Hair stories
The art of hair styling,
could this be a simple artifice? are we talking about lightness, as with this feather in the sumptuous hairstyle of this young girl. She adds pearls and evokes her purity. The artifice becomes a symbol.
Pretty names, the “garcette” hairstyle, of Spanish origin and made fashionable by Queen Anne of Austria, lasted from the 1630s to 1660. This portrait is a perfect illustration.
The hairstyle is a matter of court, we want to please the King.
Fashions in the 17th century varied with Louis XIV’s favorites setting the tone. Madame de Montespan with her long curls then the Marquise de Fontanges with her hair disheveled during a hunt, and from one day to the next the entire court with a lot of hairpieces gains 50 cm in height.
The wig has been a must for men since Louis XIII to hide his baldness, a symbol of the decline of virility.
Louis XIV, after having had magnificent hair, resorted to the same artifice…
The wig not only hides the harmful effects of age but also those of syphilis which causes hair loss and… lice infestations.
These often-imposing headdresses are uncomfortable, they are very heavy and cause itching. Something impossible to detect in the attitude of this Italian fabric merchant and his flirtatious gaze…
The French Revolution is over, and its share of executions on the Place de la Révolution. The executioner releases the neck and cuts the hair short the guillotine can fall.
In solidarity with the victims the hair is worn short, and the exposed neck was draped with a scarlet ribbon. The hairstyle “à la Titus” is a political act.
Our young Lady is an activist!
And what can we say about this little cutie and his “dog ear hairstyle”, an attribute of the “incroyables”, he celebrates in his own way the end of terror, we are on Directoire: the youth are exulting! for a few more years…..
