Testing My ‘Extreme’ Wig Design

For my ‘Extreme’ wig design, there was a lot of structure planning needed to form the shape. I also had a boat to attach into the hair. It was very important for the boat to be secure in the hair. The hair surrounding the boat had to be complimentary in shape and texture to the bottom section of the hair. These images show how practising on a dolls head helped me work out how to set the nylon wig and how to section and position the hair.

After placing the boat onto the dolls head, I realised that I would need lots of padding as a base, crepe hair around the base of the boat and cleverly positioned grips to secure this into place.  

Final Designs + 'Wig Story'

Simple Design:

Moderate Design:

Extreme Design:

My 'Wig Story':

For my three wig designs I have chosen to develop my ideas from the influence of 18th Century hair and Marie Antoinette in particular. During this period, The 'pouf' was a traditional style with great height and structure. With this influence, I am going to be creating a contemporary 18th Century influenced set of designs. With this in mind, I shall be focusing on the symbolism of hair during Marie Antoinette's reign to the thrown. 

The three of my designs have been heavily influenced by the design Pouf 'Jolie Femme', which had masses of height and was elaborately decorated with feathers and flowers. I have also taken the inspiration from the hairstyle The Ques-A-Co, which sports three feathers which slightly resembles a question mark. My most obvious influence comes from The Coiffure a la Belle-Poule. This famous design holds a large ship in the hair with curled hair underneath to imitate the movement of waves. The designing of this style was just after the victory of La Belle-Poule in the naval battle, and Marie Antoinette's reign was at its peak. This was also the largest and more eccentric style of hair that she wore. But eventually, the court condemned Marie Antoinette to death, and the first to go was her famous head of hair. Not long before this did she start to loose her hair. 

The significance of the reduction of hair throughout the extremity of designs is to show Marie Antoinette's connection and importance of hairstyle. The measure of impact her hair made was had some sort of relation to the amount of power she had. 

In my designs I have shown how the impact of hair can have on the impression of the person wearing it. With this in mind, I have taken this influence and have turned it into something more contemporary in colour, texture and alteration in shape. I have also been inspired by Wildfox's AW14 lookbook and have taken onboard how to make this look more current.

Mood Board:

Hammer Horror Inspired Hair

Equipment:

·      Paddle brush

·      Pintail comb

·      Medium tongs

·      Grips

Directions:

·      Brush hair through and create a centre parting.

·      Section the hair from the crown to the ears.

·      In the front section of the hair, tong the hair in a downward direction in smaller brickwork sections and secure. Do this for about 3 rows, making sure there is room for another row underneath.

·      In the back section of the hair, tong the hair in a downward direction in smaller brickwork sections and secure, again approximately 3 rows down.

·      Using the hair underneath the front section’s curls, tong vertically, alternating the direction and secure. I tonged the first section away from the face then alternated after that.

·      To do the entire head, continue to tong in alternating directions vertically around the back.

·      Allow the curls to cool set.

·      Once the curls have cooled, release the grips.

·      Brush each curl through individually and position in place.

·      Brush through any obvious gaps in the curls and position for the desired look.

Wig Application

There are various methods of wig application that will vary depending on your client's hairstyle and type, and the mass and structure of the wig. Different applications include:

·      Hair wrap

Used for smooth, flat wigs.

This is created by jelling and wetting hair flat around the head and securing.

·      Flat plaits

Smooth wigs with less movement involved.

·      Flat pincurls

For voluminous wigs, very secure.

·      Inverted chunky plaits

Creates a very secure fit and is for large sculpted wigs.

The plaits create a strong anchor for the wig.

To prepare for a wig application, observe the wig and consider the security needed and the height/weight of the wig. Create a hair chart for the wig preparation, as some areas may need different techniques.

Always use a stocking cap to suit the root colour of the wig.

