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I'm a member of the Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War
and being that this is the 150th anniversary of the civil war
I have a number of ceremonies coming up where I need to be
in civil war uniform. I'm trying to figure out what to do
with my long hair.
And no cutting it is not an option. Never has been and
never will be.
This is not he first ceremony for me. I've had a number of them
already, and got no complaints about my hair. in fact there are
a number of other men in the organization that have long hair. There are nine of us that i've come accross so far in the various states. So i'm not the only one with long hair, although before the recent trim my hair was the longest. And one of those guys with long hair is a national officer.
So yes the hair will stay long, it will stay grey, and it will absolutely not get cut.
In the past years when i've been in uniform i've either worn
my hair in a pony tail or loose.
Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Well if it were me I would put the hair up in a high ponytail, then braid it, then coil it around the top of my head and wear a tight fitting soldiers cap.
Having a cap a few sizes larger then your head would accomodate the extra space with hair as described above.
cheers,
Duncan
Hello Mr. Long Hair in Albany,
You have so many choices. You can try out these styles if you can in advance and see what you think would go well with your traditional uniform:
1) A tight low bun, and then top your hair with the traditional cap. I also like Duncan's idea of braiding you hair and then coiling it up into a bun and then top your head with the traditional cap.
You can also tweek the following buns to look more masculine and you can youtube the following techniques:
a) The Nautilus bun
b) Log roll
c) Cinnamon bun
d) Chinese bun, braided or un-braided.
2) Segmented ponytail, and perhaps using gold pony ties to accentuate the buttons, use silver colored pony ties if your buttons are silver.
3) If you are not wearing a cap then you have even more options:
1) Basic French braid.
2) Heringbone french braid.
3) Dutch braid
I could go on with styles, but the most important aspect of my advice is if you can spend some time in advance trying out and learning styles that will appropriately look well with your attire. Have fun, and we would really appreciate it if you could post your final look. Thanks for keeping us updated. It is nice to hear from you!
Cheers,
rowie
In addition to my suggestion. Here is a link that showcases the hair style for men during the civil war.
Civil War Men's hair
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That is a great collection of civil war images, Rowie. Just super.
Scott
Anything to help a fellow member!
cheers,
rowie
I opted to go with a pony tail. In future i'll try braids, segmented pony tail, or other ideas. But whatever I do
I won't hide the fact that I have long hair, it's a "trademark"
for me and always will be so I won't be hiding it. And since
i've gotten no complaints thusfar i'll continue to wearing the hair as my "trademark."
We had a very successful event today, I decided to go with my hair tied back in a pony tail. I have long hair and had no intention
of hiding that fact. And I got no complaints about it.
Unfortunetly I could not get photos, it's difficult to
participate in the ceremony and take photos too.
Some Confederate soldiers wore their hair long during the war.
I wouldn't worry about it. I've seen several re-enactors with
long hair plus I think some actually had long hair back then too.
I have one event today, at this same event last year I had my
hair in a pony tail.
Also at this same event one of the other long haired guys also
had his hair in a pony tail. (He also wore a kilt while the rest
of us were in civil war uniform.)
Unfortunetly it is difficult to participate in the ceremony and
get photos at the same time. (And then there is the small
matter that they didn't have digital cameras or iphones in the civil war.)
Did you see the article in this month's National Geographic? Alternatives to digicams being a wagon load of equipment for glass plates, or embedded sketch artists!
Bummer! What's the point in having a war without digicams and iphones? You really can't have a decent war without them!
It'd be like living in the 19th century. Oh ... wait ... :)
Damon
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