Boshell Foundation Lecture on Ancient Roman Hairdressing: Fiction to Fact

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  • čas přidán 23. 10. 2013
  • Janet Stephens, a trained hairdresser and experimental archaeologist, discusses the history of ancient hairdressing and, using live models, recreates authentic Roman hairstyles similar to those featured in works in the Mary and Michael Jaharis Galleries of Greek, Roman, and Byzantine Art at the Art Institute of Chicago.

Komentáře • 56

  • @phl1rxd
    @phl1rxd Před 9 lety +25

    One of the most interesting videos I have ever seen.

  • @ditzyrose700
    @ditzyrose700 Před 7 lety +21

    "I have a lot of trouble finding models with long enough hair."
    OOOH! ME! ME! I'LL BE YOUR MODEL!! Seriously though, I have all this hair and no clue what to do with it.

  • @david-alexandercoley2401
    @david-alexandercoley2401 Před 7 lety +16

    I absolutely LOVED this lecture and Janet! Is everything!! Love her!!!!❤️❤️❤️❤️

  • @nokomarie1963
    @nokomarie1963 Před 9 lety +16

    Such a fun lecture.

  • @pamelaturnbull4344
    @pamelaturnbull4344 Před 9 lety +32

    OMG Janet Stevens is my new heroine ! When studying the History of Art in the 60's, my particular interest was costume ..... hairstyle goes with costume ... right? ... wrong .... it has taken me until NOW to discover the truth about ancient hairstyling; I felt wigs were a rare occurance, but how in the hell was all that complicated hair 'twisting' kept in place????????????? Answer = Janet Stevens perfect research, thank you sooo much. x

  • @peachcampanella
    @peachcampanella Před 7 lety +5

    Janet Stephens is an amazing woman! I love watching her CZcams videos.

  • @daalelli
    @daalelli Před 6 lety +1

    This was wonderful! I love the reasoning behind the research. Going to go watch more of her videos, now.

  • @ladollyvita333
    @ladollyvita333 Před 7 lety +3

    So amazing! Janet is so interesting and knowledgeable!

  • @ChillVanille
    @ChillVanille Před 14 dny

    Awesome work thank you

  • @aaalayna
    @aaalayna Před 3 lety +2

    thank you Janet Stephens! this was a really informative and interesting talk and demonstration! I'm a nail technician but i spent many years in a hair salon, and i love learning. i can't wait to talk to my stylist about this. very cool.
    5 *****

  • @karenc560
    @karenc560 Před 2 lety +1

    This was a fabulous video!!!

  • @Philaster3000
    @Philaster3000 Před 3 lety +1

    That is seriously impressive!

  • @warmice98
    @warmice98 Před 7 lety +7

    Is it possible that the braid panel stitched together in hte last example is not 3 braids stitched together but a weave braid of 6 or more strands. That would create the same panel effect.

  • @anneh4940
    @anneh4940 Před 10 měsíci +1

    It would be interesting to see the tools and techniques employed by contemporary stylists who specialize in hair braiding.

  • @helloangelia
    @helloangelia Před 10 lety +1

    Neat! Thank you for sharing this.

  • @DeltaSanjula
    @DeltaSanjula Před 8 lety +6

    Pity the camera angle wasn't better, love your work, you make it look so easy!

  • @sashaboue1224
    @sashaboue1224 Před 7 lety +3

    I adore Miss Stephens

  • @elizabethclaiborne6461
    @elizabethclaiborne6461 Před 3 lety +1

    Excellent!!!

  • @redcapsue
    @redcapsue Před 7 lety +12

    These ARE great. She is one of very few doing this kind of thing but I've said it before and its true. The execution is a bit sloppy and I think these styles were much more refined and could be recreated a bit more realistically. But still great fun to watch!

    • @peachcampanella
      @peachcampanella Před 7 lety +10

      susanht67 if you watch Janet Stephen's CZcams channel, she takes her time on the hairstyles as she has no lecture time limit, and they look soooo much neater.

