Great Expectations: Evaluation

The make up look I produced for Estella is one I am rather proud of, it looks very natural and enhanced the model's beauty, the contouring helping to subtly shape the face to make the character more attractive but add more of an edge that reflects her strong personality. The compliment the trends of the era I also darkened the eyebrows to shape them, this being as it was the age that defining eyebrows starting as people found this more appealing. Looking back however, I wish I had made the lips a little redder, they're still very pale and think a tint more of red would make them stand out more and look more luscious. However, despite this one benefactor, I am very happy with the look I produced and think it reflects the character well on the model.

The hair for Estella was the main part I struggled with in my first attempt, but I think I have created a much better look in my reshoot with my redesign. I love the plats reaching back into the bun, this is my favourite part of the hair look for Estella, I think it help make the look more individual and beautiful, especially the one draped into the bun on each side. I am also much happier with the curls at the front of the head, Starting much lower down they behaved better and suited the model's face better, this was a very good change to make and dramatically helped make the look more suited to the character. Unfortunately, I struggled to curl the hair at the back of the head, my model had previously had her hair crimped earlier in the day, and not having time to wash it or any other day to reshoot, I had to struggle with curling it with the crimps in which proved to be a struggle, I think had the hair not have been crimped the look would be much cleaner and pretty, though still think this look is a huge improvement on that of my last attempt.

Though this make up look took a while to create, I think my work paid off, I tried not to use too much aging stipple as this look is based on Miss Havisham from her first appearance in the story, where her aging face is most likely down to her stress and poor diet. I love the colours I mixed to help create the eye bags, I think the subtle changes in colour and darkening of tones helps make the strained and tired effect more realistic and I am very proud of how well I did this. I am also pleased with how I managed to mix a colour to match that of a vein showing through the skin on the side of my model's forehead, when on camera it looks very real and effective. However, the contouring is not as effective on camera and becomes rather lost in the face, though the colour of the new tone does help make the model look more dead and zombified, but needs to be darker to help hollow out the features of the model now that I have reviewed the images. I also feel if I had added latex to the lips I may have been able to make them look more chapped and dry, in the images they just seem pale though this is good for the look also. Though I cannot say I am disappointed in this look, because in fact, I am very proud of it, I do feel there are a few small details I would change if given the chance to reshoot.

I really do like the styling I did for Miss Havisham's hair, but, I had to use a wig as my model's hair wouldn't work and it's very obvious the hair isn't real, so no matter how proud I am about the styling due to my concideration of sleep and hair growth, it will never look as effective until used on real hair or a very high quality wig, unfortunately this was unavoidable due to time and money restraints. If using a model with ages or white hair, I think this look would be perfect for Miss Havisham, I thought a lot about the small details whilst designing it, remembering to include wedding flowers and a veil and find it unfortunate that I had to use a wig to try and create it.

Overall, I feel I have put a lot of effort in to the project and do not feel like it was wasted, for the most part, I am very proud of all of the work I have produced, I may realise things I would like to change, but this will help me in the future and I can learn from my mistakes.

Great Expectations: Miss Havisham Final Images

Great Expectations: Estella Final Images

Great Expectations: Final Design Miss Havisham

• Aging Stipple (Mostly around eyes)
• Pale Foundation
• Yellow Tint Contouring (Eyes sockets, nose and cheeks)
• Eye Bags and Sunken Eyes
• Veins (Side of head)
• Greyed Eyebrows and Lashes
• Chapped Lips

In my final design for Miss Havisham, my makeup design has only a few changes from the second design in my face charts, for the final look I decided to include the veins on the side of the head and the greying of eye lashes and brows. Though these are small details, I feel they will help make the overall look more dramatic and I am very excited about bring this look to life, almost an irony to the fact Miss Havisham is almost dead.

