Cut Off OR Pinned Up?

[Olga Bernice]

I know that when a girl got over 16 all their hair vanished - as in, they wore it up or cut it off. Which one did they do - cut it off of pin it up. I had always thought it was pinned up, but I was reading yesterday and the website said that when they got 16 they could cut their hair. Does that mean cut it all off? or did it just mean that they could style it but still pin it up?

(Sorry if this has already been answered. Feel free to merge the threads if need be.)

[RealAnastasia]

The hair must lost its "childish" aspect, so it was styled and then, pined up. At least, it was what I've read.

RealAnastasia.

[blessOTMA]

I believe it meant the hair length could be trimmed....of split ends if nothing else! lol...but it was pinned up in the girl's day, not cut off

[GrandDuchessAndrea]

Oh, yes, no respectable lady would cut off her hair unless for medical reasons until the 1920s. I'm sure the website you read that on was quite misinformed! Putting one's hair up and having floor-length dresses signified the girl's adult stature.

[Olga Bernice]

Thanks! I suppose what the website meant was that they wre free to cut off their hair in any style they wanted and were not forced to wear it long, but they still pinned it up. Thanks again!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[rosieposie]

I know this is an old post but wanted to share this photo which I saw floating around on here.  Of Olga sick in bed most likely in her late teens.

[GrandDuchessIzabella]

She had incredibly long hair! Smiling as well, showing her beautiful face. Thank you for it!

[Sarushka]

According to Fall of the Romanovs, that was taken while Olga was recovering from measles in 1917. (Earlier editions of the book mistakenly identify her as Alexandra.)

[blessOTMA]

It does remind one of the"  Marie is better " photos taken with AN and TnN and then with the (ex)Tsar

[LauraO]

The hair must lost its "childish" aspect, so it was styled and then, pined up. At least, it was what I've read.

RealAnastasia.

What do you mean by styled?

[ImperialxTwilight]

The hair must lost its "childish" aspect, so it was styled and then, pined up. At least, it was what I've read.

RealAnastasia.

What do you mean by styled?

Well, if you look at pictures of them with their hair up - especially Olga Nikolayevna - you'll notice it's got this wavy aspect to it, as if they styled it first before putting it up, since you can tell in the pictures of her before the age of sixteen that her hair was not naturally wavy like that. In addition, that included braiding it and then putting up the braids - the way ON's hair is down in the sickbed picture, where it's separated into two braids. I imagine sometimes they had the hair braided like that and then put up, since the hair seemed to grow very long, and it's difficult simply putting up long, long locks of hair without doing something to them first to make them more manageable.

[feodorovna]

I was struck by the thinness of the individual braids, but if the ends had never or rarely been cut since childhood they would have been both old and thin, but perfect for backbrushing and putting up when the time was right.

[LauraO]

The hair must lost its "childish" aspect, so it was styled and then, pined up. At least, it was what I've read.

RealAnastasia.

What do you mean by styled?

Well, if you look at pictures of them with their hair up - especially Olga Nikolayevna - you'll notice it's got this wavy aspect to it, as if they styled it first before putting it up, since you can tell in the pictures of her before the age of sixteen that her hair was not naturally wavy like that. In addition, that included braiding it and then putting up the braids - the way ON's hair is down in the sickbed picture, where it's separated into two braids. I imagine sometimes they had the hair braided like that and then put up, since the hair seemed to grow very long, and it's difficult simply putting up long, long locks of hair without doing something to them first to make them more manageable.

oh okay makes sense! I know that finger waves didnt come in till the twenties really (at least i think not!) but might they have been used because in the picture of ON with her hair in braids the top on her hair near her scalp looks waved as though by the grips used for  finger waves? but then again i dont think they probably were used till later...

[feodorovna]

Francois Marcel invented the process of finger waving in 1872 and on long hair would certainly have required assistance. Only the top and sides would have been waved and great care was needed to put the long hair up without pulling the waved hair straight. Later on came curling irons, the forerunner of hot brushes and tongs. These required infinite skill, if they were not hot enough the wave wouldn't hold and if the were too hot, as most often was the case, the hair was fried. That was after the poor ladies maid had burned her face testing the heat. Used correctly, and from the picture, it looks as if ONs has been, the wave is much crisper and longer lasting, in fact a non chemical permanent wave.

[rosieposie]

Francois Marcel invented the process of finger waving in 1872 and on long hair would certainly have required assistance. Only the top and sides would have been waved and great care was needed to put the long hair up without pulling the waved hair straight. Later on came curling irons, the forerunner of hot brushes and tongs. These required infinite skill, if they were not hot enough the wave wouldn't hold and if the were too hot, as most often was the case, the hair was fried. That was after the poor ladies maid had burned her face testing the heat. Used correctly, and from the picture, it looks as if ONs has been, the wave is much crisper and longer lasting, in fact a non chemical permanent wave.

Thanks for that info Feodorovna

Partial back view of Olga's hair.  Braids pinned.