Victorian Hairstyles

The Victorian age was roughly 64 years long, while Queen Victoria reined and through this period, women's hairstyles changed as the fashions changed. The two main differences were between the early Victorian age, 1830-1860, and the mid/late Victorian age, 1860-1890.

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.

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. 

Queen Victoria, Wedding Day Portrait, 1840
http://www.history.com/news/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/queen-victoria.jpg

In the Great Expectations BBC TV series you can see that young Estella's hair was inspired by the early Victorian hairstyles, with the middle parting, smoothed down hair at the front and the plaited bun at the back.

Young Estella, 2012 Great Expectations film
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2011/11/22/article-20646
29-0EE62D8600000578-448_306x528.jpg

1860 - 1890

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. 

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. 

Sketch of a 1880 Victorian Hairstyle
https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/236x/9b/d
c/88/9bdc8815cb522348ad2a549c02d17af2.jpg

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. 

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

Great Expectations 2012 film Review

This 2012 film adaptation of Great Expectations, directed by Mike Newell, did not quite live up to my expectations. I felt that some of the scenes felt very staged and I felt that Sally Hawkins, playing Mrs Joe Gargery, fell flat with her unrealistic acting skills. However I did think that many of the characters, physically, were very fitting to the original book. After watching the 2011 BBC series of Great Expectations, I didn’t feel that including the character Biddy was necessary and I felt it took up valuable film time that could have been put towards some of the other scenes where I think the emotion was slightly cut short. 

I think that this is my favourite Miss Havisham portrayal of all the others I have seen as she looks a lot closer to my one portrayal than any others and I think she looked the most true to her description in the original book. I think that the veil and dress fit perfectly with Charles Dickens’ description and also the victorian setting. I really like that her hair looked like it was naturally going grey and that she looked like she was withering away and frail,  with the natural looking makeup making her look more hollowed out and tired. However, if I could make an improvement, it would be that Miss Havisham didn’t sound frail and weak enough for how she is described. I think Holliday Grainger brought the perfect amount of beauty and class to Estella and, apart from her hair not being brown as it was described in the original book, I think she fitted her description very accurately. I love how she had a soft, angelic feel about her, making it more clear how Pip could be drawn in. I really liked that Jeremy Irvine, playing Pip, brought a ruggedness to the character because it was more believable that he had come from a rougher background than in some other film adaptations. 

Overall, I think the characters in this film adaptation kept very true to the book's descriptions of them, however I think I think I would have been more emotionally invested in the film, if I felt the characters were real and not as ‘put on’. 

Guest Speaker: Neill Gorton

I was lucky enough to watch a talk by the multi-award winning, including BAFTA Awards and Royal Television Society awards, Neill Gorton and I learned so much. I was so inspired by his accomplishments as he has worked on films such as Saving Private Ryan and The Wolfman, he has worked on iconic theatre productions such as Love Never Dies and The Phantom of the Operaand and he has worked on the hit TV show Doctor Who! Neill Gordon owns Gorton Studio which was the first specialist prosthetics school in Europe and he has his own shop where he sells all the equipment needed to be a successful special effects artist. Neill Gordon is the co-owner of Millennium FX which is Europes leading prosthetic companies and one of the busiest FX houses in the world.

Neill Gorton working on a monster from Doctor Who.
http://www.thelancashiremagazine.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/Neill-Gorton.jpeg

Neill Gorton's Talk

Neill Gorton said he thought is was important to start his talks off by informing students of the down sides and realities of becoming a make-up artist. He told us that most make-up artists are free lance which means that they work for themselves and are constantly looking and applying for new jobs. He said that because there is so much competition, the wages have gone down and that sometimes you would be out of work for weeks or even months before you get another job. He also said that just because you have a degree does not automatically mean you will get the job because at the end of the day, the piece of paper saying you have a degree isn't important, it's the skills that you've learned that will get you noticed. Neill gave us these facts which shocked some of us:

Artist

Workshop - £7 per hour to £30 per hour

Usual hours - 9am to 7pm

On set - £150 per day to £550 per day

Average shoot day - 12 to 14 hours 

Sculptor

Earning an average of £22.50 per hour

Usual hours - 50 hour week

Working weeks - 35 weeks per year

Average salary - £39,375 per year

Only about 10% of students go on to work in TV and film. 

