Redheads + Royalty

The Brief :

Redheads and Royalty

The ‘Redheads and Royalty’ brief focuses upon collating historical research and technical observations of the hairstyles used in the Elizabethan era.  You may begin by considering the hairstyles you have identified in paintings from the Elizabethan era, but also consider that the various hairstyles and hair colours used by Elizabethan women also had references to their age, class and status.  

You are required to create a variety of historically accurate Elizabethan hairstyles in class, but you will also devise a more contemporary version using clear references to a style of Elizabethan hair you are inspired by.  Develop the project by referencing contemporary versions of Elizabethan hairstyles – do this by looking through newspapers, magazines and websites. Gather visual evidence that references Elizabethan hair and begin to consider how you may adapt it to a contemporary style. 

How can you use the ideas within both historical and contemporary images to inform the design of a contemporary hairstyle? 

You must suggest through image and text, at least 3 solutions of how you will achieve this and blog all of your research and findings. The journey from the Elizabethan look to the contemporary look must be clearly stated.

Write a short analysis of how you have interpreted the contemporary hairstyle.  What do you intend it to say about the wearer?

Design a hairstyle that will work on you. Create consultation notes for how to create the style in a concise way and collect materials for constructing the look*. This information will be supplied to your partner before the assessments for them to create upon you during the two hours assigned. 

*Please look into the Universities hair department resources and explore extra materials available from outside the university if required.

Please note: The assessment will highlight your personal working methodology, technical skill and your ability to communicate your own design to your partner, as well as your ability to execute their own design given to you. 

My Interpretation Of This Brief;

My initial thoughts of this brief are how eager I am to discover the different techniques and methods the Elizabethans used in order to create the infamous dramatic and captivating looks that are so distinctive and recognisable through the ages and right up to now. 

I want to create an image that portrays the classic beauty from the Elizabethan era but with a modern and dynamic twist. I want to explore other cultures and see if I can find a link between them all in the sense of make up and hair and explore in depth how the cultures could collide and create an explosion of time warp beautifulness.

I want to further my skill by practising old techniques with new equipment and seeing what different images and styles we all develop as individuals within a group.

I want to create a character visually worthy of being a New Elizabethan.