We Tried The Extravagant Wigs That Killed Marie Antoinette • Pretty Historic

Hey friends, welcome to pretty historic the show where we go back in time to learn about some of the weirdest beauty trends in history and then try them ourselves. I'M your host salom! Let'S do the thing this time on pretty historic, we're talking about hair baby, not just any hair, but the wigs that adorn the tiny austrian head of you know her. You love her. You may even love to hate her. That'S right! It'S marie antoinette, the former queen of france at just 14 years old little austrian marie, was married off to the dopant of france, louis xvi, in an attempt to heal relations between the two countries after the seven years war. Unfortunately, this meant most french people were predisposed to disliking marie, which is pretty weird like who has beef with a 14 year old feelings changed after 1774, when the king louie's grandfather, passed away after a bout of smallpox, the people of france who had grown tired of The former king hoped marie and louis xvi would bring a fresh perspective to the throne, unfortunately for france, but fortunately, for this episode. Marie was more interested in fashion and music than she was in being an innovative leader and part of that fashion was big, beautiful insane. Wigs dating back to the 8th century french kings appeared to be genetically predisposed to early baldness. Then, in the early 1600s king louis xiii bit the bullet and became the first french king to wear wig, which at the time were called peruse, turns out. King louis xiii was a trendsetter and wearing elaborate and expensive. Wigs became a common style amongst french noblemen, bald and hairy alike. By the 1700s, the powdered wig was a common style for wealthy men and women across europe. For marie these wigs were a tool used to fit into french society. The most fashionable color for these wigs was silvery white, but hair. That shade was so expensive that most resorted to using scented, pastel powders to color their wigs with popular colors, being pink blue, violet and gray. Look salorum. Are you talking about marie antoinette yeah? I heard a thing or two about her. Is this seat taken? No, it's not really a seat, but okay, you know about her her weird tiny, little village that she built on the grounds of versailles. No, i didn't they called it. The m. I don't know how to pronounce that. I'M not friends pronounce any of these words. She'D bring her friends there and they'd pretend they were in the country. You know, like all all the buildings were built to look rustic and kind of pre-distressed like jeans in 2011., there's a whole farm. She had cows and goats, a big old watermill. It even had a dove coat. Have you heard it? Listen a dove dove coat. It'S a building that you build when you've got so many doves that you need to build a building to keep all your doves in okay, crazy god, i'd love to own hundreds of doves. Wouldn'T you actually yeah? I would you know: some people gave marie a lot of guff for her little village, but it was actually a trend among royalty at the time, and hers wasn't even that extravagant compared to some others of the era. Marie'S village may have had uh. You know a thousand gorgeous porcelain pots, adorning her rustic little town, but meanwhile the contesta provence had a little village featuring a dairy made of marble equipped with silver, milk and jugs. But look am i defending marie's little poverty playstick here? Absolutely not no, but if i was rich beyond my wildest dreams, would i also build a little farm where i could invite my friends over for hoedowns, where we danced and danced until we could dance no more and then retire to stuff our mouths with fruit and Milk among the fluttering of butterflies and the sweet songs of nightingales yeah. I'D probably do that. I guess i would too yeah. Maybe i'd even build a little taco bell or something anyway. That'S just something i heard oh yeah, so thank you for dropping that knowledge yeah. I got stuff to do so yeah, but uh. You know. Let me know how this all works out. I'M excited to see this. Oh okay, we'll have fun back in back of that bookcase. I guess. Does he like live there? Okay, back to wigs wearing a big wig, usually meant you were in a high social class, but it could also indicate your job. Wigs with the full bottom were part of a judge's standard. Uniform bob wigs were initially worn by tradesmen and later adopted by the clergy. This is actually thought to be one of the reasons wigs became as elaborate as they did to avoid confusion over who was wearing one for their job and who was just trying to look cute on these french streets and oh, how elaborate they became by the time Of marie's reign, the bigger the