Neill Gorton constantly pushed that you shouldn't be going into this industry unless you are truly passionate about it and are willing to work hard to achieve your goals. 

After Neill pushed how difficult and tiring his job can be he then said that he doesn't mind because he is in love with his job. He said that the main positives to being a make-up artist is that you can be proud of your work, you get great travel opportunities, the work is always different and that you are able to turn your hobby into your career. 

Neill Gorton gave us some tips for while we were still in education that I will definitely try and take on board. He said that you really have to work hard to achieve the best you can achieve and by that he meant that you shouldn't just do the minimum and that you should take the opportunity to build up your portfolio. He said you should make sure you take every opportunity for work experience because it will always help you build your work ethic or build contacts. He also pushed that we should make the most of the amazing facilities provided by the university because once we leave, we will not have these available to us for free to he said that we should make sure we practice as much as possible and build up our portfolios with the professional equipment provided. 

He also gave us some useful tips about how to get a job in the industry and he said that the number one thing is looks for when hiring is that you're hard working and passionate. He said that he would rather hire someone that is gonna work as hard as possible than someone that is incredibly talented but will slack. He said it is also important that you can work in a team as that will be very common in the industry. He said to be conscientious, for example, if you have finished the tasks set for you, you should ask if anyone else needs any help or ask if there are any other jobs you could be getting along with. He said that the key to getting hired is that you keep practicing so that you can develop your skills and also add more up to date work to your portfolio. He also said that to make it in the industry you need to constantly be making contacts as knowing the right person at the right time is what it's all about. 

Work Experience

-When looking for work experience make sure you stand out!

-Adress the name of the person you are writing too instead of just putting 'to whom this may concern' as it shows you are not lazy and have done the right research.

-Send a letter instead of an email to grab their attention as emails can be easily ignored, whereas a letter is more physical.

-Make sure you add some well presented, good quality images of your work to your letter to show the your skills.

-Keep in mind how you would like to be approached.

-Go to make-up shows and make-up events to build contacts and ask for advice and tips. 

-Keeping chasing people and pushing for jobs so that you're not forgotten, however don't be a pest!

-Keeping putting new images of your letters to show your most recent work.

-Make sure that you keep reminding them that you are there and available to work. 

Some of his incredible working is shown below!

Monster from Doctor Who
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-2Rztw1yOCfg/TVRU5wzCE9I/AAA
AAAAAAJU/qiV-_h1TII8/s1600/wrig_closeup1.jpg

Graske from Doctor Who.
http://www.mudpusher.com/images/graske2.jpg

Cat Women from Doctor Who
http://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/s--NL7Puld
5--/c_fit,fl_progressive,q_80,w_320/18r8oxzfxy08ijpg.jpg

Ageing of Matt Smith as Doctor Who.
http://cdn2.fashionablygeek.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/d2_Upload.png?22a92a

Resourses:

https://www.stanwinstonschool.com/artists/neill-gorton-makeup-effects-artist-fx-educator

https://www.gortonstudio.co.uk

https://www.stanwinstonschool.com/artists/neill-gorton-makeup-effects-artist-fx-educator#!prettyPhoto[gallery]/0/

http://www.gortonstudio.co.uk/millennium-fx

Miss Havisham Interpretations

After gathering quotes from Charles Dickens' book, Great Expectations, describing what Miss Havisham looked like or her characteristics, I decided to select some interpretations of Miss Havisham's character from different films, TV and theatre productions and analyse what I thought of them. I decided to put them in the order of how well I thought the character was portrayed in relation to what was said in the original book.

1.    2012 Film Version

This film version of Great Expectations was directed by Mike Newell and produced by Cliff Curtis, Jana Edelbaum, Peter Hampden and many more. The make-up department for this film included hair/make-up artists Zoe Brown, Hannah  Edwards and Marc Pilcher and hair/make-up designer Jenny Shircore. The costume designers were Beatrix Aruna and Pasztor. Miss Havisham was played by actress, Helena Bonham Carter.

