Serpentine Braids or Straight As A Scabbard: Women's Court Hairdressing In12th Century Europe

Serpentine braids or Straight as a Scabbard: Women's Court Hairdressing in12th Century Europe
Serpentine braids or Straight as a Scabbard: Women's Court

Hairdressing in12th Century Europe
About the class

This is intended to be an informal workshop/demo on hairstyling techniques and
accessories in 12th century Western Europe. There's actually quite a bit in the
handouts that is intended to be goodies to take home.
I'll be demoing both three-strand and “two-strand” or ribbon bound braids,

hopefully on volunteers, otherwise on my faithful wigstand. We'll have a show-and
tell and you can look at my various accessories and false hair pieces, though only
the simplest is included in the handouts.
Handouts:
There are a total of six handouts for this class, including this one. Some are multi-
page. The list of handouts is as follows:
1. Intro, further reading and sources (this page)
2. hairdressing types overview (frequency of elements, etc) 2p
3. Accessories overview (veils, ribbons, weights, pins, circlets) 1p
4. Braiding Techniques instruction sheets (1p) 3-strand braids, 2-strand + ribbons
“woven” braids
5. Basic Veil Draping (2p)
6. False hair use (2p)
Instructor:
This class is taught by Branwyn M. Townsend, known in the SCA as Lady
Marguerie de Jauncourt. I've been in the SCA for eight years. I have been
studying and re-creating historic clothing for twice that long. My area of special
interest in the SCA time frame is 12th Century clothing, and its evolution from
earlier forms, as you may have guessed. I have been tracking the elusive bliaut
(French court gown) for over seven years, along with its accompanying hairstyles.
Bibliography/Further reading
Web Sites
Doyle, Sarah Clothing of Norman Women in the Late 11th and Early 12th Centuries
(Norman English women)
http://freespace.virgin.net/sarah.doyle/KIT.htm
Folsom, Branwyn The Bliaut Files (instructor's website, detailed information on court and
women's dress)
http://bliautlady.50megs.com
Payne, Grace The Beautiful Bliaut (construction of separate-skirt type women's court
dress in detail)
http://www.chateau-michel.org/belle_bliaut.htm
Virtue, Cynthia The Medieval Clothing Articles
http://www.virtue.to/articles/
Books
Boucher, Francois 20,000 Years of Fashion - the history of costume and personal
adornment Harry N. Abrams, no date
Bradfield, Nancy Historical Costumes of England 1066-1968 Costume and Fashion Press,
1997
Davis, R.H.C. The Normans and their Myth Thames and Hudson, 1976
Dodwell, C.R. The Pictorial Arts of the West 800-1200 Yale University Press, 1993
Egan, Geoff and Pritchard, Frances Medieval Finds from Excavations in London:3 Dress
Accessories 1150-1450 HMSO,1991
Kohler, Carl A History of Costume Dover, 1963
Piponnier, Francoise and Mane, Perrine Dress In The Middle Ages Yale University Press,
1997
Stoddard, Whitney S. Sculptors of the West Portraits of Chartres Cathedral: Their Origins
in Romanesque and Their Role in
Chartrain Sculpture: Including the West portals Norton, 1987
Tate, Georges The Crusaders: Warriors of God Harry N. Abrams, 1996
Copyright ©2004-2010 Branwen Maura Townsend. Please email for permission to reproduce. jauncourt@gmail.com
Hairdressing types overview

In preparing the handouts for this workshop, I charted the frequency of various elements in 12 th century hairdressing
(for all classes), as depicted in artworks. To keep the sample from being too far skewed towards religious iconography,
all “enthroned virgins” were deliberately left out and only saints' effigies that looked to have particular care put into
making them appear as human as possible were considered (St. Foy falls into that category because of the degree of
realism in her clothing).
The results were somewhat startling.
Overall Frequency of 12th century hairdressing elements in a sample of 90 artworks

