Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1903-10-05
ART OF HAIRDRESSING
II rs
FANTASTIC METHODS DICTATED
By FASHION FOR CENTURIES.
Styles Of Couture h That Have Had
Their Vogue With Queens and
Plain Women.
From the New York Tribune,

| From the New York Tribune,
Fair tresses mans sinperial race ensnare,
And beauty draws us ty o single hair.
| So sang Pope in those golden days before
the invention Of wonaerps clubs teas. golf.
! the automobile, the summer run to Europe
and similar diversions had made leisure al
| most extinct a thing as the dodo. Al
though there have been periods when fair
| tiesses were an object OF more complicated
attention and more artificial modes Of
dressing than now, there has probably
never been time when the single hair
was an object of greater solicitude to wo
men at large than at the present, or
more important element of personal beauty.
The low couture has Caught on with q
| rapidity which shows how tired the public
generally was of the upward sweep and
bare nape the small topknot and the high
effects that have been in vogue so long.
For street and ordinary day wear the hair
is drawn into a simple knot low down on
the neck. so low sometimes almost to
rest on the shoulders. For evening wear
the high couture remains in vogue, al
though where a woman has a good profile
and a style which the low knot distinctly
enhances, she is sorely tempted to wear 1t
all the time This couture basse, or low
couture. is pretty generally becoming,
| 1t shows the shape OF the head to better ad-
vantage than does the high couture Fur
thermore, 1t cOncealS the nape of the neck,
which is a weak spot in many womens
| dressing Of their hair Every woman has
| a neck. but not every woman has a pretty
neck or one that is decorative when the
| hair Is drawn away from 1t in the severe
| lines that have been in vogue.
Pompadours With Difference.
| The hair is still worn pompadour, but
| instead of an even symmetrical pompadour
| framing the face, the hair is pouched over
| the face in irregular masses or puffs, and
| there Is general movement to discard the
| rat unhygienic and inartistic. Many wo-
men who have adopted the low style of
! hairdressing have returned to the center
| parting. the result being something exceed
| ingly womanly looking and SOFT provided
| they have foreheads that will bear show
| ing.
! A narrow. long effect is sought for by
some women whose heads are broad and
| the nape Of the neck plump and pretty.
These are in the shape of the figure 8, In
| loose coils in oblong knots. With the
| low style Of hairdressng any ornament
| that may be added in the form of flowers
| is at the side The hair will be ar
ranged from the crown of the head to the
nape. while on the lef side graceful spray
| of flowers and foliage will be draped. This
! is highly effective, outlining the shape of
| the head in pretty fashion.
Where the hair Is worn in a broad braid
| young women ornament the top and bottom
| of the braid with black ribbon bows The
/ lower bow is slipped through the braid be-
| fore 1t is turned up. and protrudes on either
| side In big broad FAM AS all these low
styles Of hafrdressing call for a good head
| Of hair II the results are to be satisfac-
| tory. and as handsome hair Is somewhat
| less common than 1t was in the days be-
fore crimping and rats were so generally
| adopted. not few women and even young
| girls are glad to avail themselves Of the
black ribbon bow as a pretty and innocent
| method of ektng out their locks.
One still sees innumerable high coifrures
n h0 hnlt
women wear them. and will continue to
wear them. possibly with notifications be-
| cause they have found that the mode suits
their style 1t will probably be long time
before the high couture becomes passe in
| the sense that the incest women have
dropped it.. .. ii s,I
Ancient Decorations.
| Women have always delighted to dress
| and decorate their heads. Although holy
| writ does not tell how Eve wore her hair.
| it Is quite certain that Ewes near descend
| ants. the women of Babylon Nineveh and
| ancient Egypt, were never happier than
when their heads were surmounted by tow
ering pyramids of stiff little curls When
these formidable architectural structures
| plazed with gold and Jewels they must have
presented striking appearance The
Egyptians We're highly civilized race with
taste Tor hairdreSSing as monumental a G
| their taste In architecture and on MANY
an obelisk and slab there are carvings to
snow later generation the degree of fussy
shiii "iich they had attained in this direc-
uo!i. Even their wigs have survived the
wreck or empires. and the boxes in which
tney kept them-little toilet accessories
with which that Pharaohs daughter who
hshed little Moses out of the buIrushas vas
perfectly familiar in all probability An
Egyptian wig in the British Museum CON
talhs no less than 300 little braided pigtajls
IN hothing did the Greeks show the ele-
sahce ana grace of their natural tastes
more than In the styles of hair dressing
"hich they invented. If the Greek women
really did wear their hair in those delight
Iul ways IN which the various Venusas
Psyches. Minervas and Junos wear theirs
no" charming they must have looked One
couture. that of the Venus de Medict with
l.s punch or little curls at the back, was
eAceeulhgy popular with English and
American women genera ton or two back
ana. IN truth. whatever style of hairdress-
ing today Is simple and classical is pretty
sure to have originated in Greece in tho
days of Pericles. Not a few of the C,reaL
Women's Ideas in hairdressing appealed to
the 1ashlonaole Roman matron of the en-
pre-, VINO reproduced them in waves and
COILS on her own stately head.
Revolt From Simplicity.
With the rise of Christianity came a re-
turn from the artistic charm and noble
simplicity Of the classical epoch of some
thing Of the elaboration and artiflciality of
the oriental modes The Jewish women
hH''oi any "eiit dpout Velleu, or with draped
heads. but st. Paurs dictum about women
not appearing in church with their heads
uncovered probably had its effect in pro-
ducing the revival of the elaborate hair
dresses. Coronets and wells adapted from
the ancient oriental models were worn in
what Is known as the Byzantine epoch in
Rome and Constantinople, and are reflect
ed In some of the hard ugly Madonnas
with which Byzantine art decorated the |
churches 1t would be difficult says THE
Ladies Field to imagine anything more |
singular than the headdress of a Byzan-
tine empress. which was sort of high |
standing crown. ornamented with countless
precious stones and surmounted by a sort |
or steeple made of gold and silver. inside !
of which tinkled a profusion Of little gold |
bells. Ts1-o
The women of civilized Europe during the
middle ages were not far behind the women |