Paperself Workshop

This week I had the great fortune of working with Paperself eyelashes in my practical make-up session. Paperself was founded in London in 2009. They are a brand of paper eyelashes that are laser cut into beautiful designs. The various styles available gives you a great selection to choose the perfect lashes for your look. These eyelashes can be applied and tailored as easily as your standard false set. Paperself eyelashes give you a great opportunity to be creative. Though they are generically worn along the lash line, they can be positioned anywhere on the body to create a diverse and cutting edge look.

I really enjoyed working with Paperself eyelashes. The application process is really straight forward and they work so well with any make-up design.

There website, http://www.paperself.com/ offers a great insight into the designs available and were you can source Paperself eyelashes. 

Neutral Design Trial

Here I trialled my neutral design plan on myself. 

Monochromatic Design Trial

Here I trialled my monochromatic design plan on myself. 

Colour Scheme Design Plans

I created four Elizabethan style design plans based on the four colour schemes I've learnt about, monochromatic, complementary, analogous and neutral.

Colour Theory

In a lesson about colour theory, I learnt about the representation of particular colours and which colours to use together in accordance to a colour wheel to achieve great visuals. The colours in a colour wheel can be divided into ‘aggressive’ and ‘cool’ colours. Reds, oranges and yellows fall under the ‘aggressive’ category and blues, greens and purples fall under the cool category. 

As far as representation goes, the use of a particular colour can convey or express a mood. For example red has the connotations of love and power whereas the use of blue would imply cool and sadness. White would reflect purity and light whereas black would suggest mystery and darkness.

When creating colours, I learnt that

• To get a tint, you add white to the colour

• To get a shade, you add black to the colour

• To get a tone, you add grey to a colour

Also, there are harmonious colour schemes you can use that bring together colours that work well together.

Monochromatic – using a single colour in different tones, tints or shades

Complementary – using two colours that sit opposite each other on a colour wheel

Analogous – using at least two but no more than five colours that are next to each other on the colour wheel

Neutral – using a palette of neutral colours 

Queen Elizabeth I vs. Miley Cyrus

I have chosen the contemporary figure, Miley Cyrus, to stylistically compare with my favourite Elizabethan portrait, Queen Elizabeth I, The Sieve Portrait. 

Clothing

Elizabeth wears layers of rich fabrics and jewels. Her gowns have narrowed waits to exaggerate her silhouette as well as puffy sleeves and full skirts. She also wears a think ruffled collar. Miley’s style contrasts this hugely. She is often seen sporting as little as possible, often skin tight attire in all forms, exposing a lot of skin.

Make-up

Elizabeth has a pale complexion and her shaven hair line makes for a large forehead. Her eyebrows are plucked very thin and she has rouge on her lips and cheeks. Miley has a healthy skin tone, her eyebrows are well groomed and she wears mascara and eyeliner. Like Elizabeth, she too wears red on her lips.

Hair

Elizabeth has curly red hair however sometimes wears a wig. Miley has blonde, cropped hair that is shaven on the sides and back.

Making Miley Elizabethan

Though part of Miley’s hair is shaven, there is enough length on top to style. I would dye it a rich red tone, similar to Elizabeth’s and I would tightly curl it to resemble Elizabeth’s hair. Miley wouldn’t wear eye make-up. I’d dye her eyebrows a blonde/nude colour so they were barely noticeable, giving the illusion of a large forehead. I would keep her red lip and add a little red to her cheeks.

 As far as clothing is concerned, I imagine Miley wearing a collar of studs instead of ruffs to adhere to her ratchet style. Like Queen Elizabeth, Miley would wear a full skirt dress however it would be customised to make it more contemporary. Where the waist narrows, the material will be cut out to reveal skin. Also the dress would be short so Miley’s legs would be visible, in keeping with her current style.

Portraiture of Elizabeth I of England - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. 2013. Portraiture of Elizabeth I of England - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. [ONLINE] Available at:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portraiture_of_Elizabeth_I_of_England. [Accessed 21 October 2013].

Miley-Cyrus-Photoshoot-by-Terry-Richardson-September-2013-4 - SAWFIRST | Hot Celebrity Pictures. 2013. Miley-Cyrus-Photoshoot-by-Terry-Richardson-September-2013-4 - SAWFIRST | Hot Celebrity Pictures. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.sawfirst.com/miley-cyrus-photoshoot-by-terry-richardson-september-2013-2013-09-10.html/miley-cyrus-photoshoot-by-terry-richardson-september-2013-4. [Accessed 21 October 2013]

The Taming of the Shrew

Last week, I watched ShakespeaRe-Told: The Taming of the Shrew. It is a T.V drama that was originally broadcast in 2005 on BBC One. It was a modern interpretation of Shakespeare’s comedy and though the adaptation was set in modern day Britain, there were subtle references to Elizabethan style throughout, maintaining a connection to the era in which the play was first written.

First of all, there’s Katherine Minola’s wedding dress. It has long sleeves and a big collar, somewhat reflecting the gowns worn by royalty and upper class women in the Elizabethan period. Those with wealth and power could afford such dresses which perfectly reflects the character of Katherine as she is both rich and dominant.

Marriage Plots | ENGH 202 Texts and Contexts. 2013. Marriage Plots | ENGH 202 Texts and Contexts. [ONLINE] Available at:http://courseblogs.gmu.edu/marriageplots/. [Accessed 21 October 2013].

Also, in the wedding scene, Petruchio is seen sporting women’s attire. He arrives dressed in fishnet tights, a mini skirt and kinky boots. Though the outfit is surprising and outrageous, tribute is paid to the materials used in the Elizabethan era. Over it all he wears robes made of velvet. The rich colours imply money and status and there is intricate detailing and Elizabethan style ruffs.

There is a scene in the film where the mother, Mrs Minola, wears a pearl necklace. Pearls were very popular in the Elizabethan era and were a symbol of high status and purity. In keeping with the Elizabethan era, the majority of the actors were made up to have pale faces and little eye make-up.