THE RENAISSANCE
Let me start off by saying a few words about the Renaissance. The Renaissance is a french word, meaning "Re-Birth". The Renaissance period began in the 1300's in Italy, then developped at a later date in other European countries, And It ended around the 16th century. The early part of this period is also known as the middle ages.
During this period, hairstyles differed greatly from the hairstyles you see today. On Contrary to popular belief of big hairstyles in the renaissance period, the majority of the time, people wore their hair down, or in braids, which were very popular in around this time, especially on younger girls. A lot of women use to braid their hair to look like a crown on top of their head. The reason that it is thought that women of this time wore their hair big all the time, is because of artists. Elaborate hairstyles were not to be found among the average women in this period, despite what you see in art work from this era. Only in very rare cases was a "common" woman ever depicted in an artist's work. Most artists created their pieces when they were paid by wealthy merchants or nobles. These portaits were usually to be done to immortalize a favored family member, meaning, to capture the beauty of a favored family member forever.
The women who were found in these portraits were usually members of very wealthy families, with dozens, if not, more servants, who were assigned a certain task in assisting the ladies. Some for bathing, some for grooming, and some for dressing. They would spend hours in front of mirrors being groomed and coiffed in elaborate hairstyles for many different social events that they would be invited to.
Women of this time usually had really long hair. Even long hair styles of women in today's society would be less than half the length of what would be considered long hair in the past ages. The time to braid hair that was usually several feet long was lessened by the work of the grooming maids. Because of modern styling techniques and a better understanding of the hair allows modern stylists to created varied and attractive styles that last, without putting hours of weaving and effort into it.
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Braids were more often found on younger girls. The reason given by most mothers who often braided their daughter's hair is because when they braid the hair when it is long enough to braid, it will look groomes for as long as possible and will remain tangle-free while the child goes about their day. They also love the fact that they can do their child's hair and not worry at bath-time or bedtime that they'll have to comb out the tangles.
During the Renaissance period, the popularity of Queen Elizabeth I inspired upper class women to shave or tweeze the entire front hairline to give the appearance of a higher forehead, and also wear red wigs or color their hair red to imitate her. The rest of the hair, that was not tweezed, was tightly pulled back to show off elaborate headdresses of the day, Which were also very popular during this time period in Europe, whereas upper class ladies of italie preferred to cover the hairline with low caps and jeweled turbans. They also decorated their hair with precious stones, pearls, ribbons, and shimmering veils.
To color their hair during the renaissance period, there were many different ways to go about doing it. In Italy, women would sit for many hours in the heat of the sun to attempt to bleach their hair. Bleach was made by using either onion skins or saffron, (which is a spice that comes from a saffron crocus flower).
Venetian women who wanted to color their hair a redish-blond color, which was popularized by the Italian artist, Titian, in his paintings. They had a very interesting way of dyeing their hair with a mixtures of elements like alum, sulfur, soda, and rhubard, which was all mixed into a substance then applied to their hair, then they sat out in the sun to let it dry.
And in France, ladies use to pulverize flowers into a powder, then used a gluey mixture to apply the powder into their hair to achieve the color they desired.
For Men during the renaissance period, a variety of beards, mustaches and hairstyles became popular during the reign of Henry VIII. Fine hair wore in curls was popularized during the reign of Louis XIV, of France. His Couriers, the people who attended upon him, wore wigs made of natural hair to look like him. Later, Horsehair wigs came into style.
Men Also liked to wear broad hats that were sometimes trimmed with different gemstones.
It's amazing how much things could evolve or change as time goes by. Hairstyles is no exception to all the changed that happen. You can see how much it has changed from then and now, for example, women who have shoulder length hair today is considered long, whereas women of the middle ages would consider that really short hair. That is just one of the many examples of how much the hairstyles and products have changed. As time goes by, we can only imagine how much more it'll actually change, whether it's a complete turn around, with completely different implements and tools and products, or if there are just minor changed with products. We'll just have to wait to see.
RESOURCES:
WEBSITES
http://www.hairfinder.com/hairstyling/braidedhair.htm
http://www.crystalinks.com/hair2.html
http://www.twingroves.district96.k12.il.us/RenAissance/Town/Clothing/HairStyles.html
http://www.wikipedia.com
http://www.mauritia.de/de/renaissance/index.html
http://www.fantasy-goddess-art.com/images/renaissance-godess.jpg
http://www.costumegallery.com/part2.htm
http://www.mfgraffix.com/hird/faoilt/hairtape.html
http://www.mfgraffix.com/hird/faoilt/style1.html
http://www.mfgraffix.com/hird/faoilt/style2.html
OTHER RESOURCES:
Encyclopedias ---
Dictionaries -----
