I wrote the following directions for another list, which doesn't overlap
much with this one, so I thought I'd post them here.
My hair is down to about mid-back length. I wear a kind of Alphonse
Mucha style that I invented. It's very easy and it looks great.
First (you might be able to skip this step if your hair is naturally
curly) I wash my hair, put a fair amount of gel on it, and put it in pin
curls overnight, or till it is fully dry. I form fairly large curls, as
much as a bobby pin will hold. It is not at all necessary to have them
arranged on the head super evenly or neatly, but it seems better to wind
them all "rotating" in the same direction. When my hair is dry I take
out the bobby pins.
Then I comb through my hair very briefly with my fingers if the curls
are very tight, otherwise not. I pull my hair straight up off the crown
of my head, then fasten it fairly near the ends with one of those
fiber-covered elastics in brown or black (I have medium brown hair).
Then I squash the hair down, and fasten it firmly with a plastic
"tortoiseshell" butterfly clip. (I bought a whole bunch of them with
Art-Nouveau-comb inspired designs for about 30 cents apiece at Ross
Dress for Less.) The middle of the hair swirls around the top of the
head and face, and the clip fastens the ends through to the roots of the
hair underneath. Voila, the Mucha hairstyle.
This hairstyle comes out somewhat differently every single time you
squash it. If the first try is unattractive, just pull your hair up
again before you put on the clip, and repeat the process. You can get a
slightly different effect by twisting the length of hair somewhat before
you squash it down. You can get an asymmetric look by pushing the length
of hair more to the right or left as you squash it. You can leave a long
curl outside the updo, to fall on your neck, on either one or both sides
of your head, and more towards the back or front as you choose. If the
hair at the back of your head looks too puffed out, you can put a second
clip (I use a smallish one) at the middle of the back of your head.
I like this hairstyle, it's a lot of fun.
Frances Grimble
Lavolta Press Books on Historic and Vintage Clothing
http://www.lavoltapress.com
_______________________________________________
h-costume mailing list
[email protected]
http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume
