For those who wear snoods or cauls, how do you do the hair that goes inside it?
As I mentioned in another thread, I'm thinking of upgrading my (twenty-one-year-old!) crochet snood, pretty as it is (http://pic50.picturetrail.com/VOL417/1033223/22511199/373963734.jpg), to something more period, like this beaded caul:
(http://ny-image1.etsy.com/il_170x135.260549241.jpg)
As you can see in the pictures, though, my current one is much less open, and conceals the hair more. I usually twist it back at the sides and then clip up the ponytail. You can also see that my hair is pretty thin (it squishes pretty flat in updos!), and though it's longish, when I do wear a bun, say from a braid twined round itself, it's really small (see how flat my snood is?!). If I go with something more open, I need ideas for how to style my hair so it can fill out the caul like you see in the picture.
Ideas?
Gramercy!!
I braid my hair or put it in a bun with hairsticks.
The caul should be made to your preferred hairstyle. Also, they did use false hair in period (I recall one very funny German altar painting where a blond lady clearly had bright red hair stuffed into her bonnet sides!) so if you want your hair to look fluffier, add some hair from a wig or other source to your braid.
The Italian snood of the mid 16th century (I.E. the semi Spanish style which came into vogue with Eleonora di Toledo in Florence) usually meant your hair was taped or braided into one thick roll. That one was then twisted around the back of the head and secured (not sure how they did the latter, but I'm assuming small metal pins, plus also using the tape for tying. You can see the style well here:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v31/operafantomet/renaissanceportraits/firenze3/braidedhairroll.jpg
And then compare to this rare profile portrait of Eleonora di Toledo:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v31/operafantomet/renaissanceportraits/firenze2/eleonoraditoledorelief.jpg
The benefit of wearing the hair rolled and pinned down like that, is that it gives the sides of the snood a fullness while the back remains fairly flat. When seeing frontal portraits of Eleonora the snoods looks a lot baggier/fuller than they are:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v31/operafantomet/renaissanceportraits/firenze3/eleonorasolo.jpg
I agree with Isabella, fake hair. Since it is getting covered in the snood, just braid it in.
Love the photo's operafan! I actually had someone tell me that snoods were not period accurate. (Maybe they meant the polyester yarn they are made with.) I stole your photos for my personal garb reference file.
You ever try the fake hair? I would recommend NOT doing fake fake - get real hair. Check out Sally's but you are still going to need a bit of knowledge for those. But once you get the hang of it, especially because you are using a snood, you don't need to be that perfect about it. They should just clip right in!
Your best bet is the Jessica Simpson HairDo line. Only get the real hair one. I got my two half head pieces from ebay. I paid about 50 for one (new) and 80 for another (again new). I'd pay up to about 100 for it, and they last forever. But what I do is loosely braid it, then coil it and put it into my snood. But I like a messier look.
Don't mean to hijack, but it's along the same lines -
I'm curious if there are resources on how to get it to stay in. I don't want all my hair in it, I'd like a bit...messier, but how do I get the darn thing to stay in my hair? I get tons of compliments on it, but they seem to slip!!! Help!
I use fake hair too, which, I have no prob with.
Quote from: Betty Munro on August 21, 2011, 04:58:28 PM
I agree with Isabella, fake hair. Since it is getting covered in the snood, just braid it in.
Love the photo's operafan! I actually had someone tell me that snoods were not period accurate. (Maybe they meant the polyester yarn they are made with.) I stole your photos for my personal garb reference file.
Crocheted snoods -the kind most people wear at the renn fest (including me!)- aren't. The type of snood that is period looks sort of like a mini fishing net. The way they are constructed is different but you can't tell from 3 feet away most of the time.
Actually, many of the period snoods I've seen in paintings are more like a bag for your hair -out of whatever material the wearer please. This would probably be a good first sewing project for many people. something easy to make, very wearable, and yet you can say you made it yourself!
