hairdressing, arranging of the hair for decorative, ceremonial,
or symbolic reasons. Primitive men plastered their hair with
clay and tied trophies and badges into it to represent their
feats and qualities. Among women, a band to keep the hair from
the eyes was the forerunner of the fillet. Much early
hairdressing is traditional, as in the feather tufts or
stiffened coronet of some primitive peoples, the queue of the
Chinese, the tonsure of ecclesiastics, the flowing locks of the
maid, and the bound or cut tresses of the wife. From ancient
times hair has been dyed, bleached, curled, braided, waxed and
oiled, hennaed, powdered, perfumed, cut, shaved, enhanced with
false hair, covered with a wig, concealed by nets and veils, or
adorned with beads, jewels, pins, combs, feathers, ribbons, and
flowers, natural and artificial. In the world of fashion,
hairdressing developed as an art during the Middle Ages, when an
appropriate coiffure became as important as the proper costume.
Since that time, styles, especially f