Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 09.djvu/505

* HAIRDRESSING. 453 HAIRDRESSING. EGYPTIAN HAIRDRE88ITfG. concealed, is selected to bear tliese unmisUkable marks, and the wearinf; of tliis i)ernianent crown may be compared with the coronets, jjarlands, wreaths, and crowns in the usual sense which, although of tem|)in-ary use, are equally significant as indicating a rank or a state of being. Hairoressing in Ancient Times. The Egyp- tian hairdrcssing, as shown in the painted bas- reliefs and flat paintings, was extremely varied. It was divided into ni a n y tresses, each thickly plaited, or in two very broad and flat braids, one on each side of the head, while the hair behind is cut short ; or in long parallel braids of great number, which are again grouped in masses, one mass f.alling in front of the shoulder on either side and the larger mass be- liind. Wigs were evi- dently very common. Among the Greeks the statues and bas-reliefs which we have of the sixth century B.C. and before show a very elaborate style of dress- ing the hair common to both men and women. The heads even of athletes show the hair crimped and curled, retained by a broad band, in front of and below which the little curls are arranged in corkscrews, or in curls made spiral at the end and fixed close to the forehead, evidently retained by some very tenacious cos- metic. One most beautiful headdress of which the date can be nearly fixed is that of the Apollo in the eastern pediment of the Temple of Zeus at Olvmpia. The hair, radiating in all directions from the crown of the head, is generally rippled; it is retained by a band above the ears and falls below this band in short, curling locks parted so as to leave the ear free. At the same epoch, however, namely about B.C. 4.50. the portrait stat- ues, or those which may seem to be so, have the hair in a less elaborate st.vle, worn naturaNy as in many heads of both old and young men of the great period of Greek art, and the heads of women of the same periods have the hair not ver^' long and gathered at the nape of the neck or retained by a broad fillet, a stephane, or the like, and falling on the neck, but not below the shoul- ders. In the fourth century B.C. and later the headdress of men becomes less and less a matter of moment. The hair is worn in its natural curls or cut very short, and it is evidently the purpose of the sculptor to in<yst upon the form of the head, which the hair is not allowed to conceal. At the same time the headdress of women becomes sud- denly more and more elaborate. Among the Ro- man hairdressers, this Greek tendency continues. The typical head of a man of family has short- cut hair and no beard except for a few years under the Antonines, while the headdress of women, though charmingly simple and natural, and setting oflf the head well during the years of the later Republic and the early Empire, is shown as extremely fantastic in the busts and medals of women of the Imjierial Court. HAiRnp.ES.siNG IN LATER TiMES. The disposi- tion to use the hair, when worn long, as a vehicle riKTEENTH CENTFBY. (The Netherlands.) for elaborate design of some kind never seems to disappear. As the Roman ladies twisted the hair over their forehead into the appearance of an immense sponge, the taste recurs after the sim- pler conditions of the Middle Ages in the four- teenth century, when men and women alike, of the wealthier classes, had most elaborate coif- fures, sometimes wrought into a glossy ring two or three inches 'n diameter reaching diagonally from abov« tlie forehead, touching the ears and to the nape of the neck, or in two great puffs concealing the ears, or, in the case of women, combined with a broad cushion or coronet at the top, which seems to be supported by a great volume of crimped and curled hair be- low. The well-known portraits of Henry IV'. (died 1010) and his minister, the Due de Sully, show this fashion carried into later times. The beard is shown combed out and curled with great nicety, gimimed in a radiating form like a fan below and on both sides of the lower lip, and the mustache in like manner is curled and rolled up- ward from the mouth, the whole evidently held in place by some glutinous medium. The hair, hen abundant, is also rolled back from the fore- head and temples in a way which is very effective and reminds one of the 'Pompadour' style of hair- dressing which has been in fashion for women during several epochs since. The elaborate dress- ing of the hair reached its culmination under the reigns immediately succeeding that of Henry IV. Thus, during the boyhood of Louis XIV., and in England during the reign of Charles I., the long hair, perfmued and carefully adjusted, was not allowed to blow freely in the wind, but was tied with ribbons into long and heavy locks. The fact that the King, Louis XIV., had unusually long and abun- dant hair seems to have been the main cause of the introduction of long curled wigs, by means of which his courtiers thought to ape the natural gifts of their master. The use of perukes was well established by 1050, and from that time for at least a century thereWas no such thing as hairdrcssing for men. The coilfure of women during the early part of this time was extremely tasteful and well adapted to the head and face, varying as it did very largely, according to the age. complexion, and stature of the wearer. The curling hair lying on the neck and bare shoulders and covered by a crf'i«' veil which we associate with the simpler dress of court ladies and the costume of the richer bourgeoisie from 1640 to 1070 is followed by, or alternates with, lighter and shorter curls which .seem to blow in the wind. Toward the close of SIXTEENTH CENTURY. (England.)