. 
4.  Pleat your fabric onto the inside of the band of trim.  Make the pleat 
 that will sit at the top of your head fairly wide and slowly 
 gather the pleats more tightly towards the bottom of the trim 
 where you've sewn the ends together.  This will ensure that the 
 snood will hang properly rather than poofing out all around your 
 head and looking more like a pillow.  Sew fabric onto trim. 
5.  (Optional) You can sew small combs into the snood to hold it securely 
 in place or you can simply secure it with bobby pins.  I think the 
 combs end up giving it a nicer look myself, no pins showing. 
6.  (Also optional) It is very Italianate to tie a ribbon that crosses 
 over the forehead and ties off behind the snood.  It helps secure 
 the snood and can make the whole thing look more dressy, 
 especially if you secure a drop pearl to the ribbon at the center 
 of the forehead or some other ornament, like a necklace charm. 
 Also, you can secure the snood with a circlet (circlets will be 
 covered later). 
7.  Fabrics - Use something light that has a lot of drape so it will hang 
 well, avoid stiff fabrics. 
8.  Decoration - you can bead or put pearls on the fabric of the snood, 
 embroider or cross-stitch on it or make a crosshatch pattern with 
 narrow ribbon over the fabric of the snood. Pearls look especially 
 nice at the intersections of the crosshatching. 
9.  The Hair - You can simply pull it back in a ponytail and tuck it 
 inside the snood.  You can leave a few tendrils out to frame the 
 face as well. 
 
The Muffin Cap 
1.  Proceed as above except... 
2.  Use a stiffer fabric, cotton is great, usually in cream or white, 
 and... 
3.  Pleat evenly all the way around.  The muffin cap is *supposed* to poof 
 out evenly all around behind your head.  The muffin cap is more 
 suited to peasant or middle class English garb. 
 
The French Hood 
1.  Use a headband to build upon. 
2.  You can use cardboard but plastic canvas is more like buckram (which 
 can be hard to find) and more durable.  Cut the plastic canvas in 
 a crescent moon shape that will fit the headband. 
3.  Cover it in the fabric of your choice. 
4.  Sew it to the front edge of the headband. 
5.  The veil - historically in black velvet (use cotton velveteen, modern 
 velvet is totally wrong), measure to no lower than your waist, no 
 higher than the middle of your back.  Sew veil to upper edge of 
 your crescent. 
6.  (Optional) You can decorate the crescent with pearls, beads, trims and 
 you can make the crescent just about any height you are 
 comfortable with, though I'd stop at anything wider than 6 inches 
 at its widest point.  This is the basic and simplest version of 
 the French Hood. 
7.  The Hair - Simply secure hair in ponytail and coil into bun at nape of 
 neck, secure with bobby pins.  No tendrils left out, though the 
 hood should sit back far enough to show the upper part of the 
 hair. 
  
Veil & Circlet 
 Historically, veils were cream or white no matter what color of 
garb they were worn with.  Don't use a heavy or stiff or slippery fabric! 
Muslin, once washed and the sizing goes away, makes excellent veil 
material. Never use more than 2 yards, this is, after all, six feet of 
fabric and more than sufficient! :)  You can either simply finish off the 
edges at either end (this is very traditional and can be draped about the 
head in a variety of ways, it's up to your imagination) and call it good 
or you can cut it in a semi-circle, leaving the edge that will be the 
front and frame your face straight. 
 You secure the veil with a circlet.  In Artemisia, there's a 
custom that we don't wear metal circlets, but here's how to cheat, if your 
Kingdom also has that custom. 
1.  Take a piece of boning and measure snugly but comfortably around your 
 head.  Sew ends of boning together. 
2.  Take a trim close to the width of the boning and sew to the boning on 
 the outside.  I prefer to use either silver or gold braid trim. 
 This gives the appearance of metal but isn't and thus violates no 
 sumptuary laws anywhere. It also looks more authentic than using 
 ribbon trim or any trim with a pattern, though these can look very 
 pretty, if not period. 
 You can also decorate them with beadwork or pearls.  If you have 
 chosen veil fabric that is not too slippery, this circlet will 
 secure it very well without the need for additional bobby pins, 
 and it is very lightweight and comfortable as well. 
3.  The Hair - Hair is worn coiled in a bun at the nape of the neck. 
 
Norman Braid Cases 
1.  Part hair down the middle and braid in 2 separate braids. Even I can 
 do this one. :) 
2.  Here's where it gets interesting.  About halfway down your braid, the 
 braid cases start.  These are 2 tubes of fabric the same 
 circumference as your braids.  You can make them as long as you'd 
 like, though to the knee was just about as long as everyone went, 
 mid-thigh is popular.  The portion of the tube not filled with 
 your hair is filled with fiberfill which keeps them from dragging 
 down your own braids, because it's lightweight. 
3. Insert your braid ends into the top of the braid case.  You may need to 
 leave them open a ways so that you can manipulate your hair into 
 them more easily. 
4.  Take reallllly long ribbons and tie the braid case to your braid at 
 the top of the case, winding it around several times to secure 
 it.  Then cross the ribbon at even intervals all the way down the 
 braid case to the ends and tie off. 
5.  (Optional stuff) You can use false hair to stick out the end of the 
 braid case (this was done in period) or simply narrow the case 
 down to a point. Bells or other ornaments were often sewn to the 
 ends of braid cases.  You can sew the ribbon directly to the 
 braid case so you don't have to mess with it every time you put 
 them on.  You can decorate the cases with pearls, beads, trims, 
 etc. 
6.  To Wear - Braid hair in 2 separate braids, put braid cases on, lay one 
 braid forward over each shoulder.  Put on veil.  Put on circlet 
 to secure veil.  This is "the" Norman look. 

The above suggestions are courtesy of: 
Madonna Lucia (lamia at mcn.net) 
 
More to come in the next message! 
 
In service to The Dream, 
Cecily 
___________________________________________________________________________ 
   |\      _,,,---,,_       grace 
   /,`.-'`'    -.  ;-;;    polgara at aros.net 
  |,4-  ) )-,_..;\ (  `'-'       http://www.aros.net/~polgara/ 
 '---''(_/--'  `-'\_)  fL    "Si hoc legere scis nimium eruditiones habes."

[sent to me by phlip at morganco.net]
From: grace <polgara at shell.aros.net>
To: Midrealm List <sca-middle at midrealm.org>
Date: Friday, January 28, 2000 8:57 PM
Subject: [Mid] Hair Ideas #2 (Long!)
 
Second of three installments on ideas of period hairstyles. Again, most of 
this is reprinted exactly as it came across the Aerie (Artemisia's mailing 
list), edited only for readability. 
 
--- 
First of all I would like to thank the wonderful and inventive Lucia who 
enlightened me on what to do with my hair. I printed out your instructions 
and tried them on a friend and myself last night. Lacking a 
realistic-looking false braid, I tried it with our natural hair. I 
discovered that I could "cheat" a way to get a somewhat similar effect (I 
think) without being fortunate enough to have long flowing tresses 
reaching past my rear end. 
 
I have always been very marginal at braiding hair, worse at braiding my 
own, and inept at using safety pins (they never hold and always stick out 
strangely) so if I can do this, anybody could! 
 
To start with, my hair is all one length (no bangs) and if the curl is 
stretched out, it would just about reach to my bra-strap. I think this 
method wouldn't work with hair shorter than mine. I wasn't certain how the 
wispy tendrils of hair would work, so I didn't attempt them after a failed 
attempt on my friend. However they could probably be put in if you know 
how they should look. 
 
First part your hair in the middle and put behind your back. Take one 
handful of hair on each side, at the base of your neck and underneath your 
other hair and bring forward. No part in your hair should be visible at 
the back, as your other hair will cover it. Braid each section and secure 
with hair ties. Take two *very* long ribbons and push them together 
through the top loop of your braid near your skull. Take the other end of 
the ribbons, bring around the nape of your neck and push through the top 
loop of your other braid. You should have continuous ribbons hanging loose 
by each braid. Wrap each braid in ribbons, making sure to hide the hair 
tie. Knot the ribbons at each end of the braid securely. 
 
Now clip or tie the rest of your hair into a low ponytail back out of the 
way. I found it easier to make the bun after the braids are taken care of. 
Bring up each braid around your head so they cross at your center part by 
your hairline. Cross braids over, then take the loose part of each braid 
and wrap it around the other braid going back downwards. When you run out 
of braid, continue wrapping with the ribbons. You can pull on the braids 
and ribbons to make this really tight. When you reach the nape of your 
neck again, knot the ribbons under your ponytail of loose hair and either 
let hang loose or hide them. Let your clipped hair down. You should now 
look like you are wearing a tight headband of braided and ribboned hair. 
If you do it right, it will look continuous and the ends of your braids at 
the top of your hair will be covered by ribbons. It should be tight enough 
that no bobby pins are necessary to secure in place. (Yay!!!!) 
 
Now you can make wispy tendrils or whatever. Then take the rest of your 
hair and make a bun at the nape of your neck and secure with bobby pins 
(guess what was the trickiest part for me). The bun will hide the ribbons 
and the beginnings of your braids. The finished result? A braided and 
ribboned headband of your own hair, and a bun at the back. Nobody will be 
able to figure out how you did it. You can add pearls and jeweled hair 
combs etc. it's just that I don't have any so I couldn't experiment. 
 
I am certain that the finished result doesn't look quite like Lucia's 
masterpiece, however it seems like a decent approximation I could make 
with my own medium-length hair, and I was able to easily do it myself. 
 
Ada Cormaic <adacormaic at yahoo.com> 
 
--- 
The other part of this equation is, don't wash your hair.  All the 
fabulous hair styles were achieved because their hair was not squeaky 
clean.  It wasn't dirty either.  It just cracks me up when I hear people 
say 'My hair is filthy! I haven't washed it for a day!  Then after we do 
wash it, we stick a bunch of chemicals in it that make it look as if it 
hasn't been washed.  And then we stick more chemicals in it to condition 
it and then wash them out with a shampoo that complete strips the hair. 
But the manufacturers love it.  They just keep ruining our hair, so we 
keep buying more product.  If you brush your hair 100 strokes every night, 
it will go along way to conditioning and strengthening your hair. 
 
Anyway, if you want to do work your hair into a fabulous braid, you want 
your hats to stay on better do not wash your hair for at least 2 days 
before.  Oh god, I can hear the squeals of pain now!  Be sure to brush it 
before bed every night.  Then when you go to do the style, you will not 
need as many pins or as much hairspray.  And you will also give your hair 
and scalp a much needed break from the beauty supply industry. 
 
Kathlene (khopkins at cyberhighway.net) 
---  
One more! 
 
In service to The Dream, 
Cecily 
___________________________________________________________________________ 
   |\      _,,,---,,_       grace 
   /,`.-'`'    -.  ;-;;    polgara at aros.net 
  |,4-  ) )-,_..;\ (  `'-'       http://www.aros.net/~polgara/ 
 '---''(_/--'  `-'\_)  fL    "Si hoc legere scis nimium eruditiones habes." 

[sent to me by phlip at morganco.net]
From: grace <polgara at shell.aros.net>
To: Midrealm List <sca-middle at midrealm.org>
Date: Friday, January 28, 2000 8:48 PM
Subject: [Mid] Hair Ideas #3
 
This last installment is mostly a reference of period art and the 
hairstyles in it. 
 
--- 
With regard to Italian Fashion during the Rennaissance I turn to the 
following sources:  A Treasury of Art Masterpieces from the Renaissance to 
the Present Day; Masterpieces of Italian Art; The Complete Paints by the 
Master of Line-Durer; Art in Venice. 
 
Portraits from 1400 through 1600 show that in Italian paintings there 
seems to be many single subject depictions of men wearing some type of 
headcoverings (Portrait of a Youth - Giovanni Bellini, Jacob Fugger, the 
Wealthy - Durer) while paintings with many subjects or group scenes (Feast 
in the House of Levi - Paolo Veronese, The End of the World - Luca 
Signorelli) show men without headcoverings or a mixture.  Women sometimes 
wear no headcovering (Portrait of a Young Venetian Woman - Durer, Portrait 
of a Venetian Woman - Durer, The Mystical Marriage of St. Catherine - 
Paolo Veronese) other than elaborate hairstyles although sometimes they 
are depicted wearing simple turbans or scarves during domestic occupations 
such as caring for a child (Sacra Conversazione - Palma il Vecchio, The 
Presentation of the Virgin in the Temple-Titian).  Durer in particular 
does show single subject portraits with no headcoverings for women or men, 
however many of his subjects, especially male, do wear headcoverings. 
 
