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bustle era hairstyles, 1870-1889

These pages aim to give a visual overview, year by year, of hairstyles of the bustle era (1870-1889, for the purposes of this project).

The pages are organized into three periods:

• 1870-1876: the early bustle period
• 1877-1882: the natural form period
• 1883-1889: the second bustle period
• how-to advice

useful links

Hairstyles:

• Forgotten Fashion: The Head Special (1866-1894) (from La Couturiere Parisienne)
• Hairstyles of the Victorian Era (from Shooting Star History)
• Hairstyles of 1881 from the Delineator Magazine (from the Costume Gallery)
• Victorian Women's Fashion, 1850-1900: Hairstyles (reproduced from Joan Nunn, Fashion in Costume, 1200-2000)
• Not period, but Dreamweaver Braiding offers some excellent how-to advice on doing some of the more complicated braids, which could be incorporated into a period hairstyle

Fashions of the bustle period:

• Notes on Early 1870's Fashion (from the State Historical Society of Wisconsin)
• Notes on Late 1880's Fashions (from the State Historical Society of Wisconsin)
• History of Victorian Fashion: Early Bustle (1869-1876), Natural Form (1877-1882), and Late Bustle (1883-1889) (from Truly Victorian patterns)

bibliography

Any book on fashion of the 1870s-1880s that includes photographs, paintings, or fashion plates will be useful to you, but here are some recommendations:

Blum, Stella. Victorian Fashions and Costumes from Harper's Bazar, 1867-1898. New York: Dover Publications, 1975. [Fashion plates. Remember that artists can draw hairstyles that reality can't make!]

Bryer, Robin. The History of Hair: Fashion and Fantasy Down the Ages. London: Philip Wilson; Wappinger Falls, N.Y., 2000.

Cunnington, Cecil Willett. English Women's Clothing in the Nineteenth Century. New York: Dover, 1990. [Year by year breakdown of English fashions, including hairstyles and hats!]

Doyle, Marian. An Illustrated History of Hairstyles, 1830-1930. Schiffer Publishing: forthcoming June 2003.

Gernsheim, Alison. Victorian and Edwardian Fashion: A Photographic Survey. New York: Dover, 1981. [Vintage photographs, so you know these hairstyles are possible]

Kliot, Jules & Kaethe, eds. The Techniques of Ladies' Hairdressing of the 19th Century: A Compilation of Original 19th Century Sources by Mark Campbell and Mons. A. Mallemont. Berkeley, CA: Lacis Publications, 1996.

Severa, Joan. Dressed for the Photographer: Ordinary Americans & Fashion, 1840-1900. Kent, Ohio: Kent State University Press, 1995. [More photographs]