Historical styles - 15th Century Burgundian braided updo and conical hennin

Today's hairstyle post is about historical reenactment and the Middle Ages - The updo I wore for my late 15th Century Burgundian reenactment, under a conical hennin:

I actually debuted this reenactment at a Tolkien convention, so all these pics are a Noldorin Elven version (those are actually Vulcan ears, I didn't have any Elven ears at that point xD). 15th Century Burgundian fashion wasn’t a headcanon of mine for Elven fashion before this, but I can totally see the (in my headcanon at least) quite fashion-extravagant Noldor wearing this kind of court fashion xD And the looped braids kind of showcase the pointy ears, too!

The hairstyle is something that can easily be worn under the hennin, and it’s also inspired in what can be seen of the hair (ugh for the patriarchal modesty mindsets :S) in illuminations from the time - There are examples of looped braids that show under the hennin (1, 2, 3), and examples of the hair being worn in a high bun under the hennin. In my case, it’s a braided high bun with a paranda (no foam donut in my case, although that’s another option). The two front accent braids are braided with golden cord and looped around the ear, crisscrossed and tucked around the bun. For an alternative Elven-inspired style, those front braids could also be worn hanging loose (this is actually how this Burgundian woman wears her hair, too!)

• For this style I used:

-Comb and/or brush as needed.

-A metal-free elastic for the initial ponytail
-Paranda for the braided ponytail (or a foam donut, or both. Both resulted in an overlarge, too heavy bun in my case).

-Lots and lots of pins (open bun pins and closed bobby pins. Like, LOTS.

-Fixator, like hairspray
-Tangle Teazer to untangle the root backcombing easily and damage-free.  Baby brush to brush off the hairspray and smooth all the hair

Steps:

•  Hairstyle:

-Separate two front sections and braid to create the accent braids. Add cord or ribbon as a decorative effect if desired.

-Pull the rest of the hair into a high ponytail - relatively high on the head in order to be able to put on the hat/headdress easily later.

-Braid the ponytail, with a paranda for added volume (tutorial here). Other options: High donut bun, unbraided, or braided bun without paranda and a donut bun in order to give more volume (a relatively voluminous bun is desirable to serve as an anchor for the hat).

-Coil the braid around the ponytail base in order to create a braided bun. I secured it with two metal bun pins - Something that looks relatively historically accurate, and that doesn't protrude much from the bun, in order not to interfere with the hat later.

-Loop the front accent braids around and over the ears, crisscrossing them at the front and coiling them around the bun.

• Hennin:

-Wrap velvet band at the hairline and tie at the back. This band serves as anchor in order to secure the hat.

-Put on hennin over the bun. Further secure it with another velvet band tied over the base directly above the other band. This should keep the hennin from sliding back.
-Pin decorative veil over the hennin as desired.

 

 

 

More about hennin construction:

 Materials I used: Buckram/burlap fabric for the base (two layers), wire, long wood sticks (3X), dark red and gold patterned damask  for the lining, normal thread to sew it all. Gold organza for the veil and black velvet for the strips that hold the hennin in place.

Also, some tutorials I studied for this project: Steeple hennin , truncated hennin, another truncated hennin. And my Pinterest board with references.

Fabrics and materials: Gold organza for the veil, black velvet for the strips holding the hennin in place, dark red and gold damask for the lining, burlap/buckram for the base, wire and long wooden sticks.

Initial fabrics test with the materials and a 'fairy/princess' conical hat I've had since I was a child xD (you see the veil from that costume hat popping out there)

Cutting out the shape for the base (two layers):

Initial test of the hennin form with the two layers of burlap cloth and the damask:

Sewing long wood sticks to the first layer of the burlap base to keep the shape and stop the heavy fabric (plus the lining afterwards) from buckling under its weight

Sewed a second layer of burlap over the first one, and added wire around the circumference to further help keep the shape.

Damask lining, and the hennin is complete! Veil is held in place with pins (decorative or not), and velvet strips (one over the hair and beneath the hat, the other over it) keep the hennin in place. The velvet strips I tie at the back of the head and that really keeps the hennin secure with no need for further support.

 

Also sewed the U-front hook that helps adjust the hennin as well:

 Another final test at the Tolkien con while wearing another Elven cosplay:

SwordWomanRiona / rionashairblog.blogspot.com.es

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Hairstyles - Top knot donut buns

Lately I've been wearing quite a lot of high donut buns. I usually wear buns at medium height (except got the flipped bun, which is higher), but I made a really high top knot donut bun for a Missy (Doctor Who) cosplay back in September and then started experimenting with them, and I realized I really like how they look :) I've also tried cinnamon top knots and other buns without a donut, but so far I think my favourite is the donut top knot.