Might a theory be presented that headcoverings were worn for portraits 
much like today we spiff up for family pictures?  Also, might the group 
portraits showing a wide variety of heads both covered and uncovered show 
that headcoverings were a matter of fashion choice rather than necessity? 
 
Please keep in mind this is just a short glance at portraiture during the 
Italian Renaissance from a few sources. 
 
Kristiane <wolfsong at utah-inter.net>  
---  

In service to The Dream, 
Cecily 

 [sent to me by phlip at morganco.net]
From: Marie Lillian Vibbert <mlv4 at po.cwru.edu>
To: sca-middle at midrealm.org <sca-middle at midrealm.org>
Date: Monday, January 31, 2000 1:31 PM
Subject: [Mid] hair ideas for the longish sort
 
I was very frustrated starting out at all the period hair style material 
available for those with short locks, and none for those who could actually 
pull off a period length, so I thought I'd share what I've learned for 
those who share my over endowedness of hair and are interestes: 
 
First off, having lots of hair doesn't make this easier. It's a lot easier 
to pin in a false extention exactly where you want than make your real hair 
do it. 
 
Secondly, I don't mean to diss extentions. They're handy, and I've seen 
conclusive documentation for hairstyles that could only have been done with 
additional hairpieces. 
 
I have a few period hair styles I use. 
 
The first is that classic elizabethan top roll.  Grasp the hair on one side 
of your temple and twist it, work around the head, slowly gathering all the 
hair you have into one long twisting rope.  After you've made it all the 
way around the head, continue twisting to get the whole of your hair nice 
and twisted, then tuck that coil in under the twist around the head.  Take 
a largish comb to sweep up the bangs and secure them behind the roll.  I 
find one bobby pin is enough to hold the whole mess up, provided you have 
enough hair to make half again another pass.  This takes hair of at least 
mid-back length.  You can then decorate with pearl-toped pins or whatnot. 
 
The second is for "templets", a nice 14th century 'do.  Braid your hair in 
two braids at the nape of your neck, bring them forward and cross over the 
forehead, bobby pining into place.  If you want, you can put wire into the 
braids to make sure they fall horizontal to the face.  To really keep them 
in place, you need a circlet or padded bourlet, ideally worn high and back 
to accentuate that lovely high forehead. 
 
Another popular hair style are the "princess leia buns". If you can put up 
with the constant star wars references.  Mind you, Leia herself 
_definately_ had falsies to get them that big.  I've seen a wide variety of 
the double-bun look, including having the double buns with a sort of 
bourlet of fake hair around the top like a circlet, the double-buns-with 
circlet or cage, or you can just have two braids looped up on each other. 
I've had nothing but misery trying to use a snood with buns, but that may 
be my own lack of proper pinning. Either my hair gets loose and pulls the 
snood out, or the snood gets loose and hangs like a fishing net around my 
head. 
 
ah well, enough babbling. Thought it might help. 
Lyonnete, the hairy. :)

From: Gwen Morse <goldmoon at REMOVE.geocities.com>
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
Subject: Re: woad is me
Date: Sun, 09 Jul 2000 15:43:00 -0400

On Sat, 8 Jul 2000 07:05:22 -0800, "Sean O'Leary" <manxcat9 at hotmail.com> wrote:
>No, skipping the hair-liming. There's fun and all that, but lime seems a lot
>less healthy than being blue for a couple weeks.
>
>-Irial Feasruadh î hIarn‡in
>-(Irial Red-beard O'Hearnon)
>-mka Sean O'Leary
>-Anchorage AK

Here is an except from email exchanged between myself and a British
re-encactor, that can point you in the right direction in case you
decide you WOULD like to use the "limewash" look.

At 05:19 PM 4/28/98 +0100, "Paul Attard" wrote:
>> I know enough about woad
>>to find it on my own, but, I was wondering what the group uses for lime
>>wash?
>
>Well.... if we were being totally authentic we should use lime with a
>dash of urine, but this, as you can imagine is not very nice in summer
>and tends to make your hair fall out. Very popular with flying insects
>of all kinds. The urine stops the lime burning your scalp...  Thank the
>gods for small mercy's
>
>We actually use.....wait for it.....Kaolin!  this is totally inert and
>brushes out easily at the end of the day.  It is also an excellent cure
>for Diarrhoea.
>MMMMMMmmmmm brings back happy memorys of camp fire cooking!
>
>> Is there a recipie you'd be willing to share with me, and, if so,
>>would I be allowed to post it up on my page(s) (you would be properly
>>credited, of course).
>
>Errrrr!!  We buy the stuff in gallon tubs.  You certainly can quote us
>on the above though!

I'm not 100% sure what Kaolin is, but, I'm sure if you went to a
pharmacy and asked a pharmacist, they could point you in the right
direction. It may be like Kao-pectate (sp?)...and it's simply a matter
of finding it in white.

Gwen
"Beartach le cˆirdean" 
--
Eachna dalta Aonghus - 5th century Irish Gael
(Eachna, foster-daughter of Aonghus)
Probationary member of the New York Tuatha de Bhriain
http://www.celticgarb.org goldmooneachna%40yahoo.com

From: miladysca at aol.comilady (Fiona)
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
Subject: Re: woad is me
Date: 10 Jul 2000 01:12:11 GMT

<< I'm not 100% sure what Kaolin is,  >>

Facial clay.   It is indeed one of the ingredients in Kao-pectate, which kind
of gives me pause, LOL.  It's basically a white clay that hardens in about 20
minutes and then can be washed or cracked off.  Whenever I used it, my old
roommate would tease me about how I resembled a mime.

Fiona de Bousis
Kingdom of the West (Mists)

From: chimericalgirl at home.com (StrangeGirl)
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
Subject: Re: Braid casings
Organization: The Corner of my Desk

"JE Anderson" <eirika at telusplanet.net> shouted over the general babble
in a vain attempt to be heard:

>Not my area of expertise - but have you checked out extant statuary?
>Funerary statues and architectural staues (columns) of the time period. I'm
>pretty sure I recal seeing braid cases on ladies in that art type.  I could
>be wrong though - just a thought.