The painting of Elenora it looks like her hair is parted and I would say maybe braided. Maybe she has it taped in? I tried the hair taping on my mom this summer and it holds like a dream!
Gem how long is your hair? Mine is mid backish a tad longer. When I wear a snood I twist the sides pin them and then I twist the rest kind of like I an aiming for a French Twist then I pull the snood over it and I secure it with curler pins they are the ones that are an inch and a half long. Since I am not very H/A I add flower barettes too for a bit more hold.
Operafantomet,
Just curious, but what "tape" would have been used? Or is it a phrase referring to something else?
Polly PoPo
(aka Grannie)
Hair taping is a method of using a ribbon to litrally sew a braid into place. There are some really good how to's on You Tube on how to do it, and its super easy once you get it down.
Gem, if you're looking to add to your hair so that you can make it into a thick braid, I recommend buying one of the fairly cheap "braids" from either Sallys or online (I don't have the web address in front of me, but they gave us a really good one at Costume College, and I can look it up for you if you want). Your hair is probably too light for what you can get at Sallys, but I would check it out anyway - you can buy braids there for between $2-4. Once you braid them and coil them within your caul/snood, no one will be able to tell it's fake, anyway.
I usually wear a snood and a hat, and I cheat. (There, I said it, it is in the open!) I put my hair into 2 pony tails, (Yes, as if I was 6) and braid them. I use 4 elastics in all, 2 near the ears, and 2 at the ends. I then take the tail (paintbrushy part) and tuck it into the ear elastic on the opposite side. As my snood is more like a bag, not a bun cover, and the french hood / hat hides the hair near my ears, this works well, with a minimumof bobby pins. I also have thicker hair, which helps.
Several years ago I ordered "crispinettes" aka braided buns (think Princess Leia!) from a company called His & Hers - which would also work to hide your smaller bun and give more of a filler.
(http://a4.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/photos-ak-snc1/v4665/0/115/568686279/n568686279_3279057_805538.jpg)
I have better luck wearing a snood than I do a Caul. No need for Bobby Pins.
As you can see in my profile pic I usually wear a snood and a hat. I use a snood with an elastic band and just push the whole curly pile into it.
I have a friend who has short hair who coiled a long blond braid around some panty hose and then used that to stuff her snood before she put it on. Hers also has an elastic band.
Quote from: PollyPoPo on August 21, 2011, 10:46:23 PM
Operafantomet,
Just curious, but what "tape" would have been used? Or is it a phrase referring to something else?
Polly PoPo
(aka Grannie)
It's basically to part the hair in one or two parts, and twist a (very long) flat ribbon around it. That is the "tape". The roll(s) are put around the crown of the head, or in the back. The ends of the ribbon is usually tied together, to secure the hair. It can be done as dense or tight as the wearer prefers it. A common way, which is still used in some Norwegian folk costumes, can be seen in this picture-by-picture guide:
http://www.bunad-magasinet.no/haarvipping-paa-telemarksvis.4472761-103162.html
You can also twist it as an 8, up and down, around two strains of hair, to kinda bind them together. Hard to explain this without pictures...
ETA: Here's a woman with taped hair:
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v31/operafantomet/renaissanceportraits/firenze3/allori1595.jpg)
Gem, my hair is too "modern" to fill out a snood as well. What I did was make a caul from taffeta and another from a small wale corduroy that looks like velvet. You could then wear the pretty beaded caul over it to give it a decorated look.
Well, Anna, that was my plan. Alas, my beaded caul was one of my few sewing failures! Hence the need for a new plan.
I love the idea of false hair, but that suggestion never comes with details of HOW you attach the false hair to your real hair! I have a really pretty braided bun that matches my hair exactly, but I cannot figure out how to wear it. Whatever I do, it just looks like it's stuck on the back of my head, not like it's my real hair worn up (and I can do a variety of complicated updos with my hair, so it's not like I just don't know how to do a braid or whatnot).