Veil
50
Circular
Wrapped
45
Number of occurences of each element
Long Veil
Knotted Veil
40 Hair Ornaments
Circlet
35 Ties
Ribbons
Weights
30
Braid Cases
Hair Hidden
25 Center part
Loose
20 Waist Length
Hip Length
15 Knee Length
Braids
3-strand
10
2-strand
Straight Braids
5 Wavy Braids
Wrapped braids
0 Crown
Row 2 Mantle
elements (some artworks exhibited several elements)
Main Points:
• Court hairstyles seem to fall into a few types: Braids/veil/crown; braids/crown; braids/circlet; veil/crown; on young
women, braids; and for very young girls, loose hair/circlet.
• Ordinary women don't seem to have left their hair uncovered. All depictions of ordinary women show them veiled,
hair hidden, except perhaps for a bit at the front, indicating that it's parted centrally. Lovely tresses on view seem to
have been the exclusive province of the nobility.
• Braid cases: Inconclusive. No clear visual evidence for braid casings beyond 2 examples: a late German
illumination that depicts what looks as though the girl's hair is stuffed through 2 tubes of bamboo; and an early
mss. Illumination which could possibly also show a clumsily drawn ribbon-bound braid. There were also two which
were too ambiguous to say for certain that they were not simply wrapped braids. Textual sources could just as
easily mean braids weighted to be straight as scabbards, for which there is visual evidence.
• No Toques. At all. Crowns, yes, Circlets, yes. Fillets, yes. No toques until the 13th century. Most of the “toques” in
earlier costume history books were misunderstood crowns.
• Equally notable is the low number of possible circular veils in the sample. I only found 3. This is both good and bad
news, as circular veils are very pretty, but are difficult to keep in place.
Six Main Categories of Court Hairstyles:
Braids/veil/crown braids/crown veil/crown
braids/circlet loose hair/circlet braids
Four Types of Braids:

Straight ribbon bound Straight 3-strand Wavy 3-strand Wavy ribbon bound
Hair Accessories Overview

“You see women burdened rather than adorned with ornaments of gold, silver, and precious stones, and all the
raiment of a court.”
“For head-dress they have a kerchief of fine linen which they drape about their neck and shoulders, allowing one
corner to fall over the left arm. This is the wimple, ordinarily fastened to their brows by a chaplet, a fillet or a circle of
wrought gold." - Bernard of Clairveaux, letters
Categories of accessories:
• Veils, usually oblong and draped artistically. Sometimes (rarely) circular.
• Crowns, circlets, or fillets.
• Braid pendant weights and ties with weighted tassels.
• Ribbons
• Pins – used to secure veils
Head of Old Testament Head of Old Head of Salome from

queen from LeMans. Testament queen from “Herod and Salome”
She wears a crown Drawing of braid Three different
Chartres. She wears a capital. She wears a pendant weight, pendant weights,
over a wrapped veil fillet or circlet over simple fillet or circlet approximately life from three different
that has been ribbon-bound braids atop loose, combed size. Most seem to jamb statues. They
elaborately and without weights. hair, indicating that have some sort of are tied on at differing
fashionably draped.
she is a young girl. granular decoration. distances from the
end of the braid.
Example
of beaded
or knotted
tassels
used to tie
braids.
Silk-covered wire
Head of Old circlet with knot
Head of “Queen of decoration in (unidentified Spanish
Sheba” (Louvre). She Testament queen from mss illo)
Chartres. She wears contrasting silk-
wears a circular veil, covered wires. After a
crown, and hair a crown atop weighted Weights in carvings
braids. later example.
ribbons. showing granulation
effect (Chartres).
Bead
-weighted Bead-
tassels weighted
on the tassels
hair ties were also
Thread-wrapped wire of the used - these
circlet with spiraled donor can be seen
decoration. lady from in
Chartres. manuscript
Head of Old Testament Head of donor(?) from illustrations
queen from Chartres. Chartres. She wears a as little
She wears a crown crown or fillet (angle is tassels at
atop her mantle, which odd for a crown) atop the ends of
she has pulled up to braids weighted with braids.
veil her hair. beaded tassels.
Braiding Techniques
“Two strand” braiding or ribbon binding is covered here in some verbal detail – it is assumed that you know how to do a
basic three strand braid for the purpose of the short note on braiding in a tie cord, weighted or not.
Setting a tiecord in a 3-strand braid: Ribbon – bound or 2-strand braids:

