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Forensic Archaeological Hairstyling

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DianeL
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Post by DianeL » Sat January 19th, 2013, 1:00 am

Looking at Janet Stephens' work reminded me of some of the very cursory research I've done on ribbon styling as well; I may have to find some similar pieces and post those too. Ironic timing on the article, a friend sent me the Yahoo link on the DAY I got quite a lot of hair cut out in a layering frenzy. While the ends of my hair still make my hair appear to hang long, the actual strands themselves are now all six inches or so, and shorter at the fringe/bangs. The only style among all the vids shown I could do now is the Aphrodite knot (it actually doesn't have to be very long, or dirty, or curly as shown - all you need are the right products/tools; not historically authentic, sure, but still eminently do-able).
"To be the queen, she agreed to be the widow!"

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The pre-modern world was willing to attribute charisma to women well before it was willing to attribute sustained rationality to them.
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annis
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Post by annis » Sat January 19th, 2013, 6:50 am

I couldn't get over the amount of stitching that held those Roman hairstyles together! It would be a bit of a drama getting unpicked at the end of the day before you could go to bed :)

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DianeL
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Post by DianeL » Sat January 19th, 2013, 4:47 pm

annis, the idea of wearing a style for a single day is a very modern invention. Through most of human history, hairstyles have been created to be worn for days, weeks, months even where certain types of styling are concerned (certain tight-braided styles are still meant to be worn for a good while, corn rows and the like are often maintained for months and dreds for many years, if not a lifetime). So these styles were probably worn for a week or two until they became mussed.

Shampoo actually has a lot to do with the changes in the way we have styled and managed our hair in the past 100 years, and some men and women are reviving a "no 'poo" (no kidding) movement. Styles meant to be worn for several days or more are coming back, too, as vintage style has seen a resurgence - and resistance to chemicals and expenditures on beauty etc. gives rise to different ways of doing things.

So the scissors didn't have to come out every single night, and bone needles every single morning. Cutting the threads probably didn't take but a minute for those ladies with body servants or slaves, so the undoing would probably have been pretty quick.
"To be the queen, she agreed to be the widow!"

***

The pre-modern world was willing to attribute charisma to women well before it was willing to attribute sustained rationality to them.
---Medieval Kingship, Henry A. Myers

***

http://dianelmajor.blogspot.com/
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Margaret
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Post by Margaret » Sat January 19th, 2013, 5:48 pm

some men and women are reviving a "no 'poo" (no kidding) movement
I picked up on this early, because I have allergy problems with the vast majority of shampoos and for a time was reduced to putting rice flour in my hair and brushing it out, a very imperfect solution. A year or two (or three) ago, I read an article somewhere by a woman journalist who actually tried and documented going without shampoo for a lengthy period - months, I think. She was not happy with the results, and neither were her colleagues, who began passing on broad hints about the smell after a while. I suspect that the models whose couturiers insist they not shampoo actually sneak some shampoo in and use extra conditioner or some such ploy to make it appear that they didn't.
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DianeL
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Post by DianeL » Sat January 19th, 2013, 8:41 pm

[quote=""Margaret""]I picked up on this early, because I have allergy problems with the vast majority of shampoos and for a time was reduced to putting rice flour in my hair and brushing it out, a very imperfect solution. A year or two (or three) ago, I read an article somewhere by a woman journalist who actually tried and documented going without shampoo for a lengthy period - months, I think. She was not happy with the results, and neither were her colleagues, who began passing on broad hints about the smell after a while. I suspect that the models whose couturiers insist they not shampoo actually sneak some shampoo in and use extra conditioner or some such ploy to make it appear that they didn't.[/quote]

I linked an article here, by someone touting great success going with only a weekly shampoo and blowout for some time now. I think the truth of this fad, as with many personal care/dietary trends that come up on media radar from time to time is that "your mileage may vary" and there's no such thing as a cure-all. People seem to be drawn to new habits for a variety of reasons, and testimony as to success and/or failure can be hugely biased.

Still, it *is* true that daily or every-other-daily hair washing is a very new trend and at least as to "greasiness" there appears to be some basis for the speed at which constantly shampooed hair gets dirty as opposed to infrequently (I wouldn't presume to speak to *non* shampooed at all hair). But even if hair-washing weren't frequent before the 20th century, it was still done.