  • @franescadiano
    @franescadiano Před 7 lety +11

    Amazing video! But it is a well known fact (proved by literary works) that Roman high class and noble women wore hair pieces, if not whole wigs. Not during the republican era, when modesty and simplicity was appreciated in lifestyle and attires, but during the Empire. Especially during the late Empire period there was a very big business of blond and red hair from the Northern provinces of the Empire. They bought German's and Celt's hair, which were very much sought after for their colour and to make wigs and hairpieces.
    They kept their hair clean with oils (they dissolve dirt) and saponaria powder.

    • @edavis7740
      @edavis7740 Před 7 lety +12

      Janet talks a lot about imported and false hair, so I'm thinking she just didn't want to add extensions/weaves/hair pieces in the short time she had. She also might not know the methods used to add hair, so she didn't do it since she only uses certain methods.

    • @elizabethclaiborne6461
      @elizabethclaiborne6461 Před 3 lety +3

      Did you watch the video?
      Much of history was written by white guys who brought their prejudices and assumptions made from The Rich White Guy Experience to academics. If you aren’t familiar, maybe go to school, read some books.
      Oh, and watch the video.

    • @franescadiano
      @franescadiano Před 3 lety +7

      @@elizabethclaiborne6461 Are you talking to me? Because I've watched the video carefully and I think it was great! I just added some information. Oh, and by the way, I'm an Art historian and scholar and I can assure you I have been reading (and writing) books all my life.

    • @genli5603
      @genli5603 Před 3 lety +5

      They tended to wear hairpieces if their own hair failed. Like there are poems making fun of women who broke off all their hair bleaching it blond.

    • @genli5603
      @genli5603 Před 3 lety +5

      @@elizabethclaiborne6461 Why don't you go to school and actually read some of the ancient Roman poets who talk about women who use hairpieces?

  • @Concetta20
    @Concetta20 Před 8 lety +6

    Maybe the hair was removable from the bust to change the hairstyle to fit the fashion changes, or just to change things up. :)

  • @Concetta20
    @Concetta20 Před 8 lety +3

    I would've never heard of Janet Stephens if I didn't read the Wall Street Journal. Thank you, newspaper.

    • @tucats
      @tucats Před 3 lety

      The WSJ is an interesting jumping off point. Wish you had described the article. I came here from Wikipedia. Articles about ancient man, fossils, mummies, and technical re-enactments. Thank you Wikipedia!

  • @Deb2252
    @Deb2252 Před 6 lety +1

    Very interesting. Thx.

  • @wendistewart2774
    @wendistewart2774 Před 3 lety +8

    Loved this presentation. Since oils and beeswax were expensive, don’t you think the hair dressing might have been heavier on the hair for status?

    • @aftersexhighfives
      @aftersexhighfives Před 6 měsíci

      I disagree personally that oils specifically were expensive or rare. Beeswax, probably yes. But we've had apiaries for eeons. But oil was readily available to them for fairly cheap. Especially olive oil.

  • @thecomrade302
    @thecomrade302 Před 7 lety +3

    She is amazing.

  • @Concetta20
    @Concetta20 Před 8 lety +3

    Lemon juice rinse is also great for getting residue out of hair.

    • @aaalayna
      @aaalayna Před 3 lety

      true! and they probably used olive oil for frizzies. and if they had vinegar that gets residue out right?

  • @aeringossett6430
    @aeringossett6430 Před 6 lety +2

    She's so cool! I wanna be her when I grow up.

  • @caribbeantigress
    @caribbeantigress Před 7 lety +7

    Hair stylists in those era's were usually slaves, and only very rich mistresses could afford to style their hair.

