France was one of the fashion leaders of this era. So I thought you may find it interesting to find out a little more about the face paints and hairstyles during the 18th Century. Included in my Marie Antoinette talk is a reproduction of one of the high wigs of the period as well as the lower wider wig known as the hedgehog!

Hair styling and cosmetics application had a particularly important function in France.  The toilette, or dressing, was a daily ceremony in which important persons were dressed (including hair styled and cosmetics applied) before a select audience, the ritual was created by Louis 14^th.

For the 18th Century ideal of beauty her forehead was high, her cheeks plump and rosy, and her skin was white. Fashionable eye colours included black, chestnut, or blue; eyebrows were divided (i.e. no monobrows), slightly full, semi-circular, and tapered at the ends in a half moon shape.  Her lips were small, with a slightly larger bottom lip creating a rosebud effect, soft, and red.  

The ideal woman of the 18th century had hair that was black, brown, or blond (particularly fashionable during Marie-Antoinette’s reign); strong red hair was unfashionable and generally would be dyed a different colour, although chestnut and strawberry blond were popular.  Her hair was of wavy or curly texture.

Wigs were introduced in the 17th century, when King Louis 13th (1610-43), who had let his own hair grow long, began to bald prematurely at the age of 23. They were made in general with human hair, but also with hair from horses or goats to make new headdresses every day of the week.

It is in the 1760s that hairstyles featuring height began to appear.  This height was generally equal to about 1/4 to 1/2 the length of the face, and is usually styled in an egg shape.

In the mid- to late-1770s, huge hair became all the rage.  The height of these styles was generally about 1 to 1 1/2 times the length of the face, and was styled in what was considered a pyramid shape (it also looks very much like a hot air balloon).

Hair was nearly always curled, waved, or frizzed before styling, to create texture.  Styling was accomplished with combs and curling irons, held with pins, and dressed with pomade.  When height was desired, it was raised over pads made of fabric or cork shaped like a heart or spear –  wool, tow, hemp, cut hair, or even wire were also used.

They were attached to the top of the head, and then natural and false hair was curled, waved, or frizzed and piled over and around the cushion.  Such elaborate hairstyles could be worn for days or weeks at a time.

Side curls angled up towards the top back of the hair.  The back hair was generally styled in a looped-up ponytail or braid.  Long curls were often left hanging at the nape of the neck.  French styles often had an extra “bump” in the front of the hair, right above the forehead.  In this period, both French and Englishwomen usually powdered their hair.

Powdering was introduced when King Henry 4 of France (1589-1610) used dark powder on his greying hair.  By 1715, wigs started to be powdered. Hair powder was originally used mostly as a degreaser.

White haired wigs were popular because they were expensive and rare, and so men and women began (in the early 18th century) to use white powder to colour their wigs and hair, as it was less destructive than dye.

Hair powder was made from a variety of materials, from the poorest quality in corn and wheat flour, to the best quality in finely milled and sieved starch. It was usually white, but it could also be brown, grey, orange, pink, red, blue, or violet. 

The application of white powder over dark hair produces shades of light to dark grey and White powder applied over very light hair produces a heightened blond effect.

Powder was applied with a bellows (the person being powdered being covered with a cone-shape face mask and fabric smock), with a puff for touch-ups and a knife for removal. To powder wigs, people used special dressing gowns, and covered their faces with a cone of thick paper.

 The high hairstyle ornaments included lots of ribbons, pearls, jewels, flowers, feathers, as well as ships, birdcages, and other items that evoked the theme.  In 1774, the Duchess of Devonshire created a sensation when she introduced ostrich feathers into her hair. The high hairstyle ornaments included lots of ribbons, pearls, jewels, flowers, feathers, as well as ships, birdcages, and other items that evoked the theme. In 1774, the Duchess of Devonshire created a sensation when she introduced ostrich feathers into her hair.

