In presenting this description of the Zephyr Coiffure, I would remark that not one, but at least twenty different styles can be executed with the help of these necessary adjuncts, and, further, the chignon can be made large or small according to the taste or requirements of the wearer, as can easily be imagined.
Fig. 13.
While speaking of taper-curled hair, I am reminded of a semi-waved curled chignon which is light in construction and produces a very pretty effect. Of course it can be made either large or small, thick or thin, with longer or shorter hair, and a practised hand will see at a glance its general utility. This cache-peigne can be worn with a comb, or embellished with flowers, and, moreover, it presents a most natural appearance. (See Fig. [14].)
Fig. 14.
To make the chignon, take about 3½ ozs. of taper ringlet hair, a part of which is to be twelve inches, another part fourteen, and so on up to the longest, which should be about twenty inches. Instead of weaving upon three silks in the usual manner, fine wire is to be substituted for the centre one. Let the weft be very good, and sew up into a diamond-shaped foundation. (Reference to Chapter V. will show what is meant.) With this quantity of hair the mount should be, when completed, about four inches wide and seven inches long. The weft required is about three yards, and must be so arranged that the shorter hair is kept at the top, while the longest comes to the bottom. To make the wavings, undo the curl a little here and there and friz underneath, or it can be weakened by means of a warm iron. Another cache-peigne I have made on a similar principle, but very much lighter, and, with proper dressing, it appears to be nearly as full. Take ¾ oz. or 1 oz. of taper ringlet hair, twelve, sixteen and twenty inches long. Weave and sew up as before directed. In dressing, each curl should be very carefully frizzed in the inside, and disposed without the aid of the curl-stick, if possible. By adopting this method, the curls will be very thin and light, and obtain, through frizzing, all the fulness required.
A novel chignon was designed, some time ago, by Mr. Joseph Kubelka (Vienna), which consists of the ingenious combination of two ordinary “tails” or “twists,” and is worthy of reproduction here.
Its formation will be seen at a glance,[[6]] and the method of arrangement is first made upon the hand (the tops being held by some person, or else temporarily fixed to a table), and a “bodkin” must be employed in working the design. This bodkin can be made of tortoise-shell, ivory, or bone, but it must have an opening sufficiently large to encircle the free ends of the hair. (The illustration given below indicates very clearly how the plait is to be made.)
