At the vanity in the 16th century

Women in the act of making themselves beautiful in front of a mirror has always been a popular on paintings. For the person hunting for clues on beauty aids and cometics, they can give some valuable clues. Even if the painting is allegorcial, the beauty ideal depicted is contemporary and one can get glimpses of details like bath tubs and mirrors. Though makeup were in use in the 16th century, the paintings omits that in favour of jewelry and an occasional comb.

Venus at her toilet, School of Fonteinbleu, ca. 1550

Royal mistresses were often portrayed naked or semi-naked in front of the mirror or in the bath. Here are three portraits that possibly depict Diane de Poitiers, mistress of Henry II of France (they are all painted when she was an old woman or after her death). Here she in the process of putting on a ring and there is an open jewelry box in front of her. There is also a double-sided comb.

 

Diane de Poitiers, master of the Fontainebleau School, ca. 1590

Woman at her toilette, School of Fonteinbleu, 1550-1570

 

A lady in her bath by François Clouet, 1571

Gabrielle d'Estrées was the mistress of Henry IV of France. She is holding a ring, presumably the king's coronation ring, which she was given as a love token.

Gabrielle d'Estrées and one of her sisters, School of Fontainebleau, ca. 1592

The Queen of Navarre, however, is, if not fully clad, at least fully covered in her shift.

Marguerite d'Angoulème by an unknown artist, ca. 1530

No jewelry here, but a bowl that may be for washing, or possibly some kind of makeup.

Woman at her toilette, from a fresco by Alessandro Allori, ca. 1580

 

The Countess is combing herself, on the table there is an open jewelry box, but its content is spread out in front of it.

Elizabeth Vernon, Countess of Southampton by an unknown artist, ca. 1590

In the 17th century the motif of a woman making herself pretty became much more common. Next at the vanity post will cover 1600-1650.

A review of Historical Wig Styling: Ancient Egypt to the 1830s

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Historical Wig Styling: Ancient Egypt to the 1830s by Alison Lowery is a book on wig styling aimed to the theatre. That doesn’t mean it is uninteresting for other people, so here is a little review.

The book is spiral bound with hard covers which both makes it sturdy and easy to leave open. There are plenty of colour photos throughout. It starts with a part where tools and techniques are discussed. There are the pro and cons of synthetic wigs and real human hair ones as well of what one should think of when it comes to design and front looks. There are a throughout section on the various ways one can style and curl hair and which tools one need. The author also points out that all the hairstyles are perfectly possible to do on a person’s real hair, though in theatre and movies that is usually a rather impractical solution.

The next section contains the period hairstyles. Each period has a separate chapter that follows the same lines; an overview of the period when it comes to important historic points and then how men’s and women’s hairstyles looked during that time. Each hairstyle has step-by-step instructions which start with the recommended wig style, setting scheme and how to do the actual hairdo. There are also a few suggestions on how to vary each style, sometimes with additional photos. 

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What I love with this book are the layout and the very pedagogic instructions. I think a novice in hair styling could pull off a very decent hairstyle while following the instructions. Sometimes, though, it feels like there are gaps in the style presented. In most chapters you get two hairstyle for women and one for men, but that varies. The Egyptian chapter, for example, just has one female style. The 17^th century is probably the best presented with three female hairstyles that work for that era, but the 18^th century has the fontange style that was popular around 1700 and then nothing at all until a 1770’s big hair followed by a hedgehog style feels like it misses a style. There are also long gaps before 1600, but as female hairstyles often were covered with wimples and veils, that may a bit more understandable.

I think this book is very useful for theatres, but when it comes to re-enactors, I think it usefulness depend on the history period you are interested in. I am happy with it as I already know quite a lot about 18^th century hairstyling to bemoan the lack of styles, and also because I’m interested in the 17^th century. If you do Medieval you probably won’t have much use for it. However, if you are looking to learn wig styling in general, then I think you should opt for this one and getting some historical styles as well.

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There is a second book that covers hairstyles during the 19^th and 20^th centuries, Historical Wig Styling: Victorian to the Present. I will probably get that one as well eventually and I don’t regret buying this one either. I you have limited funds, however, I think you should consider if this book really will be useful for you, or not. Amazon provides a sneak peak in thebook for those who are interested.