    • @TheSleepyowlet
      @TheSleepyowlet Před 7 lety +12

      Well, the styles Janet showed aren't rocket science - it's very possible that the women of poorer households just helped each other style their hair. It's also a question of practicability; Janet mentions that the braided hairstyles last days, so there is no need to redo them every morning. This is true; I've worn braided hairstyles for historical reenactments for several days, all I had to do to keep them from going ratty was sleep with a scarf wrapped around my head. In a pinch (and if you don't have a lot of flyaways) you can even wash your scalp and keep the hairstyle intact.
      The whole keep to the house modesty thing pretty much only pertained to upper class women; lower class women often worked jobs or did business outside their homes, so there was less constraint on them. That said, a hairdresser might also visit your house and do your hair there; think the Ancient Roman version of an Avon consultant. There might not be evidence for that, but since this was something pertaining to women it might just not have been written down because (especially lower class) woman-things were rarely ever considered noteworthy.

  • @aveuch
    @aveuch Před 3 měsíci

    Aren’t protective styles such as braids and stitched taping meant to be worn for long periods?

  • @aftersexhighfives
    @aftersexhighfives Před 6 měsíci

    I have one rebuttal. They wore wigs because of syphilis. The 1800s guys.

  • @pseudoelegance648
    @pseudoelegance648 Před 3 lety +1

    I appreciate the lecture yet my hair type was not featured here, if they preferred curly hair then why not represent it.

    • @Chloe-zs8ee
      @Chloe-zs8ee Před rokem

      at 25:50 actually she mentions it!

  • @sapdoni
    @sapdoni Před 3 lety +6

    I feel like if you know anything about protective hairstyles for the hair textures of people of African descent, you can see the influence in the ancient Roman hairstyles. After all, the Roman empire extended into north Africa at one point and it's not as though exchange didn't occur across cultures. I wish that would've been acknowledged and that not all the models had been white

    • @genli5603
      @genli5603 Před 3 lety +6

      Nonsense. North Africans weren't black. Why are you distorting history to shore up some sort of absurd lie? Why are you so racist that you think that Africa is all black? And are you now claiming that black women now braid their hair because the Romans and Greeks did? Because the Romans and Greeks developed these styles themselves. They didn't get them from elsewhere.

    • @ChillVanille
      @ChillVanille Před 14 dny

      Excellent observation

  • @winniedhaouadi1973
    @winniedhaouadi1973 Před 2 lety

    Never brushes my hair
    My vingers are my brush

  • @SalvatoreEscoti
    @SalvatoreEscoti Před 10 lety +1

    what about the Hair styles in Republican Times? Romw was a Republic for over 450 Years before it became an empire

    • @peachcampanella
      @peachcampanella Před 7 lety

      Salvatore Escoti sorry this is such a late reply, but she has more hairstyles on her CZcams channel

  • @Concetta20
    @Concetta20 Před 8 lety +3

    I bet if she went Amish country she could find natural, very long hair.

  • @MsNoemik
    @MsNoemik Před 10 lety +2

    Excuse me, which Christians are you referring to? How many Christians do you actually know? Although your video is somewhat interesting your sense of humor is not so greatest that you would should qualify as a humor critic. Just saying :)

    • @Th3LadyD
      @Th3LadyD Před 8 lety +22

      +MsNoemik The Christians of the 2nd century AD. And I disagree, I find her humor hilarious.

    • @beth12svist
      @beth12svist Před 8 lety +22

      +MsNoemik As a Christian to who I assume to be a fellow Christian: not every comment about Christians is actually an attack on our faith as a whole. I know ignorant comments can hurt, but... I've heard worse than someone poking fun at 2nd century Christian writers (who aren't in the Bible, I might add), in the context of one very specific research topic/area of life. If it helps understanding a joke a year after misunderstanding it, here's where I think you misunderstood: she's actually using narrative present tense to refer to the past.
      Here's a thought I feel timid to propose to you but feel I should: Until we've learned to poke fun at ourselves, we probably shouldn't judge other people's humour, either.

    • @camillabs87
      @camillabs87 Před 6 lety +9

      You understand that your comment is actually proving her point, right?

    • @XenusMama
      @XenusMama Před rokem +1

      *“ not so greatest” that is hilarious!
      * you absolutely prove her point. Thank you.
      * “somewhat interesting” I’m sure she’s crushed by your expert , not at all biased opinion.
      I am a Christian minister, not offended. My skin isn’t tissue thin.
      Bless your heart.