Elizabethan Hair Quote.

Queen Elizabeth I Of Engalnd. 

                                                       Thepragmaticconstumer.wordpress.com
                                                       viewed:1.10.13

"Then followeth the trimming and tricking of their heds in laying out their hair to the show, which of force must be curled, frizled and crisped, laid out on wreathes & borders from one eare to an other. And lest it should fall down, it is underpropped with forks, wyres, & I can not tel what, rather like grim stern monsters, than chaste christian matrones. Then on the edges of their bolstered heir (for it standeth crested round about their frontiers, & hanging over their faces like pendices or vails with glasse windows on every side) there is layd great wreathes of gold and silver, curiously wrought & cunningly applied to the temples of their heads. And for feare of lacking any thing to set foorth their pride withal, at their heyre, thus wreathed and crested, are hanged bugles, ouches, rings, gold, silver, glasses , & such other gewgawes and trinckets besides, which, for that they be innumerable, and I unskilfull in wemens terms, I cannot easily recount." (The Anatonie of Abuses. Published 1583, Author Philip Stubbes. Veiwed 1.10.2013.)

I found this paragraph intriguing as rather than praising the way women of the Elizabethan era wore their hair (Stubbes) is documenting the fashions  in a perhaps negative manner.I find it interesting as I love anything that causes controversy as it entices me to see that not everyone looks at something and thinks the same, its good to see other peoples truthful views. It shows how different some peoples worlds are. I get the impression (Stubbes) is not a fan of superficial people. After seeing this extract out of his reputable book I was so interested in his views on fashions.  (Stubbes) References the texture "curled,frizled and crisped" which are not particularly  nice words to describe hair in our era. It suggests that the hair was damaged, and quite sturdy  looking to say the least! The fact that he says"which of forced" forced implying they must look a certain way to be socially accepted. The hair is big "underpropped with forks,wyre" Which gives you the impression that the hair was extremely big and theatrical looking. (Stubbes) States that he cannot tell a pure christian woman from perhaps`lady of the evening`  possibly insinuating that its a `fake`look. The hair sounds grand  covered in Jewels suggesting its only to be worn by the elite possibly created to separate the elite fashions to the lower class, just to make them feel a bit more worthless!. All of the hair styles seem to be created with thought to show social status and class. After reading this the hair process sounds extremely painful and by all means a lot of effort to create. Just by reading this you can tell the hair was dramatic and full of meaning, and held so many connotations of; class,power,wealth, and social status.