Elizabethan Hood and Hairstyle

As part of my outfit for the event I recently attended, I decided to make an Elizabethan Hood. For ease of wearing, I replaced the hood with a caul. I used a Tudor hood pattern that I adapted from the one in the Tudor Tailor. I was very happy with my Tudor hood except for the fact that the buckram in the 'visor' went quite limp. The fit was good and I felt that it looked good.

These images of Queen Elizabeth I show the sort of style I was going for, although I wanted my hood to be very understated:

from: http://www.luminarium.org/renlit/elizface.htm

I cut the hood base back by about half to allow for the padded rolls of hair to be worn in front. I couldn't find my buckram, so I used two layers of stiff needlepoint canvas, a think layer of interfacing and a layer of felt. These were all stitched together and wired along the front brim. The fabric 'case' was then inserted over the top, and the caul gathered up into the back of the band. I added a billiment of beads and pearls with gold trim at the front and a piece of starched gold lace at the back. I added a wig clip inside the brim, but I didn't need to use it; the hood stayed fairly secure without it.

To do the Elizabethan rolls in front of the hat, I parted my hair horizontally just behind my ears (because my hair is very thin right now,) and barrel curled the front section. I sprayed the hair with strong hair spray and teased it. I managed to put it up over the 'hair riser' combs quite easily and smoothly. Then I pinned it behind the combs and tucked the ends into the bun that I had made with the rest of my hair. Another hefty spray of hair spray and the whole 'do' was as solid as a rock. I added a pearl drop and put on the hat. Easy.

Getting the teasing and spray out of my hair was not quite as easy. When I took the hair riser combs and pins out, my hair wanted to stay in the roll shape. I could have pinned it all back up and worn it again without the combs, it was so stiff.

Post-revel hair!

Luckily, my sister was on hand to give me some hair treatment gel that really helped. Once the hot water from the shower hit it, all the spray and tangles just eased away, and a bit of shampoo and thorough conditioning brought it all back to normal. Flat, boring, normal. I was never a fan of big, 80's hair, but I do love my Elizabethan hair!

Tools of the trade: bun clips, hair riser comb and barrel curler. Plus hairspray and pins.

One of my previous Elizabethan hair styles, done using the same techniques (just different hair accessories).