All the Norman ladies I have been able to find in statuary (and there
really are not that many extant ones, as most statuarey represented
men and some data comes from 200-year-old drawings of statuary that
has since been destroyed or otherwise lost and so have to be
considered tertiary sources) have one of the three following types of
headdress:

1} what appear to be ordinary three-strand braids, sometimes with an
apparent ribbon or ribbons braided in and then used to bind the ends.
Sometimes topped with a veil and/or crown.

2} What appears to be a two-strand hairdressing, which is bound into a
'braid' by the use of a ribbon, leaving largish portions (what would
be a range form about 2" to less than 1/2" graduated down the length
of the braid) of hair showing, in one of two methods. Sometimes topped
with a veil and/or crown.

         Possible method one: two ends of a ribbon which is presumably
         looped around the hair near the top and then woven around the two
         sections of hair alternately (technically a four-strand braid),
         and the loose ends more tightly bound off by wrapping both ends
         around the hair leaving no hair showing and tying somehow or
         sewing down.

         Possible method two: one end of a ribbon which is presumably
         passed through or around the head somehow and then woven around
         the two sections of hair alternately (technically a three-strand
         braid with a differing visible structure due to the different
         proportions of the various elements), and the loose ends more
         tightly bound off with no hair showing, using the single end of
         the ribbon and a method similar to modern hair wraps.

I have used both of these methods with some success to emulate the
appearance of the statues' 'two-strand' braids. It is possible that
these are depictions of ladies using false hair that is bound onto the
head with ribbons, but there is no way to be certian without building
a time-machine.

3} Loose or no visible deliberate hair arrangement (hidden except for
hairline at front of head), topped with a veil and/or crown.

This is corroborated by everything I have been able to find in
manuscript illustrations, wall paintings, tapestry and other textile
depictions. Braid casings would probably have been made, if they
existed, of a decorative fabric that would have been happily depicted
as such in bright or symbolic colours by the various visual artists. I
have not yet seen any in my researches into the dress of the period.
Also, I have begun to read up on romantic poetry of the era and have
not found any written references to such accoutrements of dress in the
translations I  have read (not reading Norman French at all and Latin
very little).

Wish I could say I /had/ found something, buyt I haven't :(

False hair seems to be the way to go.

Margery La A

From: dowdlehm at idelete.spam.unread.net (MDH)
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
Subject: Re: Braid casings
Date: Tue, 22 May 2001 01:18:15 GMT

IIRC, there's a drawing of a lady wearing braid cases in a 12th c. manuscript.

Margala

From: marianneperdomo at netscape.net (Marianne Perdomo  Leonor)
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
Subject: Re: Braid casings
Date: 22 May 2001 09:31:15 -0700

chimericalgirl at home.com (StrangeGirl) wrote 
> All the Norman ladies I have been able to find in statuary (and there
> really are not that many extant ones, as most statuarey represented
> men and some data comes from 200-year-old drawings of statuary that
> has since been destroyed or otherwise lost and so have to be
> considered tertiary sources) have one of the three following types of
> headdress:

It's not my area of expertise at all but I wonder if someone got 
confused with later styles that did use cases and the re-drawn books 
just perpetuated the myth. Certainly braid casings are used in 15th
c. Spain (and Italy, too, I think). They are usually white with 
contrasting ribbons.

Nice summary of 12th c. hairdo's, BTW! :) Thanks!

Marianne

From: chimericalgirl at home.com (StrangeGirl)
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
Subject: Re: Braid casings
Organization: The Corner of my Desk
Date: Tue, 22 May 2001 17:30:58 GMT

marianneperdomo at netscape.net (Marianne Perdomo  Leonor) shouted over
the general babble in a vain attempt to be heard:
>It's not my area of expertise at all but I wonder if someone got 
>confused with later styles that did use cases and the re-drawn books 
>just perpetuated the myth. Certainly braid casings are used in 15th
>c. Spain (and Italy, too, I think). They are usually white with 
>contrasting ribbons.
 
Sounds quite likely. Norris liked to conflate things. Or depend
heavily on someone else's conflations (Voillet-le-duc...), even when
they were contrary to all logic.

>Nice summary of 12th c. hairdo's, BTW! :) Thanks!

You are welcome! It doesn't cover the three or four main styles of
veil-wearing, but I imagine you are pretty familiar with those. Here
are my main sources for the photographs I studied:

Statuary examples:

Chartres Cathedral, Robert Branner, editor. 
(Norton Critical Studies in Art History)ISBN 0 393 09851 6
Out of print, my copy was purchased used. Probably available in larger
libraries.
note: This is primarily  focused on Chartres, but does cover some of
the other churches in this style for the purpose of comparison. Since
it looks at /all/ of the works in Chartres, it covers the 12th through
14th centuries.

Sculptors of the West Portals of Chartres Cathedral, Whitney S.
Stoddard. (also published by Norton) ISBN 0-393-30043-9
Again, out of print, my copy purchased used. 
Note: This focuses on the sculptural style and era of the West Portals
of Chartres and has plates of numerous related carvings, including
Monfaucon's drawings of statuary that is now lost of badly damaged.
Since it is an attempt to track the work of the various scupltors in
this era by their styles, it has one of the best combinations of text
and plates for the purpose of costume research using these works. Some
comparisons between statuary and illumination styles are made and
illustrated with examples, which is helpful to us in trying to
interpret what's /really/ going on in both.

Illumination, textile, and other visual art examples:

Dress in the Middle Ages, Franciose Pipponnier and Perrine Mane.
(Yale University Press) hardcover ed, ISBN 0-300-06906-5
Note: This is included because it's the onlybook I have ever seen a
photo of the Chelles Reliquary (p 10, fig 3), apparently originally
not a religious item, as the subject amtter isn't religious in any
way. It shows a scene of a knight and a lady in a garden(?) he with a
hawk and she with a small dog or cat on a leash. The embrodery is
crude, but it does show the lady's braids, which seem to have been
carefully stitched to depict wrappings. The text is also fascinating,
but really doesn't seem to have much to offer us in this period.

The Pictorial Arts of the West 800-1200, C.R. Dodwell. 
(Yale University Press) ISBN 0-300-06493-4
Note: A fantastic resource for those of us who work in this period.
Organized by place, with dates given where known. All kinds of sources
not easily available elsewhere, reproduced beautifully. The only gripe
I have is that I wish there was some way to have fullsized, color
images of all the textiles given, which includes two gorgeous,
embroidered cloaks. 

