Powerful Hairstyles - Queen Victoria

Queen Victoria. Photographed by Alexander Bassano. 1882. Available to view: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Queen_Victoria

 

As the most powerful lady in Victorian Britain I thought I would look at the hairstyles of Queen Victoria. One thing I have noticed from looking through images, is that Queen Victoria always had a middle parting which definitely created a powerful perception. I have also noticed that the Queens early hairstyles would always go around the ear which created a softness to her face. Maybe the hair started being scraped back after her husband Prince Albert died and the Queen went into severe mourning. As many people looked up to the Queen at certain times, how she wore her hair would have been a trend to follow.

Queen Victoria. Sir Francis Grant. 1843. Oil Painting. Available to view: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Grant,_Portrait_of_Queen_Victoria.jpg

Above you can see that the hair goes around the ear which I think softens the face. I think that this would've been done to show that the innocent princess is still there 6 years into her reign. The blue sash over her gown signifies the royal blue, a colour of power and strength. The pillars in the background of the image could signify that Queen Victoria is the pillar of England; the one holding the country together, the drape pulled to the left to show this.

Queen Victoria. Joseph Marc Gibert. 1842. Oil Painting. Available to view: www.vads.ac.uk/large.php?uid=84016

The Queen's hairstyles included a lot of curls and up do's. This is something I need to take into consideration when creating my own version of Miss Havisham, as a lady of her hierarchy would have been influenced by the hairstyles of Queen Victoria.