Vestal Hairdressing: recreating the "Seni Crines" 

I just hope to Hades that the university academics have invited you to speak and present at their scholarly conferences. We NEED more people like this to recreate history....we could use some construction people, tile-laying people, plumbing people....we NEED the trades INVOLVED DIRECTLY in scholarship, and you, Janet, have broken that ground in ways that could go far beyond the hairstyles themselves. The possibilities for extending scholarship and reimagining education are boggling my MIND.

Hair bodkins are just the technical name I use for "hair sticks" (aka single prong hair pins). I have used real chop sticks, even the sharpened stubs of pencils, when in a pinch. If you have a small jewellers saw, try this: buy pencil diameter dowels at the craft store. Cut them into the lengths you want. sharpen one end with a pencil sharpener, and there you are! cheers, J

We do not know what the structural vitta was made of, or how it was made: it could have been a twisted cord, or a strip of fabric, or thick ribbon. I used a twisted cord. I made it by taking multiple, long strands of wool yarn, twisting them tightly from one end, then "folding" the twisted strands in half, end to end, so the cord coiled around itself. The finished cord is about the diameter of my index finger. Have fun!

this is incredibly fascinating and I applaud you for all the hard work you must have done to get as far as you have in understanding hair styles that seem completely impossible to understand for someone like me if you hadn't explained and color coded every step of the way. you are a woman who knows her craft. but more importantly you are passionate about pursuing the craft, pursuing knowledge, and combining these in a spectacular fashion. It's been very inspirational to find out about your work, for someone who enjoys thinking about ancient times in an abstract way but who would find it much more interesting if it were less so, and more personally accessible. thank you very much.

This is an absolutely phenomenal, extremely well made video! Imagine how much further scholars would go piecing and recording the world if there were more people like you that took the time to link history with different disciplines. You should receive an honorary doctorate in archeology for this. I'd love to see more of these videos. I'm sure you could contact the History Channel at some point and put together a program or be part of an Ancient Roman Fashion documentary. Congratulations!!

Have no idea how this got into my feed, but I'm so enjoyed this. My mother was a hairdresser for years so this is both fascinating on a technical and historical sense. Now I'll have to check out your other videos.

I'm not surprised that it was 7...7 is considered a "virgin" number by the ancients and I'm sure that symbolism was woven into their hairstyle :)

I love your quote "Whatever you're most passionate about when you're five is what you would do for the rest of your life." Super true, and super inspiring. Thanks for following your passion to reveal this fascinating aspect of Rome's rich culture.

That's an interesting question. Sometimes I "see" into the hairstyle right away, sometimes I just give up and let it percolate for a few months, and return to it later. I always look first for part lines on the scalp and work out from there. Cheers, J

I come back to this channel when I want to relaz and refresh a bit of my knowledge. Thanks for providing me with such a huge comfort source!

Thats one complicated and fancy hairstyle just to hide it under a hood. But I guess it was mainly to keep the hair tied back out of the way for a long time.

So very interesting. I have to wonder how enduring these types of hairstyles were, in the sense of days. Did they sleep on their braids, for example? Did they have their style done everyday? In addition, I wonder if the hairline of these women was not adversely affected by the winding back of their fringe hair. Among current day Pentecostals who wear their long hair up in buns and braids, hair loss is common. Have to wonder if there was some degree of artifice that went into hiding hair loss if it occurred.

Wow! Those ancient ladies of Rome really know how to walk with style! Good work!

Your speaking voice is wonderful & your diction impeccable. Wonderful to listen to, aside from the great content.

As someone who reenacts Roman history (specifically a vestal virgin), this is exceptionally useful and wonderful to me. Thank you for your analysis and hard-work, Ms. Stephens! I'll be sure to credit you when I get (no doubt) buttloads of compliments at my next reenactment/school presentation!

This is fascinating. I'm African American with natural hair. I'm sure I can approximate this style.

Oddly fascinating. I'm not much of a hairstyle person, but I still found it interesting. Thanks for sharing!

