ursula: Gules, a bear passant sable (bear)
Ursula ([personal profile] ursula) wrote2012-03-19 10:42 am
Entry tags:

fifteenth century hairstyle report

Last weekend, [personal profile] glasseye and I went to Black Oak Lodge in Caid. (Hurray, spring break!) I wanted to wear my fifteenth-century outfit, but I didn't have enough space in my checked luggage for a hat, so I had to improvise with items that pack down small. I brought my red silk netted hair net, and a ruffled veil. I plaited my hair into two braids, and coiled them into two buns on the top of my head. My hair is waist-length and curly, but not super-thick, so the buns weren't huge. When I put the silk net over them, the buns didn't form obvious horns, but I did attain a flat profile for the top of my head, which shows up in a lot of fifteenth-century art. I pinned the veil at the center, and then pinned it back behind the buns to accentuate them. I liked the effect; I ended up with a heart-shaped frame to my face, and it showed off the net, which was a lot of work to make.

Has anyone else experimented with low-tech horned hairstyles of this sort? What's your favorite image of a fifteenth-century woman with a veil that looks flat on top, or small horns?