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High fashion hairstyles for 1916 (and the ‘Hump’ hairpin)

Along with gorgeous fashion spreads, my August 1916 edition of The Designer magazine includes a fantastic assortment of advertisements illustration how people lived (or aspired to live) and what they bought (or aspired to buy) in the 1910s.

Generally the food-related advertisements are more practical, and less aspirational, and the fashion & beauty related advertisements are very aspirational indeed. They show what to wear to balls, and at the best resorts, and on ocean liners, while linking them back to everyday products.

One of my favourite of the beauty ads is this one for The Hump Hairpin which “locks the locks”, featuring hairstyles purportedly designed by 7 of the leading hairstylists of the day. Each hairstyle, of course, is held in place with Hump Hairpins.

High Fashion hairstyles featured in The Designer, August 1916

The hairstyles are a wonderful glimpse into the changing coiffures of the mid 1910s. The move from low hairstyles, that sit on the nape of the neck, to high ones, with the volume concentrated at the top of the crown, is obvious. So too is the growing fashion for very defined curls and extremely sculpted ripples. Both owe their popularity to improvements in curling irons and hair setting lotions. The irons including the precursor to the one that made the famous ‘Marcel Wave’ of the ’20s. Marcelling tools were popularised and vastly improved during the 1910s. The electronic version of the Marcel waving iron was patented in 1918.

It’s interesting to decipher the names of the hairdressers. I can read: Lehmert & Huth; Benjamin Alexander; Williams; P Rosseau Lay; and Simon. Sadly my two favourite hairstyles: the ladies on the left and the right, second row down, are the ones I can’t quite make out!

It’s also interesting to compare the fabulous hairstyles of the fashionable hairstylists to the marketing of the hairpin. ‘The Hump Hairpin Locks the Locks’ goes on to describe all the things you can do without your hairpins falling out, or your hair growing dishevelled – clearly a problem that many women faced!

We sometimes think of women of the past looking like they stepped out of a bandbox, but with fine slippery hair, holding a fashionably loose hairstyle in place would have been tricky (even in the days when weekly shampooing was more the norm).

I’d really like to get a reproduction of these hairpins to see if they actually work! And a reproduction of each of these hairstyles….

What do you think? Would they hairpins work, or was it all marketing & hot air? And which is your favourite hairstyle?

Portrait of a Girl Holding a Spaniel by Alexander Roslin, mid 18th century (Detail)

Rate the Dress: an 18th century Hoodie

Published by The Dreamstress

I’m so excited about launching the Scroop Patterns Otari Hoodie (which you have about 19 hours left to get 20% off on, along with all the other Scroop Patterns, with the code TWOYEARS at checkout), that of course I had to pick a historical hoodie for this week’s Rate the Dress!

Last week: A mid-1910s iridescent silk taffeta ensemble

Last week’s Rate the Dress pick was…contentious. You definitely couldn’t fault it for not being interesting, but some of you faulted it for pretty much everything else. The two biggest complaints were about the (even more clashing) sash and buttons, and the abrupt join of the two fabrics around the hips.

There were also people who adored the outfit for its personality, and for being such a fabulous example of mid-1910s quirkiness.

The Total: 6.6 out of 10

Well, it’s a slight improvement on the week before it I guess? Unfortunately a lot of the people who adored the outfit only commented on facebook, and I don’t include the FB comments because they get lost to time (and are a pain to count), so not a success for this one this time.

This week: A lavender pink mid-18th century Brunswick

Portrait of a Girl Holding a Spaniel, Alexander Roslin, mid 18th century

This charming young lady was painted by Roslin sometime around 1760, along with her equally charming pet.

Portrait of a Girl Holding a Spaniel, Alexander Roslin, mid 18th century (Detail)

She is clad top to toe in a brunswick ensemble in lavender pink, faced with white satin.

A brunswick was a hooded jacket fashionable in the mid 19th century. Brunswicks were usually worn with matching waistcoats, and the hood could be attached to the jacket, or the waistcoat. Roslin’s lady seems to have a hood which attaches to the waistcoat.

Portrait of a Girl Holding a Spaniel, Alexander Roslin, mid 18th century (Detail)

The young lady’s extremely coordinating ensemble is accessorised with a double pearl choker, and a fashionable mid-century hairstyle, with heavily powdered hair twisted back from the brow, topped with a scattering of flowers, and crowned with a small cap.

Rate the Dress on a Scale of 1 to 10

A reminder about rating – feel free to be critical if you don’t like a thing, but make sure that your comments don’t stray into the kind of meanness that is actually insulting to those who do like a garment. Our different tastes are what make Rate the Dress so interesting, but it’s no fun a comment implies that anyone who doesn’t agree with it, or who would wear a garment, is crazy.

(as usual, nothing more complicated than a .5. I also hugely appreciate it if you only do one rating, and set it on a line at the very end of your comment, so I can find it! Thanks in advance!)

Introducing the Scroop Patterns Otari Hoodie!

Published by The Dreamstress

Meet the newest Scroop Pattern: the Otari Hoodie:

The Otari Hoodie is a classic front-zipped hoodie with a relaxed but feminine fit and polished finishing details. It’s cut to be casual and comfortable without being saggy or frumpy.

With mix and match the pocket and hood views, and the option to use contrasting fabrics for linings and bands, the design possibilities for the Otari are practically limitless. View A features a three-panel curved hood and classic banded pockets. View B features a pointed pixie hood and Art Deco inspired cloud pockets.

Both views end at mid hip and have shoulder seams that sit just off the shoulders, cuff and hem bands, covered front zip and hood joins, and fully-finished and lined hoods and pockets.

The Otari Hoodie comes in the full Scroop Patterns size range – from bust 30″ to bust 52″

The Otari Hoodie started its design journey late last September. Mr D & I went for a walk along the coast on a brisk spring day, and I wanted something fun and casual but warm to wear. Something lighter than a jacket, but heavier than a cardigan, with pockets big enough to hold my phone. I’ve never been a hoodie girl, because the ones in shops just aren’t that inspiring in terms of fabrics and cuts. But Mr D had hoodies…

So I stole one of his hoodies for the walk. And I loved it, but it really didn’t fit me properly (men’s clothes + my hips = nope). So I started making my own hoodie pattern.

My sewing students have been asking for a zip-fronted hoodie for years, but I hadn’t been able to find a pattern that came in the full size range needed for teaching (telling a student that a pattern doesn’t come in their size is the worst feeling in the world), that allowed me to teach the finishing details I like in a garment, and that fit a wide range of women’s bodies reasonably well.

The Otari represents everything I want in a hoodie. It’s got classic options & fun options. It’s got lots and lots of possibilities for playing with design details. It’s beautifully finished, with fully lined pockets (fully, fully lined – no annoying raw edges along the top and bottom of the inside pockets). And the pockets are BIG – with plenty of space to securely hold a phone!

And I really hope you’re going to love it!

Buy your Otari Hoodie Pattern here!

But wait, there’s more!

Since April 1st is Felicity’s birthday, AND the second anniversary of Scroop Patterns launching, I’m celebrating with a sale. All Scroop Patterns are now 20% off until Midnight the 3rd of April, NZ Time.

Use the code TWOYEARS at checkout to get your discount.

Exciting!

Share the pattern goodness on social media: #OtariHoodie

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