Final review

    "Wig Work and Postiche" is the unit that I definitely enjoyed during this term. I feel that I have improved my skills in working with hair and even more, I have learned new abilities that have helped me to enlarge my horizons in this sphere.
    I have always had the passion for hair and make-up and the desire to learn as much as possible especially on the hair has started since I was a child. Now, every time I go to beauty salon, I am very attentive to every movement that the "master" does; I try to learn everything, that is possible and even impossible. I am literally in love with my own hair and this is where the infinite passion for it comes from. My passion was the thing that made me choose this option, and I can honestly confirm that I haven't regretted it, not even for a second.
    Yes, I have encountered difficulties on this path, but not everything can be perfect. The difficulties were mostly when it came time to work with the acrylic wig. It got to a point where I thought I can not do it and instead, although the result was just right, I managed to create the look I wanted.
     Overall, I happy and thankful for the new skill and the new amount of information that I have received on this unit. Now I feel even more confident in working with hair and the most important things I have learned how to take care of different types of hair, how to apply different types of wigs, how to use different appliances and how to behave with hair in different situations for different looks

Final look (Assessment)- contemporary version

        

 

       

 

    The final look that I have created for a contemporary version of the 80's Punk hairstyles, I found to be to be a lot easier to recreate than the historical look.  I am actually happy with the result, even though I wanted the hair in the centre to be even higher up. It was really hard to make it stay high because the hair was soft and even if it was backcombed really gently though, it wasn't rigid enough to make it stay in the right position. I tried to maintain the light curls and not to make it too messy. The structure of the hair was actually important for my design.  Also the centre part was a hairpiece that I have added to give it more the idea of punk hairstyle. Although I could've made some changes, overall I was happy with the way it looks: the detail of the side of the head is intricate and interesting and turned up how I intended it to.
    In the end, I am glad that I have learned how to work with acrylic hair, how to style an acrylic wig and also how to put an acrylic wig on. Unfortunately the wig was quite small and hard to put it on in order to hide the natural hair, but the result is better that what i have expected.

Historical hairstyle (Assessment)

    The styling of the acrylic wig in a historical way seemed very difficult to me. It is very hard to style an acrylic wig, especially when it already is styled and the hair lines are very rigid. It is also hard to create slick sides and you have to hide the wig's base. Backcombing is also different than natural hair, it is more rebel and is hard to make it stay as you want. In this case the hairspray is not something that helps, you can only apply it when already styled. In my case, when I wanted to apply it to help me to fix the backcombing it only made it harder because it was wetting the hair and making it softer.
    I also used coloured hairspray to finalise the look, and to give it a more the idea of punk. They used to colour their hair with different colours, this was an aspect that made them be different from others, this is another thing that was/is characterising them:

The look is quite messy, and it is not exactly as I imagined it to be. I wanted the sides to be slicker and less messy. I actually wanted a very tidy look, but it was too hard to create it with an acrylic wig. Even though I think it looks good on the camera and reflects very well the decade chosen by me.

Styling the modern version

Styling the modern version of the 80's look was much easier. It was easier because after being washed the hair was less rebel and easier to style.
My inspiration for the hairstyle were some images that I have seen on internet:

So after finding my inspiration, I started to style my wig, creating my own design:

Very pleased with the result, but I also thought that it doesn't show the Punk spirit as much as I wanted, because the sides are not slicked. This is the reason why I though that the middle part has to be higher up to give more an idea of a punk style. 

To create this look I Backcombed the middle part off the head, leaving the sides to cover the wig base and the backcombed part or the hair. After I finished with the middle section, I started to take small sections of each side and gently bringing them towards the centre and pun them carefully under the backcombed sections that I curled and pinned. I left some ends of the side sections to create this fluffy centre. On the actual day of the assessment I added some hairpieces to make the centre part higher in order to make it reflect more the style.