For the hair, I continued to deteriorate from my other sketches, showing the effects of growth and other environmental issues. Nearly all of the hair is falling out, but the bun is maintaining so form as it would be held in place by a lot of pins and clips, it won’t be as neat as it once was and will be falling apart slightly, but the amount of styling gone into it will still be holding the majority of it in place, because of this, the veil and flowers pinned into it will also remain vaguely in their original positions. Although it may not seem like a lot of styling is included in the hair, a lot of consideration has gone into deciding how time would have taken effect on the style.

Great Expectations: Final Design Estella

Having done my first attempt of Estella, I have now improved upon my design to create my final ideas. By doing this, I have created a makeup and hair look I think portray her character in the best way possible and excite me to make my look a reality.

• Natural Base
• Contouring (Nose and Cheeks)
• Pink Blush (Very Light)
• Defining Eyebrows
• Brown Eye Shadow (Shading)
• Brown Eyelashes
• Pink Tinted Lips

I have barely changed the makeup design, only adding a very soft pink blush to the cheek, as the Estella I am creating is a young adult, so the blush will help make her look more youthful.

For the hair, I adapted the design I created for the first attempt of the look, in this idea I lowered the curls from the top of the head at the front of the hair as it helps show the middle parting better, but also helps maintain the curls in a more uniform manner. The curls at the back haven’t been changed, it just comes down to how much I section off whilst actually doing the style, but the other problem I found was the plat became lost with the hair, so for this design I added two more for each side of the head, this will make them more noticeable and will make Estella seem more elegant and beautiful.

Great Expectations: Practicing for Miss Havisham

In preparation for creating Miss Havisham, I practiced using Aging Stipple on another person instead of myself, as I expected, it was much easier to do so and I feel my technique has improved by having a better perspective in which to view what I was doing.

Feeling more confident in my application of the stipple, I tried colouring over the latex to make the model look more aged and worn down, I don’t think it went as well as it could have, looking back I would like to make the eye bags slightly darker so will remember this while doing my look.

In this practice I also attempted to add veins on the side of the face, near the eye, it took a while to mix up a colour that would work, but think in the end I did rather well and now definitely want to use this idea in my final look for Miss Havisham.

Overall, those this is a relatively small part of the makeup, it is also the most important so getting it right is vital, I feel as though I can do a good job now after this practice, learning my strength and how to fix my mistakes made here.

Great Expectation: Designing Miss Havisham

• No Wrinkles
• Pale Foundation
• Yellow Tinted Contouring
• Pale Lips
• Heavy Eyebags
• Messed Eyebrows (Greying)
• Veins

For this look, I explored the idea of not aging Miss Havisham, seeing if I could just use shading and highlights to create just as an effective look as that of using latex to enhance wrinkles. To add more detail I included veins at the side of the head near the eyes, a sign of stress and decaying. Although I like the colours and shading I included, I do think it lacks without more manipulation of the face to create a more aged look, so I have decided against this look for reasons I think are very obvious.

• Aging Stipple (Mostly around eyes)
• Pale Foundation
• Yellow Tinted Contouring
• Pale Lips
• Heavy Eyebags
• Messed Eyebrows (Greying)
• Chapped Lips

I am very much happier with this makeup design, the aging stipple helps give the edge to the look which makes it look like that of Miss Havisham, the stipple will make her look more decayed and almost dead-like as describing in her first appearance of the novel. I am happy with this look, it will most likely become my final idea provided I practice the techniques required to get the best effect possible. In the design I only coloured half the image, this is so I know which areas wll need the most aging whilst applying the makeup, giving myself a more instructive template to work from.

Having chosen the makeup design I moved my sights to designing the hair.

This image was a quick sketch of how I envision the hairstyle Miss Havisham will have had on the day of her failed wedding ceremony. I felt it was important to design this before settling on her styling in the time period in the story, knowing the base of the original design means I can work from it to then break down as it would have throughout the years, considering hair growth, sleeping and any other conditions the hair may have gone under during the years between.