Applying a flat wig:

Equipment:

·      Brush

·      Pintail comb

·      Clips

·      Grips

·      Water spray

·      Wiggly pins

·      Fine wig pins

·      Geisha pins

·      Fake hair (depending on hair type)

·      Wig stocking

·      Hair spray

·      Bristle brush

·      Wig

Directions:

·      Brush hair and create neat sections according to parting on the wig.

·      Section the front of the hair (crown to ears) away from the back section.

·      Starting with the back section, wrap small sections of hair round the head to create the effect of large pin curls. Ensure the hair is as flat as possible.

·      Spay the hair with water to help the hair become more compact and controllable.

·      Once all the hair has been secured into place with pins using this technique, bring the front hair away from the face.

·      In sections pull the hair back, ensuring the hairline is fully exposed.

·      Using a small bristled brush, spray hairspray onto the bristles and brush the stray hairs off the hairline all the way around the head.

·      Apply wig stocking, making sure the hairline is fully exposed.

·      Use the pintail to tuck in any loose wispy hairs.

·      Secure the stocking to the hair base using pins (without bobbled ends) through the cap, direction of pins as shown in the diagram below.

·      Remove any excess pins poking through the stocking.

·      Pin down any excess stocking to the head.

·      Apply the wig to the head, ensuring the wig’s front hair line is further forward than the natural hairline.

·      Pull back and position the wig.

·      Secure the wig using two anchor points, making sure that the hair has been moved out of the way first.

·      Use finer pins to secure the wig around the outer edges.

Applying a wig onto thick textured hair, using the hairline:

Equipment:

·      Brush

·      Pintail comb

·      Clips

·      Grips

·      Wiggly pins

·      Fine wig pins

·      Geisha pins

·      Fake hair (depending on hair type)

·      Wig stocking

·      Hair spray

·      Bristle brush

·      Wig

Directions:

·      Section the hair, leaving out the hairline all the way around the head.

·      Secure the separated hairline using rough pincurls, so the hair doesn’t get in the way.

·      Using the inner section of hair, create an inverted (dutch) plait, and plait in a circle. Start from the outside and work towards the centre. If the model has fine hair, plait in fake hair to create a stronger base.

·      Secure remaining plait in the continued direction.

·      Fit the wig stocking over the plaited area and secure with pins (as shown before).

·      Secure the wig onto the prepared section.

·      Secure using the same technique as above.

·      Incorporate the hairline.

Heated Rollers

Equipment:

·      Heated rollers

·      Pintail comb

·      Brush

·      Clips

Directions:

·      Turn on the heated rollers and wait until they have reached the desired temperature.

·      Brush through the hair, so that it is smooth and manageable.

·      Section the hair and create the desired parting.

·      Select a clean section of hair, no wider than the roller, starting from the bottom of the hair.

·      Comb through section and apply the roller to the tip of the hair.

·      Roll the roller towards the root of the hair, ensuring that all the hair is on the roller and kept taught until at the base of the root.

·      Secure the roller with the large clip.

·      Continue this process working upwards.

·      Once the hair has cooled, release the rollers and style as desired.

18th Century Hair: First Designs

For my ‘Art Story’, I will be using 18^th Century hair as my inspiration. What I particularly like about this era is the strong influence Marie Antoinette had on hair culture and how she influenced so many other women, by creating their hair into a masterpiece to reflect the mood of the wearer. Also, as we will be creating multiple variations in extremity, I am fascinated by the downfall of Marie Antoinette’s reign and how this was translated in hair, with her hair being a significance of her beheading. With the photoshoots, I would like to create a similar story, showing the symbolism of how larger and more extreme hair represented power and status.

Here are some of my first designs, which are very influenced by the historical 18th Century styles:

I then decided to bring in a few contemporary elements:

Using the bright and feminine colours in the experimental fringe class with the flowers and jewels, it has inspired me to incorporate this detail into my designs:

Advance Plaiting Workshop

Today's workshop this weekend, we looked into different plaiting techniques. They are simple, but very effective, and it is likely that I will use them in future designs. 

Here are some images of the work completed today: