"Ancient Roman hairdressing: on (hair)pins and needles." (original) (raw)
Related papers
Fishtail Braids and the Caryatid Hairstyling Project: Fashion Today and in Ancient Athens
2015
The fishtail braid, newly popular in the past five years on adult women on New York streets and the runway, also conspicuously adorns the famed Caryatids, or maidens, 430 BCE, from the Erechtheion on the Athenian Acropolis. The Caryatids have been carefully studied for their pose and clothing, but their unique hairstyles have been overlooked. Previous scholars described these ancient hairstyles simply as braided without defining the specific braids used or whether or not the hairstyle could be recreated. No one had identified the fishtail braid as the main braid down the back and as the style of some of the side braids wrapped around the heads of the Caryatids. The authors worked with a professional hairstylist and six Fairfield University student models to demonstrate that these ancient Greek arrangements of braids were not merely the creations of sculptors but could have been worn. Our project recreating the braids and their arrangements is a research method known as experimental ...
The representation of wigs in Roman female portraiture of the late 2 nd to 3 rd century AD
2019
The purpose of this article is to take a significant appurtenance of feminine fashion-the wig-and demonstrate its ideological function. We know that Roman women wore wigs in 'real' life. References in the literary sources and rare yet significant examples of surviving wigs and hairpieces provide solid evidence for the use of wigs by Roman women. However, the explicit depiction of wigs seems to have been restricted to a selection of women's portraits dated to the late 2 nd to 3 rd century AD. This consequently marks a significant development in female representation, confined to a specific historical context. The purpose of this article is to understand why it was that these portraits presented women bewigged. What was the ideological function of these portraits and how can this more broadly inform our understanding of the cultural priorities of this era?*
Catwalk: The Journal of Fashion, Beauty, and Style , 2015
The fishtail braid, newly popular in the past five years on adult women on New York streets and the runway, also conspicuously adorns the famed Caryatids, or maidens, 430 BCE, from the Erechtheion on the Athenian Acropolis. The Caryatids have been carefully studied for their pose and clothing, but their unique hairstyles have been overlooked. Previous scholars described these ancient hairstyles simply as braided without defining the specific braids used or whether or not the hairstyle could be recreated. No one had identified the fishtail braid as the main braid down the back and as the style of some of the side braids wrapped around the heads of the Caryatids. The authors worked with a professional hairstylist and six Fairfield University student models to demonstrate that these ancient Greek arrangements of braids were not merely the creations of sculptors but could have been worn. Our project recreating the braids and their arrangements is a research method known as experimental archaeology, a way to test hypotheses related to antiquity by using methods as archaeologically accurate as possible, and striving for historically accurate results. The project’s genesis began in 2007 with the exhibition The Creative Photograph in Archaeology at Fairfield University, in which detailed photographs of the Caryatids provided uncommon views of their hair. In 2009, Professor of Art History Katherine A. Schwab made an internationally-screened short film which provides the basis for further inquiry on technique and meaning. Coincidentally, at the same time, the fishtail braid began to be featured prominently on runways and in the fashion press. This article examines the techniques and meanings of the fishtail braid, which connect girls and women today to their counterparts in antiquity. Students who wore the braids thought about hairstyles in an entirely new way and as a compelling portal to another time and place. Ancient Athenians were no longer a vague concept but real people whose lives were played out in the surviving art.
Hair in the Classical World Exhibition Brochure
Fairfield University’s Bellarmine Museum of Art presented the exhibition Hair in the Classical World, co-curated by Dr. Katherine Schwab and Dr. Marice Rose, from October 7, 2015, through December 18, 2015. From antiquity to the present day, hair has seldom been worn in its natural state. Whether cut, shorn, curled, straightened, braided, beaded, worn in an upsweep or down to the knees, adorned with pins, combs, bows, garlands, extensions, and other accoutrements, hair has the power to reflect societal norms. In ancient cultures, not only did hairstyles and their depictions signal wealth and social status, or divine and mythological iconography; they were also tied to rites of passage and religious rituals. As the first exhibition of its kind in the United States, Hair in the Classical World l examined the role of hair in ancient Greece, Cyprus, and Rome through three thematic lenses: Arrangement and Adornment; Rituals and Rites of Passage; and Divine and Royal Iconography. Presenting 27 objects dating from the Bronze Age to late Antiquity (1500 BCE – 600 CE), as well as photographs of other artworks, the exhibition illustrated ways in which hair and hairstyles served as important signifiers in Classical Antiquity. The sculptures, coins, and hair styling tools on view in the exhibition have been lent by the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Yale University Art Gallery, and the American Numismatic Society.
2010_Wooden combs from the Roman fort at Vechten: the bodily appearance of soldiers
Excavations in the late 19th century and surveys carried out in the 1970s have produced 12 boxwood combs from the Roman fort at Vechten (NL). They are to be considered waste material that was dumped in the river Rhine which in the Roman period ran just north of the camp. In this article, this set of artefacts is first discussed. It is argued that such boxwood combs were a regular phenomenon in military and urban settlements of the Roman period. Though in Roman archaeology combs have been associated foremost with women and female beauty, the finds from the fort at Vechten suggest that in this particular case they were used first of all by the male population of the local garrison, for combing their hair, for cleaning scalp and hair from dust, dandruff, and parasites, and perhaps for trimming their beards. Through an analogy with early modern and contemporary state armies, it is finally argued that the combs played a role in the creation and maintenance of an imposed military culture aimed at the strengthening of group cohesion and an esprit de corps. In contrast with the heroic warrior, the bodily appearance of the Roman soldier may thus have been prescribed by rules that were set by army commanders rather than generated by personal choice.
Annals of the Náprstek Museum , 2021
This study deals with haircare, hair ornaments, hairstyles, and hairrelated rituals of the Southern Altaians (Altai Kizhi, Telengits) and their development over time. Haircare has played an important role in Altaian society for centuries. It has been a ritual symbol, an indicator of gender, age, marital or social status. In context, hair has played a significant cultural and social role across societies and historical periods around the world. For this reason, haircare has also been sometimes included among the so-called cultural or human universals, i.e. phenomena that are common to all known human cultures in time and space. The source of information for this study was the authors' own field research, relevant literature and visual sources documenting the broader context of haircare. The issue is viewed from historical and cultural perspectives, with the main focus on the current haircare of the Altaian people in connection with changes compared to the past. The study focuses on selected phenomena that proved to be the most important in the field research in terms of their existence and the role they currently play in Altaian society. It does not therefore aim to cover the full breadth of the topic, but leaves room for further research on sub-topics.