For this sketch, it broke the hair style down more, showing the effects of environmental issues it will have under-gone, excluding the idea of growth, only being the next stage of her hair style from that of her wedding day, I think this is a good next step in the development of my hair styling and for my final look shall include the effects of grow and age on the hair also, but from these two sketches I feel as though I am on to a good idea and style for my final look. I am confident I will create a good final design for the hair and makeup, and then shall successfully tranlate it onto my model to create my own interpretation of Miss Havisham.

Great Expectations: First Attempt Estella

Here are the images from my first attempt of Estella’s makeup and hair, it was originally my final look but now that I have shot there are many things I would like the change and therefore decided that I will reshoot and make a few changes to the hairstyle I chose to use.

I am pleased with the makeup, but it shows up poorly on camera, so when reshooting I will try to make it heavier so that it will be picked up by the camera more, although it’s a natural look, the flash made it so the contouring and shading of the face are rather non-existent, the model’s face seems flat and not giving her the depth and dramatic angles I see Estella having, matching to her personality.

The issue I find I have with the hair is that the curls at the front aren’t behaving correctly and sticking out at strange angles, the plats I included aren’t very noticeable and just fade in with the rest of the hair and the curls under the bun seem weak and thin, almost randomly placed there. Though I still like the initial idea, my execution of it wasn’t up to standard, though I will rethink my idea again before the shoot, considering more plats to adorn the hair with more detail and placing the curls at the front lower down to avoid the over volumised issue I faced with this attempt.

Great Expectations: Designing Estella

For Estella’s look, I am completely certain that the makeup look I will be creating for Estella will be that of a very natural and basic one, as she is naturally beautiful in description of the novel, it should be that the makeup applied shouldn’t be heavy and noticeable, but just make the actor look flawless and alluring.

To achieve this look I will be matching the foundation to match the skin tone of that of my model, shading to only enhance features and bring out natural colours in the face.

•           Natural Foundation Base
•           Contouring Nose and Cheek Bones
•           Brown Eye Shadow (Shading only)
•           Darken Eyebrows to Define
•           Pink Tint to Lips (Or Red?)
•           Brown Mascara

Above is a face chart I created so I know exactly the natural look I will be trying to create for Estella, having done this I can move onto designing her hairstyle which is more important to her character’s styling, this is because the hairstyle is what will help show the era she is from, also showing her high up status in society.

This is a very simple hairstyle from the Victorian Era, the hair has been separated with the back pulled tightly into a round bun, the front around the face having been curled to add more detail to the hair. I do like this simple look but feel it wouldn’t be right to use on the final look, Estella is from a wealthy background and therefore would try to decorate her hair more elaborately to show this, therefore, I will try to develop this style further with more plats and curls which were the desire of the age.

This design was developed from the sketch above, taking a section between the front and back of the hair to create a plat on each side of the head, reaching backwards to then wrap around the bun. To add more curls I also left a section of hair underneath the bun loose, to curl and then pin also though falling out from under it. I think these features help make the look more elegant and richer, working better for Estella’s character. For these reasons and a personal like for the design, I will be using this for Estella in my look.

Great Expectations: 2012 Film

ESTELLA

This is the newest production of Great Expectations, in this version they have used Holliday Grainger to play the part of Estella. This is one of the only times I have ever seen Estella without (dark) brown hair, which when it’s the only feature to be commented upon in the novel I find myself have a little bit of a problem with the choice to move away from this colour. However, I decided to look past this fact and focus on how she was styled.

When styling the hair they followed the popular trends of the ages, much as I am trying to do myself, however they mostly chose styles which involved all of the hair being up in a tight bun or braids, in my own styling I would prefer to leave the front of the hair loose to curl, a style a found more common in my research then that of all the hair being up, though do love the styles they created for the movie.

For the face makeup, they once again like in the 2011 production, kept her looking very natural with very minimal cosmetics applied, which as I mentioned before I am hoping to achieve in my own final look.

