Our Greatest Indulgence And Estrogen Fest, An Era Tribute To Hair ( Warning, Men May Experience Vertigo )

JPK Huson 1863

Brev. Brig. Gen'l
Joined
Feb 14, 2012
Location
Central Pennsylvania
hair ringletts illustration.jpg

There's a reason we fall into nostalgic raptures over images where belles floated to balls and rose-bedecked young women blushed. They're just so gosh darn pretty. Unabashedly pretty and were 150 years ago. Like this image, most were representative of a desire to express something. Not politics, a nation torn to shreds or the plight of millions - guessing we girls escaped to fairyland once in awhile. Girls liked pretty stuff and it was ok. There's a reason you can't tempt a man into a salon with a steak on a string- hair may be our greatest estrogen fueled indulgence. Scary place for a guy.

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This must have been amazing- the front the usual, severe middle part, from the back rolls, braids and pearl hair ornaments. Have a few of these including what looks like a gigantic buckle- for a LOT of hair.

You can't tell me battle hardened suffragettes of later generations weren't a little wistful- somewhere we left behind some grace, that it'd be ok to indulge all-things-feminine and still rub shoulders on equal terms with men. You also cannot tell me the tired, old argument where we dressed to please men holds much water. When was the last time anyone's husband noticed a. what you were wearing and b. your hair c. would be tempted to open this thread? We did this for ourselves. Because we wanted to.

hair elaborate  back.jpg

Can you imagine? Cropped from a series of 4, this photo had to have been someone's idea pre-FB, what I did to my hair for the ball last week. I'd share it, too. From somewhere in LoC.

Ok so I'm blaming @Mrs. V for this thread. And thank you! Disclaimer is, anyone who has created a thread on we girls and our hair, I apologize. We do have some terrific threads, hers on hairdressers in 2019 giving us this amount of fun is a great excuse to indulge in ' pretty '. Hand's down, we've never been better at it than we were all those generations ago. We never saw these styles again, maybe we got busy, maybe allowed ourselves to be persuaded it was all vanity and silliness, who knows? But come on. What it was, was kinda awesome.

It's prewar, but like to point out just a few years earlier a severe style went beserk. One of my favorite images, note the crazy cool double part. LOVE to know how the gravity defying sides were achieved? Mrs. V, would it be ok to ask you to ask one of your era stylists? Genuinely love to know.
hair gravity.jpg


hair ringlt.jpg

Found her on Ebay, pretty sure the back view includes a braided bun. Below, one of the most elegant portraits I have, dripping spider web crochet and grace, a braided bun with side curls.
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@Mrs. V , top knot and ringlets- hate to derail your thread, maybe should post it there too? She's another Ebay find, terrific place to find an awful lot of History.
top knot ringletts.jpg


hair godeys 1864 2.JPG

You know it's something special when ' hair ' becomes a ' coiffure '. We could use some coiffures but please don't tell my daughter I said that. Flip side of that is, younger generations seem awfully willing to accept anyone, anytime, wearing anything so maybe we could get away with it.

Leaving room for anyone with a favorite- but please, guys, heed the warning. Below, what happens when one of you gets too close to the door of a salon- gets sucked into the vortex. ( yes, I know Little Lord Fauntleroy was a thing, it doesn't make it not hazardous )
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That is some interesting yet mostly ugly hair. :smile: Looks like way too much trouble.


Doesn't it look arduous? I was thinking of the time involved too then remembered seeing well-heeled housewives lampooned in Harpers. Cartoon caption read something about ' a housewife busy with her duties ', woman was reading a book while a uniformed maid cleaned something in the background.

Those curling tongs would have had to make you bald after while, too. In 2019 those things have adjustable temps and some kind of Teflon. Those used 150 years ago were just hot metal. Had to have lost some ringlets somewhere through over enthusiastic use.
 
Love these images! Just imagine the time involved for those intricate braids, and curls. One of these ladies has an especially beautiful face, an needed no adornment... and got none.

That's an interesting point. Dags and Ambryos caught such depths, I'm a little surprised they went out of vogue. So many women's images are give us a look at pre-makeup faces who were just stunning. This whole make up thing took over, became the norm and we just don't often see women any more.
 
View attachment 293191
There's a reason we fall into nostalgic raptures over images where belles floated to balls and rose-bedecked young women blushed. They're just so gosh darn pretty. Unabashedly pretty and were 150 years ago. Like this image, most were representative of a desire to express something. Not politics, a nation torn to shreds or the plight of millions - guessing we girls escaped to fairyland once in awhile. Girls liked pretty stuff and it was ok. There's a reason you can't tempt a man into a salon with a steak on a string- hair may be our greatest estrogen fueled indulgence. Scary place for a guy.

