Friday 5 December 2014

Bibliography

Books
- A Guide to Tudor & Jacobean Portraits, Foreword by Antonia Fraser
- The Usborne Encyclopedia of World History

Films
- Elizabeth: The Golden Age, directed by Shekhar Kapur, 2007
- Elizabeth, director by Shekhar Kapur, 1998

Exhibitions
- National Portrait Gallery, Tudors and Jacobean Portraits

Internet Sites
- http://thelostcolony.org/education/elizabethan-era/#lightbox/0/
- http://www.elizabethancostume.net/headwear/snood.html
- http://everythingelizabethan.blogspot.co.uk/2011/02/lets-talk-about-snoods.html
- http://www.elizabethan-era.org.uk/elizabethan-hair-styles.htm
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u-BIr0fW5cU
- http://www.vogue.co.uk/fashion/spring-summer-2011/ready-to-wear/marc-jacobs
- http://runway.blogs.nytimes.com/author/cathy-horyn/page/37/?_r=0

My Hair Design, Final Images and Evaluation

My Hair Design

I was initially really happy with my final hair design because it incorporated lots of plaits and french plaits, making it look really pretty and intricate. One of my favourite parts of my hair design was the french plaits over the padding because I loved how modern and unique it looked. However I was advised by one of my teachers that this, and also all of the other plaits in the look, would take too long for the time limit available. I therefore experimented with removing the french plaits over the padding or the flat french plaits in the look, but I thought that when I took away the flat french plaits it looked too plain. Another problem I found with my design was that the padding covered a lot of the french plaits on the sides so I didn't think it was worth spraying them as not much of them would be seen. This meant that I could only spray the top french plait, which I liked, but I thought it looked too much like a mohican, which was not the look I was initially going for. However I know like it because it definitely modifies the look as I can't imagine coloured mohicans were very popular in the Elizabethan times! I made my partner a step by step guide for her to follow and we talked through the look a lot until she was comfortable and confident with my design.

My partner, Charlotte, was nervous about my hair design because she wasn't very confident with her padding abilities and she had never done hair before. However after a few practices of me explaining how I wanted it done, she quickly improved and now feels more confident. We noticed that we never quite got the look finished in the lessons which concerned us, as she would only have 1hr 30 to complete the whole look in the assessment. We therefore decided that she would crimp my hair and also put it into sections before the timed assessment as her prep work, as this would save a lot of time.

I am really pleased with the final outcome and I can't believe how much Charlotte has improved with this hair design as at the beginning I was concerned she wouldn't be able to complete it. The padding is not perfectly even, but it is very close and the best she has done by miles, and I like that the padding is flat with the head. I am happy with the accuracy of the red spray paint. There are very few fly aways on the padding, making it look very smooth, clean and polished; however there are some hairs round the neck and ear that I would have liked to have been smoother away with gel. I really like the side view because if the detailing of the orange plaits and the padding looks straight. The bun at the back looks very wonky which is a shame as I think she has made it look better in the past. The plait is also wonky, leaning more to the left, which then makes the padding look wonky too. I would have liked the red and orange hair spray to have blended in slightly more with each other and for some of the red to have been seen in the back view. Overall I am really happy with the look and think that Charlotte should be proud of her improvements along the way.






Thursday 4 December 2014

Charlotte's Hair Design, Final Images and Evaluation

Before starting at Southampton Solent I had never done hair before. I was nervous because it was completely new to me, but I was excited to incorporate my new hair skills with my makeup skills to create complete looks. I learned so many new techniques in my first term and, after lots of practice, I am feeling more and more confident with my hair skills.

Charlotte's Hair Design

When we first started practicing the look, Charlotte was not sure of what she wanted to do. She knew that she wanted to use the frizzing technique on the bottom half of her hair, but she was not sure of how this was going to be achieved. We therefore worked together to come up with her final design and how it was going to be done. She initially wanted to use the frizzing technique on all of the lower part of her hair, but as we started to do this, we noticed that it was very time consuming! We therefore decided that it would be better if I crimped the lowest section and then just used the frizzing technique on the surface layer of hair, as it still gave a very similar result, but took less than half the time. I was happy with how well she listened to how I was getting on and adapted the look if she needed to. She provided me with all the extra equipment I needed and she gave me a step by step guide of how to achieve the look. I am overall very happy with how our partnering for this task went.

I was so happy with how the assessment went! I completed my prep with time to spare and set up my work station neatly to start the assessment. I completed the look in under the time limit, giving me time to try and get it to look as we both wanted. When I took the final images I noticed that one side was very slightly higher than the other which frustrated me. However I am really happy with the volume create by the frizzing and crimping. I love the contrast between the textured frizz and the flat, shiny top half. I am happy with the placement of the pearls because they are supposed to be random and I am happy with the placement of the head piece because it is central and well secured. I am pleased with how flat and smooth the top half of the hair looks, however I think the hairline could have been straighter, as it is looking a little wavy. I really like the overall styling of the shoot because her makeup looks slightly Elizabethan with the fair eyebrows, pale skin and rosy pink lips and cheeks. I wanted her shoulders to be bare so that there were no distractions from the hair design.

My hair station before starting assessment.






Wednesday 3 December 2014

My Partner's Final Attempt at My Design

This was Charlotte's final attempt of my hair design before the assessment. We had found out, from previous experimentation, that if the hair was freshly washed, then it was more difficult to work with; since this was the day before the assessment we decided not to spray my hair with colour as I'd have to wash it off that night, the night before the assessment. I am really happy with how the practice went because she did the look within the time limit and the padding was more even than before. However she said that she would work to make the padding as even as possible in the assessment by constantly checking in the mirror. She noticed that there were stray hairs on the back on the hair and the sides, so we decided that we could use gel and/or hairspray to fix this. Charlotte found that it was easier to do the padding in smaller sections as there was less hair to deal with at once.