Formal Wear: Up Do Hairstyles

Putting hair up for formal occasions has been around since the beginning of time, and women over the years have always worn elaborate decorations in their hair and unique styles. Putting hair up for special occasions is still a popular thing to do even today, and there are numerous designs for the up dos of today. In history women in Greece and Egypt, wore elaborate hairstyles that looked as if they had a lot of hair, and this type of fashion was popular on and off throughout history. In the 16th through 18th century women wore big, elaborate wigs, and, in the 18th century, some women had their wigs designed with birdcages in them (complete with singing birds) and wore them around. In the 1800s (19th century), women toned down their hair and started to wear it naturally, and, at formal events, they would dress up their hair into formal up dos of that era.

The up do today can be as simple as a bun at the nape of the neck, back of the head, or top of the head, or can be as elaborate as using multiple pin curls in your hair. To put pin curls in your hair you first need to start with dry (newly washed) hair, and then put up the rest of your hair except a section at the nape of your neck. Which you can make the hair sections as thin or thick as you want for different size pin curls. Take some hair from the section (about an inch) and dab some mousse in it or spray hairspray, and then starting at the tips begin rolling your hair upward (making a loop). Then, secure the pin curl in place using bobby pins, and start on the rest of the hair (make sure to do this to your whole head for the perfect pin curl up do). If you have curly or wavy hair, you may want to straighten it to get this look, but some curly and wavy pin curls look just as great.

For a simple up do, you can do something like a bun, a French twist, or a chignon, and the bun and chignon can be placed anywhere on your head (top, back, or side). A simple way to complete an up do look is to first use a mousse or gel through your hair, and then you pull your hair back to form a ponytail. Then, you twist the hair around the ponytail (to make it easier you can use a hair band if you need to), and pin it with bobby pins as you go along so keep it from falling out.