Inspiration for the historical hairstyle

      Punk hairstyle is a way of showing the rebel soul that is hiding inside of lots of people. This  is a way to show yourself. Why did I choose this decade?
  Well,  hairstyle and hair colour is a way to express myself as well. There is a Russian saying that says: "When a woman wants to change something in her life, she always starts with her hair." This is a saying that mirrors myself. I have always changed colours of my hair and had also different haircuts and as it's known every colour and every type of haircut says something about the person, the way someone feels. This is another language, a non-verbal one.
    I think that this style reflects exactly my personality: at first sight I am a silent, shy person but with a strong character that not everyone discovers.
    I was looking also at different pictures that shows Modern punk hairstyles and I realised that there are a lot of times when unconsciously I style my hair in a kind of Modern twist of the Punk style:

Even the hairstyle created last year for the Elizabethan project in my point of view has a Punk twist in it. Braided sides create the illusion of slick sides and the high padding in the middle of the hair gives the idea of that hight that is characteristic to the punk hairstyles:

Similar hairstyles to it:

              

 

Fashion designers inspired by the 80's Punk hairstyles

“It is surprising, the longevity and the power of that clothing and the haircut. It hasn’t died yet.”

Vivienne Westwood Punk revolutionised the trend in the 70s and 80s by making it mainstream blackberries and still continues to create outlandish garments That are unique. Throughout her Both men's and woman's range, Westwood still features strongly in her punk fashion designs.Menswear in particular shows strong influences from the punk era. Today’s collections feature trousers with chequered prints and a skin-tight fit, tops with graffiti style prints. Skulls, lips and button up Fred Perry polo shirts and coats feature the familiar check print as well as duffel coats complete with badges and pins.

The famous couturier, Karl Lagerfeld has launched a capsule collection that is directly inspired by the style of the original punk rockers.

While the real-life punks loitering in Tompkins Square Park might scowl and toss expletives at the idea of their subculture on display, no one can deny that the visuals of fringe culture have become powerful symbol — which is exactly why it’s catnip for designers. But while the exhibit cribs from punk’s style, curator Andrew Bolton admits that it’s a surface-only look at the movement: “Rather than looking at punk as an attitude, [the exhibit] looks at punk as an esthetic,” Bolton said at a press event.

Gareth Pugh started his fashion career early on, working as a costume designer for the English National Youth Theatre before achieving his fashion degree at Central Saint Martins in 2003. Through features with Dazed & Confused magazine and word of mouth, Pugh debuted his first collection during London’s Fall 2006 fashion week. Drawing comparisons to Vivienne Westwood and Alexander McQueen, Pugh employs his unique aesthetic, exploring different shapes and volumes with materials like mink, parachute silk and synthetic hair.

Reference:

PUNK! Influence on fashion today - Peter Mack, London - StylehunterMAN.com StylehunterMAN.com. 2015. PUNK! Influence on fashion today - Peter Mack, London - StylehunterMAN.com StylehunterMAN.com. [ONLINE] Available at: http://stylehunterman.com/punk-influence-on-fashion-today/.

. 2015. . [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.nydailynews.com/life-style/fashion/punk-fashions-display-met-punk-chaos-couture-article-1.1334338. 

Decade chosen

The chosen by me decade is: 80'S PUNK !!!

The punk subculture was born near the mid-70s and was greatly expanded in the 80s. It was a subculture reactionary against the values ​​of society, with tendencies as liberalism and was a fashion anti-fashion, anti-capitalist, anti-racist, anti-military, and anarchist-vegetarian. The punk tends to impress with abundant tattoos and a dramatic use of clothing, jewellery and hairstyles bizarre. One of the most popular was the hair completely shaved the neck and sides of the head and a strip of long hair on the top of the head, as style Mohawk. The English footballer David Beckham has used this style for a long time. During the 1980s skinheads -in top of their birth -, they were under the influence of punk hairstyle. After 1980 all these haircuts have become popular, freeing the original power of their social and political messages, and converted to simple hairstyles used by anyone, no matter what ideology they had.

There were dark times and the punk army invaded the realm of the perfect hairstyle. Punks wore proud regrowth, happy to create clutter that distinguished them from the dullness and boredom. Just to bother the Mavericks, the didn't even wait for the regrowth : dyed their hair until 2 cm from the skin and, like magic, the regrowth was already there. Punks showed regrowth mighty proud that supported with their strength ridges that towered to the sky. 