wig, the richer and more important you were. So if you were looking for a sugar daddy, look for those big wigs. There were dozens of wig makers on staff at versailles, who created those impossibly tall and iconic. Wigs favored by the french royal court called macaronis. These wigs were sadly not made of pasta so like why name them that they were in fact towering rolls of hair formed over frames, which were then decorated with feathers, pins fruits, vegetables and flowers. These wigs were works of art and could even be used to depict elaborate scenes like a battle or a miniature still life with tiny furniture and to make high quality. Wigs was no easy process. One would meet with their wig maker, many of whom were also barbers to discuss and plan their ideal, wig vision and, of course, get their head. Measured. Hair would then be purchased from a hair merchant, totally normal job. The highest quality wigs were made of human hair and were very expensive. Now it's said that one average wig was the same price as a hat coat breeches shirt hose and shoes combined. So, for the price of a whole outfit, you could afford a just okay, wig, less expensive, wigs were usually made of horse or yak hair once purchased. It was then cleaned, combed and bundled then boiled and dried. This has to be history's longest, hair care routine afterwards. Pins were used to curl the hair into whatever shapes were desired. Then it would be baked to ensure the shape's stability. These pieces were then sewn into a silk frame. Next, the wig would receive a final round of trimming and shaping with scissors combs and a curling iron. The fun came last with the wig maker, adding in any perfumes powders and decorations as his final step, despite her initial intention to use these wigs to assimilate for the french revolutionaries, they became a symbol of marie's, excessive, wasteful lifestyle and, despite wearing a similar hairstyle for The last decade, or so of her life, the enduring image of the wigs proved fatal to marie and her image. But it wasn't just her wigs that solidified her fate in the french revolution marie was more decisive politically than her husband and her influence convinced louis to resist the revolutionary national assemblies attempts to abolish feudalism and restrict royal powers during the revolution in 1793. She was tried and executed by the revolutionary tribunal and when it was time to face the guillotine, they say that the executioner trimmed her iconic hair so short that it was barely visible under her cap. It'S sad she kind of deserved it now it's time to make some wigs, but first a word from our sponsors. This video of pretty historic is sponsored by better help. It'S no secret that life can be tough. I know that for myself, just trying to find a good balance between work and hanging out with my dogs and my wife can be a huge cost of stress. Sometimes so, if you're struggling you're not alone and that's where betterhelp steps in betterhelp offers a customized online therapy through video phone and even live chat sessions with your therapist, the best part is you're in control. So you don't have to see anyone on camera if you're uncomfortable with a network of over 20 000 therapists. Better help gives you access to a broad range of options. 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In fact, so many people are seeking out therapy right now that betterhelp is currently recruiting additional therapists in all 50 states, so join the 2 million plus people who have taken charge of their mental health with better help get 10 off your first month of therapy at Betterhelp.Comwatcher or click the link in the description below that's betterhelp.com watcher. Thank you to betterhelp for sponsoring this video and now back to pretty historic, all right enough death. We got ta make some wigs, but first we got ta find some stuff to put in the wigs. You know what that means: shopping trips. Welcome to michael's we're here. Looking for some things to put in some wigs. Are you ready there's a lot of stuff here? I don't even know where to start, i feel like i'm gon na want some pearls, some feathers, just some royal feeling things, because that's what marie had in her hair, but i'm gon na put some weird stuff in just because that's what i would put in my Hair, if i was her oh there's, seashells rocks are cool. I don't know. Rope doesn't really feel like very royal to me, so maybe not, but it's rope with the lights in it. Wait. Let'S go. Oh, be honest. I don't know how i would stick some of these other fruits into the hair like, but what are these made of? Okay? This could work with a pen, everything you know what we don't get a budget right, guys, yeah grab. Everything actually get