This is my favourite portrayal of Miss Havisham because I think it is very true to the original book. She is one of the only versions of Miss Havisham that wears a veil and has decorations in her hair, which is accurate to the book as it says, 'she had a long white veil dependent from her hair, and she had bridal flowers in her hair, but her hair was white'. I also like that her hair looks naturally fray, instead of some of the other portrayals, where the hair looks artificially white. I think that her dress fits the description in the book perfectly as it says she wears 'satins, lace, and silks' that 'has lost its lustre, and was faded and yellow'. The dress looks very Victorian, with the corset and cinched in waist, which is accurate to the time. It says in the book that 'the dress had been put upon the rounded figure of a young women, and that the figure upon which it now ing loose, had shrunk to skin and bone' and I think the actress, Helena Bonham Carter, looks skinny enough and ill enough for this to look true, however I think that the dress should have been bigger so it didn't fit her properly. The book also says that 'the drillings and trimmings on her bridal dress' looked 'like earthy paper' and that her clothes looked 'grave-like' which I think was portrayed very accurate in this film as the dress looks like it has been worn away, ripped in places and very old and dirty. Pip describes Miss Havisham as looking 'ghostly' and she says to Pip that she has 'never seen the sun since you were born'. This gave me the impression that her skin would be very pale, almost white, and because she had never seen the sun for that long, she would have weak bones and a weak immune system because of the lack of vitamin D, and I think that the film portrayed this very accurately.

I really like the makeup in this film because it looks very natural and not obvious. The darkness around her eyes and grey shadows on her face makes her look very ill and like her features are sunken in. I think that in some portrayals Miss Havisham looks too over done and her makeup looks too precise, whereas I like that in this film it looks like her makeup is wearing off and smudging. Her skin all over her body looks dirty and grazed which I really like as she says about her house, 'It and I have worn away together. The mice have gnawed at it, and sharper teeth than teeth of mice have gnawed at me' which gives me the impression that she has been eaten away by time and isn't looking after herself. I found many quotations in the book that show she is getting old and weak and that she is not as healthy and head strong as she once was, for example she is described to have 'withered arms', 'old restless fingers', 'thin arms', a 'ghostly reflection', 'wasting hands' and a 'haggard face'. When Pip first sees Miss Havisham, he describes her as 'the strangest lady I have even seen, or shall ever see'
and I think Helena Bonham Carter fits this roll perfectly, with her big piercing eyes and 'witch-like' and 'old ghastly bridal appearance'. 

If I had to add anything to this portrayal of Miss Havisham to improve it, I would have added some jewels around her neck as in the book it says she has some 'bright jewels sparkled on her neck and on her hands', however I can see why they didn't add these as it might have made her look too made up and glamorous and she 'had not quite finished dressing'. Another thing that I think would improve this portrayal would be that the actress looked slightly older, because people aged more quickly in the Victorian times, because of lack of knowledge, so I think she would have looked older and more frail. I would also have made her dress too big for her so that, for example, her bust didn't quite fill the top of the dress, because it says in the book that 'the dress had been put upon the rounded figure of a young women, and that the figure upon which it now ing loose, had shrunk to skin and bone'
which gives the impression that she was once fatter than she is now, which would mean that the dress would be too big for her.

I am really excited at the idea of being able to create my own portrayal of Miss Havisham as I think she is such an intriguing and complex character and I think her appearance could be interpreted in many different ways.

Helena Bonham Carter as Miss Havisham.
http://i.huffpost.com/gen/395274/HAVISHAM.jpg

http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2011/11/04/article-20
57429-0EA7A88D00000578-764_634x892.jpg

2.    1991 TV Series

This TV series of Great Expectations was directed by Kevin Conner and written by John Goldsmith. The executive producer was Carol Rubin. The key hair stylist was Eithne Fennel and the key makeup artist was Eddie Knight. Miss Havisham was played by Jean Simmons.

Jeans Simmons as Miss Havisham.
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-65Q6LnjwsMQ/TV7f0ocx0-I/AAAAAAAAA
3I/hZT_N3-u6hI/s1600/great-expectations-jean-simmons.jpg

3.    Theatre Production, 2012

This theatre production of Great Expectations toured nationally in 2012. It was written by Jo Clifford and directed by Graham McLaren. Miss Havisham was played by Paula Wilcox.

Paula Wilcox as Miss Havisham.
http://onestoparts.com/files/1097-4380-paula_wilcox__miss_
havisham__in_great_expectations_credit_alastair_muir.jpg

http://www3.pictures.zimbio.com/gi/Paula+Wilcox+
Great+Expectations+Photocall+esATUpbW6mWl.jpg

4.    1974 TV Movie

This TV version of the classic Great Expectations novel was directed by Joseph Hardy and written by Sherman Yellen. The executive producer was Norman Rosemont. The costume designers were Joan Bridge and Elizabeth Haffenden. Miss Havisham was played by Margaret Leighton.

