The Use of Padding in the Elizabethan Era

At the end of the 16th century, following their Queen Elizabeth I, middle and upper class hairstyles became very elaborate. The women of the Elizabethan era would pad, frizz and decorate their hair. To create the styles shown above, the technique of padding would've been used. Women's hair would've be pulled back from behind the hairline and ears into a neat coil and secured with threaded ribbon or thread against the head. Sometimes it could've been braided or padded underneath to make a larger, more secure shape. 

Hair adornment would then be useful to decorate the hair. Coif's would be used to hide the back of the head and emphasis the style of the padded front of the hair. Pearls may have been added to the outline of the hair to decorate. Examples of these are shown on my 'Elizabethan Hair Adornments' post. 

Reference: L. Mellin. 2008. Extreme Costuming [viewed on 26^th October] Avaliable at: http://www.extremecostuming.com/articles/twoelizabethanhairstyles.html

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