Victorian Hair for Children

http://www.ehow.com/info_8085877_childrens-victorian-hairstyles.html

http://victoriantruth.blogspot.co.uk/2008/07/from-commonly-held-misconceptions-about.html

Although much of the work we have done on hair for our course focuses on women's hairstyles throughout the Victorian era, I was intrigued to see how the Victorians styled their children's hair .. were the young girls hairstyles as extravagant as their mothers? So I decided to carry out some independent research and heres what I came across ...

The 'French Coiffure'

Despite the adult roles being 'extremely gender specific', up until around the age of four or five both girls and boys were dressed alike - wearing long, loose dresses and hair either curled or waved. However after they left nursery the children were treated and dressed like miniature adults, the boys hair was cut short at the back and sides and parted on top then oiled into place, whereas little girls remained long and was curled into ringlets or 'sugar curls' by tying hair up in rags the night before.

The 'Chignon'

The boys hair always remained pretty much the same throughout their lives, however as the girls became older their hair became more elaborate and detailed, used as a representative of their coming of age. The hair would still be curled but often 'tied up in a looser version of their mothers hair', however at 16 they would begin to wear their hair in a 'Chignon' (a low bun at the nape of the neck) or a 'French Coiffure' to make them more presentable for courting.

As the Victorian Era progressed, the regulations for children became more lax, and the girls were able to wear their hair in styles similar to those we still see today - loose and flowing, ponytails, plaits etc. 

The various hairstyles over the Victorian era for young girls.