Tag: hair

Big Hair at Birka

My first event here in the East Kingdom was A Market Day at Birka in January 2023. Once I decided to go, I knew I had to do something to make a little bit of a splash, if only for my own brain – a sort of arrival moment, not unlike Vivacious.

Drag Queen Vivacious, wearing a green jacket with a tall headpiece entering the workroom of RuPaul's Drag Race. The caption reads "Mother has arrived."
Drag Queen Vivacious entering the workroom of RuPaul’s Drag Race.

Quick note: WordPress didn’t want to play nice with images, so all my process photos are in a slideshow toward the end of the post.

I’d been watching Rise of the Phoenixes again and was falling in love with big hair. Inspired, I dug back through my notes and scanned pages of old inter-library loans and landed on this representation of a carving on Princess Yongtai’s tomb1.

Because of the height and potential weight issues, I knew I didn’t want to try to create this piece with hair. This would need an under-structure, and adding hair on top of that could potentially add too much weight and make the piece difficult to wear. We have an example of a wooden hairpiece from the Tang Dynasty2, so I knew that I had some options. I decided to use a combination of wire armature and paper-mache for my headpiece.

I used a styrofoam head to model my headpiece on. These heads aren’t the same size as actual human heads, so I removed the headpiece from time to time to check it on my own head.

Once I had the wire armature, I used cardstock and masking tape to do the initial side and back forms. I then used newspaper and more masking tape to do the form the front sections. Once I had a form I liked, I started covering it with paper-mache.

For my paper-mache, I used brown kraft paper and diluted woodglue. I tore the paper so that the edges would blend and used a combination of my fingers and an old paintbrush to apply the glue to the paper and then the paper to the headpiece. I did one layer of paper-mache, then went back and added another layer in the areas where the forms were more complicated (the front, around the top edge, the inside edge, and the back) to add strength and ensure smoothness.

After the paper-mache had dried, I added a layer of a white glue and joint compound mixture to once again smooth out the forms. Once that was dry, I sanded it to remove my tool marks and fingerprints.

With the form complete, I mixed up acrylic paint to try and match my hair color. I did several coats, starting with a base layer of darker red and then doing washes and dry-brushing to get as close as I could to my hair color.

  • Wire armature
  • Wire armature
  • Wire armature
  • Form
  • Paper Mache process
  • Joint compound layer
  • Paint
  • Finished paid and pearls
  • Finished paint and pearls
  • Back view of finished paint and pearls

The headpiece in the engraving is decorated with stones and flowers. I initially intended to use brass stampings for the floral embellishments, but I couldn’t find what I wanted from a supplier. I ended up doing a quick 3D model of two different flowers and printed them in PLA on our Ender-3. I then painted them with gold spray paint. I used faux half-pearl cabochons for the stones. I attached everything to the headpiece with E6000 glue. Lastly, I braided some kanekalon hair and attached it on the bottom and inside edge with hot glue so that I would have something to pin into to secure the headpiece.

I’m incredibly thankful to Dame Katerinka Lvovicha for her time and skill in styling my hair with this headpiece for Birka. She did a fantastic job. I made a new hair rat using kanekalon hair I purchased in a color close to mine, which we used to beef up the back of my head, and another to help give body to the front and side.

A pale woman wearing early Tang Dynasty clothing wearing the headpiece standing in a hallway.
At Birka!

The headpiece isn’t heavy, but given that I wore it slightly back on my head, it made me very aware of my posture. If I slouched, it would strain my neck and shoulders.

I’m really happy with how the headpiece came out. It’s a great option to have for my early Tang Dynasty wardrobe, which I’ve been reaching for more and more. I love the big, swoopy sleeves, but I also like the modesty that the banhi provides.

  1. Zhang, J. (2014). Thoughts on some grave goods from the tomb of Li Chui. In S. Grieff, R. Schiavone, J. Zhang, Hou, G., & Yang, J. (Eds.) The Tomb of Li Chui: Interdisciplinary studies into Tang period finds assemblage (149-168). Mainz, Germany: Römisch-Germanischen Zentralmuseums ↩
  2. Ibid ↩

Elevation Bling – Accessory Artisan Appreciation

Some incredibly kind and gifted artisans made the various hair jewelry and accessories that I wore for my elevation.

My elevation mask, painstakingly painted by Seong Myeong Su Daegam Daesaseong.

The incredibly talented (and recently elevated!) Seong Myeong Su Daegam Daesaseong painted the red silk fabric that would become my face mask, based on a piece of embroidered silk from the Tang Dynasty featuring florals and ducks. She used the same technique she used for the rank badges on her danryeong. I highly encourage you to read more about her work over at Gold and Jade.