I'd love to be able to find an afordable bun that matched my hair. I went with the caul as it was.much less expensive.:)
Maybe you could pin the braided bun at the center but then reserving the outside perimeter of hair, make small braids or twist and intertwine this with the bun?
Quote from: gem on August 24, 2011, 03:09:48 PM
Well, Anna, that was my plan. Alas, my beaded caul was one of my few sewing failures! Hence the need for a new plan.
I love the idea of false hair, but that suggestion never comes with details of HOW you attach the false hair to your real hair! I have a really pretty braided bun that matches my hair exactly, but I cannot figure out how to wear it. Whatever I do, it just looks like it's stuck on the back of my head, not like it's my real hair worn up (and I can do a variety of complicated updos with my hair, so it's not like I just don't know how to do a braid or whatnot).
I learned on Youtube, of all things. I have a half 'wig', and for that I take up half my hair, the top, that is, and pin it up and out of the way. I tease the lower layer, near the part I just made, then clip it in with the little barettes. Then I release my top hair, hair spray, and curl or straighten it all (if it is heat resistant).
As for your bun piece, what does it attach with? you may want to leave a piece of hair out, depending how long your hair is, and use it to wrap around the 'seam'. I can give you better advice once I know how it attached. You have a pic?
And a lot of times, we are more aware that it is fake than others are. I wore this wig I thought was...obvious ti wasn't my hair. It was this burgundy red, and I swear I got so many compliments, people thought it was my hair.
Lava, thanks for those instructions--very helpful!
***
Well, I went this weekend to look for false hair, but the local Sally didn't have anything *remotely* similar to my hair color, and I wasn't up for paying $60+ for real human hair I could dye. Alas. I'm still thinking about it for the future, though. There's an artisan on etsy (http://www.etsy.com/shop/puppycatmeow) that makes beautiful braids. So maybe next year.
Meanwhile... I bought one of those bun-donut (http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_JKvZfsH6dyY/TVB4HDoUnpI/AAAAAAAAA3E/ibAd8f99gjM/s1600/how+a+donut+bun+works.jpg) things, and a beaded caul like the one in my first post. I also found a pearl double headband (http://www.chezbec.com/p/178/ea_0494b.jpg) that I can twist the sides of my hair around... so I think I have something worked out, at least!
If you must have hair showing through the caul you will need hairpieces, or something to wear under the hair to add volume if you don't have masses of hair to fill it.
Nothing says you can't bead that lovely caul and then devise a satin or velvet bag to fix inside the outer caul to cover your hair. You can then stuff the inside with a veil or whatever to add volume.
It's a trick I use whenever I donate my hair to locks o' love. My hair grows fast and thick, so 2 years later I have long hair again.
The bun donut increases the volume of my hair by at least three times (and it's very close to the color of my hair, which is a nice bonus), so that's a start. I'm going to experiment with braiding some of the strands of hair that go through it to give more texture to the hair--but I really think this will work. I'm not sure anyone will be looking so closely at my head that they'll think, "Hmm... she didn't braid her bun. Shame on her." ;D You can make your own bun donut out of a sock (http://punkynmunky.blogspot.com/2008/03/sock-bun-tutorial.html), and I kind of want to experiment to see how large a form is possible--see if I can somehow replicate the larger/flatter hairstyle from the full-sized caul (the caul I bought is smaller/bun-sized).
I need to remember to save the hair from my hairbrush for rats/rolls. Somehow I only think of this the day *after* I throw it all away. Another poster once said she used lint from her dryer... but ours has too much dog hair in it! Ew!!
Hmm... looking again at that sock bun tutorial, I'm starting to wonder if I might use jewels or something to cover the "seam" on the false bun I bought a couple of years ago. It's really pretty, but I've never figured out how to get it not to look like I just stuck it on my head. ::)
Try keeping a chunk of your hair out near where you are going to put the bun, put some hair gel on it to keep it from frizzing ( my hair frizzes to the point I give Hermione a run for her money) Twist it and wrap it around the bun and pin it. If you dont have enough to go all the way around go from the other side and do the same.