Fashion loving ladies of XVIII century were often decorating their hair with jewels. The most sophisticated beauties tried to come up with a more original decoration by attaching stuffed birds, figurines, frigates, ships with sails, mini-gardens with tiny artificial trees and castles models. The making one single piece stylists worked between 1 and 10 hours in a row. Marie Antoinette  even put a Frigate in her hair to celebrate a French naval victory!

Such elaborate hairstyles could be worn for days or weeks at a time The hair was not washed at all for months and was only combed with specially made tool resembling to a metal hand..
To keep this artistic work as long as possible, it was regularly greased with pork lard. A typical hairstyle was height of about one meter. Sleeping with such a haircut was possible only on special cushions. A metal grid was worn on the head to protect the sleeping beauty from mice. Because of the unusual shapes of each individual hairstyle, bespoke hats were made in order to not damage the hair.

• In 1781, Marie-Antoinette lost much of her hair after the birth of the dauphin. Famous coiffeur Léonard Autie later claimed that he created for her the coiffure à l’enfant, which she wore, along with her chemise à la Reine, in the famously reviled painting by Louise Elisabeth Vigée-Le Brun. 

• Growing interest in what were considered “natural” fashion, brought about by the Enlightenment, created what was a more “natural” style in the 1780s. During 1779-81, the shape of the hair started to become rounder and height began to diminish. This lower form of the pouf tended to be worn with fatter side curls than previously.

• This became the hedgehog style was fashionable in the 1780s and 1790s. This is the very big enormous hair full of curls that seems easily done and wildly styled, you can see it all the time in Thomas Gainsborough portraits

• The hair was cut shorter to form a large curly or frizzy halo around the head, which was wider than tall. A small hank of much longer hair, either left straight, in ringlets, or braided, hung down the back or was worn looped up.  These styles could still be very large, and false hair continued to be used to fill out a woman’s natural hair.

In keeping with this more “natural” look, powdering began to fall out of favour, although it still appears frequently in paintings and fashion plates.  Powder fell definitively out of fashion in France with the Revolution of 1789; in England. In keeping with the mood of the period, ornamentation became more restrained, generally a ribbon, or a few feathers, flowers, or jewels.

I hope you have enjoyed reading this post and that you will come along to my Marie Antoinette talk to see both the very high over ornate court wig and the hedgehog wig yourself! 

I presented my latest costume talk twice during the last week – for the Yorkshire Embroiderers Guild on Saturday 10 March 2018 in Cottingham in Beverley and then again for the Royal Scots Club in Edinburgh on Tuesday 13 March. https://www.royalscotsclub.com/afternoon-tea-2/

My talk about Marie Antoinette compares the styles of two dresses she wore – elaborate and and ornate Robe a La Francais or Sack Dress and the simpler La Reine Chemise. I explore the character of Marie Antoinette in relation to the clothing she wore and the impact it had on the French Aristocracy.

I am always happy to include a question and answer session after my talks. You may be interested to read some of the questions and answers below. 

Questions included

How wide was silk produced in France during the 18^th century?

Silk today isn’t usually very wide – mostly 44” however I have bought some silk which is 60” wide although this isn’t very readily available.  I know that the width of silk produced in the past was generally dependent upon the length of the arms of the weavers as they moved the frame. So the silk fabric was usually about 28”during the 18^th Century but could vary from a narrow as 24” up to as wide as 36”.

Did the ladies of this period wear anything at all under their skirts?

The ladies of this period wore nothing at all under their skirts and petticoats.  The first pair of knickers or drawers were worn about 1795.  They were separate legs and not joined at all in the middle. They were tubes of fabric based on men’s trousers. As the skirts were lighter and sometimes see-through they were needed for cover and warmth.

Were the cocoons of the silk worms producing silk in China brought to France to produce silk?

Silk dying and weaving developed in ancient Syria, Greece and Rome but the silk itself always came from the East. Silk production first made it way to the West in the A.D. 6th century when monks working as spies for Byzantine Emperor Justinian brought silkworm eggs from China to Constantinople in hollowed out canes. Bursa in present-day Turkey and Athens, Thebes, Corinth and Argos in present-day Greece all became silk producing areas.