me get me. One of those things too: okay, wait. I want these two some of these - maybe two of these, maybe 10 of them, because we're rich ribbons ribbons ribbons ribbons ribbons. These are giving birthday. You know i need them to give aristocrat we're getting there yeah get in the cart you, let's go. It'S cotton, balls, that's cool! Maybe she wore cotton balls in her hair. We don't know you weren't there i feel like we got a lot of good stuff. I'M excited, let's put this wig together. Well, that was fun now we're ready to make some wigs. So i invited my friend ryan, who i feel like is really good at wigs. Tell me what you do. I do drag so. I'Ve been in mini a wig from time to. I was in one this weekend. Actually, it's like. I love a good wig. I love putting them together too. I like to make crafts and like do all kinds of stuff, you're perfect for this honestly, okay ryan. What did you think about the story of marie antoinette? I didn't realize that they powdered the wigs and the chaos that went into making those wigs. They were like super expensive, which blew my mind. What is the most expensive wig you would buy um. I think i bought one that was like almost a hundred dollars but, like that's a cheap wig like nowadays, that's a cheap wig. I have a couple wigs that are worth more than a hundred dollars. Look at you marie 2.0. What would it look like? What would you describe your ideal? Wig super big supermodel, like kind of like flowy wig, like i remember, i saw cardi b wearing a wig like this once and they literally took two wigs to like make. It look full and i was like oh, i want that. I want that right there. How long is this wig like? Is it long or just full? It'S full, but it's like you know it's like here, oh okay, so it doesn't have to be crazy. Long honestly, iconic marie antoinette is such an icon and, like i feel like, if she lived today, she would destroy instagram. She would totally kill instagram, okay ryan, so for this wig, what do you think you're gon na do? What is your plan when i think of like a marie antoinette wig? Obviously it's like the royal type of thing, so i'm gon na make a base level that is like constructed somehow and then build the hair up on it. But i'm like, i want to go more colorful because i feel, like i don't remember her wig being specifically colorful and i want to have a lot of flowers and um a little bit of like blue and pink and bear adding some fruit. Maybe you know make it look fruity, my wig. I don't really have a plan, i'm gon na go into it with confidence, i'm gon na wing it and i'm gon na kill it. May the spirit of marie. May you channel your spirit into our hands and our fingers as we craft these beautiful wigs. Give us your aristocratic strength. Give it to us. Thank you marie. Let us eat cake. Okay. I have not seen these wigs yet so, let's open it up, i'm excited. I am too i'm very pumped about this. This wig we're going to have a wig out. It'S going to be a hairy situation. I hate myself. I know this is cute. This is good length. I think this is going to be fun to build up on. Don'T you already feel kind of, like i kind of feel, like a badass yeah ordering people around having macrons? No one wants to work these days. Nobody wants to work, get your ass up and work. What i think makes the most sense to me is like to start building the chicken wire around the wig at the bottom, so put the wig down and then kind of like put the chicken wire around here and then start to build up on that, because i Really like it when these wigs have like little curls coming out of the at, and so i'm gon na, do that try to have a little bit uppity, so maybe i'll use the chicken wire for that uppity yeah, that's a word and then i'm gon na have Curls on the side here, you're gon na see it it's gon na look like a thing. I hope it works ready for business, i'm afraid of cutting myself on this. You got a medic. The spirit of marie antoinette will not let you get cut. Well, i don't know if that's not true, she got her head shut up chopped off, so maybe maybe she shouldn't be the spirit. We'Re calling on now that i think about that. I'M like i don't we should be calling someone else uh. We both need help. Let'S be real, oh my god. Is that a not? No? No, yes, just throw it in there. There we go. This is gon na work. It is gon na work uh, but right now my goal is to just get the chicken wire covered with hair. It will give less playboy but honestly, there's nothing wrong with our playboy movies. You know if playboy wants to take this wig and like do a full-on marine internet photo shoot call watch it. I'M like struggling with how i'm going to put this up. We have any hair ties. I'M going to take off my hair tie. You know what hold on slow