Margaret Leighton as Miss Havisham.
http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/02062/Margaret-Leighton_2062993i.jpg

5.    BBC One mini-series (2011)

The BBC One mini-series was directed by Brian Kirk and the executive producers were Rebecca Eaton and Anne Pivcevic. The make-up artist was Adele Firth and the make-up designer was Kirstin Chalmers. The hair stylist was Luca Saccuman and the prosthetic technician was Michael Byrne. The series costume designer was Annie Symons. Miss Havisham was played by actress, Gillian Anderson. Gillian Anderson is the youngest screen star to play Miss Havisham, at just 43.

Gillian Anderson as Miss Havisham.
http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/02063/Gilian-Anderson5_2063010i.jpg

6.    1981 TV Mini-Series

 This TV series was directed by Julian Amyes and written by James Andrew Hall. The series producer was Barry Letts. The costume designer was Ann Arnold and the makeup artist was Gwen Arthy. Miss Havisham was played by Joan Hickson.

Joan Hickson as Miss Havisham.
http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/02062/Joan-Hickson_2062998i.jpg

7.    1946 Film Version

This Great Expectations 1946 film was directed by David Lean and produced by Anthony Havelock-Allan and Ronald Neame. The make-up artists for the film were George Blackler and Ernest Gasser. The costume designer was Sophie Devine, assisted by Margaret Furse. Miss Havisham was played by Martita Hunt.

Martita Hunt as Miss Havisham.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2080115/BBC-critics-say-Douglas-Booth-good-looking.html

8.    1999 Film Version

This film version was directed by Julian Jarrold and the executive producers were Rebecca Eaton and Micheal Wearing. The make-up designer was Fran Needham and the make-up artists were Nicola Matthews and Eve Wignall. The costume designer was Odile Dicks-Mireaux. Miss Havisham was played by Charlotte Rampling.

This is my least favourite portrayal of Miss Havisham, as I think it sways the further away from her description in the book. I think the actresses age could have worked with the character, but I think they have made her look way too healthy and young. I think it would have been better if they'd aged her more and made her look more ill and tired. I think her makeup and hair is too neatly done, as in the book it states that she doesn't change anything, so I would have thought her hair would have been very messy and falling out and her makeup would have worn off and smudged. The book also states that her hair is white/gray and her hair in this film is brunette. I don't think that her outfit looks withered and yellow and old enough, considering she won't have taken it off in so many years. The combination of her neat makeup and hair and her new looking outfit, gives the impression that she looks after herself and is fully in control of her life, which is not the case at all. I think that the actress is skinny enough, considering Miss Havisham doesn't seem to eat very much, but I think that the dress looks like it fits her well, when in the book it says that she has lost weight since first wearing the dress, meaning the dress would look to big for her. I think that she could have looked more pale, as she doesn't go in the sunlight, but here she looks a healthy colour, which would not have been the case. From reading the book, I got the impression she didn't wash very often, or even at all, so I think she should have looked more dirty, especially on her hands. The book says that her eyes were 'dark' and 'sunken', whereas in this film, her eye bags aren't very visible and her eyes don't look dark or sunken in. It says in the book that she has a 'long white veil dependent from her hair', but in these photos she does not have one. In this two photos her posture looks very good, and even though she was brought up to be a lady, I think that Miss Havisham's posture would be more hunched and slouched looking as it says she had 'withered' arms, which gives the impression she is weak. 

Charlotte Rampling as Miss Havisham.
http://resources0.news.com.au/images/2012/12/06/1226530/563728-121208-rev-rampling.jpg

http://junkee.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/greatexpectations.jpg

1999 TV Show

This is a modernised version of Charles Dickens' classic novel of Great Expectations. It was directed by Alfonso Cauron, the screenplay was written by Mitch Glazer and the show's executive producer is Deborah Lee. The costume designer was Judianna Makovsky. The key makeup artist was Cecilia Verardi and the key hair stylist was Angel De Angelis. Anne Bancroft played Ms Dinsmoor, who is a modernised version of the character Miss Havisham.