MISS HAVISHAM

Here, to play the part of Miss Havisham they cast Helena Bonham Carter, who works very well in portraying her personality and appearance. Unlike in other interpretations of Miss Havisham, she has much heavier, more gothic makeup, I do find this works well with the character and does make her look more deranged and mentally unstable, but doesn’t really show her to be as ill as I picture her in my own mind, though I like what they have done, it is not how I initially pictured her myself.

How they have styled the hair perfectly interprets her crazy, unhinged personality and mind, with this it appears that over time her hair has fallen look and become un-styled, the curls growing naturally and due to lack of care are out of hand and untamed. Once again, I like how they have shown to style her hair, though it isn’t something I would think of styling myself for the character.

Overall, I really like how they have created Miss Havisham in this film, but find my own view of the character differing a fair bit, knowing this I will be interested to see what look I settle on in comparison to this newest interpretation of Miss Havisham.

Great Expectations: 2011 TV Series

ESTELLA

Vanessa Kirby played the character of Estella in this recreation of Great Expectations, broadcast during 2011 from the BBC. In this production of Great Expectations, Estella has continued to have her trademark dark brown hair, though it looks almost black which in my own mind is how I envision her hair being coloured. The makeup applied to her is also very light and natural, only highlighting her beauty and not using it as a mask to hide behind.

When styling her hair as an adult, they left it rather loose so that curls of hair hang down the side by her ears, though personally I think it might be a little too loose and messy considering her upper class status in society, though for the time period having loose curls was very popular supporting that idea in the hairstyle.

I really like this version of Estella and think they’re done a very good job on the hair and makeup, this is very similar to how I have pictured Estella myself, though I would like to try doing a more elaborate hair style including braids and possibly flowers as this was considered to extend the beauty of woman past just her face.

MISS HAVISHAM

For this very of Great Expectations, Gillian Anderson played the role of Miss Havisham. I find this interpretation to portray Miss Havisham more as ‘the ghost of her former self’ she constantly refers to herself as, her whole appearance being very white and spirit-like, though her face and hands to show signs of withering, though this might just be their way of showing her decaying mind, increasing the withered look ever so slightly as continuing in the story, but the looks seems to follows the rules of symbolism more than realistic turn of events.

I really like how they have made her face look distorted by illness, dark sunken eyes and cracked lips showing she is not as all well and no longer cares for herself, I think the use of makeup here perfectly fits the character of Miss Havisham. Upon first meeting Miss Havisham in the series, I liked the hair design, the long flat roots made it seem like it has been styled many years ago and the curls which had been put in were growing out, but as the series progresses and there is a large time skip, this doesn’t change and the roots remain the same length which in reality they would not as the hair would grow more, moving the curls down. They also didn’t include the flowers and veil, so although I originally liked the look, as I continued watching I found myself discovering more and more problems with it.

Despite my problems with the hair style, I do really like how they used makeup to show her ill and withering body, and will be taking inspiration from how they have created her sunken eyes and cracking lips, I think these features are very prominent and match her character perfectly.

Great Expectations: 1946 Film

ESTELLA

In the 1946 film of Great Expectations young adult Estella is played by Valerie Hobson, I think she portrays Estella rather well, playing her out as she is in the story very well. However, for the purpose of this project I need only assess her appearance.

Even though the film was in black and white, as indicated in the novel, this version of Estella has dark brown hair, and throughout her time as an adult is always up is a traditional manner. It is also clear that for the purposes of filming, her eyes have been darkened as have her lips, though this was most likely done to make her clearer for the camera format to pick up, I do think it seems a little out of character as she seems more naturally beautiful, therefore any makeup applied would be to highlight this instead of hiding flaws. I also don’t necessarily agree with the styling of her hair in her first scene as an adult (as the time in the book I am basing my look for her on), through my research I am aware that upper and middle class citizens did include many forms of décor in their hair, but it is not mentioned   that they often wore hats, I may be mistaken but while creating my own look, I would much rather use the hairstyle to accentuate her beauty and higher class.

