Lyss till 1700-talet

Posted May 11, 2009 at 19:15 CEST in Events and Swedish events.

There will be 18th century weeks at Skansen again this July, with concerts and 18th century costumes. Check out the program here (they’re using my photo again!). The information is only in Swedish though.

13 comments on “Lyss till 1700-talet”

Maria, fuchsias18thcdress.wordpress.com

Yaaaay! I haaave to go this year!!! <3
Oh gosh, I have to get my outfit done! =O

May 16, 2009 at 16:36 CEST

Jennifer Hudson Taylor, jenniferhudsontay…

Sounds like fun! I wish there were more events like that around where I live. Most reenactments here are colonial or the American Civil War. I’d like to attend a few Regency as well.

May 17, 2009 at 14:06 CEST

edwardianhostess

Great outfit as always!

Question: what happened to the MIss Vintage forum? It has been out for quite sometime now. Do you know?

May 17, 2009 at 14:32 CEST

Johanna, johannaost.com

I’m wondering that too! I really miss it.

Thanks!

May 19, 2009 at 18:05 CEST

Marthe, snusmumriken.wordpress.com

Så fin blogg. Her må jeg lese mer.

Marthe

May 19, 2009 at 20:48 CEST

Johanna, johannaost.com

Tack!

May 29, 2009 at 19:10 CEST

Melanie

Hello,

I’m researching 18th century womens hair, and am wondering if you have any pictures of the back of your hair from these photos? Also, can you tell me how you constructed this, and what materials you used (for pins and such as well), and where you got these things, and your research? Europe must have so much more available to them for study than America has!

Thanks so much,
Melanie

May 29, 2009 at 19:38 CEST

Johanna, johannaost.com

Hi!

Are you researching a certain period or the entire 18th century? I don’t have any photos from the back of my own hair and wigs, but I have a collection of hundreds of 18th century paintings and fashion plates on my computer, so I can probably help you out. My collection is mostly from the 1770s to early 90s though, not a lot of earlier styles.

For my own hair I just use regular bobby pins, hairspray and any kind of white powder. If you’re doing a 1770s style pouf I have a little tutorial that I made a cpuple of years ago. I’d be happy to answer any questions!

May 30, 2009 at 00:23 CEST

Melanie

Hi, thanks for getting back so quickly!

I’m researching from about 1774 to 1780. The hardest of it all.
That tutorial you have sounds great, I would love to see it. What did you use for the wig? Wool? How did you fix it onto an actual base of a wig? And the height?
Do you know of any first hand accounts of dressing the hair? Such as what you do first, like apply pomade (and how?), then start at a certain section, add stuffing, pads, whatever and whenever else?
I was really excited to see your blog, it is very similar to what I am interested in.
My boyfriend and I reenact the time of the American Independence. I have not gotten the right height for the hair yet, but have used pomade (from “the toilet of flora”, an excelent recipe book for making home made waters and cosmetics, from 1779. You can get it on amazon) and tow stuffing. I even acquired original curling tongs! I havent used them though…yet.

Yes, whatever you got I would love to read/see. Your going to end up writing an essay!

Thank you so much:)

May 31, 2009 at 13:50 CEST

Johanna, johannaost.com

The tutorial I made is for dressing a wig and not your own hair. It’s not at all historically correct but looks pretty good, and is much more practical :) Here it is: http://jaffa.johannaost.com/wig.jpg
I used a regular long straight wig and made like “cushion” with an opened bottom, stuffed with regular batting. Make sure it’s not too heavy though. I’m sure there are better things you can use for the base as well.

I sewed the open bottom onto the wig like a funny hat and combed up the hair as shown in the picture. I used spray glue to make the hair stick to the pillow and them I put hairspray all over it to make it hold.

I used some loose fake hair to make barrel curls and used bobby pins and spray glue to attach them to the wig. I also comb my own hair up over the front of the wig when I wear it and powder it all so it won’t look so much like a wig. I used a synthetic wig, but chose one that had a matte look and didn’t have that obviously synthetic shine.

I haven’t read anything about the actual order of dressing hair in the 18th century, but I’ve read that earlier cushions of horse hair was used for the height, but they were later replaces with metal structures that were less heavy. You probably knew that already though. Thanks for the tip on “the toilet of flora”, it sounds great!

Here are some photos of the progress of my wig:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/johanni/520641502/in…
http://www.flickr.com/photos/johanni/520641506/in…
The finished product on my head http://www.flickr.com/photos/johanni/521531015/in…
And what it looked like actually being worn: http://www.flickr.com/photos/johanni/888661041/in… I was in a big hurry that morning so my own hair is very badly arranged over the front of the wig in this picture.

I’m planning to alter it slightly before I wear it again. It turned out both a little too heavy and too wide, so I’ll remove some stuffing and make the cushion tighter which should solve both problems.

Jun 2, 2009 at 18:30 CEST

Melanie

Hi,

Thank you so much for all of this. It was really helpful, I had never seen those pictures of the hair backs like that. And the tutorial is great.

Your right, it is more practical to do what you did. I’m actually going to still try the hardcore authentic approach just once, but I dont think I can do that every time I reenact!

I’m still looking on instructions on how to dress the hair- as in how the pomade was applied and how it was curled, and so on. I found a reference to one book, Legros’ “Art of the Coiffure”, but I cant find any printed copies:(

I am really impressed and I give you much applause for your attempt. It really looks like the real thing I must say.

Thanks,
Melanie

Jun 3, 2009 at 10:03 CEST

Johanna, johannaost.com

I’m glad I could help! I’d love to hear more about what you learn about the authentic method of dressing hair. Have you tried finding that book at libraries? I often have better luck there.

Thank you!