There are lots of movies that aim for a historical aesthetic when it comes to hairstyles and others where it’s a mishmash. But it seems to me that when historical costume movie/TV series hairstyles vary from what WOULD be historically accurate, it’s due to current-to-filming perceptions about hair. So, working decade-by-decade, let’s look at some of these not-so-accurate films/TV series and compare the hair to what’s going on at the time of filming, and see if I’m right! See my posts about the 1910s, 1920s, 1930s in two parts, and 1940s in two parts to find out about historical hairstyles in the movie industry’s earlier decades.
Fashionable Hairstyles of the 1950s
Women’s Hairstyles
Men’s Hairstyles
Historical Movie Hairstyles of the 1950s
Ancient Films of the 1950s
Julius Caesar (1953) | Roman male portrait bust of Marcus Antonius. Fine-grained yellowish marble. Flavian age (69—96 A.D.). Rome, Vatican Museums, Chiaramonti Museum
Julius Caesar (1953) | Portrait of a woman, perhaps Octavia Minor, Augustan period (between 27 BC and 14 AD), Palazzo Massimo alle Terme
Quo Vadis (1951) | Marble bust of Roman Empress Poppaea Sabina, National Museum of Rome
Quo Vadis (1951) | Fresco, Catacombs of San Gennaro at Naples | The healing of a bleeding woman, Catacombs of Marcellinus and Peter, Rome, 4th century
Medieval Films of the 1950s
Ivanhoe (1952) | Queen Berengaria of Navarre, Abbaye de l’Épau | Codex Rossianus 555, fol. 12v, 1453
Ivanhoe (1952) | Isabella of Angoulême, tomb in the church of Fontevraud Abbey
Ivanhoe (1952) | Effigy of Richard I of England in the church of Fontevraud Abbey | King John’s Tomb, Worcester Cathedral
Richard III (1955) | Workshop of Rogier van der Weyden, Portrait of Isabella of Portugal, 1450s, J. Paul Getty Museum | Petrus Christus, Portrait of a Young Girl, c. 1470, Gemäldegalerie
Richard III (1955) | Portrait of Richard III of England, late 16th c., National Portrait Gallery
16th Century Films of the 1950s
Young Bess (1953) | Portrait of Elizabeth I as a Princess, c. 1546, Windsor Castle
After Michael Sittow, Mary Rose Tudor (1496-1533), 16th century, Kunsthistorisches Museum |
Young Bess (1953)
Jean Clouet, Madeleine of France, c. 1522, Weiss Gallery| Young Bess (1953) | Lady Jane Dudley (née Grey), 1590s?, National Portrait Gallery
Young Bess (1953) | Hans Holbein, Portrait Miniature of Elizabeth, Lady Audley, c. 1538, Royal Collection | Lucas Horenbout, c. 1543, via Wikimedia Commons
Young Bess (1953) | Nicolas Denisot, Portrait of Thomas Seymour, 1st Baron Seymour of Sudele, 1547-49, National Maritime Museum
The Virgin Queen (1955) | Queen Elizabeth I, c. 1575, National Portrait Gallery | Portrait of Elizabeth I of England, the Armada Portrait, c. 1588, Woburn Abbey | Marcus Gheeraerts the Younger, A genuine and realistic c.1595 portrait of queen Elizabeth I by Marcus Gheeraerts the Younger, via Wikimedia Commons
The Virgin Queen (1955) | Nicholas Hilliard, Portrait of a Woman, c. 1585-90, Victoria and Albert Museum | Robert Peake the elder, Portrait of Anne Knollys, 1582, Denver Art Museum
The Virgin Queen (1955) | ‘H’ monogrammist (floruit 1588), Sir Walter Ralegh (Raleigh), 1588, National Portrait Gallery | Circle of William Segar, Robert Dudley, 1st Earl of Leicester 1532-1588, 1580-85, Weiss Gallery
17th Century Films of the 1950s
Singin’ in the Rain (152) | Mary Villiers, Duchess of Richmond and Lennox (1622 – 85), c. 1640, Skokloster Castle
18th Century Films of the 1950s
Scaramouche (1952) | After François-Hubert Drouais, Portrait of Marie-Antoinette, c. 1770, Museum of the History of France | Attributed to Adélaïde Labille-Guiard, Marie-Aurore de Saxe, c. 1777, Musée de la vie romantique | Joseph Ducreux, Portrait of Princess Maria Theresa of Savoy (1756-1805), 1775, Palace of Versailles
Scaramouche (1952) | Joseph Ducreux, Archduchess Maria Antonia of Austria, the later Queen Marie Antoinette of France, 1769, Palace of Versailles | Marie Antoinette, 1770, Palace of Versailles
Scaramouche (1952)
