Victorian Hairstyles: Material Culture of 19th Century Women Naturalists

How did Victorian women in science wear their hair? "Long hair styled in an updo was the way most women, especially upper class women, wore their hair during the 19th century...To create more elaborate looks, women would use false pieces, usually made from human hair. These pieces were much easier to style and also added volume." Volume! It has always been the secret sauce missing from my hair life. The 1890s was a decade of big hair.

My hair is thin, thin, thin. No can-do #cosplay of the artistic representation of 19th-century French marine biologist Jeanne Villepreux-Power (above). In 1832 Villepreux-Power "invented the first recognizable glass aquarium to aid in her observations of the paper nautilus A. argo." 

[Photos of Victorian long hair. Le sigh.]

According to Retronaut, "a woman's hair held huge significance, with strict social codes of conduct regarding how a woman wore her hair or covered it in certain situations. The face and hair were the only areas of a woman's body that were always visible at a time when women's bodies were mostly covered."

That's a lot of shoulder Berthe Hoola!
(It must be early mid-century.)

"A simple coiffure for Victorian women of moderate means" was a plaited updo, according to historian Mimi Matthews.

So I'm trying for a bun or a chignon if you're fancy. And -- who am I fooling? screw all this Gibson-girl hair -- to my bun I'm adding a sensible hat, like American naturalist Harriet Mann Miller (ca 1903):

Photo credits:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeanne_Villepreux-Power
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berthe_Hoola_van_Nooten
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harriet_Mann_Miller