Hairstyles to the Fore: Sepia Saturday.

A head and shoulders portrait  of a young girl features in this week's Sepia Saturday  prompt photograph.  Cue for me to look at hairstyles of my family down the ages. 

 

         

My paternal grandmother  Mary Barbara Weston, nee Matthews (1876-1959) 

 

Nana Weston was born in Wolverhampton in the English Midlands, one of 10 children born to John Matthews and Matilda Such.    Her sister Fanny died tragically when her apron caught fire whilst she was carrying a candle, and she died from her burns.  Brother Arthur died in the First World War at Gallipoli,  leaving a young widow and 3 children. 

 

Her hairstyle is typical of the  1880s and 1890s.  

 

My other grandmother Alice Danson, nee English (1883-1945)

 

 

 

 

I never  knew Alice as she died when I was a baby. For many years she was my major brick wall, until last year I discovered  she had been born in a Liverpool Workhouse, though she  quoted another birthplace   in the 1911 and 1921 census returns. This photographs is part of a large family photogaph taken in 1916 as my grandfather was setting out to war.  

 

 Again her plain no nonsense hairstyle was typical of the times.

 
The impact on the First World War on the changing role of  women saw an abandonment of the  traditional long hair styles of the Victorian - Esdwardian  period to the new short styles of the bob, finger-wave, Marvel wave, shingle and Eton crop, with their popularity continuing well into the 1930's. 

                                          

My great aunt Jennie Danson (1897-1986)  who sacrificed her long plait for the new look, without telling her mother.  This is one of my favorite photographs in my family collection. Jennie by all accounts was a feisty woman  - she needed to be to hold her own, growing up with eight older brothers whose ages,  when she was born,  ranged from 3 to 20. 

 

  

 An elegant unidentified portrait in my husband's collection - thought to be a relation of his aunt Annette.   

 

 

My mother Kathleen Danson - Jennie's niece.

My mother again - with more waves this time

In the 1930''s and 1940's,   a  softer look crept in, with curls and waves all the rage, and during the war the "roll" was the defining style.  This was the age of trying to emulate  Hollywood glamour, despite the realities  of life during the  depression and war.  

My aunt Edith Danson

 

 

 

Another new look for my mother who seems to have adopted an Austrian style, with what looks like  plaits  over  her head.  She was always very proud of her distinctive widow's peak.  

Below some typical 1940s looks from my aunt Peggy Danson (in WAAF uniform), my mother and finally  my husband's elegant aunt Annette.

Pigtails to Pony Tails  to Perms characterised  my look from the  1950s onwards.

 

 Pigtails complete with kirby grips and ribbons.  

On village gala days and on special occasions, my hair was wound into rags overnight  to hopefully create ringlets - which soon fell out.  

By my early teens my hair was long and worn now in a pony tail. It was washed with a final rinse of  vinegar and rain water - my mother's idea of a beauty treatment -  and it took ages to dry in front of the fire as we had no hair dryer.

 

There is a pony tail hiding behind this Plain Jane look  What is it about moving from childhood to teenage years, as this is the only family photograph I could find.  No holiday snaps, no school photos - nothing.  

 

 I became a librarian, so had to work hard at counteracting the traditional dowdy image.  So here  is the young professional look for my first job - worn with a   mini length sweater dress  and long necklace  - all the rage then.  

 

By the late 1960's,    vanity prompted me to try contact lenses and they proved a great source of stories with friends as we recalled  tales of losing them.  I remember one occasion where I was scrambling around on the floor of a pew at church, (not praying) but  trying to find this miniscule lens. 

 

 

At least I was minus my glasses on my wedding day. 

Pregnancy and being an "at home" Mum meant I lost the incentive to bother with inserting, cleaning, and removing contact lens - I had trouble getting used to them again and I reckoned I had better things to do with my time, so it was back to spectacles.

 

 By the late 1980's grey hairs were beginning to creep in.   I recall one New Year's Day when we were due to go out in the evening.  I used a home colour shampoo to disguise the grey - but left it on too long and the result was rather too much  red.  The shampoo packet said it would run out after 6 washes, so I washed it about 6 times that day - to very little effect.

I moved on to perms for my fine, limp, locks.  We were now at the time  on TV of Dallas, Dynasty and Charlie's Angels,  with big hair and shoulder pads all the rage - hence this rare look for me taken for a work Annual Report.  Less glamorously, I was also likened to Deidre Barlow of "Coronation Street" soap opera fame.  The big specs did it!   This look involved too much like hard work. 

 

 

 

 I am now pleased to see natural styles are back in vogue which suits my age and rural life style!

 

Fashion has come full circle and here I am below  wearing spectacles remarkably like those I wore in my teens. 

 

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