Haircloth

“ A woman’s head with flowing, wind-blown hair seems 150especially adapted to the work. A bristle brush and the ever-useful rag will spin the hair out, and toss it about in decorative masses. For the face you will need a small pad made of soft silk, or muslin, and raw cotton—indeed, several pads will be found useful. Cut the silk into a four-inch square, place in the centre a wad of raw cotton about the size of a hickory nut, and, drawing the silk smoothly over the cotton at the bottom, bring it together at the top; wrap with thread close to the cotton and tie securely. ”

“ Shrinking, ironing, and binding hair cloth before putting into a dress has also produced satisfactory results, more than compensating for the little extra trouble in so doing. To make certain of the genuine hair cloth take out a few strands of the weft, pull them, and if found to be elastic it is hair cloth, otherwise imitation. ”

“ They have also the same habit of plucking the hair from various parts of the body; but that of the head, in the females, is only suffered to attain to the shoulders, whilst the men permit theirs to grow to its full extent. They even regard long hair as an ornament, and many wear false hair fastened to their own by means of an earthy matter, resembling red clay, and depending in many instances (particularly the young beau) to their knees, in the form of queues, one on each side of the head, variously decorated with ribbon, like slips of red and blue cloth, or coloured skin. ”

“ Another turn of the wheel of fashion has given us a simple mode of dressing the hair, which is well adapted to the average English head, and which is fully explained by the accompanying sketch. It may be taken as a safe rule, when the forehead is low and face small, that the hair may be drawn back with advantage, but a long face is generally improved by arranging the hair in soft curls on the forehead, and by waving it slightly at the sides, which adds to the apparent width of the countenance. ”

“ To utilize the hair from the heads of others is an ancient practice still to be met with, and all sorts of [131] means for making the most of one’s own hair in the shape of pads and so on are still adopted.
When speaking of footmen, we shall find that those who dress in the costume that was in fashion when hair powder was in vogue still wear it, and the custom has been traced to the days of Rome, when gold dust was put upon the head. ”

“ In dressing the hair the men expended as much care as women, and took as much pride and pleasure in its neat and fashionable adjustment. It was shaved off to the very skin, except around the temples and low down in the back of the neck, from which it was brought up on all sides to the top of the head and fastened by a string. ”

“ Partial baldness among the female sex is not uncommon, but this defect can well be concealed by coverings specially made for the purpose. These pieces of ingenious workmanship, be they frontlets, scalpettes, fringes, partings, twists, chignons, curls, plaits, or what not, are easily and securely attached to the natural hair-growth, while a ribbon-bow, feather, flower, lace, cap, or other decoration lends a charm, and completes the coiffure. ”

“ The hair both of males and females is black, glossy, and straight. The men usually wear it rather long, and allow it to hang about their heads in a loose and slovenly manner. A few of the younger men, and especially those who had been about the shores of the Welcome, had it cut straight upon the forehead, and two or three had a circular patch upon the crown of the head, where the hair was quite short and thin, somewhat after the manner of Capuchin friars. ”

“ A VARIETY OF HEAD-DRESSES ADOPTED IN THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY.
skilful hair-dresser who could "build" a head was at a premium; the art of hair-dressing being reckoned as one of the most important, and as rare as difficult. No lady's maid, however clever, was entrusted with this difficult task, and very complicated was the work of constructing the popular coiffure, which was piled half a yard high, and decked with pads, and false hair, and curls so stuck down and plastered with pomades that they might hold for weeks without being pulled down. ”

“ It is true that her hair is confined in a net at the sides and drawn stiffly across her temples from the parting. The full throat rises sheer from a flat horizon of striped dress goods, and is offered no relief whatever by the wide falling-away collar of coarse lace. ”

“ The hair is dressed differently by single and married men. If unmarried, they adopt the queue; when married, they put up their hair and twist it into a conical mass upon their heads, keeping it in place by a woven horsehair band, which completely encircles the forehead and base of the skull. ”

