hairiness, one of the markers of the time

From the first glance, we only see our hair and body hair. Like a marker of ourselves, they highlight us, but also reveal many clues about our personality. They are the image of ourselves that we choose to give to others. When Louis XIV went bald at the age of 20, he imposed his pop star wig. With him, the long and curly hair becomes a fashion and a symbol of power.

A symbol of protest

Our hair is this animal side that we ended up taming. “It has been necessary for centuries, (…) to tame, train, flatten, almost imprison the hair and the hair so that precisely, we have no link or resemblance with the animal”supports Denis Bruna, curator of the exhibition “Hair and body hair” at the Museum of Decorative Arts. In the hands of his hairdresser we are transformed. Sometimes rich and complicated hairstyles to demonstrate his social rank. It took two hours a day to style Empress Sissi and her 1.70 meter hair. In the 20th century, our hair system will become a symbol of protest or when Angèle shows her hair as a feminist manifesto.