Thanks; lovely resources. I'm definitely familiar with the fedora as a hat; I've just never heard of it as a hair styling technique before, hence my curiosity!
Thanks to Google books and the Ngram viewer (hugely useful for etymological study), I've managed to track down a possible link. The fedora was named after the hat that Sarah Bernhardt wore during an 1882 play called Fedora. (Meaning that all those manly men in noir movies were wearing a girl's hat...) Perhaps the hairstyle she wore during the play ALSO started a fashion for a particular style of curls, and the girl in that passage I quoted was setting her curls into the particular style that Sarah B wore during the play; it sounds like it must have been one really tight curl per side, covering the forehead. (Sadly, I've been unable to find a photo of Sarah B in the original fedora hat with her fedora curls.) Also, I've come to the conclusion that 'crimp' and 'curl' were being used as interchangeable words. -E House On Wed, Jul 9, 2014 at 11:37 PM, Sybella <mae...@gmail.com> wrote: > OH!! I forgot! I was going to give you one more link...old videos of women > doing their hair. I love this! > > http://frazzledfrau.tripod.com/titanic/hair.htm > > > On Wed, Jul 9, 2014 at 8:29 PM, Sybella <mae...@gmail.com> wrote: > > > What a fun topic!!! Love vintage hair styling! And since my hair wont > hold > > a heat curl for more than 35 minutes, I've explored a lot of no-heat curl > > options. :) > > > > A fedora is a particular style of hat. It was quite the norm to give hats > > a little treatment at the end of every use, especially in the case of > > suede, felt or velvet, where a brushing not only knocks the dirt off but > > refreshes the surface texture. People did this with garments too to get a > > little more wear out of them between washings, or to keep non-washable > > garments clean. > > > > There are quite a number of ways to achieve curls, without modern curling > > irons, and women have been doing it since the dawn of time. To me, > "crimp" > > implies more of a folded, zig-zag type curl than a round curl. Or at the > > very least, tight and small curls. In the 1880s, many irons existed for > > hair styling many of which would achieve a crimped look. Even a iron for > > clothes could be used to curl hair. But I agree that the author is > implying > > that it is a set and air dry style...and that the starring character is > > being lazy with her beauty routine. LOL! > > > > What you suggested are all definite possibilities. While bobby pins are a > > newer invention, standard hair pins have been around since before the > birth > > of Christ. In addition to pinning curls to your head like 40s pin curls, > > hair pin curls could be achieved in the same way that hairpin crochet is > > done; take a small strand, wrap it back and forth on the needles, pin the > > whole thing in place and let it dry. > > > > A twist set creates a more "crimped" look too. Either you take small > > sections of hair and twist the sections together tightly. Or you take one > > section and twist it around something else. Then, once it is fully try, > you > > carefully un-twist. It's all the same process, whether you use only your > > own hair or wrap around something else. > > > > The twist out set is done today, usually on kinky curly hair but even > > those with straight hair can achieve a similar look. Do a web search for > > "twist out" to see what I'm talking about. :) > > > > Or watch this girl. She uses drinking straws and bobby pins to achieve > > no-heat crimpy curls. I love it! > > > > https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PBik0XlFZKE > > > > > > And for something older (1700s), check out this lady's video on paper > > curls. I know you were leaning toward no-heat styling, but there's a > > catalogue in the beginning of the video that makes this worth watching > for > > your book research. A few pages of hair tools are shown. > > > > As an alternative to rolling the hair around a heated rod, one could have > > wrapped the ends in paper, then rolled up the hair and folded the paper > > over the ends to hold it in place. Then, iron it with a flat iron, let it > > cool and pull off the paper to reveal springy curls. I had to hunt but > > here's a youtube link demonstrating it. > > > > https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lP9PJsY5__4 > > > > > > On Wed, Jul 9, 2014 at 7:00 PM, Elena House <exst...@gmail.com> wrote: > > > >> I'm writing a novella set in 1887 with three teenage girls as the main > >> characters, and as a result I've been doing research into the slang & > pop > >> culture and so forth of the time period in New England. The 1880s are > Not > >> My Era, and I've run across a term-and-a-half that confuse me. > >> > >> Here's the passage, from "The Familiar Letters of Peppermint Perkins", > >> with > >> the terms and phrases ***starred***. > >> > >> -------------- > >> I did begin that very night by not ***doing up any crimps.*** I was > going > >> to wear my hair like Clara's. She never wears any crimps. Runover > girls > >> never do, though they have never advanced any sufficiently good reason > to > >> me for not crimping it, for they all look like old fuds with it so, and > >> they spend just as much and more time brushing and smoothing it ***at > >> night > >> than I do on my "Fedoras."*** > >> > >> Well, I was going to say I didn't do up any; but about three o'clock I > >> woke > >> up and remembered that I had promised to go skating with Charlie Brood > out > >> to Jamaica the next morning, and I knew any amount of self-improvement > >> wouldn't make up for the absence of crimps in his eyes, so I just snaked > >> out of bed and ***up with two "Fedoras;"*** but no sooner had I got them > >> up > >> than my conscience began to reproach me for my weakness, and after I got > >> back into bed I determined that even Charlie Brood's criticisms > shouldn't > >> influence me, and I began to take them down; but you see I was so > sleepy, > >> getting up so suddenly (it all was like a dream), that I only got one > down > >> before I dropped to sleep, and the next morning you ought to have seen > >> what > >> a fright I looked. You know how high my forehead is, and shiny. Well, > >> there I was with all that shining expanse and ***one little bob on the > >> left > >> temple***, and I overslept on account of getting up so, and was late, > and > >> before I could do anything Charlie Brood was after me. > >> -------------- > >> > >> The crimps part I only find partially confusing; I'm familiar with > >> crimping > >> as something one does to curl one's hair with hot irons, but not as an > >> overnight treatment. Is this a reference to putting one's hair in rags? > >> Leaving it in braids overnight for braid curls? Something with > hairpins? > >> Or...? > >> > >> The one that really confuses me, though, is the "Fedoras." What on > earth > >> are these? The context makes it seem pretty clear that this is either > >> another method of creating curls overnight or another name for overnight > >> crimps, but what is the actual method, and what does the result look > like? > >> Or, does the name perhaps refer to the location of the resulting curls, > >> rather than the method? > >> > >> Any ideas? > >> > >> -E House > >> _______________________________________________ > >> h-costume mailing list > >> h-costume@mail.indra.com > >> http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume > >> > > > > > _______________________________________________ > h-costume mailing list > h-costume@mail.indra.com > http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume > _______________________________________________ h-costume mailing list h-costume@mail.indra.com http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume
