Fashion and beauty in the Italian Renaissance

As with my post on Medieval beauty, most of my knowledge of Renaissance style comes from pop culture, in this case the 2011-2013 series ‘The Borgias’. I’m going to attempt various types of braiding, including a style similar to that modelled by Lucrezia Borgia (well not the real one) above, as well as explaining some history and context behind the styles and fashions of this period.

The word ‘fashion’ didn’t begin to be used the way we use it now (i.e. the way styles of dress change over time) until the mid-sixteenth century; before this, ‘fashion’ referred mainly to the act of making things, or ‘fashioning’ them. This association had Biblical meaning, such as the references to God ‘fashioning’ people in the books of Job and Psalms.

In terms of what was considered ‘beautiful’, blonde, slender women with long necks and thin eyebrows were highly sought after. I actually did the ‘Are you a Renaissance beauty?’ quiz on the ‘Raucous Royals’ blog (linked below), and this was my result.

“Sheeesh…. You sure got hit with the 16th century ugly stick? Don’t worry. Perk up that Hapsburg chin and make sure to read the future post on Renaissance beauty secrets.”

Thanks.

Nevertheless, despite my aesthetic shortcomings, I will attempt to transform myself into something resembling the Renaissance definition of ‘beautiful’. Here goes.

The consensus seems to be that I need curled, blonde hair, either fully displayed or partially covered, possibly decorated with flowers and jewels. Obviously blonde is out, but I can probably find some jewels and flowers somewhere in my room…

To start with, the rope braid. I have watched a few YouTube tutorials, such as the two linked below, but as my hair isn’t quite long enough to braid all the way round my head, here is my take on it.

First, I parted my hair in the centre, split it into two halves and secured one half at the bottom of my scalp using a small bull clip, although a hair bobble would work just as well.

Next, I took a small section from the top of the loose half, and split that section into two. I crossed the two strands over, then added some hair to each section, and crossed them over again. I repeated this until I reached the nape of my neck, and secured it with a small bull clip. Then, I did the same with the other half of my hair.

Finally, I tied the loose ends of my hair into a bun!

This is the finished result – it’s by no means perfect, but this version did take several attempts, so please appreciate the effort that went in! It’s also quite a subtle style that you could easily wear in the modern age, which is a bonus!

Second, I’m going to try to imitate this hairstyle.

As I don’t have as much hair as is probably necessary for this style, mine is a slightly improvised version. It looks like the hair has been split into an upper and lower section, and the lower section has been plaited and wound round the head, and the upper section has been either plaited or rope-braided around the head perpendicular to the lower plait. My version will split the lower section into two plaits, and join them together at the top.

After fastening the two plaits on top of my head, I separated some hair by my face to leave a bit of fringey-ness, and did two rope braids around my head with my remaining hair. I then pinned the loose ends of these into a small bun, and tucked in the loose ends of the plaits.

I may actually try doing something similar to this on a more regular basis!

Finally, I am going to attempt a hairstyle in an illustration in the book ‘Costume and Fashion: from 1066 to the present day’ by Jack Cassin-Scott. The illustration shows a woman with a bun on top of her head, and some loose strands curled around her neck and face.

To start with, I put my hair into a high ponytail, then split the hair into two equal sections. I then plaited each section, and wound them round each other, securing it with a hair bobble. I also pulled out a few small sections around my face and neck, and curled them a little using my straighteners. Finally, I added some flowery hair clips to the bun, and voila!

I hope this post was informative, and maybe provided some inspiration for new (well actually several hundred years old) ways to style your hair!

Author’s note:

I am aware that none of these styles are particularly tidy or impressive, but my hair is very thick and wiry, and as such it is pretty difficult to style it neatly. I am also doing this with limited time and resources.

Bibliography:

Cassin-Scott, J. 2006. Costume and Fashion: From 1066 to the present day.

Stallybrass, P. and Jones, A. 2000. Renaissance clothing and the materials of memory

http://blog.raucousroyals.com/2009/03/are-you-renaissance-beauty-take-quiz.html

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8yoj7-GQdDc – Loepsie Renaissance tutorial

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GSry_fXAru4 – The Freckled Fox rope braid tutorial