Men's Victorian Hairstyles

Mens hair was very similar to women's, they wanted to look good, be groomed and if the hair was not in style then they didn't look correct in their class. Side burns and side partings became popular also curly hair was one look which men would sport too.

 





At the beginning of the Victorian era men were just starting to care about what they looked like. To us in old picture they make look scruffy and dishevelled but back then it was all the rage.
Curly hair that was in a side parting, it looked a little crazy to me but it was one of the biggest looks for men to have. Their hair was basically long and then came in to fashion the moustache and the side burns to match or beards. They were sometimes well kept but they mostly look over grown and fluffy in images we see today.

After 1860 men's hair was then worn shorter, they still had beards and moustaches though on the face.They used a variety of different products on the hair to keep it in place and slick. Waxes and oils were produced and so were wood frames for their moustaches to preserve their form during the night.
The most popular product used to keep the hair in place was called Macassar Oil, it was made using coconut oils, palm oil and oil from ylang-ylang. It was said that it strengthened and stimulated the hair growth. As it was such a popular item to be used on the hair women had to cover their chairs and an anti-macassar protection so it didn't ruin the material on the furniture.

A man who was very influential in fashion and style in the Victorian age was called George Bryan Brummell, he dictated men's fashion in the British Regency court and for all of the English society. He wore the tailored suit with the W collar and ties which every an wears today! Everything about him, his hair, manners, clothes and behaviour was copied by every man back then, he was a true fashion icon of the Victorian era. He bathed and cleaned his teeth and saved every day to keep up his look, which men started to realise they need to keep on top of hygiene too.
It would take him nearly 5 hours just to dress to go outside and he bathed in milk too like Cleopatra.
Unfortunately he spent all his money gambling and spending so he had to move away to France, he died 3 years later but when he was alive his friends were sending homier a salary to live on!

Since this man first came on to the scene, most men were then wearing the suit, it was either matched or they would pair some light brown or fawn trousers with a black coat. The different facial sales still went on having little moustache or a full on beard. But the hair on the head was short and very oiled and slick to the head.


Razor Machines 

The first razor was made by the Kampfer Brothers in 1880, Germany. At the time the razor blades were made of steel, they would need to be sharpened but with rusted too when used too much. They were a little expensive, pricing at $5 which now would equal to $140. King Camp Gillette - a sales man of a company called Crown Cork and Seal Co. designed a razor machine which would make the much more affordable, thinner, lighter and they had detachable blades. 
The Gillette Safety Razor Compant was made in 1902, it was the supplier to the United States in World War I and at that time they were selling 70 million razor blades and 500 thousand razor machines yearly!