What is fantasy hair?
What do I mean when I say fantasy hair? Well, its basically a type of hair look that you wouldn't consider to be everyday and adding a finishing touch to a character or model. Whether it's making a beautiful cascade of mermaid locks or a birds nest of hair, fantasy hair has many endless possibilities.
Fantasy hair styles are used more commonly than you would think and they can be quite simple but effective wigs to massively elaborate pieces combining huge amounts of hair and accessories. For example, a simple fantasy hair design can be those used in films like The Lord Of The Rings trilogy. If you take into account the styles of the elves, they've got a very etherial, nordic appearance to them, but they are incorporated perfectly into the characters overall look.
For the female characters, the hair is very long and lightly curled often and partially pinned back, incorporated into them with delicate headwear keeping quite an elegant regal appearence. However, in certain scenes they take on more of a rugged warrior approach with the inclusion of braids. The males characters tend to have smoother hair but again it is quite long with the inclusion of braids.
Although these styles may seem simple and plain, they need to be this way in order to fit in with the characters persona but also to coincide with the period the film is set in. Regardless of that Middle Earth is a fantasy land, the period that that is it setting is very similar to nordic and celtic cultures and appearances. A similar idea is used in Game of Thrones.
Game of Thrones has the same type of concept in that they are both set in fantasy worlds but the hair relates to this viking-esque feel and typical period. In Game of Thrones, the female character have a lot more braid based hairstyles combine once again with the soft flowing locks.
Game of Thrones has the same type of concept in that they are both set in fantasy worlds but the hair relates to this viking-esque feel and typical period. In Game of Thrones, the female character have a lot more braid based hairstyles combine once again with the soft flowing locks.
Although the braids look elaborate, they are actually really simple to recreate with a lot of them just being variations on the french plait, and creating volume and height by curling the rest of the hair. The Game of Thrones styles on release had a massive impact on the fashion industry, with designers and catwalks across the world taking inspiration from the show.
Alexander McQueen is a prime example of this; During Paris fashion week 2014, his collection looked like it had walked straight out a fantasy fairy tale, with every model giving off a beautiful ice queen-esque appearance.
Alexander McQueen is a prime example of this; During Paris fashion week 2014, his collection looked like it had walked straight out a fantasy fairy tale, with every model giving off a beautiful ice queen-esque appearance.
The hair has been cornrowed on both sides and appears to go around the back of the head too. Cornrows are a traditional African style of hair grooming, which involves the hair being braided very close to the scalp. Using an underhand and upward motion, the hair is very tightly and neatly french plaited in very small, narrow sections to then produce a continuous, raised row, which can stop at any point or continue down the whole scalp continuing into the rest of the hair. Cornrows are often straight lines, however, they can be manipulated into curves or more geometrical patterns across the head depending on the stylists level of skill. They are a particularly old style of braiding, stemming back from as early as the stone age and are still favoured for their easy upkeep as the rows can be left in for weeks at a time and kept maintained through gentle washing of the hair and treating the scalp with oil on a regular basis. Cornrows can also adorned with beads or cowry shells and in different areas of the world, cornrows are typically worn by either men or women, or by both.
In Dr Suess's The Grinch Who Stole Christmas, bold and elaborate hairstyles are a very important and iconic part of the film which features a huge amount of crazy insane hairstyles, that are also adorably cute and coincide perfectly with the kooky childlike style of the story.
Rick Baker and his company Cinovation Studios are the success and creation behind the make-up and hair in the film. In the scenes in the town square of Whoville, as many as 60 make-up artists up to a 110 make-ups on a daily basis, which were often made of rubber and at the end of the production around, 8,000 facial appliances and 3,500 ears were used. In addition to this, because of the huge amount of cast in the film, over 300 wigs and 150 facial hairpieces were created by Cinovation alongside the help of hair stylist Gail Ryan.