I wouldn't advise to wear top knots every day or very often, though, because the higher a bun is the more pressure to the scalp and that can cause headaches and can be harmful to the hair as well (mechanical damage and especially traction alopecia if the hair is drawn back too tightly and/or too often). So I tend to do my top knots as loose as possible - even if some of these look tight, in reality they're never so tight as to cause actual headaches or pain. And in order to prevent any major traction issues, I also wear a top knot only sporadically, or alternate them with braids or buns/ponytails at middle/low height.

• For this style, I used:

-An elastic without metal for the initial ponytail. Another elastic (optional) to secure the har that'll cover the donut.

-Brush/comb to pull your hair up in a high ponytail and/or to smooth your hair. 

-Bobby pins (preferably open, closed can also work).

-Optional: A paranda/ribbon to braid into your hair (info about making parandas and braiding them into hair here), other decorative accessories (such as decorative pins, a small barrette, a comb, a fork, etc).

• Steps:  It's basically the same as the regular donut bun at middle height, only the starting ponytail is higher:

-Pull your hair up into a ponytail. I use a comb to help pulling my hair up, and a baby brush to smooth the hair into a more poliished look (this step can be omitted for a more casual/messy look). My long hair makes it harder to do a very high ponytail and keep the result smooth and non-lopsided, so I usually flip my hair upsdide down to let gravity help when it comes to pulling my hair in the ponytail xD

-Insert the foam donut through the ponytail so that it sits on top of the hair elastic at the base of the ponytail. 

-Take the ponytail and spread it over the donut, hiding it from view, and making sure the hair is evenly distributed. I usually make this step more secure by taking a hair elastic and sliding it over the hair-covered donut (this is optional).

-Gather the remaining hair and tuck it under/around the hair-covered donut, securing it with open/bobby pins if you need. Depending on how long your hair is, your ends will simply be tucked under the donut (and the elastic that I added on the former step would be seen), or you will have to wrap your length around it, hiding the optional elastic from view and adding to the volume.

-Optional: Decorating the bun with pins/flowers/barrettes/other hair decorative stuff.

 

Pros of this updo (in my opinion and experience):

-Quick and reasonably easy.

-Secure.

-Imo, pretty stylish.

-Both  a polished or more casual look.

-A lot of  decoration options.

-Voluminous updo.

-Cons of this updo (in my opinion and experience):

-Top knots can cause headaches and/or traction if worn very tight or very often.

-I find it more difficult to get donut buns messy/casual. I do like polished buns a lot, though.

 

More pics:

-You can also braid the remaining length and pin it around the hair-covered donut for a braided donut top knot look. Add a paranda to the braid for a very voluminous look:

Or a ribbon:

I used a really high top knot with a larger foam donut for my Extremis Missy cosplay (Doctor Who S10). I only wore this style once, during a Scotland trip in 2017, and I wouldn't recommend this more extreme version, as it left my scalp feeling really sore after wearing it all day long:

 

SwordWomanRiona / rionashairblog.blogspot.com.es

If you copy-and-paste this post and/or alter it without any permission, credit or link, you're stealing my content. In that case, please stop. Please ask before using my work, or at least share it properly, giving credit to me and my blog.

Hairstyles - The donut bun

Lately, I've been wearing lots of donut buns. I find them reasonably easy and fast to do in the morning, stay all day, and give a lot of volume and a sleek look to the hair (I usually go for the 'sleek' polished donut bun, casual 'messy' variations are also another way to go :) ).

The main hair item needed for this updo is a foam donut. I own a smallish donut (the one shown in the pic below) a medium one, and a really big one (which I got for a cosplay - Missy from Doctor Who's series 10). The three of them are either dark brown or black. 

You can also use a rolled-up sock with the toe-end cut off. I gave it a try, but generally prefer the foam donuts.

• Other items needed for this style:

-A couple of hair elastics (without  metal and preferably close to one's hair-colour)

-Brush/comb to pull your hair up in a high ponytail and/or to smooth your hair. 

-Bobby pins (preferably open, closed can also work).

-Additional for the braided variation shown below: A paranda/ribbon to braid into your hair, other decorative accesories (such as decorative pins, a small barrette, a comb, a fork, etc).

• Methods: There are a couple of ways to do the donut/sock bun -

1. Donut bun with the hair being wrapped into the donut/sock from the ends to the top (risk of mechanical damage with this method)

• The method: Illustrated tutorials here and here.

-Pull your hair up into a ponytail. 

They're usually pretty high ponytails when it comes to sock buns, but lower or side ponytails also work, of course. I use a comb to help pulling my hair up, and a baby brush to smooth the hair into a more poliished look (this step can be omitted for a more casual/messy look).

-Insert the rolled-up sock or foam donut into your ends, hold the ends at the centre of the sock/donut and start rolling the sock upwards towards the elastic, taking care so that the hair is as evenly distributed as possible over and around the sock/bun as your're rolling it up. We're looking for a volumized bun with the hair evenly distributed around the filling and hiding it from view.