Though I find this films interpretation of Estella to be very accurate and well done, there are many small things I would do differently which help me to create my own design for the characters different from that of this film.

MISS HAVISHAM

Martita Hunt plays the role of Ms Havisham in this production of the novel, how her makeup and hair has been done is very similar to that of the sketches and my own personal vision of the character. My favourite part of this creation of Miss Havisham is how well they have created her hair, as described in the book, it is white and adorned with wedding flowers and a veil. The style of the hair is very messy and loose which perfectly fits her crazy and broken character, but also shows how it has been affected by time in that a style that was most likely perfect and tight to the shape of her head upon her wedding day, is starting to fall out over the time, but also due to this length of time has grown making it loose and unmanaged, becoming dishevelled as the new hair is forced to sit beneath a hairdo that was fixed many years ago.

Though I love how the hair was styled for this look of Miss Havisham, I do have a few problems with her makeup, I think her skin looks too perfect and clean, but having been wearing the same clothing for years and not bothering to take her hair down I highly doubt she would bother to wash her face. It is also evident in the story that Miss Havisham has caused herself to become mentally unstable and ill, I feel as though this sickness would be reflected on her face, even if just by lack of sleep causing large eye bags.

To conclude, I will be taking great inspiration from this representation of Miss Havisham towards designing her hair style, however, will look to other ideas when applying makeup to help create a look best suited to her character in my own interpretation.

Great Expectations: Applying Wigs and The Aging Process

Towards the start of our project, one of our seminars involved a talk by Kate Benton the founder of PAM (Precious About Make-up) who showed us many helpful tips in creating aging looks to allow us to expand upon them for our looks for Miss Havisham.

I really enjoyed Kate’s talk, she gave a very clear insight to the world and life of a professional makeup artist, showing us a small (but very impressive) selection of her on-site makeup kit, leaning towards more special effects and prosthesis in the world of makeup, something I am very interested in personally.

She taught us many things, going into more detail to teach us how to apply lace wigs and create a more aged look to a younger face. I took notes on how to do these two things step by step so I can perhaps refer back to them later in life when it becomes necessary.

APPLYING A WIG

1.       Glue front of hairline back using Gaf-Quat (condensed hair spray) and pin back with wide spaced clips.

2.       Pull hairnet over hair from around neck, tucking all hair in evening from the back.

3.       Pin front of hair net to the hair, sliding the pins under the wide clips already in place.

4.       Slide wig over hairnet into place along the hairline.

5.       Ask model to hold front of wig in place while fitting the rest over the model’s head.

6.       Adjust till sitting right.

7.       Carefully use pins to hold in pace, making sure they’re not visible through the hairs.

8.       If wig is too big, add pleats in the back to fit head shape.

9.       Use spirit gum to stick lace front to forehead.

10.   When applying spirit gum, start in centre and move down the sides to avoid creases, applying the spirit gum under the lace and pressing it down on top.

11.   Use more pins to secure wig if necessary.

Unfortunately I do not own a lace wig to test this method out personally, but can practice with the many wigs I currently own, though I will be buying a lace front wig (not full lace) at some point in which I’m sure this technique will prove just as useful.

OLD AGE STIPPLE

1.       Note: Old Age Stipple works better when warmer.

2.       Stretch skin and paint on very thin layer of the stipple. (If applying around the eye, brush down and away.)

3.       Dry carefully whilst still holding stretched, then powder the area before releasing so the stipple will not stick together.

4.       Layer up the stipple until satisfied; also apply to as many areas until satisfied.

5.       In any hair become stuck, use tweezers to unstick.

6.       Adding shading to the wrinkles will add more depth and make the person look more aged.

Fortunately, I happened to own some old age stipple, to one of the things I did soon after this seminar was to test out this technique on myself to see how well I could achieve it.

