Despite bonnets, hats and caps, hair-dressing was of vital importance during the Regency era. Styles changed frequently from ringlets to crops and everything in between. Skill in cutting and curling was of paramount importance, and it was a trade of life-long potential for the right young man.
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| Yorkshire Gazette - Saturday 24 July 1819 |
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| York Herald - Saturday 29 May 1813 |
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| Morning Advertiser - Thursday 12 November 1807 |
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| Gloucester Journal - Monday 21 June 1813 |
Once the owner of a hair-dressing establishment had the staff he needed, he might need new premises.
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| Kentish Gazette - Friday 28 August 1812 |
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| Morning Advertiser - Thursday 08 September 1808 |
Hair-dressers often included peruke or wig-making in their trade, and sidelines such as perfumery along with their hair-dressing.
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| Aris's Birmingham Gazette - Monday 22 February 1808 |
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| Bath Chronicle and Weekly Gazette - Thursday 25 January 1810 |
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| Cambridge Chronicle and Journal - Friday 05 March 1819 |
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| Durham County Advertiser - Saturday 09 August 1817 |
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| Hull Advertiser and Exchange Gazette - Saturday 18 April 1807 |
Ornamental hair, and head-dresses involving artificial flowers, lace, ribbon and other trimmings offered another entire line of trade. Hair could be dressed in the shop or, for those of substantial fortune, the hair-dresser would visit the home.
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| Leeds Intelligencer - Monday 22 November 1802 |
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| Leeds Intelligencer - Monday 29 November 1802 |
As evidenced by the advertisement below, the Peruke-makers and Hair-dressers Society was a long-established association. It provided guidelines and rules for the conducting of hair-dressing business, regulations for the instruction of apprentices, and suggestions for prices and wages.
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| Morning Advertiser - Tuesday 06 July 1819 |
In the Regency, as in the present, grooming reinforced one's position in society and the world. Then, as now, there were plenty of practitioners willing to assist people to look their very best.
'Til next time,
Lesley-Anne
Sources: http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/