Her Excellency Caterina Angelique Coeur Noir made me a wonderfully repousse brass comb that served as my central hair accessory. It features a dragon (which is in my badge) and some pearled osmanthus flowers. She doesn’t have an SCA blog, but you can see her work on Facebook.

Comb by Her Excellency Caterina Angelique Coeur Noir

The Honorable Lady Sara al-Garnatiyya etched the two side combs and attached them to pre-made teeth, designing them to serve as complements to the central comb. You can see more of her metal and enamel work on her blog.

Combs by The Honorable Lady Sara al-Garnatiyya

Countess/Laurel Gwenhwyvar verch Owen ap Morgan (Northshield) made the wonderful hairpins that Mistress Una Barthrsdottir, Mistress Wuennemon die Naehrin, and Countess Aelfgifu Haraldsdottir put in my hair as part of my ceremony. I wanted to include this as a nod to the hair-pinning ceremonies that marked a new stage of live for women during the Tang Dynasty. It also meant that These large pins were meant to mimic the array seen in the donor portraits I was mimicking for my elevation outfit. She created a mirrored set of six for me, featuring laurel leaves and a squirrel, to reference my heraldry. Countess Gwen also made my peerage banner, which was a total surprise to me. You can see her work on her Patreon and on Facebook.

  • Laurel-Squirrel hairpins made by Countess-Laurel Gwenhwyvar.
  • Image courtesy of Sir Conal MacDale. I’m holding the legacy laurel wreath, since it was important for me to include it, even if I didn’t wear it (hair was too big).
My amazing banner by Countess-Laurel Gwen (NS flavor). Photo courtesy of CL Gwen.

I am so incredibly thankful to all of these lovely artisans for making things for me to use during my elevation, and that enhance my overall wardrobe. They are all excellent people, and I encourage you to check out their other work.

I’ve got two more posts regarding my vigil and elevation in the queue – each about the clothing I wore for my vigil and elevation, respectively. We will be back to the usually expected content soon!

Elevated Hair

Recreation of a Dunhuang donor portrait by The Chinese Historical Costume Restoration Team.

I knew I would need to use some false hair for my elevation in order to get the look I wanted.

Quick recap – Tang Dynasty ladies loved elaborate, up-do hair styles that often called for padding or false hair (called “adopted hair”) to achieve the looks we see in statuary, murals, and paintings. For a more detailed look at the three basic kinds of hairdressing (hair, false hair, and headdresses), Zhang Jianhin’s essay in The Tomb of Li Chui is a good place to start. For images of modern recreations of these hair styles, see Hair Fashions of Tang Dynasty Women, by He, Jian’guo (何建國) or this guide to recreating historic Chinese hairstyles.

I even found a tutorial on BiliBili, China’s largest video-sharing platform (like YouTube), but when I sat down to try and make it, I was a million thumbs. I couldn’t get the hair to behave at all the way that the person in the video did, and I was getting really frustrated.

That’s when Phaedra de Vere came to my rescue. She offered to make it for me, and I gratefully accepted, sending her money and measurements and crossing it off my list, knowing that I was in good hands.

Phaedra made the hairpiece out of wire and hair donuts, covering it with layers of faux wefts color matched my (current) hair color (Arda CL-070).

The hairpiece’s bones – hair donuts that have been cut and put onto a wire frame.
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The finished hairpiece, with hair nets to fight flyaways.
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The guts of the hairpiece – space enough for me to tuck a bun into it, with an arrow indicating the front.

She’s absolutely stunning. Heavy – but stunning! And aptly now named “Phae” in honor of her creator.

Me, during the elevation ceremony. Picture courtesy Sir Conal MacDale

I’ll be writing another post about the various accessories I wore in my hair, courtesy of some truly awesome artisans.

xiao3la4jiao1:

 Reconstructions of various Tang dynasty hairstyles, found on baidu (link) but true source unknown.

This is from:

Hair Fashions of Tang Dynasty Women, by He, Jian’guo.何建國.

You can see the Library of Congress record here: https://lccn.loc.gov/88123343

But you can’t check it out from them right now, because I have their copy sitting on my desk. c.c

sca-nerd:

I found the instructions on how to do the hairstyle I want to try! Now I just have to attempt it. Thankfully I have a roommate who can help me with the braiding.

Janet Stephens has a bunch of really awesome videos on historic hair. I used her stuff when doing Roman.

(Source: https://www.youtube.com/)