Recreating Roman Hairstyles

...and other Ancient hair wonders

The Wonderful World of Janet Stephens

Meet Janet Stephens. By day, she's a hairdresser. By night? She's a badass hair archaeologist. Trying to recreate Roman hairstyles from bust statues of the time, she realised that these sculptures made a conscious effort to depict hair as accurately as possible, from the direction of curls to the annoying-hair-that-won't-grow just above the ears. Being all Sherlock Holmes-y, she deducted that

a) Unlike previously believed, they weren't wigs. Scholars in stuffy offices know nothing about hair. But she does. (dun dun dunnn)

b) When trying to recreate those elaborate braided buns, she found that hairpins were completely useless and couldn't hold the style together (dun dun dunnnn)

... and then she realised that hairstyles were actually sewn together, and that we've been mistranslating instructions for the past few centuries.

Realising that this was an original idea, she wrote a paper about it. But more importantly, she has a youtube channel and makes tutorials for us to enjoy!

Roman Hairstyles

Unfortunately, my hair isn't long enough for most of these (long-haired friends beware, I will be coming at you with a bone needle soon). BUT there are a couple I would love to try:

The Cleopatra

The Sabina

Other ancient wonders

Janet Stephens also recreates historically accurate hairstyles from other periods. For example:

The wonderfully decadent Papillote Curls

^ I absolutely adore this one. In fact I might try it tonight...

Elaborate Renaissance style

So, there you have it. Awesome antique hairstyles. So excited about trying them out! In fact, I'm making a bone needle as we speak. I'm carving it with flint.