Article on 17th century makeup at Your Wardrobe Unlock'd

My second article on mid-17th century beauty is now up. Makeup trends, skin care and ingridients and I also do two makeup tutorials with period makeup. I thought it was interesting to see how different makeup can look depending on ingridient and was of application.

If you subscribe to Your Wardrobe Unlock'd, then you can read the article here.

I have written an article about 17th century hair for Your Wardrobe Unlock'd

Lady Margaret Tufton by David des Granges, 1638-1650

Some time ago, in February, I approached Your Wardrobe Unlock’d and asked if they might be interested in two articles about 17^th century hair and makeup. To my delighted surprise they were and the first article went live today. I feel quite exited, I can tell you! The subject is the woman’s hairstyle that was popular for the whole mid-part of the 17^th century where the hair was put in a chignon in the back and the side hair was hanging down around the ears. In my article I go through the key variations of it and also how to set and style a wig. The next article that will be up next month, is about makeup during the same period.

You can read, if you subscribe to Your Wardrobe Unlock’d, here.

An article on stage makeup in the 17th and 18th century

Some time ago I was asked by Talia of The Gibson Girl's Guide to Glamor if I wanted to write an article about stage makeup in the 17th and 18th century for a website she runs about Commedia dell'Arte. Which I, of course, wanted and you can now read the article here.

I wish I could have found out more, but if there is a work especially on stage makeup for these centuries, then it has eluded me. 16th century and 19th century yes, but not for 17th and 18th century. I think it is a very interesting subkect, though.

David Garrick as John Brute in 'The Provok'd Wife' by Vanbrugh, Drury Lane by Johann Zoffany, 1763

At the vanity, 1750-1800

You may have noticed that the mythological ladies primping themselves are gion ein the 18th century. There are, of course, plently of allergorcal nakedness elsewhere, but the vanity is now for the ordinary lady, with or without an entourage of maids and friends.

This charming lady has a small pot of rouge on her table and either a swandowns puff for application, or perhaps just some crumpled fabric.

Portrait of Madame Courcelles by Jean-Baptiste Greuze

Alexander Roslin, 1755-1760

The Toilet, 1760

A lady at her toilet in an interior by Abraham Hendrick van Beesten, 1762

 

Van Loo

Powder box with a powderpuff with a handle as well as a cabinet that sems to contain bottles of various kinds.

Source

Powderbox with puff and a small brush beside it. I winder to what? Powdering face, rouge, clothes?

A family scene by Johann Heinrich Wilhelm Tischbein, 1778

A Woman at her Toilet with a Maid, a Boy, a Dog and a Young Soldier; verso: A Sketch for a Similar Composition by Johann Eleazar Zeissig, called Schenau, 1770

 

The Morning Toilet by Pehr Hilleström

 

The lady and her maidservant at the morning toilet

 

 

 Not an ordinary toilet room but an actress dressing room, but it is worth noting that she has just about the same thing on it as other ladies.

An Actress at Her Toilet, or Miss Brazen just Breecht, anonymous artist after John Collet, 1779

Pehr Hilleström

My favourite pictures are those were you get a glimpse on how the hairstyle is constructed. Here you get a view on both the front and the side.

Mademoiselle Du T... by Jean-François Janinet, 1779

Source

 A hair that has completely broken down.

The Broken Mirror by Jean-Baptiste Greuze, 1763

Two back views that clearly shows how hairstyles was worked in sections, first the front, and then one could arrange the backhair in curls, braids, etc.

An Interior With A Young Lady At Her Toilet, Combing Her Hair Before A Mirror by Johann Anton de Peters

A woman combing her hair in front of the mirror by Pehr Hilleström

What to do when one hasn't got a special powder room. Protect the furniture with a screen and draped curtains and protect the floor with a piece of cloth.The lady herself is swathed in a powder cape.

La Coiffure by Baptiste Mallet

 

The Toilet by Robert Sayer, London. 1786

The English Dressing Room, Stipple engraving by P. W. Tomkins after Chas. Ansell published 1789

Lady with attendant, engraving by Jean Francois Janinet after Nicolas Lawrence

 

The Coquette at her Toilet, after George Morland

Dressing for a ball, 1797

There is an abundance of satirical drawings depicting vain men and women in the 18th century, but the items of the dressing table looks just about the same as in more serious paintings.

Frontispiece to Anstey's election ball, 1776

The Lady's Maid or Toilet Head Dress, 1776

 

Source

The English Shaver of Frenchman in the Suds, 1772

Source

The Coiffure, model attributed to Gottlieb Friedrich Riedel, c. 1770