“ I arranged my hair, on which I piqued myself, and which I loved to groom in those days. That dark-brown chevelure, with a natural curl, is now represented by a few dozen perfectly white hairs, and its place—a smooth, bald, pink head—knows it no more. ”

“ In pressing and dressing this scalp, I will assume that merely the points of the lower hair are to be removed, therefore push back with a comb the same as though you were about cutting a lady’s hair, and remove the ends with a sharp razor. Even this must be done in a particular manner, and is to be produced by a kind of sliding motion. Let me tell you the object which is to be attained, that you may the more readily understand what and how to do it. The natural ends of hair are finer and more pointed than they would be if cut. ”

“ I can’t tell you whether their hair is woolly or not, for the women shave it close to the scalp, using razors of iron or glass, and polish their heads with grease so that they fairly shine in the sun. I understand they pull out the hair from all parts of their bodies and that even the babies are shaved. Many of the men carry about tweezers of iron to pull the hairs from their chins, cheeks, and nostrils, and they keep themselves shaved until they are old enough to be warriors. ”

“ It is enough for women to protect [710] their locks, and bind up their hair simply along the neck with a plain hair-pin, nourishing chaste locks with simple care to true beauty. For meretricious plaiting of the hair, and putting it up in tresses, contribute to make them look ugly, cutting the hair and plucking off it those treacherous braidings; on account of which they do not touch their head, being afraid of disordering their hair. Sleep, too, comes on, not without fear lest they pull down without knowing the shape of the braid. ”

“ The hair, for convenience, had always been plaited in two plaits and coiled round the head, where it lay concealed by the wimple. One day some fine lady decides to discard her close and uncomfortable head-covering. She lets her plaits hang over her shoulders, and so appears in public. Contempt of other ladies who have fine heads of hair for the thinness of her plaits; competition in thick and long hair; anger of ladies whose hair is not thick [Pg 26] and long; enormous demand for artificial hair ”

“ They frequently dedicated it to the gods, on important occasions of marriage, victory, escape from death and danger, and the burial of friends. Different styles of wearing the hair, was resorted to for denoting the various grades, or positions in life, of the people, some wearing it quite long, others short, and some dressing it in a peculiar manner,—each style, or length, being according to the condition, wealth, or social standing of the wearer. ”

“ The same remark applies as to whether the hair should be knotted or woven. These matters must always be decided upon at first, when the mount is commenced. Take (say) 11⁄4 oz. of twelve-inch ringlet hair, and put the curls in two lots as usual. Weigh one parcel against the other, and balance evenly. Remember what I have said about the curls inclining to the face. Make a thin top row, comb out, and cut down. Weave the hair in fine front weft, and contrive to make it of a similar length for both sides. Commence sewing on at or near the string, and proceed as before instructed. ”

“ It is still common, also, among ourselves, for widows, in the earlier period of their mourning, to cut off their hair, or to remove it back from the brow. Among all rude nations, besides, the hair has been held in peculiar estimation from its ornamental nature, and its capability of being formed into any shape, according to the fancy of its possessor, or the fashion of the country. ”

“ We notice how simply the hair is dressed, brushed loosely from the face and knotted at the back, with a jewel gleaming at one side. Compared with the elaborate coiffures worn by great ladies in some historical periods, this style is delightfully artistic. Altogether the entire manner of dressing is perfectly suited to the wearer. ”

“ The hair is so arranged that it forms ridges from the front to the back of the head. When sufficiently long, that is about a foot, it is dressed with fat mixed with charcoal, and then divided in the centre, that the curls may fall down on each side, with a band round the head to keep the curls in their place, and to preserve them from dirt or dust. ”

“ She is taking more readily to the man’s hat, feathered and banded, and in so doing is forced to dress her hair more simply and do away with jewellery on her forehead; but, as is often the case, she dresses her hair with plumes and jewels and little linen or lace ruffs, and atop of all wears a linen cap with side wings to it and a peak in the centre. ”

