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New Maid Marian hairstyle tutorials from BBC's Robin Hood!!

Historical Gallery

Ancient

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The Middle Ages

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Eighteenth Century ~ 1761-1779

The Linley Sisters by Gainsborough, 1772

Marie Antoinette of France, artist unknown, 1780s

Lady in Blue by Gainsborough

Wilhelmine Encke Countess Lichtenau by Anna Dorothea Therbusch

Mme Freret-Déricour by Duplessis, 1769

Singer by Fragonard, 1769

photo credits ~

All historical paintings taken from La Coutouriere Parisienne

Renaissance

The plucked brow and forehead was continued into the renaissance. It was popular for women to before marriage to wear their hair with loose and long with a center part. After marriage women covered their hair and continued to pluck their hairline and eyebrows. Women began experimenting with braids, and many intricate and individual styles developed. Check out Dream Weaver’s website for fascinating information and instruction on Renaissance braiding techniques. The hair during this period was also styled by using curling irons.

Elizabethan

1560-1600

Middle Ages

New!

Check out Marian's hairstyles from BBC's Robin Hood!

General Information

The biggest change in women’s grooming habits in the Middle Ages involved eyebrows – women throughout Europe plucked them to appear thin, and in some cases shaved them entirely off. A center parting was common for women’s long hairstyles, but long hair was hard to manage, so women began to divide it into sections and lace it with ribbons. From this emerged the style most commonly associated with medieval women – braids or plaits.

Braiding her hair into plaits signified a girl’s passage into womanhood and marriage. In Britain, by the 12th century, braids could be coiled around the head and were sometimes put up in a chignon. In the 13th century, a common style was to wind the plaits at each side of the head above the ears. By the 14th century women began to alter their hairline by plucking it to give the illusion of a higher forehead.

For braiding instructions, check out Dreamweaver Braiding