I just read about this on Facebook and I think you're absolutely awesome. Congratulations on being able to solve a puzzle scholars couldn't. -owner and stylist +Studio B Salon and day spa, LLC, Akron, Ohio

You are a real inspiration in SO many ways, having successfully bridged the gap between the scholarly world and what we call the "vocational" world. I am neither a hairdresser nor a classical scholar, but a high school teacher. I can't say enough good things about your work! What occurred to me while watching this video is your mention of a 'paraphrase' or a 'quotation' of the Vestal hairstyles... that put me in mind of the way the Amish women and girls style their hair. (cont)

It’s completely mesmerizing: the model, the music, the Latin lingo. I just love these videos.

Such attention to detail! You have excellent research skills. This is fascinating.

Congratulations on your choice for the model. She is really pretty and she looks believable as a ancient Roman woman :).

I loved watching/listening to this, it was so interesting. I would love to have someone do my hair in these old ways everyday! Very beautiful.

Beautiful. Thank you for this amazing tutorial, cannot wait to watch the others!

Thank you for putting this on youtube. love it!

Fascinating! As a passionate student of Ancient Rome since being a childhood fascination with Greek mythology and Roman legends, and to some extent brought to life by the BBC's incredible series "I CLAVDIVS", I have always been fascinated by the sophistication, refinement and aesthetics of Roman life, at least for the wealthy, the powerful and their entourage. Incidentally in "I Claudius" I remember a scene where the Empress Livia is with the Chief Vestal, who has exactly this hairstyle, as well surmounted by a somewhat odd-looking headdress that looks like rolls of white wool. Bravo! Incidentally, I have also been a collector of ancient roman coinage for most of my life and the coin portraits of women reflect changing fashions in coiffure which looked to be quite extreme - offhand I recall the curious and distinctive style worn by Severus' wife, Julia Domna, her sister Julia Maesa and other imperial women of the early third century CE like Julia Paula, who was a former Vestal.

Good for you! I love it when people make these styles their "own". You are doing just what an ancient roman woman would have: you see a style you like and adapt it to your own needs. cheers, J

WOW! This was Absolutely FASCINATING. I've always been interested in these women, & often wondered HOW they could wear ALL of ?layers?hair on their head? Never knew what was "under there" ;) Your video, theories & techniques answered my ?'s. As a nurse I appreciate your insights concerning potential hair issues/conditions due to early aging (I "earned' my 1st grays @29yo. when pregnant! :( ;) ) or diseases, esp if not discovered til their later yrs. Kudos to your model as well. ;) I LOVED this! :) Thank You for sharing your research & efforts.

I can't stop watching her videos. They're utterly fascinating.

I just read the WSJ article about your "hairdo archaeology"...it was fascinating! I too have a love for art history, with a particular focus on ancient civilizations (and subsequent re-births, i.e. Renaissance). I just wanted to say that I think it's amazing what you have taken on in the field. Well done!!

This channel is absolutely fascinating.

I'm always looking for new hair ideas... Everyone asks how I come up with it... I've used some of your educational videos for this purpose, usually when asked, I tell them about these posts. I can't wait to see the look on people's faces when I say "its a vestal virgin hairdo..." keep up the good work, wish I could find some hair bodkins around here!

Your comment about the bust of the Roman empress Julia Domna's hair being, "... Like a loaf of bread sitting on her head," made me laugh hysterically! Especially after looking her up. Also, the thing about doing as a career what you did when you were five is very true!! I absolutely agree.

Thanks for making this video and doing this great research!

Wow, the combination of expertise and research required to get even this far is staggering. Awesome.

I am sure you know that you are a great resource to the Neopagan community. I am sure I speak for many more when I say we'd love to see more hairstyles of Priestesses of various deities! Thanks again.

When I married I had a similar style but with a French braid down either side of my head and the rest of it was plaited and then wound round in a figure eight at the nape of my head and pinned. They made a sturdy base for my veil combs. I got a number of compliments about the style and how unusual and pretty it was. It was also a very secure style, I didn't have any problems with my hair throughout the day, apart from the number of hair pins there were to take out!!

Rachael Pietra is absolutely smashing in Vestal habits.

Absolutely fascinating, a great piece of experimental archaeology!

This is unbelievable Janet! So wonderful, I just loved it! I'm always in awe of how you are able to recreate these styles! I hope you'll come back to NYC soon so we might go to the museum again!

