Coffee Table Book of: Bridal Hair (Hardcover)

Description

Coffee Table Book of: Bridal Hair is a large-format coffee table book about bridal hair, printed edge to edge in colour, one picture to a page and the widest carried across two. The brides are seen mostly from behind or close to, so the hair is the subject: brides with straight, wavy, curly and coily hair, long, short and in between.

It opens with chignons and low buns: a smooth chignon at the nape and a soft bun of honey-blonde waves held with pearl-headed pins. Then twists and high buns: a smooth French twist, a high bun banded with ivory satin, and a sleek high ponytail. Then soft, loose updos, with tendrils at the neck and copper waves pinned low behind one ear.

Then braids: a French braid running down the back, raised Dutch braids meeting in a low bun, a loose fishtail, a rope braid of twisted strands, a long braid coiled into a bun, and braids wound all the way round the head.

Then curls and coils: a soft updo of tightly coiled hair with sprigs of eucalyptus, spiral curls pinned high, a round puff tied with a wide satin ribbon, and soft coils set with a single white gardenia.

Then hair worn down: long glossy waves, hair worn half up, and dark curls loose beside a calm sea. Then short hair: a sleek bob with a comb of seed pearls, and a close crop with a white rose. Then vintage waves and rolls: glossy S-shaped waves, smooth rolls pinned high above the forehead, and hair swept up high and full.

Then fresh flowers: a wreath of orange blossom, waxy white stephanotis, jasmine wound through a braid, myrtle, blush-pink garden roses, lily of the valley and a single peony.

Toward the end, veils and crowns: a long sheer veil falling from a low chignon, a very long veil trailing over a lawn, a lace veil draped over a tall comb, a short veil of open net, a veil streaming sideways on a cliff top, and crowns of fresh flowers, ferns and green leaves.

Short notes run through the book. They are about bridal hair, its customs and its history rather than about the pictures: what a Russian bride’s single braid became on her wedding day, which French hairdresser gave his name to a wave set with hot tongs, how old the rhyme of something old and something blue is, and what colour a Roman bride’s veil was.

Printed in full colour on heavy 150gsm coated paper at 216 x 279 mm (8.5 x 11 inches), as a hardcover with the art printed on the case.