The Miss Havisham That I Am Creating

When thinking about the design that I wanted to create, I decided that I needed to focus on a single moment in the book so that I was able to create a realistic but new make up look on the many times recreated scene. I have decided to focus on the first encounter that Pip has with Miss Havisham in Satis House. I think that this is an interesting scene to recreate as Dickens gives a large amount detail about her character and look, and when reading it for the first time it was easy to imagine what Miss Havisham looked like which therefore made it more interesting to create a look that I think represented her character the best. 'She was dressed in rich materials-satins, and lace, and silks- all of white. Her shoes were white. And she had bridal flowers in her hair, but her hair was white. Some bridal jewels sparkled on her neck and on her hands, and some other jewels lay sparkling on the table.' 'But, I saw that everything within my view that ought to be white, had been white long ago, and had lost its lustre, and was faded and yellow. I saw that the bride within the bridal dress had withered like the dress, and like the flowers, and had no brightness left but the brightness of her sunken eyes. I saw that the dress had been put upon the rounded figure of a young women, and that the figure upon which it now hung loose, had shrunk to skin and bone'. Although I was keen not to get swayed by depictions already created, I decided that it was important to research films and television shows and focus on previous depictions and how they represented her specifically in this scene.  From what I have seen I feel her character is always represented as far older than what Dickens envisaged. I am therefore trying to capture the youth and in some ways the beauty that she still had at this point in her life. Dickens describes her as a 'waxwork' which to me brings to mind smooth, taught skin rather than more mature wrinkled skin. I will be keeping it with the traditional Victorian style of minimal make up and am going to make her look realistic to her description of having, 'sunken' and, 'dark eyes', as I am not going to try to make her into a 'beauty queen'.  I will also be focusing on the paleness of her skin, as she never sees the sun and as written in the book asks Pip, 'You are not afraid of a woman who has never seen the sun since you were born?' I however do not intend to make it extremely pale as I feel that is a popular look that has been done many times. I am looking forward to exploring my representation of Miss Havisham's character and carrying out the design in the final timed assessment.

Creating Emotions With Make Up

This week I was experimenting with make up trying to create different emotions. I had in mind Estella's character from the Charles Dickens' book 'Great Expectations' while creating this. I wanted to try to capture the two sides of her character in one look. I wanted to try to show her anger towards Miss Havisham, seen later in the book, for teaching her how to be spiteful and not how to love but also her sweeter softer side and her beauty, which features highly throughout the book.

When creating the harsher side of her character I wanted to create a strong and defined straight brow. I think this style instantly adds an element of anger to the face. I also wanted to make it a strong look to put across her strength of character throughout the book and the power that she holds over Pip. I also wanted to try to keep it slightly contemporary as it was just experimental. I wanted to try to create something that I could imagine being seen walking down the catwalk. I wanted to use the colour black as to me it instantly brings anger and dark thoughts to my mind. I created the strong contour below the cheek bone to show her harsher side. I decided to make it grey as I thought that, along with the black eyebrows and lips, it would be fussy. I wanted to create the black lips as I think that black lips can be very beautiful, even though I was trying to capture her harsher side, and throughout she is still beautiful. Overall I like how this experimentation turned out, however it was difficult to keep the brow neat once completed and it was easily smudged. If I was trying to create this look again I would may have to use a setting spray or sealing gel.

The Harsher Side

When creating the softer side of Estella I wanted to use lots of gold as these bring to mind warm feelings, as well as looking very beautiful. I kept the brows soft as I only wanted them to frame the face and not became a main feature, I believe if they become too dark they can take over a look and make it look too harsh. I kept the skin quite warm and gave it a healthy glow. The lips were kept pink as it is a recognised colour of femininity as well as looking pretty. I think this is a pretty look, but question how experimental it was, I feel that the make up is a look that has been repeated and carried out many times. I think if I was to do it again I would try to keep the softer side as contemporary as the harsher side. This could be done by trying to make it less about how pretty it looks on the face but more about the colours used and placement of the products.

The Softer Side

Both Sides Together

Creating Late Victorian Hair

Equipment Used:

Pin Tail Comb
Hair Elastics
Kirby Grips
Paddle Brush
Curling Iron
Dry Shampoo

Comb the hair and divide it into a centre parting.

Split the hair into two sections at the front, dividing down towards the hair. Clip these sections of hair up and out of the way.

Get the hair at the back and divide it into an upper and lower section, creating a horseshoe shape parting between both sections.

Gather the top section and tie it up into a ponytail.

Divide the ponytail into three sections and curl each section into ringlets.

Gather the curled sections and pin them onto the top of the head, making them into little twists but with the end of the curl showing, this will act as a structure for the rest of the look.

With the lower section of the hair, divide it into small sections and create ringlets with a curling iron. Keep the handle of the curling iron tilted to the floor when creating the sections.

Once the back section is curled, finger comb them through to make the curls look looser. Pull the curls upward and pin them, using kirby grips, into the structure made previously with the curled ponytail. You can leave some of the ringlets looser once pinned so that they create a cascade effect down the back of the head.

With the front sections of hair, divide each side into two sections agin. Split it into a top and side section. With the top section wrap the hair around the barrel with the front of the barrel facing towards the face. Lay the curl on the top of the head, this will create a wave effect once combed out. Repeat this two more times, so on either side of the head you have three curls lying flat on top.

With the section of hair at the side of the head, split it into two and curl the hair away from the face with the handle of the curler facing the floor.

Take these two curls at the side and comb them through, then pull them up into the ringlets on the top of the head, making sure the sides are smooth.