• Section the hair into thirds first. If your hair is the • This works best if only one ribbon is used for both
same length or longer than your tie cord, braid at braids. It should pass behind the head just below the
least on third of the length up before setting the cord curve of the cranium (if you set it too high, it will slip
in. and loosen).
• Set the center of your tie cord behind the braid. • Smooth ribbons will slip – I like wool or non-shiny silk
• Pull each side of the tie cord along with the respective tapes.
section of hair as you continue to braid (see drawing • The dark stripe that crosses both strands (and any
for clarification). other stripe that does so) is called an “over”
• Keep the tie cord strands with their sections of hair • The short stripes that cross only one strand indicate
until you have finished braiding, then use the loose that the ribbon is being woven between the strands.
ends of the cord to tie off the braid securely by These are called “weaves”
wrapping the cords around the braid several times • I find that the most secure weaving pattern for me is :
and tying half knots. over; weave; over; weave; weave; over; weave; over;
• For more help, look up “hair wraps” on Google for weave; weave; over; etc.
finishing techniques. • Another weaving pattern used in artwork is: Over;
weave; over; weave; over; weave; over; weave; etc.
• when you reach the end of your braid, sew the ribbon
in place over the end of the hair. You may include a
weight inside the ribbon or sewn on outside when you
have had some practice (the first few times it will
likely slip).
Basic Veil Draping

A guide to the wrapped, draped veil style seen on some jamb statues and similar to the one decried by Bernard of
Clairvaux. We will go over this in class, but it may be helpful to have a step-by-step guide for practicing at home.
Watch Points:
• This style requires a narrow oblong (rectangular) veil of fine, soft cloth. These were very likely decorated at least at
the ends and some women may have worn striped and spotted ones.
• If your veil is too short, this basic draped style won't work. It should be about 5 feet long and no wider than 22
inches.
• Likewise, if your veil is too long, it will be too bulky in this style, unless it is made of very fine, soft, drapy cloth. 8
feet is too long for a veil made of cotton voile, for example (too much body).
• This style can be used to cover use of extensions, as it both hides and reveals the hair.
• To secure this style, you must either have a secure fillet or circlet or bear a heavy crown upon your head. This style
seems to have only been worn by women who had to wear crowns.
Step one:
Drape one end attractively to the left of your face. This will take practice, and
is easier to do for someone other than oneself. You may want to secure the
arrange ends with a metal clip while you drape the veil.
Bring the rest of the veil around in front of your braids. Adjust it into a smooth
cowl-like loop a few inches (2-4) below the point of your chin (higher if you are
cold or you prefer to cover up).
Step two:
As you arrange the loop around your face, bring it a little over the draped end
piece to help hold it in place.
Bring the other end around to the other side of your face and arrange prettily.
Pin if necessary.
Step Three:
Top with securely fitting or heavy circlet, fillet or crown.
If you will be wearing this with a lightweight fillet or circlet, you should probably
use veil bands. They will prevent slippage. See Cynthia Virtue's website at
http://www.virtue.to for good, clear directions on using them.
Faking it: False hair use

False hair was apparently quite popular in the 12th Century. Plenty of people got razzed about it in satirical songs and
poems, in any case. Horsehair was used fairly often! We do not know exactly how false hair was used, only that it was
done. This is my method for creating a convincing hair piece for emulating the desired look, using modern materials
and tools.
This is a multipurpose item, which will bear the weight of the hair (so your own hair does not have to), secure your veil,
and also hold your own hair out of the way (if it needs it). This project presupposes that you have acquired 2-3 packets
of loose false hair in a good match to your color and texture (I like the “yaky” silky straight as it's light for the amount of
body I get).
To make a Combination Hair Piece and Veil Band:
Step one:
Measure the circumference of your head where you will
be wearing it (see the three different styles, left), and add
3 inches for overlap. “Two bands” assumes that you will
be wearing two bands, as in Cynthia Virtue's tutorial.
“Single band A” assumes that you will probably be
wearing it without the chin band. “Single band B” assumes
that you probably have short hair or bangs you want to
keep back under your veil, and should be lined with
velveteen to make it sit securely.
Its finished width will be about 1.5 – 2 inches, so the band