Also, hunt around on museum and university websites. Sometimes there
are treasures to be found, like student photoessays of Chartres.

Probably more than you wanted to know :)

MArgery La A.

From: Cynthia Virtue <cvirtue at thibault.org>
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
Subject: Re: Period Hairdressings?
Date: Tue, 05 Jun 2001 07:17:27 -0400

This is a regular (once every year or two) discussion on the
historic/garb costume lists.  If you *don't* wash your hair, but instead
brush many, many strokes every day with a natural-bristle brush, and
wash the brush instead, your hair stops producing a lot of oil.  It is
less flyaway, has more gloss, etc.  Mind you, you'll have to get through
the "total ickies" stage first, which lasts from one week to a month.

I tried it once and couldn't deal with it at two weeks, but I have
managed to get to the once-a-week washing plus brushing, and it looks
fine all the time.
--
Cynthia du PrŽ Argent (Hartshorn-dale, East)

From: Heather Rose Jones <hrjones at socrates.berkeley.edu>
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
Subject: Re: Period Hairdressings?
Date: Tue, 05 Jun 2001 10:02:40 -0700
Organization: University of California, Berkeley

"Robert A. Uhl" wrote:
> Well, I've taken the plunge and am attempting to let my hair grow
> long.  Today was my first haircut since February.  Anyway, I've been
> using pomade to keep my hair back and down (it's thick and somewhat
> curly, and stands about three inches in the morning--pomade is a Good
> Thing).  I'm curious, though, what a period solution to this problem
> would be.  Although I can see that there might not have been, it would
> seem strange indeed if there were not some sort of macassar oil (not
> the actual stuff, of course) or something being used.

I suspect that one period solution was simply that they weren't as
fanatic about washing the natural oils out of their hair as frequently
as modern people do.  If you keep your hair well brushed or combed
(especially if you use an implement that will help distribute the
natural oils well, e.g. a natural bristle brush or a wooden comb) then
you've "invented" a natural pomade.  If you look at medieval and earlier
portraits and representations of people who clearly have naturally curly
hair, the hair is often portrayed in fairly distinct locks and ringlets
-- a natural byproduct of this sort of hair care -- rather than the
"fluffy mass" that modern western culture considered to be the sign of
"clean" hair.

(This isn't meant to imply that medieval people never washed their hair
-- in fact I've been astounded at how often hair-washing scenes figure
in chivalric literature.)

Tangwystyl

From: Charlene Charette <charlene at flash.net>
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
Subject: Re: Period Hairdressings?
Date: Wed, 06 Jun 2001 03:55:19 GMT

Cynthia Virtue wrote:
> less flyaway, has more gloss, etc.  Mind you, you'll have to get through
> the "total ickies" stage first, which lasts from one week to a month.

Some people said it took them several months.

> I tried it once and couldn't deal with it at two weeks, but I have
> managed to get to the once-a-week washing plus brushing, and it looks
> fine all the time.

I managed to get to six weeks then make the fatal mistake of trying a
neat-sounding cider vinegar, egg, rose water rinse.  It worked like
shampoo and stripped all the oils out.  So I effectively had to start
over.  Couldn't stand it.  Plan to try again sometime.

--Perronnelle

From: chimericalgirl at home.com (StrangeGirl)
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
Subject: Re: Period Hairdressings?
Date: Wed, 06 Jun 2001 05:04:14 GMT

ruhl at 4dv.net (Robert A. Uhl) shouted over the general babble in a vain
attempt to be heard:
>Cynthia Virtue <cvirtue at thibault.org> wrote:
>>
>> This is a regular (once every year or two) discussion on the
>> historic/garb costume lists.  If you *don't* wash your hair, but instead
>> brush many, many strokes every day with a natural-bristle brush, and
>> wash the brush instead, your hair stops producing a lot of oil.  It is
>> less flyaway, has more gloss, etc.  Mind you, you'll have to get through
>> the "total ickies" stage first, which lasts from one week to a month.
>
>Well, it's worth a try, at least.  Can one still rinse the hair?  What
>about dandruff?

I've done it, but I dye my hair and so have to go through it over and
over again if I want to stick to it. I mostly do a once-a-week regimen
of gentle washings with a vinegar rinse to help restore normal skin
pH, coupled with the thorough brushing morning and evening. I also do
the vinegar rinse just after dyeing my hair. My hair looks fine, and I
use much less canditioner than I used to, which is fairly amazing
considering I have long dyed hair, that I've been dyeing for years.

Yes, you can rinse it. A hot rinse (or two), followed by a cool rinse,
will actually take the worst of the accumulated sweat and dirt out of
your hair. Dry loose, if you can. Brush when dry.

Essentially, the vigorous brushing morning and evening takes care of
dandruff, which will also naturally subside somewhat as your scalp
returns to a more normal pH. If you have serious dandruff problems
even after the oilies subside, try using a warm rosemary infusion
(basically a tea of rosemary leaves, strong) between the hot and cold
rinses. It'll make your hair smell nice, too.

Margery La A

From: Cynthia Virtue <cvirtue at thibault.org>
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
Subject: Re: Period Hairdressings?
Date: Wed, 06 Jun 2001 11:10:10 -0400

> i have very short hair and was wondering if women use to wear short hair
> and/or if there is a period way to cover my hair up.

Throughout the SCA's period, women's hair was almost always long. 
However, there are lots of ways to cover it; veils, hats, snoods, coifs, etc.

See http://www.virtue.to for lots of possibilities and instructions. 
Questions always welcome.
--
Cynthia du PrŽ Argent (Hartshorn-dale, East)

From: tracyarts at aol.comnospam (Tracyarts)
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
Date: 06 Jun 2001 17:37:49 GMT
Subject: Re: Period Hairdressings?

>i have very short hair and was wondering if women use to wear short hair
>and/or if there is a period way to cover my hair up.

I have not seen any evidence that women in period wore their hair short.  

You can cover up your hair all sorts of ways.  All kinds of headdresses were
worn.  In fact, in many portraits I have seen, you really cannot see much hair
peeking out from under headdresses at all. 

