I found it extremely hard to find clear images of Elizabethan buns and plaits. A lot of the hair styles were covered with adornments such as hats, french hoods, jewels etc. Plaiting may have been a technique used to create the frizz texture that they were unable to achieve because they didn't have the hair tools like we do today. They would plait the hair and create a bun using the plait, this created a very neat and clean look to the hair.
Modern Plaits:
- Dutch braid
- French plait
- Fishtail plait
All of these plaits have been adapted from the basic plait and are used in modern society today. The plaits today are definitely less neat and well shaped and more loose and uneven. Plaits look better now if parts of the plait are pulled out to create a looser look or a messier look where pieces of shorter hair come out of the plait. It gives the hairstyle an over all softer feel.
Modern Buns:
As you can see buns have been modernised since Elizabethan times. Elizabethan buns were extremely neat and placed on the head in a certain position to benefit either a hair or adornment. Whereas, nowadays buns are extremely messy with pieces of hair coming out of the sides and also (as shown in the left hand picture) modern plaits are incorporated into the buns as well.
The right hand picture shows a man wearing a bun, this was not used in Elizabethan times, men all had their hair either long and curled in a specific way or short and covered usually with a hat anyway. The 'man bun' is very modern and a lot of men have them nowadays to go with that messy, grungy look.
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