Amazing example of how anyone can make somethin to improve our knowledge of the ancient world and the past of the human kind. Congratulations from Spain, Janet. Salve!

I wish I would have run across this video before I married. This hair style would have paid homage to my Italian ancestors as my Mantilla veil paid homage to my Spanish ancestors.

I cannot even express how wonderful and exciting your work is! Such a great pleasure and honor to watch the technique and benefit from your passion. Thank you!

Yeah, the distance thing would be a problem, no doubt! Just FYI the cutting: ALL the hair in front of the head (think ear to ear parting over the top of the head) would be cut. None of it would be longer than chin length, some of it would be only 2.5 inches long. A high forehead is not ideal for this style, the lower the forehead (and the thicker the hair density) the better. Now you know why it's hard to find a model...! ;-) best wishes to you and your hubby, J

This lady is amazing! I’m thoroughly impressed.

Excelentes trabajos. Me encantan. Es maravilloso ver reproducidos paso a paso peinados de todas las épocas. Gracias por su trabajo.

The model is so beautiful!

Very detailed and well documented. Thank you for sharing this.

I love these videos! So educational and informative!! I really miss your videos but I still like watching your old ones!

Thank you for being so open with your information.

Amazing amazing amazing, such a great video and channel. New subscriber here for sure. I love historical hairstyles with a passion. For years I had no idea what to do with my past butt length hair, until I started researching ancient hairstyles, now I can't get enough.

Fascinating stuff, thanks for all the hard work that went into this.

Your work rocks!

Wow this is really cool. These should have more views!

You are simply amazing. As a woman and student of history myself, I find your videos are not only historically relevant, accurate and intereting but thoroughly enjoyable! Thank you so much for sharing!

This is brilliant. The detail of your research is admirable. I was just talking today to my high school students about personalizing and owning their research. I would love to hear about your experiences and journey through the research process. And maybe share it with my students?

So ornate! No wonder hair dressers were called ornatrix !

Amazing :) ! That must have been a lot of work doing the research. I Wonder how many 'trial and error' phases there were until you solved the mistery ;-). love the combination of a good archeology lecture and a professional hair tutorial + music... :-D awesome. thanks for sharing!

I usually don't care much about my hair, as long as it's a) long and b) out of my face; but I do love Roman history and I have to say, this video is fascinating. I think you've done brilliant work and I love it. Kudos!

Incredibly fascinating. Well done Janet!

Wow, very impressive.

I looked this up immediately after reading the WSJ article. How very interesting!

Wow. That's a lot of work. I imagine since the Vestals weren't always out in public, they didn't bother with all this unless they had to go out of their temple home. So any male sculpturer who sculpted a statue of them, would not be allowed in their temple, so he'd only see them in their full dress.

Awesome as usual! Well done and thank you for this video!

Thank you for this video and your research!

this is truly superb!

A truly excellent presentation.

Thank you for your comment MK, I would love to see the coin/s you refer to. Could you send me the "ric" numbers (especially if the reverse mentions Vesta)? On the coins I have surveyed, I interpret Aquilia Severa to be wearing a serpentine braided bun style, similar to those worn by Julia Maesa, and Julia Soamias.

Very, very good work, Janet Stephens. (And I have a couple history degrees and worked briefly as a professional video studio manager.) I wish you would continue making historical films indefinitely.

Wow this was so cool! I am loving all the Roman hairstyles :) Definitely subscribing!

Thanks so much for this.It's a really impressive bit of experimental archaeology. FWIW, the technical name for the knot you've used to tie the braids together is "overhand knot."

Woah, why does this feel like 🔓 memories unlocked 🔓

This is super amazing! It's on my list to recreate a vestle virgin clothing! I just finished making, documenting, and editing the process of a stola!

hi! i just stumbled upon your video and i can’t believe how talented you are! and you’re local! i’m in columbia- just south of baltimore. i also recently went to italy/vatican city back over this last june and july and saw up close and personal some of the art pieces you’ve cited. anyway, i hope you keep up the amazing work. :)

this is incredible!

I love your videos,I hope you someday do a video on the apollo knot. That is one of my ultimate favorites.

