Estella Hair

I envision the character of Estella to be
largely misunderstood and perceptively
cold hearted and fierce.
I imagine, if it weren’t for her upbringing,
she’d have quite a gentle soul and be naturally
kind hearted and considerate.
To comply with the combination of
characteristics, I have designed a hairstyle to
represent all the elements.
The curls represent the tranquil aspects of
her personality whereas the uniformity of the
curls and up-styled structure represent her
cruel nature.

Design Method

-   Section off the front portion of the hair,
in front of the ears and loose hair around
the nape of the neck/hairline

-  Part the back of the hair, down the
centre, and curl sections around
large barrel curlers in the direction
indicated by the design

-   Fix with sectioning clips whilst they cool
in their formation

-   When the curls have cooled, fix the curls
in the same directions with hair grips, bound
tightly together in the middle of the head

-   Curl the front portion of the hair horizontally
from a middle parting to the ears

-   Allow them to cool in formation before fixing them
into pin curls around the of the face
Fix the entire hairstyle with hairspray
 

Silhouette Contd.

Using further characteristics from my bank of eccentric hair images, I created a hairstyle on my dolls head at home which I then had to replicate in class. The hairstyle was shot as a silhouette so shape was very important to the design of my hairstyle. I was inspired by my final hair plan for Miss Havisham which had a lot of shape created by tonging, frizzing and backcombing the hair.

Here is the image I bought into class of my creation at home…

This original style was far too contemporary and didn’t include enough Victorian detail. Therefore, in class, I opted for a smoothed over top portion and included an accessory to add to the silhouette’s formation. This is the silhouette I created in my lesson...

I am pleased with this silhouette and I really love the detailing in the shape created from the texture. I still feel it lacks the tradition of a Victorian hairstyle. To make it adhere to the era more, I would bring the front portion of the hair forward to resemble the generic style from my Victorian hair research.   

Miss Havisham

Miss Havisham is one of the main characters in Great Expectations. She is a wealthy and eccentric older woman, who lives with her adopted daughter, Estella, in the ruins of her mansion, Satis House.

As a young woman, Miss Havisham was jilted by the love of her life, Compeyson. He was only interested in marrying her for her money and abandons her, via letter, on their wedding day. Overcome with the abandonment of her fiancé, Miss Havisham never leaves her mansion and lets very few people see her. She remains in her wedding dress, with just one shoe on and her wedding feast uneaten and let to decay.

After time alone, Miss Havisham adopts a little girl to love and be loved by. This child is called Estella. When Miss Havisham adopts Estella, she develops the intensions to protect her from experiencing the same heartache as she had to endure. However, as Estella grew incredibly beautiful, Miss Havisham realised she could seek her revenge on men by having Estella break the hearts of boys.

When Miss Havisham meets Pip, she intends to break his heart by having him fall in love with Estella of whom she’s raised to be cold and heartless. In keeping with her spiteful plans, she does not deny that she is Pip’s benefactor. Pip is therefore under the impression that Miss Havisham is funding his newfound life to make him an ideal match for Estella.

When Estella grows up to marry Bentley Drummle, Pip is left heartbroken and Miss Havisham realises she isn’t merely as satisfied as she’s imagined she would be. She feels bad for hurting Pip and begs him for his forgiveness.

Miss Havisham soon reaches her untimely passing when a lit candle falls onto her dress and sets her dusty, yellowed wedding gown alight and burning her to death.  

Miss Havisham with Estella and Pip. Art by H. M. Brock.

Great Expectations

The topic of this second term is Great Expectations, a novel written by Charles Dickens published in 1861. The story, set early to mid-1800s, of a young ‘common’ boy becoming a gentleman is a story I’ve been familiar with for several years.

I was first introduced to Great Expectations at GCSE level when a piece of coursework involved analysing the first chapter of the book, Magwich and Pip’s encounter. At this stage, I was given an in depth overview of the book and watched the 1974 film adaptation.

When it was revealed the Great Expectations would be the focus of this work brief, I refreshed my memory by re-reading the descriptive passages on the lead characters as well as watching the 2011 BBC 1 three-part series and the 2012 film adaptation starring Helena Bonham Carter. As an additional refresher, I read spark notes, suggested by my course leader, which I found to be a very useful reminder of the story.

Great Expectations is a classic and I love the diversity of the characters and the plot twists. I also find it so insightful to read 150 years later and learn about the class system in the nineteenth century.

The characters I am focusing on for this brief are Miss Havisham and Estella. These are undoubtedly my top two favourite characters.  I like to think of them as the bitter duo of the story, their relationship within the story is quite riveting.

Following this post I plan on writing blog posts on these characters individually, detailing their traits, backgrounds and appearances. From this I intend to research extensively and use my findings to create period design plans, looks for both Miss Havisham and Estella.

This will lead me into the eventual creation of the look on a model which must then be recreated two weeks later to test my ability to adhere to continuity.