 This can be tricky, especially if you have reasonably long hair (I found it pretty tricky to keep the hair evenly distributed around the sock with mid-thigh hair).

-When you reach the base of your ponytail, secure the bun with bobby pins so that it doesn't fall over, making sure that the sock/bun can't be seen.  Depending on your length, texture and technique, you may need a lot of bobby pins to secure the updo, or none at all. Some sock buns can stay secure on their own. 

-The updo can be left like this, or it can be decorated with a scrunchie around the bun, flowers, decorative pins or any kind of hair adornment.

When I found out about the sock/donut bun, this was the first method I learned. I think it tends to give a messier/more casual look to the updo than the second method, and it can also create heatless curls (usually called sock curls - I've also seen rag curls being called 'sock curls', even though they don't involve wrapping the hair into a rolled-up sock).  This method also tends to give very voluminous, 'head-eating' updos, as you can see from my first try (it came out a bit asymmetrical and it didn't stay up very well, but wow, it covered the whole back of my hair!):

So pros of this updo:

-For those who like the effect, it can give a messier/more casual look to the updo than the second method (polished results are, of course, also doable).

-Big hair: This method usually gives a bigger, very voluminous bun. It literally covered the entire back of my head.

-Heatless curls when  taking your hair down, especially if you sleep in it.

However, pros aside, I don't like this method very much. I only tried it once, and I found it pretty time-consuming, not very secure (at least with my length and fine-textured sippery hair) and also pretty damaging, especially if you have fine-textured hair. The method involves wrapping your hair from the ends to the top into a rolled sock or foam donut, and this action is not only rather time-consuming when you have very long hair and have to keep on rolling it up and distributing it evenly around the sock/donut - it can also  create a lot of mechanical damage and tangling. The friction of the hair against the rolled-up sock or donut can create breakage, frizziness, tangles and damage in general (not dissimilar to backcombing). In my personal experience, I didn't even have nice heatless curls when I took it down, because my hair was so frizzy and tangly. It also needed a lot of bobby pins to stay up, and even then, it wasn't a secure updo. Definitely not my method.

Cons of this method, in my opinion:

-High risk of mechanical damage, frizziness and tangles. 

-More time-consuming than the second method.

-More difficult to get a polished or evenly distributed result.

-Less secure (at least for my hair)

2. Donut bun with the hair covering and wrapped around the foam donut/sock:

This is my preferred method. It can give both sleek/polished and casual/messy looks to the final updo, it's easier and faster than the first method (in my opinion), stays more securely for me, and I don't have to worry about mechanical damage.

• The method: 

Video tutorial (I'm using the smaller donut here, lately I've been mostly wearing the medium-sized one):

-Pull your hair up into a ponytail. 

They're usually pretty high ponytails when it comes to sock buns, but lower or side ponytails also work, of course. I use a comb to help pulling my hair up, and a baby brush to smooth the hair into a more poliished look (this step can be omitted for a more casual/messy look).

-Insert the rolled-up sock or foam donut through your length so that it sits on top of the hair elastic at the base of the ponytail. 

-Take the ponytail and spread it over the donut/sock, hiding it from view, and making sure the hair is evenly distributed. I usually make this step more secure by taking a hair elastic and sliding it over the hair-covered donut (this is optional).

-Gather the remaining length and tuck it under/around the hair-covered donut, securing it with bobby pins if you need. 

Depending on how long your hair is, your ends will simply be tucked under the donut (and the elastic that I added on the former step would be seen), or you will have to wrap your length around it, hiding the optional elastic from view and adding to the volume.

 

Pros of this updo (in my opinion and experience):
-Quick and reasonably easy.

-Secure.

-Both  a polished or more casual look.

-Voluminous updo.

-No mechanical damage.

Cons of this updo (in my opinion and experience):

-Can be less voluminous than the first method (for those who prefer head-eating buns)

-I find it more difficult to get this bun messy/casual. I do like polished buns a lot, though.

 

                                                 
With the medium-sized donut, which is the one I've been wearing the most lately:

A higher donut bun/top knot (more about donut top knots here):

Another options: 

-Decorating the bun with pins/flowers/barrettes/other hair decorative stuff like in the former method.

-Letting the remaining length fall loose for a length-shortening updo/half-updo look.

-Braiding the remaining length and pinning it around the hair-covered donut for a braided sock bun look. Add a paranda to the braid for a very voluminous look:

-Three strand braid:

-Rope braid:

-Instead of a paranda, you can also braid a ribbon into your length:

 

SwordWomanRiona / rionashairblog.blogspot.com.es

If you copy-and-paste this post and/or alter it without any permission, credit or link, you're stealing my content. In that case, please stop. Please ask before using my work, or at least share it properly, giving credit to me and my blog.