French Victorian Hairstyles

The Victorian era lasted more than 60 years.

Queen Victoria's accession to the English throne in 1840 began an era that influenced all of Europe and the United States. However, when it came to fashion, most women looked to Paris for guidance. "Harper's Bazaar" Magazine was an authority on keeping American women abreast of the latest trends in French clothes, makeup and hair. Articles were devoted to step-by-step descriptions of achieve a certain hairstyle, and accompanying drawings illustrated the desired outcome. Professional hairstylists became popular at this time, as did an emphasis on natural beauty and healthy hair.

The Chignon

The simple and feminine chignon remains popular today.

In 1840s France, the strikingly simple and elegant chignon was popular. The complicated hairstyles of previous eras made way for neatly coiffed hair, parted in the middle and slicked back with scented oil. After being twisted or braided into a heavy knot at the nape of the neck, hair was fixed with an ivory or tortoise shell comb or tied with a simple ribbon in the back. Framing the face, a fringe of ringlets, known as a Eugenie bandelette, was especially popular in the late 1860s. Flowers became a trendy adornment after Empress Elizabeth of Austria began wearing them in her hair.

The Pampadour

Decorative hair pins were essential accessories during the Victorian era.

Named for Madame de Pompadour due to her towering hairstyles in 1700s France, the pompadour returned in the late 1880s, though less ambitious (hair was not adorned with miniature battleships nor was it powdered). In the updated version, hair was swept up and anchored to the crown of the head with pins. Sometimes human or fake hair, known as rats, were placed underneath a woman's locks to create more height. Rats, or "topsies" as they were known in England, could be purchased or made from hair gathered from a lady's own hair brush. No vanity table was complete without a hair receiver, a round dish with a hole in the middle of the lid, used to keep saved hair.

The Marcel Wave

By the 1870s, soft waves had replaced the tight curls of earlier years.

In the 1870s, M. Marcel Grateau (sometimes cited as Francois Marcel) invented the "Undulation Marcel" or, in English, the Marcel Wave. Using a special hot iron made by L. Pelleray of Paris, he created a moire pattern of loose curls arranged around a woman's head. The soft curls, meant to imitate rather than defy natural waves, differed dramatically from the smoothed hair and tight curls popular during the first 30 years of the Victorian age. The Marcel Wave revolutionized hairstyling and Monsieur Grateau's irons were sold all over the world. The look, though modified over time, remained popular well into the 1930s.

Tags: Marcel Wave, tight curls