Empress Sabina: Ancient Roman Hairdressing

this upswept hairstyle of empress vibius sabina is one of her lesser-known styles this hairstyle is deceptively simple it requires a circlet for its execution it is likely Sabinas original circlet was made from gold but here I have chosen to use flexible cord coated with silver ribbon for those interested in period accuracy you will need the following tools a hair bodkin a bone comb a bone needle woolen thread and a pair of primitive double blade scissors the circlet is part of the structure of the hairstyle and must be placed on the head before the rest of the hair can be arranged with the hair bodkin separate off the horseshoe-shaped section slide the circlet onto the hair and a notch into the horseshoe at five and seven o'clock secure the rest of the hair in the horseshoe section with the bodkin to keep the circlet in place on the head and to keep it from shifting position you must first entrap it in the hair take another notch of hair underneath the first notch and braid the hair together this will secure the circlet at the base of the braid at both seven and five o'clock braid to the ends of the hair on both sides drop the hair from the bottom part it down the center and distribute it evenly over the top of the head gently comb the hair smooth the red your bone needle then tie a knot at the end of the eye and that will keep the thread from falling off the needle make a slip knot at the end of the thread and this will help you more easily secure it to the hair as you begin to stitch split the hair up the back vertically grasp the left-hand panel and smooth it with your fingertips as you begin to twist it clockwise as you rotate it counterclockwise around the top of the head create a circular loop with the hair carefully concealing the ends take your needle and thread and set your first stitch on the first stitch pass the needle through the Slipknot this will lock the thread into the hair as carefully as you can stitch around the circle of hair while avoiding disturbing or snagging the loose hanging hair to the right side if this hairstyle is to be done on a live model you might have them hang on to the free hanging hair in order to help you avoid snagging it if you take her stitches carefully following the fall of the hair you may be able to completely conceal the thread from the visible side of the hairstyle when you are finished stitching leave the needle attached to the hair now grasp the right hand panel of hair smoothing it with your fingers and begin twisting it clockwise while rotating it clockwise around the previous loop of hair as you rotate tuck the ends of the hair into the coils you may now begin stitching stitch until the style feels firm and secure remove the needle and excess thread and the style is complete to

Channel: Janet Stephens

Views: 1,006,032

Keywords: diy, arts, howto, beauty, ancient Rome, ancient beauty, ancient roman hair, ancient roman empress, roman empress, empress sabina, vibia sabina, hair sewing, ancient hairstyling, janet stephens, hair archaeology, beauty archaeology, journal of roman archaeology, hadrian, emperor hadrian, instructional video crafts, history, documentary, culture, how to keep on tiara, how to make a tiara stay, museum, real ancient hairstyle

Id: 9yPwVwSwvAI

Length: 5min 56sec (356 seconds)

Published: Sun Apr 24 2011