What about the Hair!?! - Early Victorian Hair Styling

Queen Victoria reigned on the British thrown from 1837 to 1901, an unusually long reign which meant traditions in costume and beauty had room to expand and development over the era. This included Hair styling. 

At the beginning of the century women's hair aimed to create a feminine look that suggested an 'oval or round shaped face'. During this period very long thick hair was admired and desirable so women of this age did not cut their hair. Particularly during the earliest part of the period women wore 'at least part of the hair' loose, often in what were called 'drop curls'. Hair was most commonly parted in the centre of the head and the hair would be smoothed the scalp to the temples. 

As you can see in these illustrations taken from 'A History of Women's Hairstyles' by Jean Keyes, the hair most noticeable parted at the centre of the head with hair and smoothed until the emergence of voluminous 'drop curls' which appear at the side of the head in clusters.

Early Victorian Hairstyles
Photograph of Page 40
 'A History of Women's Hairstyles' by Jean Keyes p. 1967

between 1840 and 1860, the Apollo knot was considered rather fashionable. The Apollo knot was often constructed at top of the head towards the back accompanied by by curls at the side of the head. An example of an Apollo knot can be seen below in this painting.

Portrait of Eugenie Hortense Auguste Napoleon by Joseph Stieler
c. 1826
http://tinyurl.com/p974mle

This is a typical example of an early Victorian style featuring an Apollo knot. I can see the subject of the painting has traditionally long hair which has been plaited or twisted many times to form a knot of the top of the head. The hair has also been parted centrally and mounds of curls have been kept close to the side of the head near the ears. 

During the mid century top knots 'became smaller and moved further back on the head. It is also said that braiding became more popular with women wearing braids 'pinned neatly at the nape of the neck'. 

From what Ive read accessories were very simple, if worn at all, many women during the daytime wore their hair inside a net or beneath a hat which often dictated the placement of their style specifically the Apollo knot. 

Early Victorian Hairstyles
Photograph of Page 42
 'A History of Women's Hairstyles' by Jean Keyes p. 1967

Mid century the centre parting and curls around the fave remained popular, one of the main differences between early mid century hair styles was the positioning of knots or chignons 'lower down the head as the Victorian era continued'. When you consider the illustrations of mid century styles above compared to the Apollo knot seen in the portrait dated 1826 earlier in this post, I can definitely see that features of the styles have remained the same i.e the centre parting, smoothed down hair and bunches of curls at the side of the head, yet the positioning of the top knot or chignon has quite drastically changed and featured much lower of the head and perhaps looks more relaxed. 

(Victoria Sherrow, 'Encyclopeida of Hair: A cultural History' p. 2006, Greenwood Press)