I decided a couple of years ago that long hair looked crappy on me, made me
look frumpy and much older, so I cut it off into a perky little bobbed 'do that
suited my face better and just cover it up for SCA events by slicking the bangs
back with gel and using a toothed "gripper" headband the same color as my hair,
and putting the rest of it into a snood or caul or bag cap of some sort.

This also works if you have really unnatural hair color.  I have dark brown
hair and sometimes like to get a plum colored cellophane treatment on it, and
my hair has a brilliant purplish sheen to it in bright light.  Not something
that they did in period.  So, I can cover it up and it is not so obviously
modern.  Sometimes, after a trim, my bangs are too short to slick back, so I
just leave them be, it is not that distracting.

Mine is just long enough to gather into ponytails, and I have thought of having
my stylist order some human hair falls and dye them to match my haircolor so
that I can attatch them and do elaborate braided up-dos like seen in some
Italian Rennaissance portraits.  I have seen a lot where the woman has a
braided coil on the back of her head, and her face is framed by curls.  I can
band a fall to my ponytail, coil it up and pin it into a bun, and curl my
bangsand a few stands of the side lengths to get the same look.  

Start looking at pictures from the period you are choosing to approximate. 
There is usually a pretty simple solution to the modern vs. period hair
dilemma.

Tracy

From: wtp at nds10758.cb.lucent.com (Powers)
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
Subject: Re: Period Hairdressings?
Date: 6 Jun 2001 17:46:40 GMT
Organization: Lucent Technologies, Columbus, Ohio

>>i have very short hair and was wondering if women use to wear short hair
>>and/or if there is a period way to cover my hair up.
>
>I have not seen any evidence that women in period wore their hair short.  

Try "Justice Through the Ages" from the Medieval Criminal Justice Museum,
Rothenberg ODT.  

Cutting the hair short was used as part of the punishment for "loose morals"
in certain times and places.  Also shaving the head was considered a treatment
for madness or severe fever IIRC

OTOH hair was generally covered except for maidens.

Thomas
-- 
Best Regards,

W.Thomas Powers

From: chimericalgirl at home.com (StrangeGirl)
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
Subject: Re: Period Hairdressings?
Date: Thu, 07 Jun 2001 15:56:27 GMT

Charlene Charette <charlene at flash.net> shouted over the general babble
in a vain attempt to be heard:
>One thing not mentioned yet.  While the hair is rinsed, and not washed,
>the brushes need to be washed every day.  Shampoo works great for that.

If one has very oily hair and scalp, I suggest using a plastic brush
that will withstand constant washing and dry quickly. At least until
the worst of the adaptation is over with.

Natural bristle brushes and wooden combs should only be washed every
few days, as overwashing can damage them, and thickly bristled brushes
can take a day to dry (when washing mine, I wash it in the morning
after I've rinsed my hair, and it's usually dry by the time I go to
bed). They should cartainly be cleaned every day, by pulling any
accumulated hair out with the fingers or a haircomb (for brushes this
actually does most of the daily cleaning) and brushing away any built
up dirt and oil with a paper towel (you'll need to do this on the
combs). Wooden combs should always be oiled after washing and drying
to prevent cracking. I use a mixture of rosemary oil and grapeseed
oil. The comb doesn't get used until it is dry to the touch again.

Rinsing the hair daily or every other day can significantly reduce the
amount of 'oilies' and crud that build up on the implements and hair. 

Also, even if you don't dye your hair, it seems to work better if one
tapers off, rather than quitting 'cold turkey', on shampoo usage - go
from every day to every other day, then every third day the next week,
to every fourth day after two more weeks, to every fifth day and so
on. You need to let your scalp get used to the new cleaning routine.
Once you are down to once a week, the 'oilies' seem to subside much
faster if you choose to go all the way. 

Also, if one chooses to go this route, it is good idea to keep one's
head covered in dusty places, as it will be much easier to clean your
hair afterward. And it's period, too. :)

Margery la A

From: "ruadh" <ruadh at home.com>
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
Subject: Re: Period Hairdressings?
Date: Fri, 08 Jun 2001 18:44:39 GMT

For camping, and a 'one brush does all' theme I use a pet store brush, the
flexible metal teeth get thru the thick, and the flip side does the gentle
work. Like the wool combs, when the bristles are mounted in a flexible base
[leather or rubber], rather then punched into holes in the base; the work is
easier. The arms last for more than 100 strokes. With the work easier, and
the give [or bend] of the bristle there is less hair breakage. Look at the
Wal-Mart / Goody brands vs. Pet-Smart brand. The Vidal brand my Lady uses is
the stiffer, "punched in" bristle style. Please don't confuse with the very
firm [nails] pet brushes used for mats. Ru

"StrangeGirl" <chimericalgirl at home.com> wrote 
> Charlene Charette <charlene at flash.net> shouted over the general babble
> in a vain attempt to be heard:
> >Yes, I do use an artifical-bristle brush.  I've yet to find a
> >natural-bristle brush that will get through to my scalp.  It's hard
> >enough to find artifical ones that will.  I had one brand that worked
> >and used it for years.  Last time I bought a new one I discovered
> >they've changed the bristles and it no longer goes through to the
> >scalp.  *argh*
>
> Tell me about it. I have that strange blend of thick and baby-fine and
> wavy that tangles horribly and requires something with rigid teeth or
> brsitles to get through it, let alone put it in order. I use both,
> actually- the plastic one for getting everything in order and doing my
> 'hundred strokes' and the natural-bristle one for the final bit and
> smoothing. I /can/ do the hundred strokes with the natural brisle
> brush, but it takes twice as long, and does something nasty to my
> shoulder. At events, I just use my wooden combs, but they are getting
> a bit worn with use and are rather expensive to replace.
>
> Margery la A

From: chimericalgirl at home.com (StrangeGirl)
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
Subject: Re: Period Hairdressings?
Organization: The Corner of my Desk
Date: Fri, 08 Jun 2001 23:04:44 GMT

rkeischw at newstand.syr.edu (Rachael  Keisch-walter) shouted over the
general babble in a vain attempt to be heard:
>Any advice on where to find these? <wooden combs> I know they must be out there
>somewhere, but I've never come across them.

Look around import shops, natural foods stores, and places like that,
and if you can find boxwood combs, get them. They last a really long
time.

I had a link for some really nice Japanese boxwood combs, but it's
possible that the merchant stopped carrying them.