Scaramouche (1952) | Joseph de Saint-Michel, Portrait of Monsieur Beeherfer de Vaugency, 1776, Bonhams | Per Krafft the Elder, Antoine Bournonville, c. 1782-92, via Wikimedia Commons | John Singleton Copley, Portrait of John Ward, 2nd Viscount Dudley and Ward, c. 1782-88, via Wikimedia Commons | Wig Maker, Barber, Wigs, The Encyclopedia of Diderot & d’Alembert, 1771
Scaramouche (1952) | Pompeo Batoni, Portrait of Joseph Henry of Straffan, 1750-55, Walters Art Museum | Pompeo Batoni, James Caulfeild, 4th Viscount Charlemont (Later 1st Earl of Charlemont), 1753-56, Yale Center for British Art | Wig Maker, Barber, Wigs, The Encyclopedia of Diderot & d’Alembert, 1771
Singin’ in the Rain (152) |
Louis Tocqué, Portrait of Frederik de Løvenørn (1715-1779), 1736, The Museum of National History | Gustaf Lundberg (attr.), Monsieur de Vergennes, 1771-74, Louvre Museum
Singin’ in the Rain (152) | Jacques Caffieri, Mademoiselle Luzy, de la Comédie-Française, 1776, Musée Carnavalet
Regency Films of the 1950s
Désirée (1954) | François Gérard, Joséphine in coronation costume, 1807-08, Musée national du Château de Fontainebleau
Désirée (1954) | François Gérard, Portrait of Désirée Clary (1777-1860), 1810, Le Musée Bernadotte, Musée Marmottan | François Gérard, Désirée Clary, Reine de Suède et de Norvège, 1808, The Royal Palaces | Desideria av Sverige-Norge, 1829, Skokloster Castle
Désirée (1954) | Jacques-Louis David, The Emperor Napoleon in His Study at the Tuileries, 1812, National Gallery of Art | After Paul Delaroche, Napoleon Bonaparte, 19th c., via Wikimedia Commons
Mid- to Late-19th Century Films of the 1950s
My Cousin Rachel (1952) | Giuseppe Tominz: Portrait of Matilde Hoffmann/Giuseppina Dennler, c. 1840, Gorica Museum | Ferdinand Georg Waldmüller, Young lady at her toilette, 1840, Vienna Museum
My Cousin Rachel (1952) | Franz Xaver Winterhalter, Victoria, Princess Royal (1840-1901), later Empress Frederick of Germany, 1857, Royal Collection
My Cousin Rachel (1952) | Benesch Pál: Deák Ferenc. Akvarell, 1840s, Budapesti Történeti Múzeum | Karl Bryullov, Self portrait, 1848, Tretyakov Gallery | John A Macdonald, from 1842 or 1843, via Wikimedia Commons | Giuseppe Tominz, Portrait of Vincenzo Sambo, 1845-50, via Wikimedia Commons
Sissi (1955) | Franz Xaver Winterhalter, Empress Elisabeth of Austria in Courtly Gala Dress with Diamond Stars, 1865, Het Loo Palace
Sissi (1955) | Ludwig Angerer, Empress Elisabeth of Austria, 1862, via Wikimedia Commons | Emil Rabending, Photograph of the empress Elisabeth (1837-1898), 1867, via Wikimedia Commons
Sissi (1955) |
Ludwig Angerer, Elisabeth, Kaiserin von Österreich (1837–1898), c. 1865, via Wikimedia Commons
Sissi (1955) | Franz Hanfstaengl, Photograph of Empress Elisabeth of Austria, 1854, via Wikimedia Commons
Showboat (1951) | Hayman Selig Mendelssohn, Princess Elizabeth of Hesse, 1887, Royal Collection | Hayman Selig Mendelssohn, Princess Elizabeth of Hesse and by Rhine, 1887, Royal Collection
Showboat (1951) | Hanssen, Carl Joh., Composer and teacher of music, Gustav Fr. Lange (1887), Oslo Museum | Gösta Florman, Otto Lundberg, porträtt, 1887, Swedish Performing Arts Agency
Calamity Jane (1953) | Calamity Jane, c. 1885-90, DeGolyer Library, Southern Methodist University | Calamity Jane, Gen. Crook’s scout, no. 2, 1895, Library of Congress
Nana (1955) | Édouard Manet, Nana, 1877, Kunsthalle Hamburg | Ottonie Bendroth, 1882, Swedish Performing Arts Agency
Early 20th Century Films of the 1950s
The African Queen (1951) | Grand Duchess Olga Nikolayevna, 1914, via Wikimedia Commons | Harris & Ewing photo studio, Hattie Caraway, later first female member of United States Senate (from Arkansas). Full-length studio portrait, sitting, facing front, 1914, Library of Congress | Jane Arminda Delano, 1862-1919, 1914, Library of Congress
1920s Films of the 1950s
Singin’ in the Rain (1952)
Singin’ in the Rain (1952)
Singin’ in the Rain (1952)
Singin’ in the Rain (1952)
Singin’ in the Rain (1952)
Although there are no visual sources to tell us if a coif was worn under a hood,it is strong suggested that the crimped golden ruffle was attached to the coif,if the hood were a multi part headdress.Many reenactors wear coifs or forehead cloths under their hoods because wired buckram isn’t the most pleasing sensation on the head.
