Thursday, January 10, 2013

Hairstyle Tutorial: Lady Mary-esque

The Downton Epidemic has not left our family unscathed. We were very very late to the Downton game, and only just crammed seasons 1 & 2 into the weeks between Christmas and now. :D After hearing some awful things that happen to favorite characters in Season 3, the jury is still out on whether we'll continue or just leave it at the hopelessly wonderful ending to Season 2.


At any rate, if the story of Downton wasn't enough, the costumes and hairstyles are gorgeous, world without end, amen. That being said, I've been thinking a deal about Downton-inspired styles, and when I threw my hair up this morning, I thought I'd take a picture and show you how you can add a little Lady Mary flair to your twist-up. :)





Do realize that I was not intending to recreate one of Lady Mary's hairstyles--this style is simply a nod to the Edwardian period in general, and Cora, Sybil, and Mary (not the mention Aunt Isobel) wear similar styles. And though I'm far and away from being as pretty as Michelle Dockery (Lady Mary), I thought the style turned out pretty well. :) 

I started with the basics I learned in this video:



But I didn't have time to curl my hair beforehand, and I didn't tease the front. Instead, I parted my hair to the side and twisted two strands together, then pinned it behind. The rest of the hair I did exactly as the video showed. I finished by slipping in a hand-painted Russian barrette. Voila! A soft, black shirt, a long pearl necklace, a pair of coordinating earrings, and you have an outfit even the Dowager Countess would approve of!





Aaaaand the side. At this point I had changed twice while wearing my hair up, so it was a bit fuzzy and the pins were showing. I didn't bother spraying my hair for a day at home. :P


Have you been inspired by Downton in your fashion?

6 comments:

  1. Love the look! So classy and elegant, and your makeup is flawless. You're such a timeless beauty.

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    1. Well thank you, Katie! I'm not certain I classify as a "beauty", but yuo made me smile all the same. :) Thank you very much indeed.

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  2. Lovely, I have crazy long hair and would love to try this. Do you know how long it took you? I have a limited time to get ready in the mornings-and it is veeery early in the mornings.

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    1. Livia, it probably only took me...five minutes. Tops. My hair is not crazy-long, and I *have* practiced this style before, but I shouldn't think it'd take more than about ten minutes if you had long hair and practiced a bit sometime when you have extra time. Since I didn't curl my hair, it was a lot quicker than usual. :)

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  3. That's beautiful...if one simply has enough hair to do it with! My own hair is very straight and thin, so I'd probably end up with a knot about the size of a golf ball. :) But my mom was just telling me yesterday about a new kind of hair extensions that just attach with little combs—if they really work, that sounds like something that could be useful for an elegant updo once in a while.

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