“ Her hair caresses her; it runs in a company of myriads, it curves in innumerable tiny arcs, it droops in a multitude of intertwined festoons; it rises in slow curls, it falls in minute and tremulous cascades ”

“ The hair of most of the ladies should be arranged in curls, which should be confined together with a band of silver, while three of the ladies must allow their hair to fall loosely over the shoulders; wreaths of artificial flowers should adorn the heads of all. ”

“ The woolly hair is teased out with a skewer, well rubbed with oil and clay, and worked up until it looks something like a cocked hat, rising high on the top of the head and coming to a point before and behind. Mostly, the hair is kept in its position by a number of little sticks or leaves, which are passed through it, and serve as the framework on which it rests. ”

“ There was a lot of hair everywhere—on the scalp, on the eyebrows, on the men's unshaven cheeks, on the chest, the arms, hands, and the legs. It is, I believe, a well-known fact that hair is generally more luxuriant, the weaker and more anæmic the subject is—up to a certain point. ”

“ In this case the face is turned in profile, and its delicacy is enhanced rather than injured by the masses of hair which frame it. The hair, instead of being drawn tightly back from the forehead in the ordinary way, waves in graceful curves, which are quite beyond the art of any hairdresser. ”

“ The styles in which hair is dressed are so intimately connected with fashions in costume that no excuse is needed for dealing with the question here. Moreover, there are certain vestiges in costume occasionally to be met with which owe their origin to the way in which hair was once arranged. Hair can be treated in all sorts of manners without injuring the person in any way, and usually without causing pain, though some fashions in hair arrangement had results that were far from pleasant, and must have caused considerable discomfort. ”

“ Both men and women suffer no hair to grow on their bodies except on the head. They wear the hair long and take good care of it so that it will grow. The men bind their hair on the crown of the head with a small piece of gauze, and the women bind it with bands made of the hair itself. ”

“ Both sexes eradicate the Hair from under their armpits, a custom in these hot climates almost essential to cleanliness; the men also pluck out their beards, for which purpose the better sort carry always a pair of silver pincers hanging round their necks. Some however wear a little hair on their upper lips but that they never suffer to grow long. ”

“ The hair of both males and females stands out from the skin like bristles, and is very coarse. The coarseness of the femaleʼs hair is, however, more than compensated by its luxuriance; for, provided she be in a normal state of health, up to the prime of life the hair commonly reaches down to the waist, and occasionally to the ankles. ”

“ Then, every young lady, without exception, seemed to have one kind of hair, and that the kind which was rather suggestive of the term woolly. Every sort of wild abandon of frowzy locks seemed to be in vogue; in some cases the hair appearing [Pg 578] to my vision nothing but a confused snarl, in which glittered tinklers, spangles, and bits of tinsel, and from which waved long pennants and streamers of different-colored ribbons. ”

“ In addition to the styles in which hair is allowed to grow, there are others which lead to its removal from one or more of the places which it normally covers, and almost every change that could be rung is met with. ”

“ If you have a great quantity of hair, you should take all the inner part of it, coil it on top of your head so it will go under your hat out of the way. Then take the outer edge of it and braid or wind it as flat as possible. A large bun at the back of the head is almost as bad as hair drawn over the ears at the side. If you have short hairs likely to blow, you must wear a hunting hair net. ”

“ Who cutteth and curleth ladies, gentlemen, and children’s hair.—She sells a fine pomatum, which is mix’d with ingredients of her own makeing, that if the hair be never so thin, it makes it grow thick; and if short, it makes it grow long. If any gentleman’s or children’s hair be never so lank, she makes it curle in a little time, and to look like a perriwig.
It will be observed in Queen Anne’s reign no other style but that of the perriwig was thought worthy of imitation. In former times, the university barber was a person of some consequence. ”