BIG Hair

I'm having so much fun with my Etsy theme posts, why not continue? This next one's a bit silly, but I wanted to pull together a few favorite pieces for you depicting most wonderful, whimsical hairdos.

While one takes Grey Gardens as its source, several of them are inspired by the fantastically over-the-top hairstyles around 1770-85, one of my favorite periods in fashion and art/design. Marie-Antoinette is the most famous proponent of this style, but it was common for many fashionable women in Paris to go to the opera wearing miniature ships, gardens, and aviaries atop their heads. Such hairstyles may have been, literally, rat's nests (critters liked to hang out in the wire infrastructure the hair rested upon) ... but it looked so spectacular that the trend continued.



This may not have been the most practical way to dress, but it is so romantic to think about, and rather than styling your hair outrageously yourself, why not pay homage with a pretty print that you can hang in your boudoir?

A Bird in Hand by Justin Richel



Edith and Edith by MarmeeCraft



Bird's Nest Bella by Tilly Bloom



Hive, by Julianna Swaney



Marie Antoinette by Cate Anevski



If this subject interests you at all, I would recommend Caroline Weber's Queen of Fashion: What Marie-Antoinette Wore to the Revolution for a fascinating and penetrating analysis of the way the ill-fated queen used dress as a source of personal and political power. For anyone interested in this time period, fashion, or cultural studies in general it's a wonderful read.