I think it is obvious I need to practice more with this technique, I would much rather work on another person than myself, as I found it very difficult to do so and think by using another model, I will be able to oversee the process more appropriately. I really like this technique and will definitely practice it more as I would really like to use it in creating my own look for Miss Havisham.

Overall, I feel very motivated by this talk and have learn a lot of new and exciting things from it, I think they will all come in very useful when creating the character Miss Havisham, possibly Estella is a wig were required for her. I hope in the future either Kate Benton will revisit and teach us new things, or maybe another makeup artist with as many impressive skills.

Great Expectations: Miss Havisham

Miss Havisham isn’t mentioned until late on in chapter 7, though she isn’t present she is centre of the conversation between the already current characters of the novel. It isn’t until part way into chapter 8 that Pip finally meets the previously mentioned women upon entering her house. Pip’s first reaction to Miss Havisham was to remark her to be a strange women, thought he would never say this to her face.

“She was dressed in rich materials - satins, and lace, and silks - all of white. Her shoes were white. And she had a long white veil dependent from her hair, and she had bridal flowers in her hair, but her hair was white. Some bright jewels sparkled on her neck and on her hands, and some other jewels lay sparkling on the table. Dresses, less splendid than the dress she wore, and half-packed trunks, were scattered about. She had not quite finished dressing, for she had but one shoe on - the other was on the table near her hand - her veil was but half arranged, her watch and chain were not put on, and some lace for her bosom lay with those trinkets, and with her handkerchief, and gloves, and some flowers, and a prayer-book, all confusedly heaped about the looking-glass.”

He then continues to remark that all that was white was perhaps not white at all, having aged and turned dirty and yellow throughout the years. The most description towards Miss Havisham’s appearance we get from this quote is her white hair in which were bridal flowers and veil, all of which sounds to be messy and unarranged due to the growth of the hair. These are some key elements I will be using in my designs of Miss Havisham for my final piece. Pip also comments on how Miss Havisham seems withered, her eyes sunken in and seemed almost like a skeleton in loose clothing.

Throughout the rest of this chapter, Pip gives the impression Miss Havisham is very much a dead soul though a living body, at one point saying that he was sure the woman could no longer smile, continuing to indicate she would most likely never have an uplifting feeling ever again.

This image is one of the many original sketches of Miss Havisham, printed into later copies of the novel. The sketch perfectly shows Miss Havisham as she is described, the white hair, small flowers and veil, she also looks very small and withered away in a rather baggy white wedding gown, her eyes are sunken in and her expression is that of a broken woman. These are very important features to remember when creating my own look.

Though Miss Havisham doesn’t change much throughout the story, only aging and becoming more degraded and withered-away, I will be basing my look towards when she first appears in the novel as I have taken into account the case of her illness, and possibly anorexia, meaning getting a model for her early appearance would be easier to cast then that of later in the story.

References:

Charles Dickens (1996) Great Expectations. Penguin Classics. London.

Great Expectations: Estella

Estella first appears in the 8^th chapter of the novel, however, the characters wasn’t mentioned in the story beforehand, adding an element of history to the character. The only implication of her features from this chapter is the slight mention of her brunette hair. Though her looks aren’t commented on a lot, her personality comes across very stuck-up and demanding. 

This image depicts Estella as a young girl, her appearance shows her to be very appropriately mannered, her expression also making her have a very controlling and strong presence. She comes across as a strictly raised child, in an environment of richness and royalty. She looks like a pretty young girl who could get her a way with a snap of her fingers.

Further into the story, long after Pip is no longer required by Miss Havisham and no longer sees Estella, he is called back to Satis house many years later, in chapter 29, this is the first encounter with Estella as a young adult. However, her appearance still isn’t explained in full detail, she is only referred to as very beautiful and bright. This leaves her overall look open to the readers imagination, a very slim guidance from the drawings of her in the illustrations along with the novel.