With the top three curls take the bottom roll closest to the ear and pull it back more loosely into the curls, gather the two remaining curls and add them into the ringlets, creating a wave effect at the top.

I am creating these looks as they may be ultimately be used in my final Miss Havisham look, therefore I decided to add some dry shampoo to try and make the hair look grey. This is however optional.

The Hair With The Dry Shampoo In

 I enjoyed making this hairstyle as there were lots of elements and processes involved which made it interesting. I am considering using this hairstyle for either Estella or Miss Havisham, I am currently more swayed for doing it for my Estella design, as to me it may be too over done for the character of Miss Havisham. If I do create this for Estella I may consider adding accessories such as a ribbon to add an extra area of interest as well as a more feminine touch.

I found some images online of Victorian women wearing this type of look. They do however look slightly more different as I imagine their hair would have been longer than the hair that my practise doll has.

http://www.beauty-and-the-bath.com/beautiful-victorian-hairstyles.html

http://women-of-confederation.ca/category/victorian-hairstyles/

Practising Early Victorian Hair

I decided that I would practise the early victorian hair which we learnt a couple of weeks ago. This was  a  good exercise as it helped me get more familiar with the techniques and helps me to consider styles that I may use in my timed assessment.

Films With Mid To Late Victorian Hair

After I researched films with early Victorian hair, I decided to research films with late Victorian hair also. I decided to do this to see how the hair was portrayed and how accurate they look when compared to the research I have carried out.

I decided to look at the film 'Love In The Time Of Cholera', a 2007 film set in 1890. While researching a film to study, I struggled to find one where I thought the hair was a good representation of the Victorian era. Many of the films also had very few images to study. When I came across the film 'Love In The Time Of Cholera' I instantly liked the hair and it was accurate with the research that I had carried out. In the late 1800's the hair was beginning to become looser and more elaborate. In the late 1800's the famous Gibson Girl look was very popular, where curly hair was piled loosely on the top of the head. In the top and bottom image below I believe the hair to be in the style of the Gibson Girl. From the images I have seen of the original Gibson Girl, I believe the style to be very accurate. Some of the hairstyles seen throughout the film to me seem to be too early for the time period. However I imagine this to be my error through a lack of knowledge rather than a production mistake as a lot of work is put into making films and television shows to ensure they are historically accurate. I really like the hair in the first image, I think that it looks effortless but very beautiful.

The Original Gibson Girl
http://stuffnobodycaresabout.com/2013/05/23/beauties-of-the-past-annabelle-whitford/

https://andrewsidea.wordpress.com/2009/03/12/love-in-the-time-of-cholera/

http://www.entertainmentwallpaper.com/download/10010677/

http://www.imagozone.com/filme/Love-in-the-Time-of-Cholera/Love-in-the-Time-of-Cholera-209?size=full

http://www.cinemagia.ro/filme/love-in-the-time-of-cholera-dragostea-in-vremea-holerei-19548/imagini/24331/

Creating Burns

When creating a burn you can use gelatine from the supermarket or you can use Jellac Latex.

For this look I used Gelafix Skin

Tools:

A pin
Spatula
Supra colour palette
Foundation palette
Translucent powder

You will need to melt the Gelafix in a microwave. You only need to do this for a few seconds.

Once it is melted and cool enough to be comfortable on the skin, using a spatula, apply it to the skin in a patting motion.

To help blend it into the skin you can use warm water to smooth it out and make it more blendable.

Once the gelafix is dry you can powder over it with translucent powder.

After this you can use the supra colour palette to add colour to the burn.

Use reds and brown colours to make it look more realistic. You can also use reference pictures of real burns so you can have a look that you are trying to achieve.

Once you have got the desired colours you can go over it with a cream foundation on a sponge to make it blend more seamlessly into the skin.

The Burn I Created

The Gothic On The Catwalk

The gothic era has acted as inspiration and influence in modern day life and I wanted to research and explore its influence on the catwalk. The Gothic looks seen on the catwalk usually combine dark colours, heavy fabrics and often references to the skeletal structure. The collections I have seen usually combine strong make up and expressive hair which combine to create a style of excesses. Gothic horror has inspired many designers including John Galliano, the Mulleavy Sisters and Karl Lagarfeld for Chanel. On the blog 'Drapers' it says, 'John Galliano has had a life long love affair with the Gothic Girl, the edgy, cool, vampish and mysterious women who is fascinated by the erotic and the blackness of the night'. This can be seen in many of his collections. The website 'Dazed' talks about the love that the Maleavy sisters have of horror films and how it was inevitable that this love would make it into their collections. I think that the use of Gothic as a style inspiration is very interesting as it can make for very beautiful, expressive and moody pieces. I think that the decadence that can be achieved, without looking over the top, is also very easy to capture using gothic as inspiration. These images below are some of my favourite looks from the catwalk. The Chanel Spring Summer 2003 look reminded me of how I imagined Miss Havisham's wedding dress to look like.

Sources:

http://www.drapersonline.com/gothic-the-fashion-inspiration-that-never-dies/1889012.blog

http://www.dazeddigital.com/fashion/article/17663/1/ten-collections-that-horrified-the-runway

Alexander McQueen Autumn Winter 2006
http://www.dazeddigital.com/fashion/article/17663/1/ten-collections-that-horrified-the-runway

Christian Dior Haute Couture Autumn Winter 2000
http://www.dazeddigital.com/fashion/article/17663/1/ten-collections-that-horrified-the-runway

Chanel Haute Couture Spring Summer 2003
http://www.dazeddigital.com/fashion/article/17663/1/ten-collections-that-horrified-the-runway

Iris Van Herpen 'Capriole' Haute Couture Autumn Winter 2011