Margery la A

From: "ruadh" <ruadh at home.com>
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
Subject: Re: Period Hairdressings?
Date: Sun, 10 Jun 2001 04:25:08 GMT

I saw a boar bristle brush at Wal-mart, labelled by Vidal S.  less than 4$US.

"ruadh" <ruadh at home.com> wrote
> some 'health food' places have carried them [ other than the local GNC].
> >
> > Any advice on where to find these? I know they must be out there
> > somewhere, but I've never come across them.

To: SCA-GARB at LIST.UVM.EDU
Date: Fri, 25 Jul 2003 23:40:06 -0700
From: Wanda Pease <wandap at HEVANET.COM>
Subject: How to make Things Stay on Your Head

This works for me, and a number of other people I've been able to persuade
to try it.  It requires a slight change in lifestyle, so read all of this
before you go "Yuch!  I could never do that!"

As have most people here I had trouble keeping things on my head unless I
braided a bit of my hair and put it in a little pin curl on the top of my
head for things to anchor to.  Then I read a solution that worked like a
charm from one of the people on the Historic Costume list.

Basically, our hair is slick because we wash the natural oils out of it with
shampoo.  I've never been one of the wash it every day before going to work
types (wrong generation I suspect), so not shampooing didn't come to me as
sacrilegious (smile).

Here is what I have done for the past two years that allows me to keep
headgear on, and lets me do the Gibson Girl hair style that I like:

Don't wash your hair with shampoo. (I hear the shrieks of "I'll die of the
greasies!"  Pay no attention.  This is all conditioning (pun intended) from
Clairol and the other shampoo pushers!).  True, your hair will probably get
greasy feeling for a week to two weeks.  You can alleviate this by brushing
thoroughly every night and morning with a soft, CLEAN, brush (wash the brush
and comb after every use to get rid of the oil and dust build-up).  Rinse
your hair in warm water to wash the sweat and dust out of it, and dry it
with a fluffy towel.  You don't want to take all that oil out of it.  Your
scalp has been working very hard to replace what you strip off every day or
so which is why you will have the "greasies" for a while.  When your scalp
isn't dried out by constant shampooings, it will stop pumping out the stuff
for which Iraq is famous :-) and your hair will settle down to a fluffy
state that will hold pins, combs, and even a set or wave, and become much
more manageable.

From there on, all you have to do is occasionally rinse with warm or hot
water (if your hair seems dirtier than normal) and give your brush hand a
good workout.  You don't need the 100 strokes that your Victorian ancestress
was advised to use but the brushing spreads the oils throughout your hair
(they must be good for the hair, or your body wouldn't be producing them for
the express purpose of lubricating the follicles).

Your hair won't fall like "silk", but it won't look like you used axel
grease, a la Hagrid, either.  It will be fluffy, have body, and feel thicker
and healthier, and shine (it also got rid of my dandruff).

I just colored my hair for Pennsic (mundane strawberry blond - on a man,
white is distinguished, on a woman, extinguished), and it is in the silk
stage.  I hate it.  It just lays there, straight and blah.  I can't keep a
pin in it, and it certainly isn't going to cooperate in any style!
Hopefully it will be back in its normal state by the 9th when I fly out for
week 2.  At Pennsic I'll probably rinse every day, but no shampoo, and no
conditioner.  Or else I'll just braid it, put it under a veil and sun hat,
and forget about it.

This works for me and I have normal to slightly oily hair.  Not baby fine.
I was also losing a lot of it due to the change of life, I fixed that with
hormones, but some of the damage was done.  This makes my hair look and feel
thicker.

Regina Romsey/Wanda Pease

To: SCA-GARB at LIST.UVM.EDU
Date: Sat, 26 Jul 2003 21:11:33 -0400
From: Parsla A Liepa <pliepa at DEEPTHOUGHT.ORG>
Subject: Re: How to make Things Stay on Your Head

On Sat, 26 Jul 2003, Cynthia Virtue wrote:
<<< I tried the no-shampoo thing for two weeks, and didn't reach the
nongreasy state in that time, so gave up.  But I might try it again
sometime. >>>

I did it in stages -- I went from washing every day to every third
day, and then once a week.  It took me a couple of months to get to the
"once a week" stage, and I'm a bit uneasy about stopping completely.
(I've got naturally wavy/frizzy hair, that often requires goop of some
sort to keep it managable. Add in several different changes of horomones
through the past couple of years, and I've got lots of little wispies that
won't stay put without goop.) If I do ever get up the nerve to stop
completely, though, I suspect that it won't be too much of a hassle.

Years ago, when I was on the Historical Costuming list and this subject
was brought up, what really grossed me out was when someone said his
college roommate had stopped BATHING....

Parsla

To: SCA-GARB at LIST.UVM.EDU
Date: Sun, 27 Jul 2003 22:19:20 +1000
From: Claire Clarke <Lady_Angharad at BIGPOND.COM>
Subject: Re: How to make Things Stay on Your Head

From: "Wanda Pease" <wandap at HEVANET.COM>
<<< This works for me, and a number of other people I've been able to persuade
to try it.  It requires a slight change in lifestyle, so read all of this
before you go "Yuch!  I could never do that!"

As have most people here I had trouble keeping things on my head unless I
braided a bit of my hair and put it in a little pin curl on the top of my
head for things to anchor to.  Then I read a solution that worked like a
charm from one of the people on the Historic Costume list.

Basically, our hair is slick because we wash the natural oils out of it with
shampoo.  I've never been one of the wash it every day before going to work
types (wrong generation I suspect), so not shampooing didn't come to me as
sacrilegious (smile). >>>

This is not so universal as you might think. I have fairly fine, dry hair with a lot of body and I don't have trouble getting things to grip to my hair. I do
Have trouble with 'wispiness' - little bits that escape and curl up and float
Around my head. If I wanted to have a nice smooth part under my headdress like so many period illustrations I'd have to use some kind of goop to do it.

