Those of you who've read Fortuna know that my heroine Aimee started an online business making period costumes. I thought it might be interesting to learn a little about the way people lived back then, so a couple of weeks ago I started a Civil War series. So far I've talked about ladies' accessories, the language of fans, and shared a love letter written by Sullivan Ballou, which is so beautiful it could make you cry. Today let's talk about hair styles. Personally, I love the hair on Fortuna's cover model. It's a beautiful color, and I think I'd like the texture too. I bet she can do anything she wants to with it, especially with all the styling products we have today.
Ladies in the Civil War era usually wore their hair up. At that time, people admired a round face, so the women parted their hair in a central part and swooped it back into wings on either side of the face. It really did give them that round face they loved. If you didn't have a lot of hair, you usually worked with a rat. A rat! What were they thinking?
No, not a real rat. A rat was a small mesh bag filled with hair that made those side swoops stick out more.
If you were dressing up and going out you still parted your hair in the center, but you let it fall in big loose ringlets on either side of the face.
Remember though, that styles changed then just as they do today. By the time the war ended ladies had found lots of different styles that they liked. The bottom photo is showing styles from 1864.
Photo Credit: http://www.bartoscollection.com/vehairstylesbyera/hairstyles2civilwar.htmlThe Barrington House Educational Center, L.L.C.The Barrington House Educational Center, L.L.C
Photo Credit: /https://byronsmuse.wordpress.com/2013/12/12/
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