I remember seeing the Temple of Vesta while in Italy and hearing about the one virgin who was buried alive. I was 16 and it really stuck with me.

The ancient Romans were known as great engineeers (aqueducts, bridges, buildings, etc). Apparently, their women hairdressers (slaves?) were great hair stylist "engineers" in the own right, too. Unlike modern day Catholic/Buddhist nuns these "pagan nuns" had to keep their hair long all the time. Must have been"fun" keeping their hair neat and clean during Italy's long hot summers.

This was fascinating, thank you for your work. The different parts of hairstyle and headdress reminded me of nuns. It's fascinating how the hair was braided similar to a crown and then so carefully covered. Will check out more of your channel!

Amazing work!

Beautiful! I tried it on myself after seeing the video, though I did some adaptations: I pinned the braids on the top of the the head and hid their ends underneath each other so I can wear this without putting anything on my head (though that would be easier if my hair was a tad bit longer) and didn't put an equivalent to the vitta, nor rolled the front hair, I just pulled it back and braided it. Thanks for your videos, I love seeing them, specially because you explain how they did it back them.

I had no idea the standard view of this style was that it only required 6 braids, I'm convinced that I have read something previously that said that Roman bridal hair and the hair of the Vestal Virgins was made of 7 braids. I think it was Lindsay Allason-Jones book "Women in Roman Britain", sadly I don't have a copy of that book so I can't double check. But thank you for this video it was most informative. How long do you think hair needs to be to achieve this reasonably well?

Increíble; eres una genio; felicidades, tu video es muy explicativo e increíble!

Those are both great suggestions, esp. the viking. If you have any specific art works you want to recreate, I am always open to suggestion... send me a "citation" (I.e., artist, object, museum location info). cheers, J

Seven braids makes so much more sense. If the Vestals were married to Rome, and Rome has seven hills, I would guess that the seven braids would represent them.

Excellent Video!

I was introduced to your work through Witchvox, a Contemporary Pagan website/community. I foresee some of your ideas possibly being implemented in Reconstructionist Pagan traditions, particularly the Greek Reconstructionist traditions. Please keep up the good work.

Nice video. :-) Could you make a tutorial about the hairstyle of the Libyan Sybil? Greetings from Germany :-).

Fascinating!!

Ms Stephens, your videos are most fascinating; thank you! The narration of this video includes the following statement: "All Vestal depictions include various ceremonial head coverings that obscure the underlying hair dress." On the coin portraits of Aquilia Severa, a Vestal Virgin who was married to the emperor Elagabalus, she is shown bare-headed with the seni crines visible at the back of her head.

Wow, this is really something! I can't believe all the detail you go into. It does seem complex at first, but you break it down to something simple to understand. Thanks, I have to try this!

Excellent.

Hi Janet - I have gotten interested in doing the various hairstyles you show ever since I did this hairstyle on my daughter. We are having a great deal of fun, as we are both Classics Geeks. Your videos make it so easy to do these hairstyles! I was wondering if you could do some Viking women's hairstyles and some from Jane Austen's period. Thank you for making these videos! You are a genius!

Cool!

I think you nailed it on the head when you said that the roman imperial hairstyles were purposefully influences by the vestals. If you're trying to present yourself as an authority or as someone to be looked up to, borrowing the suggestive outline of the vestal hairstyle would be a good way to flatter an Emperor and Empress. She was supposed to be the moral guide of roman women. It's great PR.

Complicated hairdo which is finally covered so nobody can see it :)

A square (reef) knot is made of two overhand knots of opposing chirality.

Pleasure to see your amazing work and passion! Look for hair recipes-there are many that have been passed down for generations in the south that keep the Civil War era curls-curled regardless of humidity. Best wishes for your future work. and successes. if you have a website please direct me there! Thank you.

if the vestals wore their hair braided up most of the time, then its likely that after taking it down and brushing it out to wash it and put it back up there would be a lot of shed hair that would also be a possible offering to the "hair tree"

Much of scholarship begins with *wonder* and wondering, so I am passing this along to you or any other scholarly person who might be interested in exploring that connection. From Cherie, almost / former academic turned HS teacher! :D