This image is also from later on in the story, showing Estella once she has grown into a young lady around or after chapter 29, her posture is very alluring and seductive, as her character is described. Her hair and clothing implies she is very well off, and makes her seem more beautiful than that of her already prominent beautiful facial features. This image shows that she is, indeed, a beautiful young woman overall, and adds a small sample of how she actually looks whereas the novel doesn’t say much to invoke the readers imagination towards a direct appearance.

Chapter 29 is where I will be basing my own look for Estella, this being because as a women, Estella would have more variety to her look through her hairstyles and gives me more chance to have an artistic freedom to her look. Also being a young adult it would be much easier to find a model best suited to her, rather than a child would also may not sit while whilst trying to create the look. Overall, I think the young adult Estella would portray her beauty and character more successfully than that of any other stage of the story.

Reference:

Charles Dickens (1996) Great Expectations. Penguin Classics. London.

Great Expectations: Fashion of Era

While researching nineteenth-century fashions, I have focused mainly on clothing worn by British upper and middle class citizens, this being because it’s implied Ms Havisham was wealthy and therefore would have been able to afford these high class fashions, no doubt using what money she had left after her break down to shape her adopted daughter, Estella, into the finest woman possible so that she could lure in men more easily to break their hearts. Therefore, for these two characters, this style of clothing seems most appropriate.

During this era, fashion reached a new level in transforming a woman’s appearance, using whalebone corsets, cage crinolines, bustles and a variety of other structured garments to empathise the curves of a woman very dramatically.

Whalebone Corset

Cage Crinoline

Bustle

Though fashion had become much plainer in terms of décor upon the garments, this was made up for in the changes in cut and construction which had evolved to be far more elaborate and impressive. A large number of the garments were ‘puffed’ and ‘slashed’, this was influenced by the Tudor dresses, a lot of the sleeves of the dressed were ‘puffed’ which was carried over from the Tudor styles.

Most of the dresses were also very high cut, showing barely any of a women’s chest, long sleeves covering her arms and long skirts hiding the wearer’s legs. This meant a woman was almost completely covered with no skin on show, this was to add an element of mysterious to a woman so that the man would be left to his imagination and wonders.

The structure of these dresses made it so that the skirt and bustle gave the impression of having large curving hips, however, the corset was to create a smaller waist on the women which created a few health problems among women as by making the waist smaller it bent their ribs inwards and would squash their internal organs, though it didn’t create major problems, extensive use was more damaging and would be a lot of effort for the wearer as their ribs would push onto their lungs creating less room to breathe. Though as time went by, the corset was developed so it became safer to wear and create less pressure to the internal organs, working more with the woman’s natural figure.

Finally, I looked at nineteenth-century wedding dresses in regards to Ms Havisham as throughout the story she remains in her own wedding dress from which she was stood up at the altar. The fashion of Wedding dresses was not too dissimilar to the trends already involved in the era, however, the neckline of the dresses were more open and showed a bit more of the woman’s chest, corsets being worn under the garment to make the shape seem more natural and desirable. The sleeves of these dresses were almost always ‘puffed’ as it was considered more romantic and therefore appropriate for a wedding.

I haven’t researched into the fashions in much depth for this project, this being because as a makeup artist, hair and makeup is more my focal point of character production. I also may not be able to get hold of these elaborate costumes for my project, but will still consider the outfits for the characters so my styling choices are more fitting and consistent.

Reference:

Lucy Johnston (2007) Nineteenth-Century Fashion In Detail. V&A Publications. London. (Including Images)

Great Expectations: Hair of Era

During the Nineteenth Century there were a lot of developments in hair styles, during my research I have found a lot of sketches demonstrating popular year by year looks, to narrow these all down I focus on the years of 1800 – 1870, reducing it down further by looking into English styles and those for children in consideration towards Estella as a young girl.

1800 – 1810

In this decade, hairstyles took a dramatic change and had a much larger variety in choice; short and long equally curled and accessorised. These highly ornamented hair styles added more glamour to the woman’s appearance, compensating for their plain gowns.

