Why I Dye My Hair

(Topic: Hair-dying, grief)

Dear Friends

If you could have a super power, what would it be? Let's restrict it a little: If you could have any super power that is trivial and can't help fix the world...

I always thought it would be the best thing to have a hair super power, able to regrow my hair to any length, really quickly. That would let me color, cut, or do whatever I want with my hair, and then just cut off the part that was different and regrow from scratch to whatever length I wanted. This isn't a new idea, either. I've thought about this since before I was a teenager.

2009-ish?

Since I didn't have the super power, though, I never wanted to alter my hair much. I like it long, and I like it brown, generally speaking - I'm pretty happy with my wavy, curly hair most of the time! Once, and once only, did I do a red dye on top of my brown, while on an exchange year in Germany and exploring options. I let it fade out and go back to my natural color, and didn't try to extend it. I cut my hair short in college, and then back up to my shoulders twice, but somehow always ended up back where I'd started, with hair halfway down my back, brown and curly.

I like trying different eras' styles too. This is early 1900s style (I think the picture is from 2012-2014 or so)

What about Grecian-inspired?

Part of the reason I liked it was that I also really liked the Middle Ages, and dressing in medieval clothing. Having long, undyed hair meant I didn't have to do anything crazy to try to hide modern hair. Post college I started exploring Civil War era reenacting, and there, too, having naturally colored long hair was great.


And I essentially kept my hair like that for a long, long time.

Enter Charlie.

One of the first things I did after Charlie died was dye my hair. I desperately felt the need for a change, and was also feeling like (beyond just losing Charlie, and losing all our plans for his future and our future with him) I'd also lost myself. I'd been planning for 9 months for how I was going to be a mother, and that rug was yanked out from under me. Yes, I'm a mother, but redefined: all the initial plans of diapering and feeding and cuddling were gone. And it took me a long time to redefine that. I think dying my hair was a step towards figuring that out.

I had my best friend come and do it. She understood me, as well as anyone could, and was also one of the few people I would trust to do things to my long-untouched hair. We spend hours in my bathroom, bleaching, rinsing, dying, rinsing... I picked blue and green, MY favorite colors. In a way, it represents Charlie too (his middle name is Peacock, and these are peacock colors) but I picked them out for me.

At first, only the right side, a small section, and growing out from the top. And for a long time, blue and green were my go-to colors.

I kept it long, at first. Sometimes, though, that itch of redefinition would creep in, and my hair is mine and is safe to play with (it won't harm others), and it is also very evident - in mirrors, in selfies, in seeing my own hair. I cut bangs, and eventually also cut my hair to shoulder length. Then I played intermittently with other colors, too, though staying within that same section on the right side of my head I'd started with.

Still the same section, but tried tiger stripes for a while. Looking back, I actually really like this.

 I still haven't gone any farther up my hair than where the initial dye job from 2 years ago was - or not much higher, anyway - but I've just expanded to the whole circumference! So the line of where the color starts is about 2 years of growth down from my part. I still use it to help settle that redefinition itch, though now it is more about enjoying the color and playing with my image, and less a crucial mental/emotional health reaction.

And on the plus side, that 2 years of growth means I can pretty easily hide all that color in a bonnet, if I do decide to attend a reenactment! ;)

My current look! The colors usually blend together, but in this picture you can kind of see the gray (looks fawn), yellow (looks orange), orange (looks red), hot pink, blue, and green.

Yours,

Sarah

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Remembrance Day, Gettysburg

Well, Ladies and Gents!

This week was most auspicious. On November 19th, 1863, President Lincoln spoke a few words (after the main speaker had given a speech of nearly 2 hours, I believe!). His very short address became famous, and one of the weekends near the anniversary of his speech has become a recurring event, with ceremonies, speeches, parades, and, most importantly, balls! (I jest - and yet, I found the balls to be perhaps the funnest - if not the most important - part of the day!).

Though some events happen already on Friday, I was not able to leave home early enough to participate in these (such as Friday night balls, nor much downtown shopping).
Instead, I got to the area quite late, after a dark and rainy (and somewhat foggy) drive. The night clerk and I got to chatting, and she expressed an interest in seeing my ballgown! I promised to stop by the desk the next night on my way in from the ball to show her. :)


The next day, Saturday, November 23rd, 2013 - the year being exactly 150 years after the original event, and thus quite significant - was a full one:
At first a ceremony, then a parade, another ceremony, then the ball!
And what would a post be without pictures?

Friday night: the hotel closet full of ironed and prepped clothes for the next morning!

Saturday morning, early: A sailor, standing outside the hotel. Later, I saw a whole unit of sailors and marines marching in the parade.

Yes, that is Sgt Schulz, from Hogan's Heroes. Odd, but fun - the first reenactor I speak to on Saturday, and he's from the wrong century!