I didn't include this interpretation in my ranking because this character is just loosely based on Miss Havisham. However I still wanted to include it in my post because it was so different and unique from the others.

Anne Bancroft as Ms Dinsmoor.
http://refash.net/blog/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/annelast.jpg

Resources:
http://www.imdb.com
http://www.thepublicreviews.com/great-expectations-richmond-theatre-london/
http://www.imdb.com/character/ch0012114/
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2120719/Staying-sun-wreck-health.html

Great Expectations and Miss Havisham's Description

Brief Synopsis

Great Expectations is a story that follows Pip as he grows up from being a working class blacksmith to a gentleman living in London. Along the way he meets Miss Havisham who, after being so emotionally destroyed by her husband to-be not showing up to their wedding, hates all men and has trained her adopted daughter, Estella, to be emotionless and to break men's hearts. Miss Havisham introduces Estella to Pip and, as Miss Havisham had planned, Pip falls in love with her. After meeting her, all Pip focuses on is trying to be good enough for cold-hearted Estella and the story goes on to show how Pip suffers as he pursues his love.

Miss Havisham, Book Description

'..the strangest lady I have even seen, or shall ever see.'

'She was dressed in rich materials - satins, lace, and silks - all of white. Her shoes were white. And she had a long white veil dependent from her hair, and she had bridal flowers in her hair, but her hair was white. Some bright jewels sparkled on her neck and on her hands and some other jewels lay sparkling on the table. Dresses, less splendid than the dress she wore, and half-packed trunks, were scattered about. She had not quite finished dressing, for she had but one shoe on - the other was on the table near her hand - her veil was but half arranged, her watch and chain were not put on, and some lace for her bosom lay with those trinkets, and with her handkerchief, and gloves, and some flowers, and a prayer-book, all confusedly heaped about the looking-glass.'

'I saw that everything within my view which ought to be white, had been white long ago, and had lost its lustre, and was faded and yellow. I saw that the bride within the bridal dress had withered like the dress, and like the flowers, and had no brightness left but that brightness of her sunken eyes. I saw that the dress had been put upon the rounded figure of a young women, and that the figure upon which it now ing loose, had shrunk to skin and bone.'

'"You're not afraid of a woman who has never seen the sun since you were born?"'

'..a skeleton in the ashes of a rich dress, that had been dug out of a vault under the church pavement.'

'..waxwork and skeleton seemed to have dark eyes that moved and looked at me.'

'..her watch had stopped at twenty minutes to nine..'

'..I began to understand that everything in the room had stopped, like the watch and the clock, a long time ago. I noticed that Miss Havisham put down the jewel exactly on the spot from which she had taken it up.'

'.. I glanced at the dressing-table again, and saw that the show upon it, once white, now yellow, had never been worn. I glanced down at her foot from which the shoe was absent, and saw that the silk stocking on it, once white, now yellow, had been trodden ragged. Without this arrest of everything, this standing still of objects, not even the withered bridal dress on the collapsed form could have looked so like grave-clothes, or the long veil so like a shroud.'

'corpse-like .. the drillings and trimmings on her bridal dress, looking like earthy paper.'

'Miss Havisham and Estella never sat in a kitchen, but were far above the level of such common doings.'

'..she had a crutch-headed stick on which she leaned, and she looked like the Witch of the place.'

'She was not physically strong..'

'"I am yellow skin and bone."'

'"It and I have worn away together. The mice have gnawed at it, and sharper teeth than teeth of mice have gnawed at me."'

'..she in her once white dress, all yellow and withered; the once white cloth all yellow and withered; everything around, in a state to crumble under a touch.'

'..in the heavy air of the room, and the heavy darkness..'

'..old restless fingers..'

'..I felt as if the stopping of the clocks had stopped Time in that mysterious place, and, while I and everything else outside it grew older, it stood still. Daylight never entered the house..'

'"The marriage day was fixed, the wedding dresses were bought, the wedding tour was planned out, the wedding guests were invited. The day came, but not the bridegroom. He wrote a letter -"
"Which she received," I struck in, "when she was dressing for her marriage? At twenty minutes to nine?"..
.."she has never since looked upon the light of day."'

'..her greedy look..'

'..her withered arms..'

'..thin arm..'