  

These images highlight popular hairdos women styled their hair into during this new turn of a decade, the circled images are ones fashioned in Britain and most commonly worn. It also shows the use of accessories in the hair, adding more class and richness to their look.

1810 – 1820

As time passed into the next decade, styles became more clearly designed. These new styles were usually straightened hair, dressed very close to the head with a top knot to add more height. To add variation, the bun would be adorned with braids or curls, causing the topknot to be of huge importance to the styles. The hairline was often softened by adding curls, braids or accessories, but as the years went by, more hair was used in front making it more part of the style then just an afterthought to finish the design.

Once again, the images displayed above very clearly demonstrate these styles, the circled sketches being those that were very common and highly regarded in Britain. There are less accessories in the hair, but the style itself is more elaborate and perfectly designed.

1820 – 1830

During the third decade of the period, topknots had become highly desired and continued to develop, adding more height in some cases and unique styling in others. However, the higher the hair was styled, the harder it was to keep it sturdy, this resulted in women having their hair wired into place to add more structure and make the style more stable and long-lasting. The front of the hair also became more important, it’s arrangement becoming more and more elaborate for both front and back of the hair, only to become more complicated by going back to old fashions of the early nineteenth century and adding accessories into the style once more with ribbons, feathers, jewels, flowers and pins. Ringlets were also becoming ever more popular and fashionable; along with the great desire to have dark hair, black being considered to be very elegant and beautiful.

(Facts demonstrated in images above)

1830 – 1840

Entering the 1830s, hairstyles developed to having individual designs for that of young girls, designed for older women didn’t change much from the previous decade, but the idea of styling younger girls hair made them appear more sophisticated and grown up. There isn’t much information to be found about these looks other than the sketches below.

Being younger, the girls tended to have shorter hair as it was still growing, so the looks were mostly loose and didn’t include top knots and buns like those of the adult hairstyles. However, these looks did include the braids and other hair décor such as flowers, leaves and feathers.

1840 – 1850

In this decade, the change in hairstyles took a very minor change, that being that the top knots all evolved into buns on the back of the head rather on top, though some buns being higher up, coming close to previous styles. Braids also became more excessive and desired, they added a natural glamour to the wearers hair without need to add other accessories, though they were still highly used until later in the decade when braids became less common though still used in evening hair-dos. This meant accessories were more glamourised and took the place of braids in the hair to add more beauty.

(Facts demonstrated in images above)

1850 – 1860

Accessories in the hair were still high regarded in styles entering this decade, but unfortunately for those with short hair, this era was focused on long hair on women. Long hair in this era was greatly admired, with envy from many. Though this was the desired look, not many of the new styles showed this off, most of the hair still being put up out of the way, though new looks developed allowing parts of the hair to hang loose, perhaps so women could show off the length of their own hair to show the beauty of its and therefore themselves. Naturally curly hair was also envied, many women striving to achieve the look that others naturally gained.

(Facts demonstrated in images above)

1860 – 1870

This decade began the obsession with false hair, throughout the ten years women wearing more hair then they had natural, obscuring their natural hair completely. It was also the era of the chignon hairstyle, the images below showing the great variety in chignons, most of these styles having to be done professionally so having the look was considered very high-class and the person would have been very well off to afford these very popular styles. Curls were also now more popular and desired then ever before.

(Facts demonstrated in images above)

Conclusion

Having researched all the popular hairstyles in the years covered in ‘Great Expectations’, I believe I am now most prepared to start creating designed based on the time frame and ages of the characters as they appear throughout the story, then making it possible to select what chapter I wish to recreated Estella from, and what style Ms Havisham would have been presented in for her wedding, though I will consider how time would have effected growth of hair and effect of time to the actual styling. I feel very confident I can create a look that reflects each character both in personality and appearance through considering the hair styles appropriately.

References:

Richard Corson (2001) Fashion in Hair: The First Five Thousand Years. Peter Owen Publishers. Suffolk. Pages 463-484. (Images used from pages 499-531)