My 250 word evaluation of me creating my partners design

On the day of my partners assessment she hadn't provided me with any notes, diagrams or a face chart of what I was doing on the day, so this for me was one of the bigger challenges to try and over come. I also had awful news the night before which made me very upset both mentally and emotionally, though I tried to block it out and not think about it. It was quite difficult to stay focused and think about what I was doing which didn't add to the fact that I also had nothing to work from.
We had practised the the make-up and hair during the week before the actual exam so I had a basic idea of what I was doing. I had a photo to work from o my partners phone which did help me. My partner provided all make-up, brushes etc for me for the day and I did the same for her. We decided this was easier because if she wanted a specific brush to be used or product that I didn't have she would have to bring it so instead of us each bring in certain things we just said it would be easier if when it is your design you bring the brushes, make-up skin care etc as you know what you like to use . We also felt hat this gave a better insight into the real industry as if you designed a make-up we thought you might have to supply the hair equipment and make-up products , brushes, clips etc to create the look and also for a hygiene point of view, if your make-up brushes are used only on you as much as possible it stops cross contamination.
She calmed me down during the assessment which really helped me focus on the bigger picture. She was a real team player ad I'm really glad I got to do my assessment with her. I felt her design had alot of Elizabethan references to it ad I found it quite interesting, the pattern and how detailed it was which she included in her design with a detailed eye liner effect.

My timed assessent at Southampton Solent University

So, I had to create a Contemporary Elizabethan Hair and Make-up Design which was designed for my by e ad applied by someone else.
  Below is a pack that I created for my partner to create my hair style

-My step by step guide
-Hair diagrams
-Photos of the pin curls

Hair designs using decoration in them

So since I really liked the idea of using some form of decor in my hair for a design I'v decided to look at some images with or incorprating decor within the style, some have Elizabethan References, some dont. Im just quite struck by some of the styles I have seen with decor in them .

Project title: RED HEADS AND ROYALTY

Redheads and Royalty
The ‘Redheads and Royalty’ brief focuses upon collating historical research and technical observations of the hairstyles used in the Elizabethan era.  You may begin by considering the hairstyles you have identified in paintings from the Elizabethan era, but also consider that the various hairstyles and hair colours used by Elizabethan women also had references to their age, class and status.
You are required to create a variety of historically accurate Elizabethan hairstyles in class, but you will also devise a more contemporary version using clear references to a style of Elizabethan hair you are inspired by.  Develop the project by referencing contemporary versions of Elizabethan hairstyles – do this by looking through newspapers, magazines and websites. Gather visual evidence that references Elizabethan hair and begin to consider how you may adapt it to a contemporary style.
How can you use the ideas within both historical and contemporary images to inform the design of a contemporary hairstyle? 
You must suggest through image and text, at least 3 solutions of how you will achieve this and blog all of your research and findings. The journey from the Elizabethan look to the contemporary look must be clearly stated.
Write a short analysis of how you have interpreted the contemporary hairstyle.  What do you intend it to say about the wearer?
Design a hairstyle that will work on you. Create consultation notes for how to create the style in a concise way and collect materials for constructing the look*. This information will be supplied to your partner before the assessments for them to create upon you during the two hours assigned.
*Please look into the Universities hair department resources and explore extra materials available from outside the university if required.
Please note: The assessment will highlight your personal working methodology, technical skill and your ability to communicate your own design to your partner, as well as your ability to execute their own design given to you. 

Unit Submission Requirements
 
 1.   The Sketchblog

• A reflective journal of ideas with both theoretical and practical outcomes. Your blog must show a fluidity of referencing, of Elizabethan hairstyles, key reading, visual reference points, drawings, photographs, and a Bibliography (using Harvard referencing system) of research sources. Please see myCourse for guidance with referencing. Your bibliography must list your research sources, e.g. magazines, books, newspapers, films or literature.
• Your blog must clearly document the development and rehearsal of your hair design prior to assessment, which you may wish to share with your partner to help each other prepare for the final assessment.
• At the end of your blog, you must write a 250-word evaluation of the project progression, detailing how you overcame problems with design or materials, how you developed your research and how you found working to your partners hair brief

2.   Timed Assessment
 

• You will undertake a 2-hour Timed Assessment.  Prior to this assessment you must exchange a design template/photos/notes with another make-up artist and discuss the process of replicating their concept in class.
• The Timed Assessment will be held to commercial timings in the studio.  This is a practical examination of your creative knowledge and technical abilities. It will also assess the maintenance of health and safety within the studio, through observation of the care and organisation of workstations and equipment; assessment and care of your model, and good general working practices including satisfactory personal dress and hygiene.

