Women's Hairstyles in the Renaissance

Braids with thread and ribbon adornments were popular during the Renaissance.

Women in the Renaissance began to show more of their hair. While peasant women could not afford jeweled hair accessories and usually wore their hair plainly, women of status wore ribbons and jewels in their hair regularly by the end of the era. Women had long hair and could not bathe often, so the hairstyles of the Renaissance were designed to get dirty hair up and out of the way.

Single Braids

Pull your hair back into one single braid in the center of the back of your head. Braid it as tightly as possible. It is always better to braid dry hair, as hair becomes more elastic when wet and can become uncomfortably tight or even break if braided before it is dry. For a more decorative, formal look, braid in strands of ribbon or beads with the hair or finish off the style with a circlet wrapping around the top of the head and across the forehead.

Multiple Braids

More intricately braided hairstyles were often worn for formal occasions or by women of higher society positions during the Renaissance. A simple style with multiple braids worn by women of all social standings was one with a single small braid coming around each side of the head to meet at the back of the head. Another popular style with more than one braid consisted of two French braids originating from a center part and wrapping around the hairline. Once the entire hairline was braided, the ends of the hair would be braided and wrapped around inside the original circle of braids and secured with pins.

Snoods

Snoods are decorative nets worn as a hair covering in the Renaissance. Women would have worn a snood around a bun or twist hairstyle to help keep the hair in place and to avoid exposing all of a woman's hair, still considered inappropriate in the early Renaissance. Fancier snoods were woven with intricate beading on silk strands and were suited for formal occasions. To wear a snood, wrap your hair into a low bun at the nape of your neck and secure it with pins. Then wrap the snood around the bun and secure with more pins.

Hair Taping

Hair taping achieves a look similar to braiding, but the hair is twisted rather than braided. The resulting look is slightly less structured than braids but can be equally beautiful. Starting with a small section of hair at one temple, begin twisting the strand of hair. When you are about halfway down the length of the hair, incorporate another strand, adding more and more hair until you have twisted down to the end of the hair. Repeat on the other side. When you have twisted down to the ends of the hair on each side of the head, wrap the ends up inside the crown of twists you created and pin them.

Hair Lacing

After braiding or taping the hair into circles around the head, hair lacing was used as a decorative finish. Since ribbons were commonly used for lacing the hair, and were a reasonably affordable decorative touch, women of all classes utilized the style of hair lacing. Hair lacing involves sewing ribbon around the braids or wraps of hair using a bodkin, or ribbon threader. Use multiple colors or styles of ribbon for a fancier look. Start at the back of the head by lacing the ribbon underneath the braids on the nape of the neck. After wrapping whip-stitches around the braids all the way around the head, bring the ribbons back to the neck and tie them off. Cut the extra length of ribbon off and tuck the ends into the braids. This hairstyle is incredibly secure and will last for days, even while sleeping on it.

References

• Eras of Elegance: Hairstyles
• HairStyles All: Renaissance Hairstyles
• Hairfinder: A Brief Look at Braided Hair