As for the smell, well, the relativity of our idea of "stink" has varied a LOT through history. Most of us here are probably familiar with Napoleon's love letter to Josephine exhorting her, 'don't bathe baby, I'm coming home!' The scent of the sweat of someone we love can still be (perhaps secretly or unconsciously, for most people) beautiful. But ill health, sometimes old age, or personal slovenliness are never attractive!
"To be the queen, she agreed to be the widow!"

***

The pre-modern world was willing to attribute charisma to women well before it was willing to attribute sustained rationality to them.
---Medieval Kingship, Henry A. Myers

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http://dianelmajor.blogspot.com/
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annis
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Post by annis » Sat January 19th, 2013, 10:59 pm

I was thinking that those stitched Roman styles with their lumpy braids would be very uncomfortable to sleep on, but I guess, then as now, women were expected to suffer for beauty :)

I do know people who never wash their hair, and haven’t noticed any issue with smell. Most just give their hair a good rinse in the shower daily and every now and then add a dilute vinegar rinse.

Yes, daily hair washing is a pretty recent thing. When I was a kid (‘50s) women would go to the hairdresser for a weekly shampoo and set, and wear a hairnet at night to keep the style intact till the next weekly session. Women in 19th century New Zealand generally only washed their hair (using standard and probably homemade soap) every few weeks - once in six weeks was considered acceptable, even for those who had servants to do the hard work. For colonial women without servants, of course, the prospect of drawing water from the well or going down to the stream to collect it, chopping firewood and lighting the copper to boil your water, was likely a major deterrent to the idea of an all-over wash and/or shampoo on a daily basis! How much we take modern conveniences for granted.

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Margaret
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Post by Margaret » Sun January 20th, 2013, 12:11 am

I do wash my hair less than I used to. For a while it was an every day thing, and it definitely got oilier faster from washing every day. I wonder if the non-washing woman journalist was not rinsing with water either.

If I didn't have a shower with hot running water and a home with forced-air heating, I probably wouldn't wash my hair all winter. Those hardy souls of past centuries had a lot more to worry about than how attractive their hair was!
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DianeL
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Post by DianeL » Wed January 23rd, 2013, 12:59 am

Margaret, hee! :)

I'm finding with age I need to wash everything more frequently to maintain my own preferred standards, but into my 30s I bathed only every other night. Now, I only skip it on Friday nights, because Saturday is housecleaning day and NOBODY ever sees me publicly on Saturday (obviously I bathe and shampoo if there's reason to on that day!). I definitely develop a bit of a pong more quickly than when I was younger - but then, I can go longer without shaving now, as that situation has slowed down a lot. There are always tradeoffs.

By accident of timing, I ended up with unwashed hair just yesterday, though I did rinse it. I ended up with an unappealing ponytail to "hide" the mess - but ironically (and raise your hands, all of you who've heard this about pageant princesses and the like!) when I let it down its shape and movement were surprisingly *good*. You could tell a bit that there was some oil there, but the way it was lying was way better than when it's squeaky clean, because whatever product or whatever was deposited in my hair gave it a bit of body. Certainly I've heard most of my life that beauty queens and stylists prefer second- or third-day hair for styling, as clean hair has no friction and can't hold a tease or most of the light and activity etc. a lot of more elaborate or formal styling is often subjected to. I'm almost sure I even remember advice to brides in the 80s - "don't wash your hair the day before the wedding!"

In my original post, the link to the videos includes one on 'the Aprodite knot' (the shortest vid of all, and in some ways most interesting in its implications and historicity). This style is recommended for curly and/or DIRTY hair, because clean, straightened hair would never hold it. And it may well be the true "oldest" style of all of them, and I'd believe it if Janet Stephens said she had reason to say it's the oldest way humans have dressed their hair in history. (By the way, I found I could style it that way without any problem, though my hair is straight, with the simple application of anachronistic product and a clip or hairstick - what she was calling a bodkin in most of the vids.)
Last edited by DianeL on Wed January 23rd, 2013, 1:03 am, edited 1 time in total.
"To be the queen, she agreed to be the widow!"

***

The pre-modern world was willing to attribute charisma to women well before it was willing to attribute sustained rationality to them.
---Medieval Kingship, Henry A. Myers

***

http://dianelmajor.blogspot.com/
I'm a Twit: @DianeLMajor

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