Silk production spread to Italy and France and continued through the Middle Ages, the Renaissance and Industrial Revolution but was devastated by a silkworm plague in 1854. Louis Pasteur discovered the cause and developed a treatment. The Italian industry recovered but the French industry never did.

I would like to thank my super son James for assisting me with the talks and my kind friend Dave for doing all the driving and there was a lot of driving! 

I really enjoyed presenting the talks  – I love meeting new people and enjoy chatting to them about my passion – costumes! 

Bath costume exhibition

I am writing a new talk about Fashion and Queen Marie Antoinette.  I have already designed and made a number of garments for my new lecture which include period underwear, a Chemise a la Reine, a wig and I am now finishing my spectacular La Robe Francaise.  It is now fully constructed and only needs to be decorated. I thought it would be a good idea to visit the fabulous Fashion Museum at Bath to see some extant gowns before deciding on how to complete my dress.

It is a fabulous museum and there were a number of dresses similar to my gown to which I could look to for inspiration.They included a cream gown, a rust striped gown, a blue gown and a brightly coloured gown of painted silk. I have included pictures of the all the dresses however I really loved the cream silk robe.

Cream dress

It is a fabulous and very elegant silk gown with lovely embellishments so I decided to include a similar type of trimming for my dress to give it both an authentic and a very attractive look.The lightweight cream silk Robe a la Francaise (called a sacque back in England as it hangs in folds from the top of the shoulder) included a slight train.

Pale Blue Gown

Almost all the Francaise are silk and tend to come with stomacher and petticoat. As they were usually silk rather than linen (which was cheaper and re-used) they were saved through the years as an expensive artefact. They tended to have luscious trimmings, lace or furbelows and needed to use more fabric which adds to their importance. (My gown has already swallowed up 14 yards of rose pink pure silk brocade fabric).

Detail of cream dress skirt front showing furbelows

The cream gown on display is cream striped silk brocade with a matching petticoat and an open front. The bosom is covered by a decoration mounted on a stomacher piece, or by a false front (a compere). The false front was decorated by a dressmaker – it is interesting to note that if it was embellished with ribbons it then came in the remit of a milliner! The stomacher has been decorated with a strip of fabric which is hemmed and box pleated then sewn down the centre with additional narrow curving trim on each side for decoration. A flat bow finishes the bottom edge of the stomacher.

Rust coloured striped Dress

The dress is decorated with Furbelows (strips of fabric hemmed, pinked or frayed which could be edged with narrow trim) – which are either gathered or box pleated and sewn to the dress. This dress has box pleated furbelows trimmed with narrow braid sewn down around the edges of the gown down the front and around the neck.

There are more strips of fabric in varying width gathered and box pleated curving down the sides of the gown.  If you look carefully you can see that there are also circles of fabric gathered and finished off with trim that are reminiscent of flowers – these are sewn to the front of the dress.

Pale Blue Gown

Treble flounces finish the sleeve – they are finished with a narrow hem or trimming then box pleated onto the sleeve. Ruffles of white embroidered lawn or lace are worn beneath them. The ruffles would have been tacked to the end of the sleeve so they could be removed for laundering.

Detail of cream dress skirt front showing furbelows

The petticoat is designed in matching fabric and also decorated with two furbelows which have been gathered and box pleated. If you notice the wide Furbelows are sewn down the middle and the narrow ones only down the edges. I was unable to take a picture of the back of the cream silk gown so have included a photograph of the back of my pink silk dress which is similar in style. If you look closely you can see the pins attaching the neck trim – as this dress is still not finished!

My Pink Silk Marie Antoinette Gown

When I have completed the gown I will include details of the construction of my gown from start to finish on my website.

This cream 18th Century Dress is a very attractive gown of the period and I am really looking forward to decorating my rose pink gown in this style!

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