Historical Elizabethan Hair

The reign of Elizabeth 1 was from the years 1558-1603. As she became the Queen she brought with her a wide range of beauty, fashion and hairstyles.

Elizabeth had golden red hair during her early years. Her hair was long and always used to kept straight and used to be covered with a head dress. This reddish gold hair color became popular since then.

In this era having a high forehead was very popular as the Queen had a high hair line that caused her forehead to appear big. This was seen as a sign of wealth. Another reason to why some women had a high hairline is that they used caustic and other chemicals on their face which caused the hair to fall. They used a mixture of lead, sulfur and quicklime to dye their hair red and this lead to hair loss as well. As hygiene was a major problem during the 16th century, women combed their hair with a fine textured clay powder which absorbed excess oil and dirt from the hair.

After Elizabeth became the Queen, women were influenced by her hairstyles. Her hairstyles became more bold and curly as time went along. She used accessories like feathers, jeweled ornaments, pearls and nets and laces for her hairstyles. Only the upper class women could afford to use these types of accessories. Women fro the lower classes used less expensive crepe net to cover their head. Powders were also used to decorate the hair. Women used contrasting colors on their hair so that it could stand out.

The usage of all these harsh chemicals eventually lead to hair loss. At this time the Queen started wearing wigs and from this point forward wigs became very popular during her reign.

Historians estimate that the queen owned approximately eighty wigs. In 1602, she purchased six heads of hair which was approximately twelve yards of pieces to curl. Elizabeth was very particular about her style and the way she looked. She even had her horses tails dyed so that they would match her hair. Most of her wigs had curly hair. They used small tongs to curl their hair, to achieve tight curls. They also let some curls loose hanging down on either side of the face.

In the late 16th Century, the church disapproved the use of wigs as they became so popular. During the Renaissance some communities organised bonfires, for people to bring along wigs and other items for burning. However, Elizabeth was the Queen a lady of her own world and she kept using wigs and so her people followed her. She was known to have a large collection of wigs, however it is known that Mary of Scotland had more wigs than Elizabeth did. Elizabeth's wigs mostly consisted of tight curls where as, Mary of Scotland liked hers smooth. These are two very different styles and can be argued to the fact that is there hair in a specific style to express their personality?

Elizabeth-The Golden Age

Most hairstyles from the Elizabethan era had a heart or a round shape from the front which usually had a bun or a braid from the back. I thing to achieve this heart shaped look, crimping can be used. Crimping the hair will give the hair texture. Once the hair is crimped it can then be backcombed and styled into the desired shape.

The usage of all these chemicals on their hair could have had many side effects like, nosebleeds nausea, headaches and thus lead to hair loss. This could be a point of argument, that would one risk their life just to have pretty hair? For example lead is toxic and could lead to death eventually.

I'm sure the dyes today in the 21st century also have chemicals that could be dangerous for humans yet why do we choose to use them?

References
Sherrow, V. 2006. Encyclopedia of Hair: a Cultural History. London, Greenwood.
Gunn, F. 1973. The Artificial Face:a History of Cosmetics, Hippocrene Books, New York.
Corson, R. 2001. Fashions In Hair:The First Five Thousand Years, Peter Owen, London.