Hair raising talk for Inner Wheel Club

Members of Rutherglen Inner Wheel Club got some tips in royal fashion at their latest meeting.

Eileen Bremner gave a talk on “hairdressing through the ages”and it proved illuminating for members.

Egyptians wore hair set and coloured with the men wearing false, stiff beards which clipped over their ears but when we come to the Roman era we have men with shorter hair, seldom parted, and usually clean shaven.

The barber’s pole comes from the 15th century with its red and white stripes indicating the blood and bandage of the blood letting which was also expected of the barbers then.

Henry VIII had a short back and sides with a well trimmed beard. Catherine of Aragon kept her hair hidden while Anne Boleyn wore head dresses that were set back a bit to show her hair.

The introduction of ruffs meant short hair, small neat beards and pulled back, often high styled hair for the ladies with wigs becoming common, allowing different colours and variety of styles. Elizabeth I had long hair, loose at her coronation, but then is usually seen in one of her many wigs. In the 1600s, after James VI and I. we reverted to long and longer hair and this lasted for nearly 300 years.

Mid 18th century France was leading the fashion with flamboyant styles, very high and elaborately decorated with feathers and ribbons, powdered grey or bluish, scented. The powder had to be

Hair we go Inner Wheel past president Jan Dobson (left) with speaker Eileen Bremner (right) applied by blowing and so some homes had rooms set aside for this – hence today we have powder rooms. Wigs were expensive (or even very expensive) as you...