History of Hair | Art UK (2024)

Redhead

Queen Elizabeth I was likely a natural redhead and probably had wavy or curly hair. However, most of her life she wore wigs. She chose to keep to the bright shade rather than opt for another colour. Her signature locks were so popular that some courtiers dyed their beards auburn as a trend. Her iconic look of done-up sunset curls gave her the lasting image of a Queen with a halo.

Queen Elizabeth I c.1588
George Gower (c.1540–1596) (formerly attributed to)
Oil on panel
H 97.8 x W 72.4 cm
National Portrait Gallery, London

Goatee

16th century men had many designs for their goatee beards, each with their own name. These included 'the Cad's beard', 'the pencil beard', 'the swallow's tail beard' and 'the spade beard', just to name a few.

James I (1566–1625)
Paulus van Somer I (1576–1621) (after)
Oil on panel
H 22 x W 17.5 cm
Corpus Christi College, University of Cambridge

Periwig

17th century men wore the periwig to achieve their enviously voluminous and long, but artificial, curls. Some men, even Charles II, would shave their real hair to get a good fit for their wigs.

Charles II (1630–1685) 1670
Peter Lely (1618–1680) (studio of)
Oil on canvas
H 238.8 x W 157.5 cm
Glasgow Life Museums

Soft locks

Some men chose not to be bald under luscious wigs (if they could), because their naturally soft and perfect waves looked almost too good to be true.

Sir William Temple, Bart
Peter Lely (1618–1680) (after)
Oil on canvas
H 73.7 x W 62.2 cm
Emmanuel College, University of Cambridge

Corkscrew curls

Plentiful curls and buns are the epitome of 17th century ladies' hair. There was a trend to wear wires to stick the curly buns out to the sides and let the curls fall near the front of the face.

Pearls and curls

Beauties of the 17th century were swimming in pearls. Pearls were demonstrations of high social rank, but this was also the time that fake pearls were invented in Italy. Women wore them around their necks, in their ears, across their dress bodices and in their hair.

Henrietta Maria
Anthony van Dyck (1599–1641) (circle of)
Oil on canvas
H 73.7 x W 58.4 cm
National Trust for Scotland, Haddo House

Regal curls

Queen Anne wore her hair in much of the same do throughout her reign during the turn of the 17th to the 18th century. This was a half-up-do with long Rapunzel-esque ringlets down the front.

Queen Anne c.1690
Godfrey Kneller (1646–1723)
Oil on canvas
H 233.7 x W 142.9 cm
National Portrait Gallery, London

White wig

Men, of all ages, wanted white hair in the 18th century. They wore bust length wigs that draped over the shoulders.

King George II 1744
Thomas Hudson (1701–1779)
Oil on canvas
H 218.8 x W 146.7 cm
National Portrait Gallery, London

Headdresses

Men wore wigs to cover their hair, women wore headdresses to supplement it. Natural hair was wrapped over wire frames and topped with powdered grey towering headdresses which were often embellished with feathers.

Lady Brisco (d.1822) c.1776
Thomas Gainsborough (1727–1788)
Oil on canvas
H 235.2 x W 148.5 cm
English Heritage, Kenwood

Bow wig

George III 1762–1782
Allan Ramsay (1713–1784) (studio of)
Oil on canvas
H 80.3 x W 64.3 cm
The Wallace Collection

Middle part

Around the precariousness of the French Revolution, French aristocrats hid their wigs away to appear more humble. And as the French started the trend, the English followed suit. Women wore a more modest style of a middle part combed into a bun.

Romantic men

Men of the Romantic era embraced the natural look. Whether they had a full head of hair or were slightly balding, men just had simple haircuts that wouldn't look out of place today.

Robert Gooch (1784–1830) 1823
Richard James Lane (1800–1872)
Oil on canvas
H 74.9 x W 61.4 cm
Royal College of Physicians, London

Buns

In her youth, Queen Victoria, and her people who admired her style, wore their hair parted in the centre, looped into a plaited bun at the back with adornments such as flowers.

Long hair

Victorian women liked their hair to be healthy and smooth to let their hair look elegant when down. Just like the current social media haircare trend, they used oil to make their hair glossy. Victorian hair was very long, it looked shorter because they curled it into shape.

Henrietta Deplidge
Alfred Bottomley (active 1859–1863)
Oil on canvas
H 91.6 x W 71 cm
Manchester Art Gallery

Mutton chops

Victorian men liked the mutton chops look, which are sideburns grown onto the side of the face rather than trimmed straight down.

Redhead revival

It is hard to talk about Victorian art and hair without mentioning the red-headed women of the Pre-Raphaelite paintings. Red hair wasn't particularly fashionable like it was in the Elizabethan era, but the hair of a Rossetti and Millais model was captivating and fairy-tale-like.

Proserpine 1881–1882
Dante Gabriel Rossetti (1828–1882)
Oil on canvas
H 77.2 x W 37.5 cm
Birmingham Museums Trust

Hats

Edwardian ladies loved large hats. They wore their hats outdoors over popular bun hairstyles such as the pompadour (named after Madame de Pompadour). The pompadour was high and it fluidly rounded back into a bun - padding or wire frames could be used to add volume.

The trim

The roaring 20s'. If you were stylish, you bravely cut your hair into a bob. Flapper girls, in particular, wore 'the shingle', which was a bob cut into a V-shape at the back of the neck.

Lady in Green Evening Dress 1921
Georges van Houten (1888–1964)
Oil on canvas
H 73 x W 60 cm
Examination Schools, University of Oxford

Princess

Since the 1920s, women have worn their hair in so many different styles. However, an English hairstyle that stands out over decades of haircuts is the Princess Diana look. When she stepped into the Royal spotlight in the early 1980s, women internationally asked their hairdresser's for her short, swished-back Princess locks.

Diana, Princess of Wales 1981
Bryan Organ (b.1935)
Acrylic on canvas
H 177.8 x W 127 cm
National Portrait Gallery, London