View attachment 293188
This must have been amazing- the front the usual, severe middle part, from the back rolls, braids and pearl hair ornaments. Have a few of these including what looks like a gigantic buckle- for a LOT of hair.

You can't tell me battle hardened suffragettes of later generations weren't a little wistful- somewhere we left behind some grace, that it'd be ok to indulge all-things-feminine and still rub shoulders on equal terms with men. You also cannot tell me the tired, old argument where we dressed to please men holds much water. When was the last time anyone's husband noticed a. what you were wearing and b. your hair c. would be tempted to open this thread? We did this for ourselves. Because we wanted to.

View attachment 293189
Can you imagine? Cropped from a series of 4, this photo had to have been someone's idea pre-FB, what I did to my hair for the ball last week. I'd share it, too. From somewhere in LoC.

Ok so I'm blaming @Mrs. V for this thread. And thank you! Disclaimer is, anyone who has created a thread on we girls and our hair, I apologize. We do have some terrific threads, hers on hairdressers in 2019 giving us this amount of fun is a great excuse to indulge in ' pretty '. Hand's down, we've never been better at it than we were all those generations ago. We never saw these styles again, maybe we got busy, maybe allowed ourselves to be persuaded it was all vanity and silliness, who knows? But come on. What it was, was kinda awesome.

It's prewar, but like to point out just a few years earlier a severe style went beserk. One of my favorite images, note the crazy cool double part. LOVE to know how the gravity defying sides were achieved? Mrs. V, would it be ok to ask you to ask one of your era stylists? Genuinely love to know.
View attachment 293190

View attachment 293192
Found her on Ebay, pretty sure the back view includes a braided bun. Below, one of the most elegant portraits I have, dripping spider web crochet and grace, a braided bun with side curls.
View attachment 293201

@Mrs. V , top knot and ringlets- hate to derail your thread, maybe should post it there too? She's another Ebay find, terrific place to find an awful lot of History.
View attachment 293204

View attachment 293198
You know it's something special when ' hair ' becomes a ' coiffure '. We could use some coiffures but please don't tell my daughter I said that. Flip side of that is, younger generations seem awfully willing to accept anyone, anytime, wearing anything so maybe we could get away with it.

Leaving room for anyone with a favorite- but please, guys, heed the warning. Below, what happens when one of you gets too close to the door of a salon- gets sucked into the vortex. ( yes, I know Little Lord Fauntleroy was a thing, it doesn't make it not hazardous )
View attachment 293206

View attachment 293200
I actually know how they got that poof..when you brushed your hair, you would clean the brush and put the hair in a special container on the dresser. When you had enough, you would wad it up, making a “rat” that you would use to puff out the hair..
 
That little fellow looks like he just LOVES his hair. My guys would never have sat still long enough for me to do that to them!!!!!!
 
I can imagine the all-consuming effort to put a happy countenance forward at the Ball. Seeing their soldiers between times of absence the sense of stress most likely was relieved by returning to what once was normal routine, preparing for their day. Now it would be a time to gossip, relieve the tension, receive instruction, just like the good book says. Because the glory fades and if you cannot grasp it before the golden bowl is broken, shattered pieces run with dashed hopes and no one to call upon.
Sorry for my 'whatever it was'....reminiscence waxing gently from a flame as the candle burns out.
Shh...Lubliner.
 
I actually know how they got that poof..when you brushed your hair, you would clean the brush and put the hair in a special container on the dresser. When you had enough, you would wad it up, making a “rat” that you would use to puff out the hair..


No way!! To think all these years I've been throwing it away- not that I'd save it, it's just a little cool knowing our ancestors saved everything including hair. This makes sense. What else would work as well as your own hair?

Wish they'd found a better name. Rats in the hair. Gee whiz. " Fanny, you look divine this evening! That ball gown is a particularly lovely shade of puce and whatever did you do to your hair, my dear? It's positively statuesque! " " Oh well thank you Em, do you like it? If you knew the number of rats in this coif you'd be surprised, I can tell you. "

Members post all the time about how you learn something new here at CWT every day, and it's true! Rats. Thank you!
 
Rats, I brush them out all the time. When I was a kid it was bubble gum. Mom would grab the scissors, and me; "No, I will just pick it out thank you." And then they came out with picks somewhere down the line. But I don't sleep with bubblegum anymore. Just a lot of rats!
Thanks for being agreeable on such a picky topic. Men still come by and sniff the buns. I've seen them. I hold my tongue.
I know it doesn't look bright; "...hunh…"
Lubliner.
 
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