needs to be (head+3”)x 5”.
Turn and press ½ inch on each long edge to the inside,

then fold the strip in half along its length and press until
creased to mark the center. Fold the band up and pin it in
place as if you were wearing it, with the crease upwards.
The overlap and pin should be at the back of your head.
Finally, measure the width of your forehead where the

band crosses it. Mark with pencil or tailor's chalk.
Step two:
Divide your false hair in half as evenly as you can
manage, and spread it out flat to fill most of the space
(NOT all – you want to have the overlap mostly clear)
around your forehead marks. Try to make the crease be
roughly in the middle of the length of hair.
For the first 2 views the hair should be roughly

perpendicular to the band, but for view B, it should be at
a gentle angle (so the hair is pointing toward the floor
when worn).
Machine two rows of close stitches on each section of

hair. Make sure you sew past the hair on both passes.
Now for the tricky part. VERY gently, pull at both of the
ends of each section of hair to “taper” it and make it
appear more natural (blunt-cut ends aren't period). Take
your time. Go slowly, and when you are fairly happy with
it, then you can go on.
Sometimes it helps to drape the hairpiece over a piece of

furniture, or even tack it to the wall. And discourage cat
help on this project.
Step three:
Very gently and carefully, fold over each section of hair
and sew down with 2 more rows of close machine
stitching. This is pretty straightforward for view a and the
two band style, but for view B, that gentle angle will
make this harder. Fold over the hair in sections of a half
inch or so at a time.
Bobby pins can help secure the folded over hair before
you sew it down.
Check the hair is secure – if it moves to easily when you

pull on it, add another row or two of stitches.
Step four:
Fold the band closed and sew shut (by hand will be
neatest). For security, line it with a strip of cotton
velveteen or velour. The nap will help keep it from slipping
on your hair.
Done:
Pin it in place, just as if it was a plain veil band.
You will have fabulous knee or hip length hair (depending
on how much you tapered it). Braid the hair with ribbons
or with your own hair (this works even when your own hair
is only shoulder length), or both.
After styling, pin any style of veil on top and you are done.
Illustration to the left is the author wearing her first veil

band/hair piece combination. The real hair? Shoulder
length. The circular veil is pinned to the band (band was
black to hide better under a sheer veil).
Resources:
“Yaky” type long loose hair for doing extensions can usually be bought inexpensively (expect about 5 dollars a packet) in ethnic hair salons and
beauty supply shops. If they do not stock your color, they may be willing to order it for you if will buy enough. If you do not have an ethnic salon or
public-access beauty supply shop near you, try the internet.
I have had good luck ordering from http://www.hisandher.com His and Her Hair, in Los Angeles. If you aren't sure of a color, however, do yourself a
favor and just buy one packet and check – you can always give it away, but hair products cannot legally be returned.
I don't work for them, but I've been pretty happy with their service.

Serpentine Braids or Straight As A Scabbard: Women's Court Hairdressing In12th Century Europe

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Serpentine braids or Straight as a Scabbard: Women's Court Hairdressing in12th Century Europe

Serpentine braids or Straight as a Scabbard: Women's Court

About the class

I'll be demoing both three-strand and “two-strand” or ribbon bound braids,

Hairdressing types overview

The results were somewhat startling.

Overall Frequency of 12th century hairdressing elements in a sample of 90 artworks

elements (some artworks exhibited several elements)

Six Main Categories of Court Hairstyles:

Braids/veil/crown braids/crown veil/crown

braids/circlet loose hair/circlet braids

Four Types of Braids:

Hair Accessories Overview

Head of Old Testament Head of Old Head of Salome from

Setting a tiecord in a 3-strand braid: Ribbon – bound or 2-strand braids:

Basic Veil Draping

Faking it: False hair use

To make a Combination Hair Piece and Veil Band:

Its finished width will be about 1.5 – 2 inches, so the band

Turn and press ½ inch on each long edge to the inside,

Finally, measure the width of your forehead where the

For the first 2 views the hair should be roughly

Machine two rows of close stitches on each section of

Sometimes it helps to drape the hairpiece over a piece of

Check the hair is secure – if it moves to easily when you

Illustration to the left is the author wearing her first veil

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