1830 - 1860
In the period of 1830-1860 it was popular for the women to have a centre parting and for the top part of the hair to be very smooth and flat. The women then had tight sausage curls down either side of their face to frame their face. A high or mid bun would be worn at the back of the head so that it could be moulded to fit the bonnet, if one were to be worn.
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| 1830 portrait of Mathilde von Bayern by Joseph Karl Stieler http://www.gogmsite.net/_Media/1830_mathilde_von_bayern_-2.jpeg |
Queen Victoria got married to Prince Albert on 10th February in 1840 at the Chapel Royal, St James's Palace. Her wedding portrait is shown below. She wore her hair in a middle parting, with the top half of the hair smoothed some to her head. Then from the ears down she had a plait on either side which was swept up to the back to her bun. I think that the bun at the back would have been plaited as this was very popular because the women didn't cut their hair, meaning it would be very long. This style were they pulled the sides back became popular after Queen Victoria's wedding day.
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| Queen Victoria, Wedding Day Portrait, 1840 http://www.history.com/news/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/queen-victoria.jpg |
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| Young Estella, 2012 Great Expectations film http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2011/11/22/article-20646 29-0EE62D8600000578-448_306x528.jpg |
As the Victorian age went on, the women began to get a little more relaxed with their hair to give a more romantic look. The curling tongs were invented in 1866 so curling the hair became a lot easier and quicker to do, even though this did damage the women's hair and make it very brittle and dry. They loosened their curls for a softer look and the curls at the side were pulled back. Hair pieces and padding was experimented more with, to get more volume and body into the hair looks. Most of the body of the hairstyles was usually on top and then the back of the hair would be loose and curled. It was popular to wear flowers, ribbons and combs in the hair to add decoration. It became popular, in the late 1870s to 1880s, to tightly curl the fringe, instead of having a very sleek middle parting. This new look was inspired by Queen Alexandre because of her big curly fringe. Many women wanted to achieve this look, but didn't want to cut the front of their hair, so they used fake hair to create a fringe.
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| Portrait of Queen Alexandra http://pre-raphaeliteramblings.blogspot.co.uk/2013/ 06/the-victorian-human-hair-market.html |
Below is a sketch of a mid/late Victorian hairstyle. You can see that padding has been used to get the height of the look and the fringe has been curled tightly. The hair on the sides of the face have been pulled back and some hair hair has been left down at the back and curled. Some flowers have been added for some decoration.
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| Sketch of a 1880 Victorian Hairstyle https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/236x/9b/d c/88/9bdc8815cb522348ad2a549c02d17af2.jpg |
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| Examples of mid/late Victorian Hairstyles http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-88idTcHjd7U/Uaz4iRrj0nI/AAAAA AAAAio/ilEpKuZjyGk/s1600/victorian-hairstyles.jpg |
When Estella is grown up in the film her hair becomes a lot more relaxed and the curls are looser. As she grows older, her hair resembles the mid/late Victorian style. Her hair has been piled on top of her head and decorated with flower shaped accessories and the curls at the sides have been loosely pulled back off her face. It is interesting to see that they still kept the middle parting, however it is no where near as flat and tight as the early Victorian women had it.
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| Estella in the 2012 TV version of Great Expectations http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/02119/estella_2119472b.jpg |
Resources:
http://bartoscollection.com/vehairstylesbyera.html
http://www.royal.gov.uk/The%20Royal%20Collection%20and%20other%20collections/TheRoyalArchives/QueenVictoriaeducationproject/TheweddingofQueenVictoriaandPrinceAlbert1840.aspx
http://pre-raphaeliteramblings.blogspot.co.uk/2013/06/the-victorian-human-hair-market.html
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