Those leia buns in ‘My cousin Rachel’ might be referencing a portrait of Christina Antoinietta Cornelia Vetterlein.Except the portrait seems heavily influenced by Italian Renaissance.
I must comment upon the men’s facial hair (or lack there-of) the 1950’s was a clean-shaven decade, and it really stands out in certain eras (the late-medieval and Tudor especially, but also the 1840’s-1880’s saw the return of the beard or moustache) there are several characters who should have long full beards who are either clean-shaven or sporting a very faint goatee. Its something always sticks out to me, like bangs when there shouldn’t be bangs.
I think Hollywood had its own code, especially for hair: long, loose hair on women says, “nonconformist, rebellious, morally questionable” men’s lack of powder in the hair says, “rebellious but sincere and honourable.”
I love giggling at contemporary versions of non-contemporary hairstyles, but it’s the make-up that drives me mad. A more-or-less accurate hair silhouette with some modern tweaks is acceptable (meaning I don’t jump with alarm), but lashings of blue eye shadow and black liner and shiny, shiny lipstick? Yuck. Apart from the lipstick, Romy Schneider as Elisabeth is really pretty good, with her great piles of hair. If you’re going to fuck up history, do it in the style of an operetta.
That hat from Richard III is a real hat…. I can’t get a picture easily, but it’s often called a butterfly hennin and there are a number of images of it in period artwork. But she should still have her hair up!
How much yelling at the screen did you do? I hope you had plenty of throat drops.
I sincerely hope no one ever uses pictures of my hair in the future. It does not follow fashion, but instead pursues its own inclinations.
As someone who had ridiculously long hair for 20 years, I am certain that even in the original images of Sissi she was wearing a shitton of false hair. Length doesn’t give you that volume. I discovered this to my shock when I finally achieved my childhood dream of “Princess Leia Hair” and realized that it was physically impossible without hairpieces XD
Her hair was floor – length. I think it’s possible.
Katherine Hepburn plays a spinster missionary in Africa whose character is unworldly. No fashionable coiffure for her.
Yes!!!
And @Kendra, plz watch The African Queen, its a wonderful film!!
The African Queen I totally love (and not merely because the great Kate Hepburn not only looked rather like my mother but was here, essentially, playing her). I think you’re being unfair here. The action takes place in 1914, and Rosie Sayer has been in Africa for ten years. So let’s say she left home for Darkest Africa in 1904, with a trunkful of clothes that she has had no opportunity or motivation to update since (even if she knew what was fashionable at home). Given her family’s stern, God-fearing, thrifty background she was unlikely back home ever to have worn anything fashion-forward, or done her hair in a less-than-100%-conservative way, so the production designers very sensibly gave her a tropical version (i.e. all in white linen/calico) of standard 1890s outdoor daywear, with hairdo to match.
By about halfway through the movie she’s down to her camisole and long broderie-anglaise-edged drawers, the rest of her clothes having been torn up for bandages, sails, flags and what-have-you; but search for images of her before her missionary outfit starts to go to pieces and you’ll see she has a shirtwaist blouse with a high, lace-edged collar; a hip-length loose duster coat with slightly-leg-of-mutton sleeves; a long skirt with plenty of petticoats, with a her broad-brimmed hat which she sometimes wears with a veil over it tied under her chin, just like an 1890s lady motorist. It’s all of a piece: this is respectable 1890s English wear adapted for the tropics. And her hairdo is exactly what was worn under those flattish 1890s hats with their big brims: a small bun/topknot right on top of the head and the side/back hair floofed out horizontally under the hat brim.
Those tiers of regimented tight curls on Bette Davis look like something a Flavian Empress would wear! Take Bette’s ruff away and give her a stola, and she’d look just right next to the Empress Domitia and Julia Flavia. Even the hair colour would pass, near enough; I think you can get something pretty close with henna, and Roman women did use that.
I don’t think all 18th-century men powdered their hair all the time. Men who were neither keen on snappy dressing nor frequented places where formal dress was de rigueur, might only have powdered for special and occasions. (Which of course having one’s portrait painted was, hence the rarity of unpowdered portraits.) And in ‘Scaramouche’, Grainger’s character was actually a performer in a travelling commedia dell’arte company, not someone you’s expect to dress or do his hair respectably.
The 1920’s guy you can’t remember who it was looks a good deal like young Mr. Hemingway.
I do have to speak up for young Gigi. At the park it looks like her hair is down, as in the picture you pulled. But when she gets into her apartment and removes the hat you can see that it is in a half- up style like the child pictured. Blame a mom who used to threaten me with “Gigi lessons” so I could turn from an uncultured heathen into someone pleasant. 😆😆😆 I’m not sure she ever sat down and watched the whole movie with me or else she would have known that was courtesan training she was threatening me with!! Albeit only the externals…
Can’t wait for the 60’s one.