Of course, I got no pictures of the first ceremony - oops! It was at a monument, and included wreath-laying to honor the GAR (Grand Army of the Republic - a union veteran's group), among others. It included a truly phenomenal delivery of the Gettysburg Address by a Lincoln reenactor! On the downside, it was frightfully cold, as a biting wind came shearing across the fields.
LINK: Pictures of the Woolson's Monument Ceremony (I'm in picture #7! A clue: my bonnet has green ribbon ties)

The parade line-up. These are the ladies who graciously allowed me to walk with their group!

The ladies' groups lining up behind us. The parade was quite long!

The parade ended up being quite long. I didn't see all of it, though I watched a bit of what had been behind us, once we got to the end. It was an impressive show!
LINK: A video of the parade. I'm in minute 6:43.

A view of the "Hands Over the Wall" ceremony (100th anniversary).

Mr. Allen Loew, who graciously accompanied me to the ball later on.

Another view of the reenactors lined up for the "Hands Over the Wall"

At the ball!

Another view of the new ballgown (another post to follow, about how I made the dress!)

At the break between dinner and the dance, as they cleared the ballroom of the tables.

And a view of my hairstyle (there were also ringlets coming down from it, but apparently the camera slipped upward - I didn't get a good picture of them!)

And last but not least, me on the floor, dancing in my new dress!

LINK: I show up in photo 120 on this photo website!
All in all, it was a fabulous weekend! The drive home was slow and snowy, but smooth going, and I'm very glad I went. I'm already looking forward to next year!

Most sincerely yours,
~ Sarah

Painesville, 2012

Reenactment in Painesville, Ohio, at the Lake County Historical Center! July 14th, 2012 (or 1862, if you prefer!).

Tried to make sure the background was period appropriate!

Back view. The bodice isn't fitting quite right, but I think (hope) that mostly took care of itself with new underpinnings.

The strange juxtaposition of troops marching, hoopskirts, shorts and t-shirts, and kettle corn, with "telegraph" wires?

Working reproduction Gatling - made from the original patent drawings and instructions. The Gatling was barely used during the Civil War - it largely came into use after; versions of this gun are still in use today.

Most sincerely yours,
~ Sarah

More possible Civil War hairstyles

Playing around with hair - May 2013.

This is just a rolled and pinned looser style, done right after my hair dried so that I have a lot of fullness and curl. The ribbon/lace thing is based loosely on a Godey's illustration, and could be worn for fancy occasions.

Same style as above, sans decoration.

A hairstyle I found in my Dec. 1862 Godey's.

  

Trying the style out! I couldn't quite get the figure-8 on the back, though. I really like this style.

Another style I like is having the back braided and coiled, and the front smooth and down over the ears before wrapping around the bun. There is a picture in the book "Dressed for the Photographer" where you can see a lady having this hairstyle (approximately). Here I also braided in a ribbon, for fun!

Same as above, different angle.

Same as above, different angle.

And just for fun, a modern design: a french braid all the way around my head.

Same as above, other side.

Most sincerely yours,
~ Sarah

A Ball!

By February 2013 I had gotten my "ball" gown ready enough to wear. I'd been to a few reenactments (Summer 2012 - posts will follow at some point!), and was excited to hear about the Grand Military Ball in Canton, Ohio. (Edited to add: the ball is called the Ohio Regimental Military Ball [SK 2/17/2014])
I didn't get many great pictures (and I'm only posting my own photos on here unless specially noted), but I'll share what I have!

Me in my hotel room before stepping downstairs for the dance.
I did end up adjusting the hoops after the ball, since I noticed that my foot kept hooking the bottom one.

Back view. I made the ribbon hairpiece based loosely on an illustration in Godey's.
My hair was braided and coiled on the back of my head, and covered my ears (as you can see in the previous picture). I also had ringlets coming down the back, but you can't see them because they are obscured by ribbons and lace!

LOTS of people!

With LOTS of pretty dresses!

The dancing was similar to Contra dancing.
We did Reels, and circle dances, and waltzes; we did dances where you switched partners as well as dances where you stayed with one.

Most sincerely yours,
~ Sarah

Learning possible Civil War hairstyles

Posting some older items, to catch up with what I'm working on now!

I used this hairstyle for Painesville  2012.

Data:
- Type: 1860s Hairstyle
- Date made: /
- Pattern: braided + ringlets
- Fabric: n/a
- Trim: n/a
- Time to finish: About an hour, I think.
- Notes: This is at the end of the day, so the ringlets were quite stretched out.

 

Most sincerely yours,
~ Sarah

Painesville reenactment, 2012/1862

Hello!

Since I've now stepped into Civil War reenacting, during the 150th anniversary cycle, many of my posts from now on will be related to the Civil War era.

I'll also be trying to organize the blog a little better, so you may start to see "labels" applied to old posts too, which should make things easier to find!

This is a picture of me a the Painesville reenactment in 2012.

More pictures to come!
Most sincerely yours,
~ Sarah