 3.   Technical Make up Folder
You will need to submit a supporting technical folder.  It must include the following:

• A link to your blog

• Notes and information provided by your technical instructor

• Photographed outcomes documenting your in-class technical progression

• Photographed outcome of your timed assessment

• Peer review of timed assessment collaboration

• A FMS407 Technical File Sign off sheet.

Upload your entire submission as one single PDF file to your sketch blog and mycourse page


The above is a copy of the unit brief for our current project.

How I have interpreted the brief?

- We have to gather technical and historical research to influence and inspire us to create a contemporary Elizabethan Hair design with clear references to historical elizabethan references. This hair design will be designed by me to be worn by me.
   I will put together a pack of notes, diagrams , photos and a step by step guide on how to create my design which will be done by a partner in a timed assesment. I will communciate my work in progress and research for designs via a blog created by me which I will also submitt in conjuction with a Technical file showing practial work I have done in the hair studio during class time.

 

Further Inspiration for hair plaiting

  

I saw this image, which is a photo of Balenciaga's cape-tastic collection a/w 2011, which for whatever reason really made me think of hair plaiting and then I saw the music video Tennis Court by Lorde which is also on my blog and then everything I started seeing kept making me think of plaiting and twisting the hair so I decided to try and incorporate it into my designs for hair somehow.


                                           

I was out in Southampton and I saw rope and I thought the texture of it made me think of the hair texture of the Elizabethans and it also reminded me of a hair plait



I decided to do a french plait because when I looked at the texture of the rope it looked to me very tight set and I was trying to recreate the texture and tightness of the rope within the hair. I chose to put the plaits at the sides of the head as I thought it gave the style a contemporary twist, since so many people wear plaits on the sides of the head now and I also really liked the way it look. I made the hair clip myself I just bought some feathers and glued them onto a sectioning hair clip and covered all the glued bits with a big diamond.


This also gave me the idea for my fish tail plait because I started thinking then about plaiting and how you can make it into whatever you like so I decided to incorporate a fish tail plait into one of my designs and then pulled it apart to make it quite messy and contemporary

practicing my partners hair design for our timed assesment

This is my partners design for her timed assessment which I have to create with a make-up look in 1 and a half hours. How I did this look was crimped the top section of the hair and then held the hair upright and literally rolled the hair down to the scalp and then placed pins to secure the hair in certain places.

Contemporary Pin curls - my thought process from where it all began!

This image I found on Stylus.com ( one of my favourite sites) it is a Contemporary take on the pin curls that I was found of in the Elizabethan Portraits that I examined.
   I love the modern take on them with the jewels, the texture created within the hair,

When I started thinking of doing the pin curling for one of my designs, I started to think about the process of pin curling and how I would achieve it in my own hair as its quite short, fine and thin ( Basically everything you don't want ) Which is when I stumbled upon this photo


And then I started thinking, What if I used something in place of the pin curls to create the same shape but just without using my own hair and I really liked the idea of using something like a decoration .... And that's when I went to ASDA to get some brain food, I was starving and really couldn't think anymore plus I thought walking around might give me an idea or two. I got to ASDA and saw a box of red Christmas bulbs, So I tried them out in my own hair to see how it would look or work out



After trying this out and getting advice from one of my lecturers , I decided that maybe it wasn't such a great idea after all and maybe I needed to try something different, That's when I decided to use my own hair extensions and curl them and place them upon my head , it was still the same concept that really drew me in but just using a different medium. And that is how I created my hair style with the pin curls for one of my designs which I ended up using as my final design for my assessment



The texture came from looking at Elizabethan portraits and then comparing that, to Elizabethan Characters in films about queen Elizabeth and then incorporating it into things I liked and saw throughout going through the project like varies music videos and images of hair with great texture which are posted on my blog

Inspiration for creating texture in my final design

I saw these images on a Facebook page for MAC and really fell in love with the texture that was running through the hair. It is clearly an Elizabethan look they were going for with the big structured shape and the fizzed like texture through the hair. I really loved this and it helped to influence my final hair design

    They have taken a contemporary twist on it spraying the hair different colours, I really like the one with the red in it and so included red in my final design.