10 thoughts on “Queen Charlotte’s Hair & Wigs

  1. Great piece (as usual) with notated examples.

    An aside – many of us pre-ordered your Marie-Antoinette book at CSA (and remembered your talk on the subject). Brava!

  2. I thought that the young men’s hair was tragic, unimaginative and that it actually ruined the look their beautiful historically-accurate clothes were meant to create.

    1. I guess that producers/ designers- whomever has the final call – feels about correct 18th century men’s hair the way they feel about hose and shoes rather than BOOTS! That somehow 18th century men weren’t manly, so we have to change it up. It’s too bad because the correct hairstyle completes the whole look!

  3. I can see why they might want to avoid the 18th c men’s wigs, but some nod to the period would have worked. Like a simple clubbed or braided pony tail. Not an aristocratic look, but cute, and better than the close-cropped completely contemporary style they gave George.

  4. The real Charlotte did look odd. I think it’s her mouth, it seems to big for her face. I wonder is she had malocluded teeth?

  5. I still hate George’s hair SO. SO MUCH.
    Couldn’t they have put him in, I don’t know, a low ponytail? His hair looks so egregiously modern, it hurts my eyes. Just completely ruins the beautiful clothes.

  6. Horace Walpole wrote a surviving letter to General Thomas Conway describing Charlotte’s arrival, in which the subject of her hairstyle and wigs was mentioned.

    After saying that “one heard of nothing but proclamations of her beauty: everybody was content, every body pleased” and that Charlotte “looks very sensible, cheerful, and is remarkably genteel,” he goes on to describe the sumptuous clothing and jewels she wore for her presentation, and then adds this note on her personality:

    “You will have no doubt of her sense by what I shall tell you. On the road they wanted to curl her toupet; she said she thought it looked as well as any of the ladies sent to fetch her; if the King bid her, she would wear a periwig. otherwise she would remain as she was.”

    In this context, it would appear that “toupet” is being used to refer to the natural hair styled in a puff at the front of the head, as opposed to a hairpiece, since a “periwig” is mentioned as an alternate option.

  7. Finally watched the first two episodes of “Queen Charlotte” last night, and found it far superior to “Bridgerton”–certainly a better script. I could get used to pre-Regency rom-com with killer wigs.

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