How to set an acrylic wig using rollers and steam.

    I would never thought that setting an acrylic wig is going to be that hard. A lot of patience is required!!!
  With acrylic fibres, care has to be taken not to damage them with heated, electric styling tools. This is why steam is used to style them. This is the only way you can style the wig in the way you want but still keeping their structure.
    In my case I needed to style the wig in 80's Punk style, so I used rollers to fix the direction I want the hair to be and then steamed it. In this way, the direction that the hair will have already will help me to create the desired look:

This is the way I have divided the hair  in sections: The middle part for which I used small rollers directed backwards and then the sides for which I used bidder rollers and directed them towards the middle (towards the yellow rollers)

After I have applied all the rollers I steamed the hair. Make sure you steam it very well, go round for at least couple of times. Leave to cool down (dry) before you start styling it.

Putting on a lace fronted wig

     A lace fronted wig is usually more fragile and more gentle than a normal acrylic wig. This is the reason why we need to be much more careful when applying them. The principle of applying the front lace wigs is still the same as for the acrylic wigs, the only difference when applying them is that after you applied the wig you need to make disappear the lace from the front.

Tools:

• Hair brush
• Tail comb
• Kirby pins
• A wig cap
• The wig 
• spirit gum
• Sponge

How to:

• If the model has medium or long hair, you can either take small square sequences of hair and twist them around the 2 fingers and then pin the with kirby pins making an X shape, or you can make a french plait . It is important that you gather all the hair, especially at the edges.
• Then put the wig cap on the head. Make sure you leave the ears and outside the cap
• With the tail comb try to put under the cap all the hairpieces you have left outside.
• Try also to arrange the cap in a way that the edger are still a bit seen, because you don't want it to be seen under the actual wig.

After that by using the spirit gum, apply gently on the edges of the lace in order to stick (block) the lace on the skin. In this way it becomes invisible. It depends also what kind of lace has that wig, its colour and thickness. If the lace wig is used for films then you'll have to cut the lace really close to the hairline.

With the sponge you take of and blend the excess of the glue.

Introduction to the unit

    In this unit we are going to learn how to behave, stile and even how to knot different types of wigs.
In Fashion, Film and Theatre industry wigs are very often used to change the look of a certain character, to create something different, or a certain image that is required. Very often, a performer has to change his/her appearance more time during the same performance or catwalk, and wigs and postiche make it possible!
    We have to choose a decade from the last 100 years, research it and find out what social and cultural aspects influenced on how people wore their hair at the time. 
   This project is divided in two parts: for the first part, we need to create a historical hairstyle on synthetic wigs. We also need to explain  why have we chosen to style in that certain decade.
The second part of the project is to create a modern, fashion hairstyle based on the decade we have chosen.
    I am very excited to learn as much as possible about hair, styling and improve my skills. Giving us the opportunity to create a modern and fashion hairstyle allows us to free our rebel souls and express ourselves through our creativity.

40's Hairstyles

The 1940’s retro hairstyles are glamorous and womanly, reminiscent of war brides looking their most beautiful to welcome home husbands from the war.  Hair in the 1940’s was done in the most elaborate ways. Here is an eample of a 40's hairstyle, including the step by step

Products:

• Wig
• Paddle brush
• Tail comb
• Hairspray
• Hot rollers
• Curling tongs
• Kirby pins

How to:

• After you fixed the wig on the block, brush the hair gently.
• Section the hair as if it was from ear to ear
•  Pin the back hair that you have sectioned, so that it ease your work with the front section.
• When the hot rollers are hot enough apply the on the front section directing as you want to keep the parting (preferably close to the middle). The parts next to the ears has to be directed backwards.
• Using the curling tongs, curl the hair at the back (Brick work). Use thick tongs, in order to create more kind of waves than small curls.
• When the front cool down, the rollers,
• Brush through them gently and fallowing the hair with your hands, so that you can keep te structure.
• By rolling them around your fingers, create the rolls and style them in the front.
• Pin them with the Kirby pins as you would pin a Bun
• Brush the back side but still keeping the structure.