Evaluation

I have really enjoyed this project, Redheads and Royalty. I have already gained so many skills throughout the past weeks, my favourite has been learning the different crimping methods, particularly the technique using the Geisha Pin, and wrapping the hair around it and applying heat. I enjoyed creating designs that would be on my hair, so I kept in mind my shape face, and designed the hair around that. I feel I have been good with my time management, and was able to give my partner my design before the practise sessions. I would have liked to of used a model as I feel I could have relied on them more to attend the sessions, as my partner being absent held me back, and although I tried to practise with what I could, I hadn't seen her design so could only practise my own design. I have been successful in creating my partner's look, within the time frame, and followed her design. As I had never worked with fake hair as padding, this was my difficulty in the practise session. I only had one practise session with my partner before completing the design, so this was stressful at first, but I got the hang of it as I practised attaching the hair a few times. I have really enjoyed this unit, and feel my skills have developed and I am now more confident working with hair.

Peer Review

It was clear that my partner Amelia already had skills for hair, as she completed my design very well within the time frame. Although Amelia was committed to completing my design to a high standard, there were only a few lessons we were able to practise. We swapped groups in the week before the assessments started due to Amelia being absent for one of the practise sessions that week, and I had not been able to practise her look at all in time for the assessment. Apart from Amelia's time management with this project, I have been pleased with what she has produced. She manipulated the hair exactly how I had envisioned it. In the practise sessions, we discussed how the hair from the back of the head should go over the first padding, then the hair from the front go over the top piece of padding, as in the first session she found it difficult to sculpt the hair the way I wanted it to be without pulling the hair from the back out of place. Amelia's skills are high, and it shows this in my final design.

Assessment

For the final assessment, my look was created really well by my partner Amelia. I was really pleased with the outcome of the look, as it followed my design. She was able to manipulate the hair to cover the padding, and also create a smooth and clean plait that ran up the back of my hair.

Amelia followed my design and really completed it the way I envisioned it. She finished within the time limit of the assessment. The only problem with the final look was the pearl 'twist in' clips were very obvious where they twisted in, I wanted the metal spiral to be hidden but because of the density of my hair, this wasn't able to happen, so in some places they were very obvious how they attached to the hair. There is clear influence from the Elizabethans in the heart shaped hairstyle, I believe my design followed this concept. I chose to adorn the hair with pearls as Elizabeth did to show her purity. The straightened hair at the front of the style suggests contemporary influence.

 This was my final assessment completing Amelia's hair. I curled Amelia's hair, and then sectioned the hair into three, where I added the head piece and extra hair piece. It was easier to work into this, rather than adding the piece later. I added two pieces of padding which was fake hair that was knotted into balls, then covered this with her real hair. Amelia' hair was short and would appear flat if i pinned it, so instead of pinning it up, I had to backcomb it and then spay the hair with hairspray to hold it. I feel i succeeded in recreating Amelia's design, I was pleased with the outcome and finished it in the timeframe given. The colour of Amelia's hair immediately adds a contemporary feel to the design. Her shape is not symmetrical, but still reflects on the heart-shaped hairstyle that Elizabeth fashioned herself. The hairstyle is adorned with jewellery, a concept that the Elizabethan's followed to show their wealth and power. 

Final Design

I have chosen my third design to be my final look. I feel this look is the strongest, and has a high fashion look to it. 

My hair is long, so with padding and backcombing I can achieve this height. The plait at the back will possibly be the most difficult part of this look, as it has to be symmetrical but still cover the padding at the back of my head. I will be using crimping and padding, alongside the backcombing to cover the padding and create the volume. I have designed this look around the face of my face, my face shape suits a high hairstyle more than a flat hairstyle. The problems I will face are being able to cover the padding completely. I have quite fine hair, so there will need to be a lot of backcombing and crimping  of the under layers to cover the padding completely.

Practise

This was the first practice of the tall hairstyle. I loved the shape of this hairstyle, as it was wide as well as tall. My partner has achieved the look in my design very well. In this practise the only issue was covering the padding at the back of the hair, as the hair rolled over the top. In my next practise, we decided to cover the bottom padding with the hair at the back of the head, place the next bit of padding on top of that, and then cover that bit of padding with the front layer of hair. This worked better, for a more clean look. 

 I am pleased with the outcome of this look. I would have liked the hair at the front to be more crimped and more straightened in other places, such as the kink near the top of my forehead. I think this is an effective New Elizabethan look, and clearly shows the link to the historical Queen Elizabethm due to the sheer height and the crimp. I have given the look a contemporary twist by enhancing the height, and adding straight hair into the look. I will adorn the hair with pearls, just like Queen Elizabeth did to represent her purity. 

Hair Designs

Wildfox 'Fit for a Queen' Campaign.
http://www.wildfox.com/lookbooks/fit-for-a-queen-sun-fall-2014/
Viewed 1/12/2014

I was initially inspired by this image I found on pinterest, by a shop called 'WILDFOX'. This was their campaign, 'Fit for a Queen'. I particularly like the height of the hairstyle, as well as the pastel shades making the style more contemporary. The hair is adorned with flowers and feathers, which I feel adds a major feminine side, but also royal, just like Queen Elizabeth adorned her hair in jewels. 

Queen Elizabeth Holding a Rose.
Unknown Artist.
circa. 1580.

This is my first design, which consists of a tall hairstyle, in a half-up half-down look. The hair is padded out to create the height, and is decorated with plaits and crimp, like the elizabethans. The hair that is down would represent innocence in the Elizabethan era, which is why I have included it, as the use of both up and down makes this look contemporary. 

The second image that I was greatly inspired by was this image by Michel Comte for Glamour Italia.

Michel Comte for Glamour Italia
March 2014.
Viewed: 2nd December 2014.
Available from: www.glamour.it/

I really liked the symmetrical heart shaped look, which bears much resemblance to that of the Elizabethans. As the hair is not crimped by straightened, this further adds a contemporary feel to the hairstyle. This also reminds me of part of my childhood, as in the 90's-early 2000's, many children wore their hair in two top-knots. 

In my second design, I would create the heart-shaped hairstyle that was made so famous by Queen Elizabeth I. Instead of the hair being two separate buns, I would combine the hair slightly in the middle. This would be decorated with plaits that follow down the padding, and all meet together to form one big plait. I incorporated the plaits with the hairstyle to give a modern twist on the look. 

The Armada Portrait
George Gower
1588
available from:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armada_Portrait

My third design was a mixture of both of the first designs. 

I would like the hair to be very tall, taller than Elizabeth's hair. The hair would be much like the Queen's herself, but very much exaggerated in size, giving it an high fashion/editorial feel. The hair would be crimped and straightened, further adding a contemporary feel to it. The hair would be decorated with pearls, linking this to Elizabeth's choice of hair jewellery, which she used to reflect her purity and Virginity, reinforcing her name as 'The Virgin Queen'. A french plait would run up the back of the hair, and finish at the top, bringing in the heart shape to the hairstyle.