In the Victorian era, a woman’s hair was an important element of her looks and showed her position and femininity. It was general known that a woman’s hair was her crowning feature, and women of that time were often expected to grow it long.
People grew their hair long so that they could use the thick hair that grew to make fancy updos, instead of utilising rats, pads, or Victorian-style hair extensions.
Even women with very long hair would utilise rats created from their own hair when they needed a lot of volume in their hair.
Today, “letting her hair down” means to relax instead of being “up tight.” In Victorian times, it wasn’t simply a saying; it was something that only happened in the bedroom when a woman took out her hairpins and brushed her long hair.
Only her husband (or her maid) could see her that way. But art and ads showed lovely women with hair that was too long and too thick to be real.
Women who were “respectable” didn’t wear their hair loose in public; it was largely a style utilised for art. Girls usually wore their hair down, but by the time they were 15 or 16, they were expected to wear it up.
Most of the time, the women with long, flowing hair were models and actresses who were meant to show closeness and romance. A Victorian person would find pictures of women with long, loose hair very exciting.
In Victorian society’s elegant middle and upper classes, a lady’s hair became the centre of sexual attraction and the main way she showed her femininity.
It was quite hard for poor people to keep their long hair during a time when sickness and bad hygiene were common. A lot of women sold their hair for money.
Keeping Victorian hair neat was one of the most important things. No matter the style, hair had to be clean and shining.
The haircuts of this time were all on how the whole body looked. During the Victorian era, hair was groomed to make the body look balanced.
(Photo credit: London Stereoscopic Company / Library of Congress).
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