Renewed Focus

Hi everyone,

So as I posted on Facebook, I have figured out what I'm going to be focusing on for my first project. I will be looking up the tools that were used for hair.

"But Cecily, why not focus on a specific hair style or period?" I hear you ask.

Great question! The answer will take a little bit to explain.

I was at Novice Schola in the Barony of Bergental (my home barony) yesterday. I am making a commitment to myself to get to more Baronial events in my area, because a) less travel time, and b) getting to know people who I can visit more often. I love my friends in Stonemarche, Quintavia, Bridge, and many other baronies and shires, but it is just too far away.

Back on track... While I was there I went to a round table on peerage. While we went around introducing ourselves, I mentioned that I was interesting in finding a peer, and that I want to do research on hair. Master Ernst immediately had me talk to the current Arts and Sciences Champion of the East, Raziya bist Rusa. We chatted for a good half an hour after the panel about getting started with research and how important it is to try to find primary sources.

Let's break that down.

A primary source is the thing that actually existed in period. For example, clothing that was recovered at an archaeology dig; actual manuscripts that were written in period, pottery that can be traced back to x date.

A secondary source is a depiction of the original thing. A portrait is a secondary source of a person's clothing, hairstyle, accessories, etc.

So, unless remains are impeccably embalmed and preserved, I'm not likely to find a primary source for hairstyles. However... combs, hair pins, hair accessories... those would stand the test of time a bit better and I have already found some pictures of artifacts somewhere. I just have to look up the source again.

Today, I signed up for my Boston Public Library Card. Tomorrow I'm going to try to get one for my local library as well. Once I get through all the mundane stuff I have scheduled tomorrow, I'm going to be doing some preliminary searches for hair items.

The moral of the story is that if I go to events (particularly scholas) and get over my shyness to connect with people, I will likely get some ideas on resources that I have available to me.

Goals

This is the part where I start talking about my goals overall. I do hair. Not just the fantasy braids that you see at renaissance fairs but historically accurate hair. Sometimes it is just taking inspiration from a time period, and other times it is figuring out what an artist was looking at when he painted something, and then making it happen.

There is not a lot of research on hairstyles in the time periods that most people's SCA personas are from because there weren't that many artists, the art was lost, or (more often than not) their hair was covered by a veil or other head ornamentation.

So let me put some focus into what I would like to do in researching historical hairstyles.

• Find and replicate hair styling products - I found that flax seed gel is a great, lightweight option to keep fly aways out of your face. I am still looking for documentation of its use... but once I find it, I will be completing a journey that I started in 2013.
• 14th Century England - My persona is from this time period and region. I figure if I'm doing to do this right, I should first make sure I look the part. I have recently figured out how to get braids over the ears as depicted below, but there are many other variations with and without a wimple that I want to try to get right.
  
  Source - From the Romance of Alexander
• 14th Century Italy/Spain - Many of my friends have personas from this era and I will be working with them to recreate hairstyles to either support their head dresses, or to give the appearance of the hair in the portraits that they show me.
• GO TO MORE MUSEUMS - The great thing about museums is that the art is both 2D and 3D. Sculptures can tell me so much more about hair than paintings can at times.

What's Under The Veil

Greetings and Salutations unto all that visit this page. You have come upon the journal of one Lady Cecily Windham, Hairdresser to the Baroness of Stonemarche, Ambassador of Stonemarche to Bergental, and citizen of the Kingdom of the East.

All formalities aside, this is my blog. For 2017 and going forward, I want to have a focal point to post my findings of all things related to researching historical hairstyles, and many people have suggested that I start here, by creating a blog.

I will be making several posts today but before I do, I wanted to thank a couple of people for kicking me into gear to get started on this project.

Lady Elvira Violante Ballesteros - Her excitement for finding cookery that is historically accurate is infectious and I am so happy for her that she is now apprenticed to Maestra Imigla Venture. She makes research fun and exciting for me.

Qan Erdene Qadajin - His friendship and diligence in research is astounding. As often as I have told him that he needs to teach a class on Mongol culture and clothing, he has told me to post my findings. I look forward to seeing what he does in the future.

Lady Fortune St. Keyne - One of the heads of our household (House Strangewayes) and a trend setter. She is famed for her garb and skills and has taught me a lot about using my skills in service to others.

Baroness Nicolette Bonhomme - I spent several deep moments with this lovely Baroness over the course of the year, and I hope to do more. She and her former apprentice (who just got her laurel at Birka) were not part of my circle as far as crafting or research went, but they took some time to talk to me about it. I will speak more on this in a later post.

My Lord Fearghas McGregoire - He has constantly supported me, and listened patiently as I tried to word my excitement over different findings. He has also helped me think of new ways to convey different ideas, so that I can teach my methods of hair stylings to a variety of people.

There are many more people to thank of course, and I will likely be able to do so in later posts.