Victorian hair - the later years

The later half of the Victorian era saw quite a large change in fashionable hairstyles. Women's hair was worn off the face, rather than framing it, and did not stop at jaw-length. It was not always centre parted and flat on top - rather it was high up, voluminous and curled. Decorative hair accessories were favoured instead of bonnets by now; such as flowers pinned into the curls. It was rarely worn in a bun, and sometimes hair pieces were added for extra ringlets, length or volume (as seen pictured in the last photo). If a woman had a fringe, she would wear it short and curled or sweeping up into the styled hair. Hair was often left long down the back, curled in sausage ringlets or plaited. 

For men, hair was till side or centre-parted and short. Older men may wear their hair flatter on top and curly on the sides. Facial hair was also popular, for example side burns or wispy, full moustaches and beards. I decided to look at Oscar Wilde's hairstyles, for inspiration, as his hair would give a clearer picture of how his characters in The Picture of Dorian Gray would probably have looked at this time in the era.

I had a go at a female late-Victorian hairstyle myself, using heated rollers for the front sections, tying a section at the crown of the hair into a ponytail and creating rolls out of sections from it, then curling the remaining hair and pinning it all into place to create an elegant, long, curled style: 

I really enjoyed creating this look! I found the rollers not-too-difficult to use, considering it was only my second try using them. My only slight difficulty was hiding the pins, however once all the curled hair sprung into place they weren't really visible. I was really pleased with my outcome!