Regency French Twist

My version of a French Twist with curls is a bit sloppy, but you can get the general idea from the pictures.























I think the making of it had something to do with making a loose bun and then turning it on its end and rolling it into itself (leaving the curls out of course). Check out my second ever post ("Timeless Twist: "A La Parisienne"") for French-Twist-making instructions. These will give you at least a skeleton of an idea on how to make this, but I say: "trial and error, my friends!"

Christmas Figure Eight

This is the style I wore to our Christmas choir concert. It is really simple: just a regular figure eight with an extra curl. Caroline Bingley wears something like it in "Pride and Prejudice." This is perfect for a semi-formal Christmas party. Don't use a ponytail holder because it will show.

Flowers cover up any bobby-pinning mistakes. These flowers are clips from Claire's Icing (great hair accessory and earring source!) that were extremely cheap and look really cute. I recommend taking a trip to that store soon. It is in almost every mall.

Twist for very long straight hair

This is a style my friend Anna made that is perfect for long straight hair. I don't know exactly how she made it, but the pictures should be pretty self-explanatory. It looks to me like a figure eight with the extra hair hanging out at the bottom but I have a feeling that it is more complicated. It may be a figure eight wrapped into itself.

Embellished Turban

Here is a turban made of a coral silk scrap found in the remnants section of the fabric store. The fabric was less than three dollars for an amazing iridescent quality Dupiani silk. For little extras like turbans, never buy fabric from a bolt. You can always find a cute cheap remnant.

I added a long strand of black and blue pearls, two peacock feather earrings, and the abalone pendant from a necklace for trimmings, and held everything in place with bobby pins. The fabric was basically wrapped around my head twice and pinned closed in back under the bun. Some rose glass earrings and curls completed the look.

Basically, you can use any old jewelry, brooches, feathers, and ribbons to embellish a turban. You never have to buy anything special. You could even pin on a clump of fake grapes or a fake bird for a more early Victorian touch.

Regency/Victorian do with feathers: "Mary Crawford"

I realized I had never posted a do with feathers before, so here is one. Feathers were enormously popular throughout the 1800's and can be used in many ways. Here is my version with a high "figure 8" twist (not a bun) and a curl. It's the perfect do for when you are playing a flirt or snob, like Mary Crawford from "Mansfield Park." I cut the hair by my ears so it would curl better, but you don't have to do this. You can do without curls by the ears.

Regency Demi-Turban

Here is one of those Regency styles that was definitely borrowed from the Orient. It is the demi-turban, which is basically a swatch of cloth wrapped around the head and tied in place. It works best with a high bun.

Unlike the turban, which covers the whole head, the demi-turban leaves the top of the head uncovered so a mass of curls or an intricately twisted bun can peep through. It was more popular among young women, and the turban was more popular among older women.

Here is my demi-turban (I could have embellished it with feathers and beads but was in a hurry) and a demi-turban from a ~1800 magazine picture. You can see the lady's bun through the swirls of fabric on top.

A La Greque: "Marianne Dashwood"

This is the favorite style of Marianne Dashwood and works great for people who have naturally curly hair and don't have to curl it. You can make A La Greque in many ways, but the signature of this style is the band around the head and bun. Any coiffure with this Greek style band is A La Greque, and you can embellish with jewels, flowers, or a gold brocade band.

With this style, you definitely need the front curls around the forehead and ears. If you have curly hair, you can get away with a much less structured bun in the back and let the curles fall out all over the place.

Always make sure your hair is clean for this style, because clean hair has more body and poof.

Here, too is a picture of Marianne Dashwood with A La Greque.


Here are some directions:

~curl your hair (if you only want to leave a few curls out as i did, don't curl all your hair)

~put it is a loose ponytail and then make a very loose bun, only twisting the curled hair into the bun a little bit so it hangs free (if you have naturally curled hair, you can skip the bun and just pin it in a messy mass to the back of your head)

~take a long ribbon or piece of cloth and wrap it around your head as follows : starting under the bun with equal lengths on either side, cross over the bun to bottom again, then bring over head and back down to bun where you can pin it or tie it in a bow. Be sure to pin the part on your head in place.

~now curl any bangs or whispies by your ears or at the base of your neck.

C'est fini!

Late Regency/Early Victorian style: "Little Dorritt"

This is an exquisitely simple do that works for all types of hair. It is so elegant and delicate. This style was worn in both the Regency and early Victorian eras, and then again in the very late Victorian era. You can use any type of hair comb in it. I used an oriental comb, but a silver one would be more period.

Directions:
~make a center part and separate the front hair around the face from the rest of the hair
~put the rest of the hair in a pony tail and twist it into a bun
~take the front hair you separated and wrap it around under the bun and around the bun
~pin in place and add a hair comb or flower
~if you have short hairs by your ears, make sure they hang down in front of the ears.

Simplicity itself!

Note: This is definitely not a ballroom style. It is for home and everyday wear.

Roman Wedding Hairstyle

Here is a lovely style taken from a sculpture of a Roman bride. I wore it to my Roman themed b-day party. It seems tough, but really takes much less than half and hour.

To spice it up like I did with golden beads and pearls, you need to sew or glue beads to the ends of bobby pins so they dangle when you stick them into your bun. These take a long time to make. It took me two hours to make nine of them.

Directions:
~make a high ponytail (the higher the better)
~separate two sections of hair, one for the braid and one for the curls
~wrap the bun and pin in place
~braid one strand of separated hair and pin to the top of your head like a crown
~curl the other strands of hair you left out
~if you have bangs, curl them, if you have decorated pins, put them in your bun.

I have also attached a picture of the original Roman do. You can't see all of it in the photo, and the statue has curly hair which I don't. If you have curly hair, You can skip the braid and make the twist around the head that the statue sports.

Since people in the Regency borrowed their styles from ancient Rome and Greece, this can also double as a Regency style. To make it more Regency-ish, you could have the curls come out of the side of the bun and not the back. You could also wrap a ribbon around the bun.

Modernized Regency Style: "Eleanor Dashwood"

Because this is not frilly, yet shows a care for personal appearance, I call it the "Eleanor Dashwood." It is based on Hattie Morahan's London ballroom style in the newest "Sense and Sensibility." She undoubtedly had hair pieces to make her style larger and more elegant, but we non-movie stars must make do with our regular hair. The open twists are, I think, especially becoming, and the bun should be loose and high on the head to give the illusion of a crown on the back of the head.

This is a perfect do for a formal or prom too. It is not too old-fashioned looking.

Directions:
~ make 6 large twists of hair and pin them in place (under where the bun will be) with crossing bobby pins
~make a very loose bun and pin it in place to cover the pins (don't use a ponytail holder to start the bun as this will show and make the do look 'cheap'. Just twist the hair without a band.)

You can wrap a ribbon around the bun, but I recommend leaving it plain so the elegance of the style and not the gaudiness of your decorations catches people's eyes.

Classic Regency Style: "Jane Bennet"

Regency styles are probably my favorite. Here is a simple one for any length or type of hair. It is understated yet sweet, so I call it the "Jane Bennet."

~ make a ponytail and wrap most of in into a bun, leaving some out to poke out of the middle of the bun (you can twist or braid the bun)
~ separate the hair you left out in to 2 or 3 strands and curl it (for extra pizazz, braid one of the strands and wrap it around the bun)
~ separate all the short front hair (I call them whispies) into little bunches and curl it

Voila! Here is the simplest Regency do you can make.