"Fashionable" hairstyles for women began their dramatic ascent in the late 1760s, quickly drawing the ire of social critics.
Editorials in London periodicals were swift to condemn the extravagant headdresses that English women eagerly adopted from their French counterparts.
The history of this fashion craze unfolds across a journey from the royal courts of France to the print shops of London, and ultimately to the streets of Philadelphia in 1778. There, the significance of the high hairstyles—symbolizing aristocracy—collided with the spirit of a new nation at war with an old empire, bringing the trend to a symbolic and literal head.
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| This hand-coloured etching is the work of Matthew Darly, a London-based caricaturist and publisher who specialised in such images mocking the fashions of the day. (Image source: The Metropolitan Museum of Art) |
