Easy Hair Style for Newbie... and.. Snoods/Hairnets

[brindle]

My first reenactment is coming up at the end of March (Shiloh! What a way to start out!), and I have got to find a way to get my hair up. The bottom layer is just barely to my shoulders and i have never done anything more complicated than a ponytail! At least one day i will have a bonnet on to hide a bad job, but the rest of the time i want to go with a snood/hairnet. Speaking of which... opinions? Every source says something different. I *have* seen a couple period drawings of woman with reg. snoods, also with thin hair nets. Any and all advice appreciated. tia!

[Euphemia]

I had the same problem when I got start years ago. For now you'll have to pull it back into a simple low bun and use pomade and Bobbie pins to keep it in place.

Snoods are chunky and for WWII events. You want a hairnet. The kind that was worn in this era were thin and matched your hair color. They could be worn plain or decorated with ribbon. I use the thin lunch lady type nets you get a beauty supply stores for mine.

http://thegracefullady.com/civilwargowns/ready-mades_hairnet2_6-08.htm

The above link is what you should be looking for or you can get one from her site. :)

Right now it's going to be simple until it grows out more. There is the option of hair pieces, but from what I have heard they aren't much fun to deal with and costly if you want something decent.

Have fun at Shiloh and stay warm!

[Joanna]

If you can do a ponytail, you can get it up.

Are you willing to buy a hairpiece? Do you have a Sally beauty supply nearby? They are a source for fairly inexpensive fake hair. There are other stores, too - Ask at Sally's who else sells hair around town if they don't have what you need. I ended up in an ethnic hair store - they had all different shades and lengths. You probably will have to fiddle a bit with it - braid it, etc. There are whole bunches of threads on doing hair over on the Sewing Academy website - and many people have Pinterest "online bulletin boards" with examples and instructions for all lengths (here is one with links to others - http://pinterest.com/jenny2492/ ) The easiest, though - gather your hair into a ponytail as low to your hairline as possible. Clip with a barrette. Flip the whole thing up, turning the barrette over (you want a barrette without much curve in it). Use a couple of big bobbypins in a criss-cross to anchor that hair to your head - don't worry about what it looks like. Slap your new hairpiece on top of the whole thing, pin like heck, place a net over the whole shebang and you are set. Oh, get the net from Sally's too. Be careful - they sell a couple different weights of nets - I got home one day with a package of net so thin it was like a cloud and ripped in my hands.

Those "chunkier" nets you have seen - there are period instructions on how to make nets from ribbons, etc. that are indeed "chunkier" - but often are for more dressy occasions, and not what the average woman was wearing on a daily basis. Certainly not working around the house or the camp. Stick with the "lunch lady" ones for now and as you develop a better understanding of appropriate places to wear more unusual styles, you can add them in. The thinner ones certainly can have ribbons around the top, especially if you are younger, but again, think about how you are dressed: wash dress = plain net, and nicer dress may = ribbon on net.

[Spinster]

Now that that the hair issue is well addressed, let's talk about larger issues.

Shiloh. Large scale events are often daunting even for experienced folks. And here you are doing this as your first one.

Shiloh brings additional challenges. This is not the Sunny Sunny South. Oh, yes, it could be sixty degrees and sunny. But the smart money is on cold and damp.

If a soldier has helped you get your gear together, or a vendor who is selling you a normal warm weather package, you are dressed in cotton, through and through. Somebody may have offered you a cape, guaranteed to catch every breeze and billow away, letting out any warmth you may have accumulated.

Your best bet for this event is a dress in tropical weight wool, at least one wool petticoat(under your hoop or corded Petticoat), a wool knitted Sontag, wool stockings, and a quilted bonnet, preferably silk with wool stuffing. A ladies wool sacque coat, gloves, and a pair of little period rubber overshoes to stretch over your period shoes.

All of these will help. Some may be beyound budget, time and expertise at the moment. If so, your first choice is making a simple wool petticoat, of tropical weight wool suiting, wool gabardine or wool flannel. Nothing but 100 percent wool will do-no blends, no cottons. Make this petticoat to reach anywhere from your ankle to your calf and at least 90 inches around, though 120 is better. Mine happens to be red, but any darker wool is fine. You will wear this over your chemise, drawers, and corset, and under your first cotton petticoat or hoop.

[brindle]

Okay, my suspicions about the uniquitous snood have been answered. (Knew I was on the right track after seeing The Dreaded Snood posts on The Sewing Academy!) If I do go sans bonnet (maybe Friday?) it will be a net with a tasteful (I hope!) band. BTW, I heard
that Abraham's Lady got some in but they weren't on their website last time I looked. And maybe here's yet another winter project for me. :-)

[Ginny Lindale]

Another option is a sock bun. I learned about this at a "School of the Lady". Please feel free to jump in if this is not appropriate. Here's the link. http://www.beautylish.com/a/vcvzi/how-to-sock-bun We were instructed to make the bun lower and tighter.

Elaine

[Spinster]

Elaine,

Using a 'rat' to fill out hair is certainly appropriate, though much more correct if one's own hair is collected and rolled into a net to make the filler. For most women, the contents of their hair brush collected over a couple of months is sufficient. This is also a much better match than a modern acrylic sock, especially if the wearer has thin hair.

Buns should be worn low and tight, right at the nape if the neck. This hair treatment still requires a hair net to be complete, for all but the very lowest class. Essentially, if your character is too poor to own shoes or a hoop, she may go about with bunned but unnetted hair. There's not many folks doing that impression.