As a general rule, I don't tell people what to do ... but dryer lint for anything on your body is an extremely bad idea. Dryer lint is phenomenally flamable. I save my dryer lint to start campfires. One match, and poof! You would not want that going up in flames on the back of your head because someone got too close with a cigarette.
I know you just said you heard about someone else doing it, not that you are going that route ... but in case someone else thought about using it.
Public announcement over. :)
Perhaps sheep wool instead of lint? Provided you aren't allergic, it would stay put and not pull apart.
Some economical "rats" for your hair:
Netting/tulle/ect in a color similar to your own hair. Since your hair will be covering the rat, it does not need to be exact but, if you have blond hair, go with yellow. If you have brown hair, go with brown or black.
If you are going to 18th c big hair, a friend of mine used a squishy wash netting thing (http://www.amazon.com/Aquasentials-Mesh-Pouf-Bath-Sponge/dp/B001CTQMIC/ref=sr_1_2?s=beauty&ie=UTF8&qid=1314804999&sr=1-2). It worked incredibly well.
The bump its you find at the drug store are what I've used for 18th C hair. http://www.flickr.com/photos/jubileel/5338611679/ (http://www.flickr.com/photos/jubileel/5338611679/) It's a bad picture but you get the idea of hair height!
I've also used my own hair that I've cut to make rats. When my hair needs to be cut, I braid it back and just chop off the bottom five to eight inches. It's not nice and neat but it works. I then keep that hair, wrapped in a ribbon typically, and use it for rats. It doesn't matter too much what color ribbon I use because I'm probably going to have a ribbon in my hair anyway. :D
I've heard of flexible styrofoam being used but I'm not sure if it works or not.
Isabella--Bump-its for 18th C. updos is BRILLIANT!
I was actually looking at my bun donut and thinking about the tulle pot scrubbers my MIL crochets ( ???!) and wondering if she'd consider an exchange for all the garb I've made them over the years... and then thought better of it. I think I can find a roll of brownish tulle ribbon and figure this one out myself. Thanks!
The tulle works well because you can put bobby pins through it and it will hold. That is always a big plus. Just make sure you get the correct width to do that and not the super fine netting.
Quote from: Adriana Rose on August 21, 2011, 10:51:42 PM
Hair taping is a method of using a ribbon to litrally sew a braid into place. There are some really good how to's on You Tube on how to do it, and its super easy once you get it down.
Brilliant! I'll have to look this up and give it a try for myself. My hair is long and terribly thick (and I've no talent at all when it comes to doing anything with anyone's hair), but this gives me some hope. :)
Look it up on you tube there is a really great how to.
Before I grew my hair to it's current length I just wore my hair loose in the 2 crocheted snoods I have. Fellow Renner figured out how to take just a thin plastic head band and crochet a snood onto it, very pretty, just have to set it up high on your head, 2-4 bobby pins then your all set!
Milord got a nice photo of the back of my head on the day I wore my little beaded caul from etsy:
(http://pic50.picturetrail.com/VOL417/1033223/23882966/399310433.jpg)
The hairstyle ended up being really easy, but it had several steps to it (harder to explain it than do it!): The sides of the hair are pulled back around a pearled double headband, and the rest of the length is put up in a donut bun, covering the ends of the twists. The caul slips over the bun and is pinned in place with hairpins.
I found that the donut-style bun was, for me, the critical element. I needed the structure of the nice firm, round bun to keep the caul filled out and shaped nicely. I have one of those mesh/tulle donuts (http://img.tesco.com/Groceries/pi/912%5C5022852019912%5CIDShot_225x225.jpg) you can buy to fill out the bun, but it was actually a little too large for the caul I'd purchased (although she'll make custom sizes; just measure your hair/bun), so what's in that bun is all my natural hair.
I was really pleased with how it looked, and got several compliments on it... but the headband really pinched (I've never been able to wear headbands), so I need an alternative for that part.