Victorian Hairstyles: 1840s-1890s Trends, Hats & Bonnets

Hairstyles. This is one of the main ways you can complement your outfit to achieve an authentic look. Victorian women would have always worn their hair up, the only exceptions being girls not yet considered women, and perhaps bohemian artistic types who were making a statement. Loose hair was equated with loose morals, and respectable women would style their hair in the appropriate way according to their position and the occasion.

At the start of the Victorian period, hairstyles were inspired by those of the mid-seventeenth century, with ringlets framing the face on either side of a smooth centre parting, and the rest of the hair gathered into a bun made of plaits at the back of the head. By the late 1840s, instead of side ringlets it became more popular to take the front sections of hair smoothly round to the sides, then take the hair into plaits which were looped around the ear and incorporated into the bun at the back.

Fig. 13.2. The Young Englishwoman, 1865, gives patterns for hairnets which were popular in hairstyles during the 1860s.

By the mid-1850s, front ringlets had fallen out of fashion, and the hairstyles took on a much smoother look at the front, then forming a large chignon or collection of plaits concentrated at the nape of the neck. Throughout the 1860s these arrangements were often encased in decorative hairnets, some with added ribbons, beads and bows. Flowers and ribbons placed on the top of the head, worn with ringlets at the back, were popular for evening wear.

As the fabric of the dresses started to concentrate at the back with the emergence of the bustle, so hairstyles echoed this general silhouette in an attempt to balance it out. Hair was piled in large chignons, plaits and curls on top of the head, often with curls cascading down the shoulders. Most women could not achieve this hairstyle with their existing locks, and the 1870s was the great era of false hair, which could be used to create thickness and height. The ‘princess’ hair arrangement style shown in the illustration from The Ladies’ Treasury of 1876 shows a typically high and full hairstyle, with the description stating ‘When the hair is worn very high it necessitates the wearing of a great deal of false hair’, which it claims is ‘becoming to most figures’. The original photograph portrait that follows shows a large false plait has been used to create the height for this fashionable lady.

Fig. 13.3. This evening coiffure, described in The Ladies’ Treasury in 1876, admits that copious amounts of false hair are required, but that the style is ‘becoming to most figures’

As the bustle fell and dresses became slim and tight, the hair reduced and was dressed more closely to the head. Long ringlets were still popular for evening wear, but otherwise the hair was dressed up and, in comparison to the previous period, quite compacted to the head. Into the 1880s, fringes were popular and some images from this period show short curled or frizzed hair at the front. Although large quantities of false hair were no longer worn, some women wore false fringes if they wanted to achieve the look but didn’t want to cut their real hair short in front.

The fall of the second bustle period and the growth of the sleeve saw a further change in hairstyles. Hair was twisted up at the back, and the fronts were sometimes waved or frizzed, providing some volume in the first half of the 1890s. For the second half of the decade, hair was scraped up and the twist placed higher on the head. This would later grow to much larger proportions into the Edwardian period, with huge bouffants of hair dressed over pads at the front to maintain the shape and volume. This complemented the large pouch of the popular blouse which contrasted sharply with the small waist and high, tight neckline.

Fig. 13.4. This portrait demonstrates the popular hairstyle of the 1870s which uses large plaits of false hair: it would be impossible to create this style without them, even if you had very long, thick hair

Hats and Caps. As hairstyles changed, so the hats and caps worn over them had to adapt to fit. Bonnets were popular in the early Victorian period, and their round brims framed the face and partially hid it from view. The interior of the bonnet brim was trimmed with lace, net and flowers. Caps made from lace, muslin and net were worn indoors. By the late 1850s, wide, round-brimmed straw hats gained popularity, especially with younger generations, and by the later 1860s hats were worn more frequently than bonnets, although the latter remained the most appropriate headwear for formal occasions.

Fig. 13.6. Two styles of hat from The Ladies’ Treasury, 1876, perched high at the top and back of the head, and decorated with copious flowers and lace

In the early 1860s, the spoon bonnet had become popular, as its curved shape rested on the back of the head. However, once more complicated hair designs at the nape of the neck were worn from mid-decade, it was necessary to wear hats that were titled forward to accommodate the growing hairstyle. This continued into the 1870s when the large amounts of false hair made it difficult to wear hats anywhere apart from the front of the head. Indoor caps fell out of favour. As the hairstyles decreased in volume again, straight- brimmed boaters were popular for summer wear in the 1880s, with high- crowned hats developing as the 1880s continued. Small, straight-brimmed hats continued into the 1890s, and by then bonnets with strings were very rarely worn, apart from by the elderly.