motion hair unleash. Oh yes, yes, i didn't see it, but i felt it you felt you felt the the sexuality of it all. I did. Oh, my god, i'm sweating, okay, i okay, hold up hold up hold up hold up hold up. How do you do this? I think there's a way for me to just put all this hair in a position. You know what i'm realizing before you do. A lot of that would it makes okay, yeah actually nevermind. That is it. Is it isn't it it might be, let it back down, maybe or that. So i was wondering, though no baby baby, no beautiful, i mean she is beautiful. The way she is, she is beautiful. The way she is okay, so this isn't really going the way that we planned it's a little a lot difficult. We are prepared. We have backup wigs, so no worries. We will save this for another day and we are going to bring out those wigs and just skip to decorating yeah yeah yeah, nothing else. Let'S decorate, wear the wigs wait, a minute yeah, i love them. Both. This is very giving it's like the scary kind of victorian. I don't know what you mean, but you know what i mean. No, i don't you know what i mean sure i do. I know exactly what you mean. Oh wow. This is very fun get out of here. Ugly, i'm gon na just make a little bow, oh to go right now, but i want to put something on it just to like, maybe a little pendant like that. That'S adorable in my mind. It'S a parisian cafe. I have like a little bird up top with little cafe, chairs and there's just lemons and fruit. All around mine is a floral boss, um nest at this point, i'm just kind of frantic and i'm just putting things everywhere. Didn'T i just put one of these in it's gone, that's pretty she's, pretty tell her she's. Pretty i feel like marie antoinette would be proud. That'S moral of the story. I think she'd be very proud sure i feel like we're like don-ish done-ish. Oh no! No! This is very complete. I think this is a work of art. I love this honestly. I feel like we outdid ourselves, wait up turn it on. Oh, yes, the piece de vida show the people what they want, i'm so excited about it. Like honestly, i went for like parisian nights cafe. If you look up top there's like a little bird with a wig, the bird is at a table, little tables and chairs, and he has a little wig too. He didn't want to be left out, so he also got a little wig. I cut him a little a little up, dude a midsummer night's dream. That'S what i'm gon na call this um ryan did they have electricity back? Then there was electricity in the power of a queen god, damn it that's what it is. I'M sorry, okay, well mine is kind of just like a bird's nest. I got these little cute birdies over here. I'M very proud of these bows with little chains and everything like that. Those bows are like that is like you can sell that on etsy right now, not that it really matters. But do you want to go see what people think i absolutely want to see what people yeah, because these are already flat? What is art if it's not to be seen announcing the royal courts? How do you do i? I don't even know this is, i feel so. Uh starstruck a fancy bird with a mushroom at night. Oh just had a bright idea. Hello, look at what's happened. It'S just casual something's happening just fair great. It'S basking in the details. Yes, wow, i'm sensing some descent in the royal court. No, i assume he's just overwhelmed. I honestly wasn't expecting it to look like this. So good. You made some fantastic yeah right, fantastically interesting, okay, so, overall, i think we killed it. But the question remains: is this a trend that we should bring to the future or leave in the past? I definitely think we should bring into the future we're in a time where wigs are like really hot. So i feel like why not do more with your wigs right, like your wig, doesn't just have to be hair, so i say bring it to the future. I am totally down with bringing this to the future as long as i don't have to make the wig myself, but i love the decorations yeah. I love putting flowers and birds and grapes in my hair so actually like. Why not like why not just wear hair like this every day, let's just bring back wig makers who make expensive ornate wigs somebody open up an etsy shop right now, yes, oh yeah, both us us is this where our business starts. I think this is the beginning of our business venture, our wig, making business that just takes over the freaking world, our wig, making business that beyonce, missed, beyonce wow think about it like this could be the next big thing. This is the future. This is the future. This is the future well tune in next time. I promise you it's gon na, be pretty historic, hey the name of the show. You know what stephen i'm going to d-wig myself, just for you here you go and he whoa and now you're going up. Oh bird down down