<<< Your hair won't fall like "silk", but it won't look like you used axel
grease, a la Hagrid, either.  It will be fluffy, have body, and feel
thicker and healthier, and shine (it also got rid of my dandruff). >>>

I suspect that if I were to do this, my hair would lose some volume and
become smoother. It would probably be better for period hairstyles, but I
like the way my hair is now. Plus I'm far too lazy to do all the brushing
that would be required to keep it clean without washing. My hair is a study
in neglect. I brush it and braid it once a day, and wash it every two or
three days and that's about it. My mother thinks I'm terrible *grin*

Claire

To: SCA-GARB at LIST.UVM.EDU
Date: Mon, 28 Jul 2003 09:34:43 -0400
From: Generys ferch Ednuyed <generys at BLAZEMAIL.COM>
Subject: Re: shampoo

Another idea that works very well, esp. for those w/ curly/dry/frizzy hair,
is to stop using shampoo, and only use like 1/2 or 1/4 the usual amount of
conditioner every few days - I haven't tried it, but I have a few friends
who swear by it.

Generys

From: fairwynd011 at comcast.net (Belle Fisher)
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
Subject: Girls with Short Hair - My take
Date: 4 Sep 2003 15:13:50 -0700

>>So I was wondering if anyone knew of any reason a girl would have
>>short hair? The only things I've found so far is that someone in a
>>cloister would probably have short hair, and it seems viable that a
>>female pirate could have short hair.

>Someone who knows more about pirates than me can tell you whether
>there are any female pirates recorded for the SCA period.

I just joined this group and was reading the posts when this subject
caught my eye.  Although I am getting into the topic a bit late I just
wanted to address two points.

First, yes, there were women pirates in period, Grainne O'Malley comes
to mind.  As an Irish woman it is quite possible that she had red
hair, and both Mary Queen of Scots and Elizabeth I are often depicted
in portraiture as having red hair (as I myself do).  When I joined the
SCA many years ago I had short red hair and I bought myself a wig in a
long curly style which suited my persona.  Over the years I added to
my collection of wigs until I had about five in different styles, but
now my hair is long and I never wear them!

Second other than wigs almost every period has some kind of head
covering or another.  I am sure there is some very good advice from
the garb people on what would be appropriate for your time and
location.

Just my two cents ;-)

'Belle

Date: Sat, 7 Jan 2006 21:08:51 -0500
From: "Sharon Gordon" <gordonse at one.net>
Subject: [Sca-cooks] Iron Age Hair Gel
To: <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>

In a Ireland bog find the person had in their hair an Iron Age hair  
gel; a vegetable plant oil mixed with a resin that had probably come from
south-western France or Spain. This one is from about 300 BC.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/4589638.stm

Sharon

From: Coblaith Mhuimhneach <Coblaith at sbcglobal.net>
Date: April 19, 2006 3:59:49 PM CDT
To: Bryn Gwlad <bryn-gwlad at ansteorra.org>
Subject: [Bryn-gwlad] newly-republished hair & hat book

I thought some of our local costuming mavens or those interested in English personae might be interested to know that Dover is republishing _Women's Headdress and Hairstyles in England from A.D. 600 to the Modern Day_, by Georgine de Courtais, under the title _Women's Hats, Headdresses, and Hairstyles:  With 453 Illustrations, Medieval to Modern_.  I don't know anything about the book that isn't on the site, but some pages from it, including one of illustrations of Elizabethan hairstyles, are included in this week's Sampler <http://www.doverpublications.com/designsampler/0419/art6.htm>.

Coblaith

Date: Fri, 5 Jun 2009 08:56:34 +0800
From: Rebecca Lucas <quokkaqueen at hotmail.com>
Subject: Re: [Lochac] hair pieces
To: <lochac at sca.org.au>

<<< I've just done what some may consider sacrilege and cut off my waist
length hair. I now have two plaits about one and a half foot long.

I want to turn these into to plaits to be used as hair pieces for the sca, I
don't do any fixed period yet so need it to be kind of versatile.

Any ideas or directions would be greatly welcomed.

Mathilde Hastings >>>

My answer is going to be a bit 'everywhere', but...

There is at least one late 16th century bracelets made from human hair, and there are literary references to them being 'love tokens.' (There's even a story about monks discovering Arthur and Guinivere's grave, and that they were wearing them!)

http://ads.ahds.ac.uk/catalogue/adsdata/PSAS_2002/pdf/vol_127/127_889_898.pdf

"The Renaissance of Lesbianism in Early Modern England" pg. 337
mentions in a poetry anthology from 1655, a piece called "A copie of Verses made by a Lady, and sent to another Lady, with a bracelet made of her own hair."
Google books preview: http://books.google.com.au/books?id=fxxJeSa9siYC&pg=PA339&lpg=PA339&dq=renaissance+hair+bracelets&source=web&ots=38UQQKpCSz&sig=o2Fq5bSceMxc9ZcHSAsoi5L3RT4&hl=en#PPA337,M1

In A Midsummer Nights' Dream by Shakespeare:

   With bracelets of thy hair, rings, gawds, conceits,
   Knacks, trifles, nosegays, sweetmeats,?messengers
   Of strong prevailment in unharden'd youth;?
   With cunning hast thou filch'd my daughter's heart;
   Turned her obedience, which is due to me,
   To stubborn harshness. (1.1:28-38)

There is also a mid-14th century headband, with 'false' hair braids attached (so they were real hair, but not attached to the wearer's head. Not fake, false hair.)
It's in one of the Museum of London books, and here:
http://www.mathildegirlgenius.com/NorthernLights/TabletWovenCirclets.pdf

And then my notes swerve off into Korean 16th and 17th century hairpieces, so probably aren't what you're looking for.

But, if you have a special someone, then some hair jewellery seems to be a very romantic option!

~Asfridhr

Date: Fri, 5 Jun 2009 09:44:01 +0800
From: Rebecca Lucas <quokkaqueen at hotmail.com>
Subject: Re: [Lochac] hair pieces
To: <lochac at sca.org.au>

Oops! I take it back... the extant hair bracelet is _Danish_, and mentioned _in_ the article about Mary and the _possible_ hair bracelet she made! 

That's what you get for posting things in a rush!
~Asfridhr

Date: Sun, 16 Aug 2009 11:29:01 +1000
From: Zebee Johnstone <zebeej at gmail.com>
Subject: [Lochac] beards
To: "The Shambles, the SCA Lochac mailing list" <lochac at sca.org.au>

Wondering if you should grow a bit of facial hair and if so what
should it look like?

http://larsdatter.com/beards.htm has the answer!

<the end>

Edited by Mark S. Harris	hair-msg	Page  of