Hair Studio: Hairstyles that create Silhouettes…French Pleat with Victorian Elements

Our task in class today was to create a Victorian style French Pleat, that incorporated padding at the front for volume and shape, as well as adding some Victorian elements like pin curls or decoration. 

Products Used:

Paddle Brush

Pintail Comb

Bobby Pins

Geisha Pins

Sectioning Clips

Curling Tongs

Padding

Dry Shampoo

Hairspray

Materials for decoration

To start off my Victorian hair style, I followed the normal steps of how to create a French Pleat (see blog post- Hair Studio: Creating a French Pleat/Vertical Roll), leaving some hair at the front of the head, however, so that I was able to create an interesting shape with the padding. 

To create the large shape at the front, I secured the padding with some bobby pins at the front of the head.  I had previously curled the hair I had left out of the French Pleat in a backwards motion, so the hair fell nicely over the padding, I secured the hair over the padding with both bobby pins and geisha pins, making sure these weren't visible.  With any hair that was left over, I simply twisted this at the top of the French Pleat to create a roll and secured this.

Lastly, to add the important Victorian elements, I took some small sections out from over the padding and created small pin curls.  The Victorians loved small details around the front of the head, you'd always their styles incorporating pin curls, accessories or simply strands of hair falling around the face. I also created a small flower with some basic patterned fabric and secured this at the top of the French Pleat.  This was my second attempt at a French Pleat, and I was really pleased with the outcome, with the interesting shape at the front of the head created by the padding and pin curls, I think this would  create a big, abstract silhouette.