'..he asked me how often I had seen Miss Havisham eat and drink..
I considered, and said, "Never."
"And never will, Pip," he retorted, with a frowning smile. "She has never allowed herself to be seen doing either.."'

'..witch-like eagerness..'

'..her other hand on the crutch stick, and her chin on that, and her wan bright eyes glaring at me, a very spectre.'

'..darkened and unhealthy house in which her life was hidden from the sun.'

'..her own awful figure with its ghostly reflection..'

'..cobwebs from the centre-piece.. crawling of the spiders on the cloth.. tracks of the mice.. gropings and pausings of the beetles on the floor.'

'"your face was strange and frightened me!"' - Estella

'..her gray hair..'

'Miss Havisham's fray hair was all adrift upon the ground, among the other bridal wrecks, and was a miserable sight to see.'

'..in a ghostly manner, making a low cry.'

'..Miss Havisham's wasting hands.'

'..she was rather confused.'

'..her haggard face..'

'..striking her stick upon the floor, and flashing into wrath..'

'"It would have been cruel in Miss Havisham, horribly cruel, to practice on the susceptibility of a poor boy.."' - Pip

'There was an air of utter loneliness upon her..'

'"But perhaps you can never believe, now, that there is anything human in my heart?"' - Miss Havisham

'..she stretched out her tremulous right hand..'

'She set her hand upon her stick, in the resolute way that sometimes was habitual to her, and looked at the fire with a strong expression of forcing herself to attend.'

'To see her with her white hair and her worn face..'

'..her profound unfitness for this earth..'

'..her old ghastly bridal appearance..'

Victorian Beauty Ideals

Before starting this project, if I'm honest, I didn't know much about the Victorian Era or their beauty ideals; I therefore did some research into this to find out more!

The Victorian Era was between 1837, when Queen Victoria was crown, and 1901, when Edward VII was made King. Queen Victoria became Queen at the young age of 19, for 64 years; this is the longest any British Monarch has ruled. The Victorian Era was a period of great wealth, peace and national confidence. There were great social divides in the Victorian era, as the upper classes were rich and did not have to work and the working classes were very poor with badly paid jobs and the middle classes were constantly growing.

Queen Victoria
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e3/Queen_Victoria_by_Bassano.jpg

In the Victorian Era the heavy and obvious use of cosmetics was seen to be immoral and it was thought that only actresses and prostitutes would wear it. It was a period of a very strict moral code and modesty. The upper class women would still wear make-up though, they would just try and make it look as natural as possible, only using neutral tones. The Victorian women wanted a achieve a fragile, feminine and elegant look, this was thought to be the ideal beauty.

A pale complexion symbolised nobility, as it had done for many years prior to this. This is because if a woman had a pale complexion it showed that she was wealthy enough to not have to work outside with all the poorer people, as this work would normally be outside in the sun which would result in a tan. In the Elizabethan era very toxic ingredients were used in the cosmetics which gave them that very pale skin and, although these mixtures were still around, it was becoming more popular to use the safer option of Zinc Oxide, a white mineral powder, to achieve the same pale complexion. Women would also try and avoid the sun light to stay as naturally pale as possible, so they would always be under parasols when outside. Some women would even drink vinegar to help them achieve the desired look. As well as having a pale complexion, it was also popular to have a translucent complexion, so some women would draw on very faint blue lines on there skin to make it look like their veins were showing through. Some women would even emphasise their dark circles to give them an almost sickly look.

Even though the use of makeup was frowned upon in the upper and middle classes, the women did still wear it, but just very sparingly. They would wear neutral and light shades of eyeshadows, made from lead and antimony sulphide. The women would wear a soft rosy pink on their cheeks, sometimes made from beet juice or by simply pinching their cheeks, and a light pink colour of their lips, made from mercuric sulphide. All of these products would have been applied very lightly and carefully to make them as natural looking as possible. As the Victorian women were a fan of the natural look, the women kept their eyebrows looking untamed and bushy, however the women who did wear makeup would pluck their eyebrows or draw them on.


Resources:
http://www.schoolsliaison.org.uk/kids/access/victorian/timeline_victorian.htm
KS3 History, by CGP
http://beautifulwithbrains.com/2010/08/06/beauty-in-the-victorian-age/
http://www.dailymakeover.com/trends/makeup/eyebrows-history/
The Finishing Touch, Cosmetics through the Ages, by Julian Walker