18th Century Hair & Wig Styling: History & Step-by-Step Techniques

REVIEWS

"...I seriously can't say enough good things about this fantastic new resource volume for historical and theatrical costumers. It's a full-color, 298-page, 8"x10" book, very professionally produced and packed full of fantastic information about a range of 18th century hairstyles, including those intimidatingly-large 'Marie Antoinette' styles.

"Ms. Van Cleave is a costumer, yes, but she is also a fashion historian and academic librarian, and the depth of her research and knowledge really shines through in the first section of the book, on the history of the styles in question. It's clear that she's not only done exhaustive research on hair of the period, but also tracked down and reproduced a wealth of visual research from portraits and other paintings, fashion plates, and illustrations of 18th century primary sources.

"The second section of the book is called Techniques, and focuses on the practical terms, tools, products, and so forth needed to create these styles. If you have little or no experience styling hair and/or wigs, this section will get you up to speed on not just the basics, but also topics like making your own wefts, adding hair into wigs, creating structures/foundations/rats, and so forth. It also includes info on powdering hair and wigs, and a lot of great photographs documenting the styling methods discussed.

"The third section, Finished Styles, is the most exciting step-by-step how-to overview of exactly how to do 22 different ladies' styles and three men's. If you've done much historical research on hairstyles of the 18th century, you'll recognize some of the most iconic ones (giant ship atop giant hair, anyone?). These are shown in a tutorial layout--instructions and photographs illustrating each step of the way, from an initial photo showing the model's actual unstyled hair and/or the unstyled wig beforehand, through to the finished look..."

Rachel Pollock, Goodreads.com

"I highly recommend this book. I read the entire history and techniques sections, and the research presented there is impressive. Then I tackled the Dorothee style, which is appropriate for the mid- to late 1770s ... The results are not at all perfect, but wearable and still pretty."

Gloria Quincy, In The Long Run

"I've been using the book for reference for styling wigs for Les Miserables - a little bit out of period but we've adapted. VERY helpful in so many ways! Just the reference photos of contemporary images is worth purchasing the book! And I can't wait to take my steam iron to a couple of my long wigs! (with good protective gloves, of course!) Thanks again for such a wonderful resource!"

Shannon Fennell

"Just got my copy and I can't put this thing down! It's a tremendous resource. Thank you so much for all the hard work and research that went into making this. I hope it counted toward a Master's thesis (or dissertation). Bravo, too, for all the terrific historic illustrations and meticulous photos. It's brilliant!"

Jane Blew Healey

"I recently made this wig/costume for a convention (BlizzCon), and I absolutely could NOT have made the wig as amazing as I did without your book! I had it pre-ordered as soon as I saw it on indiegogo, and it was the most amazing resource for me. I've been recommending it to everyone when they ask how I did the wig!"

Alice Roy

"I, the greatest of all hair dummies, just pulled off the "Derby" for a colonial picnic! Thank you, thank you for your book!"

Heather Hofshi

"I can truthfully say that your book is a great addition to my library and one of the BEST books I've ever purchased. Thank you."

Barbara Meyer

Read more reviews (and leave your own) at Amazon.com and Goodreads.com.