Inconvenience of Modern Fashions

[dawna]

INCONVENIENCE OF MODERN FASHIONS

The other night, being an interested looker-on at one of the "Light Gymnastic" soirees of our city, we were amused with a little incident which occurred. There was found a mass of hair covered by a net, and known among the ladies and the "initiated" as a "water-fall."

A mischievous young man having secured the prize, was trying to match the stray ornament to the hair of the various young ladies in the room. Strange to say the owner could not be found, though the affair caused no little merriment. A day or two after, taking up an English paper our eye fell on the following, which goes to show that the fair ones should use much more caution in fastening on their false adornments, if they would not subject themselves and their foolish fashions to ridicule.

"As I walked past a certain shop, I saw the following singular advertisement" '2s. 6d. reward. Lost, a roll of lady's hair. Of no use to any one but the owner.' Now that gives rise to many reflections. One wonders why it should be 'of no use to any one but the owner.' For bracelets, chains, and even bow-strings are known to have been made of that material.

The smallness of the reward helps one to comprehend the reason why Swift should have written upon a certain packet, "only a woman's hair;' it can't be a very valuable article. One would like to know of what color the hair was, of what texture it was, of what length it was. It couldn't surely have been lost by a lover; the ruffian would have had the grace to offer more than half-a-crown for its recovery. No; it must have been lost by a woman (or a barber, though in this case I should have thought it would be as useful to one barber as another); and I think I can guess what it was used for: it was, I should say, a roll twisted up a la, queue de cheval, which had been bought at a barber's, and which Angelicana was in the habit of sticking on the back of her head (as I understand she often does) when she went out riding or walking, to make believe she had been blest by nature. Hence the smallness of the reward; hence the improbability that it would be of use to the finder (though, of course, it might be); hence the cause of its having been lost, for people don't often drop their own hair to the street in the wholesale form of rolls. At any rate, I can think of no other explanation. It is possible, I know, but it is hardly probable, that a lady would have her own back-hair cut off and rolled up, only for the purpose of sticking it on again."

From "Arthur's Home Magazine - February 1865

[jenna]

That is to laugh. But truthfully the use of false hair was a HUGE industry. There was just as much false hair being worn as real! The idea was to have a head full of hair and coffiers that were so huge that it was impressive. False hair was also a means of decorating ones self. Small hair pins, inserted on the side of the head, by the ears, would have some of those marvelous cork screw curls that we see in pictures. The ones that are perfectly curled. And later, in the 1870's and 1880's false hair because a neccesity for your ensemble. The way that the braids were done, the chigons, and the buns were so huge that no amount of real hair would have made that look real.

http://www.fashion-era.com/hair_hats_184070.htm
http://www.fashion-era.com/hair_hats_187099.htm
These are some nice scetch drawings of typical pre and post Civil war hair and hat styles.

http://www.flinc.net/vell/articlehair.htm

And this is just a great article on the evolution of hair styles in general. Very interesting.

Have you ever heard of "hair art"? Very creepy stuff.

[dawna]

Jenna:

Thanks for the great links - love the Gibson Girl era! What is hair art?

Dawna

[johan_steele]

Couldn't a lady make some good money selling her hair to a wigmaker? I was left w/ that impression after reading <u>Little Women</u>. Fiction vs fact?

[blue_zouave]

Shane, remember that Jo only got twenty-five dollars for her hair... and that was a lifetime growth. It would be a once every few years deal, and would not likely save the farm.

[johan_steele]

Zou, $25 was a REALLY good bit of money at the time. Easily two mos wages for most men in 1860 and nearly 2 mos wages for the average Infantry private. Considering that $.50 a week was considered a decent wage by many. Btw thanks for reminding me the value of her hair.

[blue_zouave]

Shane, I know the value of 19th century money, and I still don't think that $25 bucks, even in 1862, was going to save the farm. It may have been considered "good money" but for a woman to sell her own hair in those times was an act of desperation.

Dawna, hair art was when people took the hair of loved ones, living or deceased, and made jewelry and pictures out of it. There was a chemical process for preserving the hair. Then it was displayed under glass. You can see more about this at http://www.hairworksociety.org/index.html There are also some examples offered for sale at http://www.rubylane.com/ni/shops/antiquesuncommontreasure/iteml/503hairbrclt#pic 1

There was a whole cult of hair in the 19th century.

Zou

[dawna]

Thanks for the links Zou...very interesting.

Dawna

[johan_steele]

Thanks for the links Zou. You are right about not saving the farm but two mos wages. Possibly worth that loss of hair.

[jenna]

Zou-not only was it preserved under glass but often in mourning jewelry, such as rings and necklaces and brouches. Often before a soldier would leave for war, or a member of the family would leave on an extended journey or moved away, a lock of hair was left behind. This hair was then displayed in the jewelry, especially the person who left it died.

Also women not only made pictures for under glass, but I have also seen "wearable" hair art. I saw a hair bracelet and an entire crocheted shawl made from human hair. Gross, but true! They are very rare to find since the hair did not last as long as that that was put under glass or in jewelry.

To keep hair clean between bathings, women would often slave the night away with 100 strokes of the comb or brush. This collected the loose hair and got rid of damaged hair as well. (Obviously). Women would have little hair cups, usually fine porceline or silver, and would wind the hair out of the brush and put it into this little cup. Then once enough was collected, would make it into the hair art or wears. Pretty morbid stuff, and creepy. If I recall correctly, there is a very fine example of hair art in Grant's home in Galeena,IL.

As far as selling hair, if I recall correctly they did, but it wasn't worth a whole lot. It was often made from horse hair or other animal hair that would curl and style.

Jenna