What hairstyles the famous ladies of the past gave the world

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

All these beautiful French aristocrats, whose images keep pictures and reproduce the cinema screens, sometimes simply fascinate with their complex hairstyles. One would think that the women of fashion of those times set themselves one goal - to surpass each other in the showiness and splendor of their images. But no, and in the 17th century, hair was cut and styled according to fashion trends, and each of the hairstyles - whether Anna of Austria, another queen or the king's favorite - bore its own name.

The Baroque era in 17th century hairstyles

It was a separate era in the history of hairdressing - the French XVII century. The Baroque style from the fine arts migrated to all spheres of life of the aristocracy - luxury and splendor, expensive refined materials, large, heavy jewelry were in fashion. There was no place for restraint either in the interiors of palaces, or in clothes, or in outfits. This century was marked by an excessive attention to the appearance - both women and men. Aristocrats of both sexes used powder and perfume in abundance, wore stockings, bows, lace and jewelry, of course, not forgetting about hair and hairstyles.

At the beginning of the 17th century, the influence of Spanish fashion could still be traced in France - thanks to high collars, men wore short haircuts. And women also cut their hair - the mother of Louis XIII, Maria Medici, introduced the “garsette” hairstyle into fashion, which was also distinguished by light short bangs. Soon they began to wear turn-down collars, their hair fell below the shoulders, men tied them in a bow, and women styled them in various intricate ways. Whatever hairstyle adorned the head of the court fashionista, a unique creation was obtained - thanks to its own techniques and details. It could be a separate curl, for example, tied at the end with a bow - it was called "mustash", that is, "mustache".

Women's hairstyles of the 17th century

For some time there was a popular hairstyle "al-anfan" - "childish", which consisted of small curls, curled all over the head, loose, tied with a ribbon. Another popular hairstyle in 17th century France is the tortier. Hair was laid in a bun at the back of the head, long strands were left on the sides, which curled in slightly careless waves.

Often, a new hairstyle was dictated by individual ladies who first demonstrated it in public. This was the case with the Marquise de Sevigne - it was she who introduced into fashion to collect curled hair in buns at the temples, to make barely noticeable bangs and decorate the hair with a small hat - "bonnet" or lace headdress.

Queen Anne of Austria, mother of Louis XIV, invented the “fireworks” hairstyle, when the hair was laid flat in front, and a massive bun was made at the back, while serpentine curls or strands twisted in the shape of a corkscrew descended on the shoulders. It is this hairstyle that we are used to seeing on the queen in her film incarnations, and it can often be seen in portraits of noble French ladies of the mid-seventeenth century.

A friend of Anna's heart and her, according to some sources, the official spouse, Cardinal Mazarin, becoming in fact the first person in the French kingdom, ordered his nieces from Italy, "mazarinets", many of whom played a large role in European politics, and some significantly influenced and the history of hairdressing. One of the most famous hairstyles of the era came from Olympia Mancini, Countess de Soissons, a woman with an eventful biography.

Here's how to create a hairstyle "a la Mancini": the hair was divided into a parted hair, fluffed over the temples, laid over the ears in two large rosettes. Two curls - "serpento" ("snakes") - were left on the shoulders. Olympia Mancini was one of the favorites of King Louis XIV, and therefore the French aristocrats, of course, could not resist the desire to be like her.

The king's favorites - trendsetters in the field of hairstyles

Another famous royal mistress, the Marquise de Montespan, made the “jurlu-berlu” hairstyle popular, which gives the impression of a cute carelessness, disheveled. Here is how she described it in a letter to Madame de Sevigne: "".

Interestingly, Yurlu Berlu marked a certain revolution in the field of French hairdressing, it became the first famous creation of professional hairdressers. Until a certain time, the ladies were combed by their own maids, and the first patents for the provision of services to kuafers, hairdressers, the king began to issue only in the 60s of the 17th century. The authorship of the "disheveled" hairstyle is attributed to a certain Madame Martin, the owner of a Parisian hairdressing salon.

And the laws of fashion still continued to come from the favorites. Once one of them, Angelica de Fontanges, participated in the royal hunt and hastily tied her disheveled hair with a ribbon - in a high bun at the top of her head. Louis was delighted, having paid his companion a compliment, he wished to see this hairstyle on her in the future - and, of course, the next day most of the court ladies repeated Angelica's impromptu. Styling "fountain" assumed the arrangement of curled curls in horizontal rows above the forehead, hair was adorned with jewelry.

Towards the end of the reign of Louis XIV, ladies' hairstyles became more and more modest, one of them, with hair smoothly combed into a bun, was called "humility". So she loved to style the hair of the Marquis de Maintenon - another famous favorite of the king.

Baroque hairstyles, once emerging in French court circles, continued to enjoy success in subsequent eras - changing, sometimes gaining popularity, then losing it. In the portraits of already Russian aristocrats of the 18th and 19th centuries, one can trace the influence of this fashion, created under Louis XIV. By the end of his reign, the king himself more and more appreciated wigs, which became very common in France - all because, apparently, with age, he was noticeably bald.

And a little more about the favorites of the kings, who turned the monarchs as they wanted.