I Can Explain

I know, I know: I haven't posted on here for approximately an age. In my defense, though, I've been doing a whole lot of everything else. (See my previous posts.)
But hey, the play's over! Hard to believe and I don't know what I'm going to do with all my extra time now, but yes, it's done. Closed. Finished. And it was amazing, it really was. I know it sounds like I'm tooting my own horn, but I was honestly so blessed to be a member of such an incredible cast and crew and to be able to tell this fabulous story. If you haven't seen it or read it, please do. You'll love it.
I'll undoubtedly post more about The Winter's Tale (including a certain LotR cross-over we worked on backstage...) but for now, here are some pictures and an enormous thank you and congratulations to everyone involved.

The End

~Carrots

Most Importantly...

Have fun with your hair! Add accesories, add accent braids, combine styles, but HAVE FUN. Here are some more ideas.

Modified Gibson with Marian Braid.

Marian Braid with Circlet.

And again...

Movies and TV shows are also great places to find inspiration--you'll often find that the styles are simpler to do yourself than you'd think. Some of my favorite shows to steal from (at least for this era) are Lord of the Rings, Robin Hood (the BBC show and everything else), Merlin (again BBC), Chronicles of Narnia, and Ever After. Here are still more pictures to get your thinkers going. And if you find something you'd like to do but can't figure out, bring a picture to rehearsal and we'll see what we can do!

Just plain historical is also good, surprisingly enough. One really fun one (instructions here) is Elizabethan Hair-Taping. Completely accurate, fun, functional, and pretty.

Remember, the most important thing is to have fun--and if you don't feel like a star, you're doing something wrong.

~Carrots

Modified Gibson Tuck

I almost didn't include this hairstyle, because I was stuck thinking of it as "Gibson Girl," which is, you know, entirely the wrong era. But then I wore it for one very long rehearsal, by the end it was mostly fallen out, and I realized that if you do it loosely it really fits the Elizabethan shape! It almost looks like you're wearing a snood. Plus, it's incredibly, deceivingly easy while looking fantastic.

Here's the lowdown: you need a circlet, but after that you're set. (This is my go-to hairstyle lately.) Leave all your hair down. Place your circlet on top of your head and twist the front sections under as in my Twisted Circlet hairstyle. Then you just tuck all your hair into the headband, use some bobby pins as necessary to tuck up strays, and voila! The trick to getting this more Medieval look rather than something more modern is to tuck the hair all the way around, rather than just in the back.

~Carrots

Simple Half-Up Hairstyles

So, as promised (although a little later than expected) here are the first how-to's for some easy Medieval (yes, medieval, but still Shakespearean enough) hairstyles. The styles featured below, due to their simplicity and versatility, are perfect for almost everyone: ladies, attendants, shepherdesses... the list goes on. For the play, I think for most of you girls it would be good to start with your hair mostly down, like this, and then put it up for the end where everyone is sixteen years older. These half-up hairstyles are also great for helping to hold caps in place!
A few general tips:
1. Use a middle part.
2. Go for your natural hair. Rather than curling or straightening it with an iron, just let it do its thing--this will look best with the hairstyles, and hey, it's easier, right? You could also do sock bun curls, because it's basically rag curling, and that's been around since Medieval times at least.

That's not my hair, by the way. I've never gotten a picture of mine with sock bun curls, but I know it works.
Now I promise, these are easy easy easy: if you can braid and use a bobby pin, you're good. Let's get to it!

Here (second style in the video) are full instructions if you can't figure it out from the picture--I did do it tighter so you could see the construction, though. If you poof it up a bit more in front instead of having it so tight it looks better.

On to hairstyle number two!

You know that scene in the Glittering Caves when Eowyn ties the front of her hair into a knot? Yeah. That's all there is to it. I do find that to keep my bangs in nicely some twisting is in order, and you might want to use a bobby pin or two if your hair won't stay on its own. Again the link is here (third style in video) if you want more detail.

You want another? Your wish is my command.

Girls, it does not get easier than this. Obviously, you do need a circlet, but once you've got that you just set it on top of your head, pull the front bit of your hair up, over, and beneath the front of the ring, and there you go. This is also the first step of my Modified Gibson Tuck.

But wait, there's more!

Also known as a "milkmaid braid," this style is, again, very simple as long as you can braid (which I'm assuming most of you can.) Full, detailed, and helpful instructions can be found here.

That's more a picture of Guy, isn't it? Oops.
Be back soon with more (and some up-do's...)
~Carrots

Duties

Assistant Director

Assistant Stage Manager

Costumer

Hair & Makeup Advisor

Choreographer

Consultant

Secretary
Dramaturg

Errand-girl

Props Master

Actress

Four hours in the prop/costume shop yesterday, then three hours of rehearsal. A few hours (so far) this weekend working on props.I should be getting paid for this.

And then of course there's:

Student

and, since my parents are were out of town for the week,

Mom

We spent the day cleaning the house top-to-bottom to prepare for the parents' and grandparents' homecoming. Here I am in my super-attractive "Clean ALL the things!" get-up.

 It's secretly a Rosie the Riveter costume.

Bedtime can't come too soon.

Twelfth Night

Was yesterday. But in holding with the traditional topsy-turvyness of the Twelfth Day of Christmas and because I just didn't get to this yesterday, here's another Christmas post. That's actually about Shakespeare. Go figure.
I was intending to write about my Christmas presents, but I guess that will have to come later as I was distracted by the title of the post. Twelfth Night obviously leads to thoughts of "thrice-drined Viola," Sebastian, and the rest, which in turn leads to the characters and storyline of this year's Shakespeare play!
Every year at the very beginning of February our highschool puts on a production of one of old Billy's lovely plays. This year, it's The Winter's Tale. Sadly, nobody seems to have heard of this play except me, but let me tell you, it is incredible. It's classed as a "Romance," which basically means it's a tragedy but ends happily instead of with everyone dead. There's a lost princess, a shepherd who's really a prince, exiled kings and courtiers, intrigue, misunderstanding, adultury, and all that good stuff. And a bear.
Here's the really exciting part, though: I'm in it. Not just backstage, not standing around on stage saying nothing. I'm IN THE PLAY. With LINES. And a NAME! I'm Emilia, one of the Queen's ladies-in-waiting. Also, I'm Assisstant Directing and it's pretty much the most fun I've ever had.
Because of all this, though, I'm not going to have time to do everything backstage like I usually do. (Ha.) So, since I'll be busy with other things when I'm at the school, I'm going to do a whole series of posts here on my blog (complete with instructions) to help you ladies with your hair. Currently, this involves Medieval hairstyles, but if our exhalted director changes the costuming, that'll change too. You never know.
That's all for now, folks!