After their wildly popular first book: The American Duchess Guide to 18th Century Dressmaking, Lauren Stowell and Abby Cox have delighted us again with another publication to up our 18th century ensemble game…
The American Duchess Guide to 18th Century Beauty: 40 Projects for Period-Accurate Hairstyles, Makeup and Accessories. Yipee!!!
Get your copy here (will be released in July 2019) as you’ll want this book.
Upon my first, quick read-through, I believe that if you want to build a more historically-appropriate impression with your 18th century costuming, then this book will lead you. The research itself will take you far.
Now, I’ll readily admit I’m not into hair and makeup. Yep. I just need a few hairpieces and I’m good.
I’d planned to add this new resource book to my library but wasn’t sure how much I’d use it. Well…. even without sewing up one of the pretty caps or mixing tallow for pomatum – yet – I’ve learned SO much! Wow.
The section on How to Pomade and Powder Your Hair is going to save costumers so much grief! Nice, detailed instructions that give one confidence and encouragement to be generous with the products.
For my fine, super straight hair, cut in a short bob, I’m really looking forward to testing out the “craping method” for getting tight curls in the hair to then rat and style. But the instructions on curling hair with papillote papers (a new term to me!) and a modern flat iron seems quite intriguing. Huzzah for learning new techniques!
And I really appreciated the Coiffure Américaine Duchesse 🙂 technique being included with a sponge curler wet-set, as that is the main method I use for my own historical hairdressing.
Then there’s the recipes for pomatum and powder. THESE are the first reason to get this book… in addition to the marvelous hairstyling chapters.
Seriously, Lauren and Abby have taken out all the guess work for putting together pig lard and essential oils to make wonderful historical hair products.
(They assure us our hair won’t smell like a pig farm if we follow their directions for the pomatum making. Time to get some clove oil!)
The second main reason to get your copy of this beauty book is the glorious instructions on hairpieces extensions. (Hello, toupee, chignon and buckles!) We costumers need these sections! The guides here will translate VERY WELL to using extra hair for other time periods. Yay!!
Not to mention all patterns and sewing directions for the shaped and stuffed forms for creating those iconic high styles of the 1750s through 1780. (P.S. The trick on using a knitting needle is invaluable for 19th Century and Edwardian styles too!)
My favorite, which sadly I don’t have long enough hair for, is the Ski Slope. Haha… yes.
The authors came up with fantastic fun names for the hairstyles, somewhat based on publications of the period. It makes the reading quite enjoyable. (To note: their lists of cited art works and bibliography is worth reading and for further individual study.)
As for the sewing sections, Lauren and Abby have given us a nice number of delicate caps to top our finished hairstyles, a peignoir to keep our undergarments clean while getting made up, and that most mysterious of headwear in history – the Calash Bonnet.
Also included are instructions for ribbon trims, bows, loops, hat trimmings and full bonnet patterns, as well as a 1790s “Chiffonet” which is an early turban type head wrap. (It’s gorgeous!)
They’ve included hand sewing stitches from their first book and which I based my online class from, yet added a few more that are appropriate for the projects in this new book.
A nice inclusion, Cheyney McKnight has written an insightful essay on African hair in the 18th Century. Be sure to read it for further education.
Finally, the end of this packed tome answers that lingering question… how to wash our hair after all this prep work and powdering. Brilliant!
I must also mention the *fantastic* endnotes. They are altogether hilarious and extremely useful to fully flesh out those ideas touched on in the main chapter sections. Read it! Alone and along with your travel through each section. The authors have included loads of historical research sources and elaborate on controversial and confusing issues from the main text.
This new publication has obviously won me over to attempting more 18th Century hairstyling as well as costuming.
If you’re looking for makeup, you’ll only get a cheek rouge and lip stain. This may be a drawback for some, yet the authors tell us they kept makeup to a minimum because it’s about maximizing our own natural features.
If you are familiar with American Duchess Dressmaking book, this new Beauty book will feel right at home in your hands. If you’re new to it, you may find the text rather small (a mention I made in my review of the Dressmaking book).
Also, like the first publication, the photo collages are not divided with a tiny separation, which caused confusion in the first book with all the sewing steps. Here, however, the photos of the hairstyling can still be understood.
Bravo to Lauren and Abby for providing us with another fabulous resource to improve our 18th century ensembles!
The American Duchess Guide to 18th Century Beauty will be published on July 9, 2019 and is sold on Amazon and other major booksellers around the world. The book has a full depth of research and instruction. Go get your copy!