The costume design in the film was kept in ordination around the 1950's which is when the book was written. Rita Ryack, who was responsible for the costume design, came up with designs for nearly 300 hats, which were inspired by 1950s cookbooks. She says; 'I love the photos of 1950s food, They're styled and arranged just right and the colours are wonderful. I saw lots of photos of hors d'oeuvres and so we took that and made head pieces based on a lot of this food'. This incorporation of the head pieces with the abstract wig styles really brings the whole style of the characters together.
These whoovian like styles can be recreated with the use floristry and chicken wire to create shape, whilst uses oasis or wadding as padding underneath the hair. When creating these styles it important that movability and comfort are heavily taken into consideration for the actor or model, as the hair may have to be worn for a long period of time. Using these techniques, I created a Dr Suess whoovian inspired style as well as combining flowers and leaves, creating an almost tree like shape and appearance to the hair.
The costume design in the film was kept in ordination around the 1950's which is when the book was written. Rita Ryack, who was responsible for the costume design, came up with designs for nearly 300 hats, which were inspired by 1950s cookbooks. She says; 'I love the photos of 1950s food, They're styled and arranged just right and the colours are wonderful. I saw lots of photos of hors d'oeuvres and so we took that and made head pieces based on a lot of this food'. This incorporation of the head pieces with the abstract wig styles really brings the whole style of the characters together.
These whoovian like styles can be recreated with the use floristry and chicken wire to create shape, whilst uses oasis or wadding as padding underneath the hair. When creating these styles it important that movability and comfort are heavily taken into consideration for the actor or model, as the hair may have to be worn for a long period of time. Using these techniques, I created a Dr Suess whoovian inspired style as well as combining flowers and leaves, creating an almost tree like shape and appearance to the hair.
Creating this look was really simple. First I started by diving the side of the hair into about 5 smallish sections using a tail comb to achieve a straight edge. Then using a dutch braid I began to plait the hair. About half way towards the back of the head, I then backcombed towards the root and I was then able to anchor in a piece of floristry wire and then continue to plait around it. The flowers were simply added in using there stems and secured with small elastic ties. I then bent the plaits upright to create a branchy like appearance and secured them with bobby pins to help hold them up. To conceal any visible pins I used the daisies and the vines to cover them up. Using accessories to cover up imperfections in a style is a good technique to use as a final touch.
Creative hairstyles are ever-growing in variation and boldness, especially within pop culture with artists constantly upping their game. Lady Gaga is a great example of consistency and throughout her career, she has come to create some of the most iconic styles of the 21st century. Her most notable looks stem from her Telephone video, where she uses coke cans as rollers. This look became so massive, with many of her fans recreating the look at almost everyone of her concerts.
During a show in Paris, Gaga went to real extremes with her hair with this creation from designer Charlie le Mindu.
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The video also sees with many more elaborate styles, including her appearence as a waitress with where she has a telephone made out of this bright yellow hair. This is really easily done and normally involves crepe hair or braiding hair being wrapped around a shape and glued on using wig adhesive.
Her consistency to create more bold, vibrant and outrageous looks is what Lady Gaga is best known for. Her ability to shock, surprise and amaze is what really brings her ahead of her time as an artist not just of music but also of fashion. She pushes the boundaries of the everyday normal and her hair is so key to who she is, so much so, that a song was released on her 2011 album 'Born This Way' and was entitled 'Hair' where she says 'I am my hair'. She is an icon of the hair world.
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Class Practices
To gain more knowledge of a fantasy hair style, I have created various styles that include techniques I could use in my fantasy hair piece.
This is called a Ribcage braid and is really simple to do. Starting towards the nape of the neck, I began plaiting the hair in an underbraid, by taking the strands underneath one another rather than over top and then add smaller sections in like a french plait. Then pinning it up on top of the head and then pulling out the sections to create a ribcage effect.
This look has been created by making a dutch braid (underbraid technique) with the hair but manipulating the braid to curve around the hair until the whole head is braided. The braid is then wrapped into a spiral bun at the bottom and pinned with bobby pins. The centre can be pulled out to create a flower like shape on the head, making room for decorative add ons.