Thursday

How Amish Women Pin Up Their Hair ...

I found this article to be very interesting and thought I would share it with you! 
Christina, an eleven-year-old Old Order Amish girl from Michigan, was kind enough to sit for a series of photographs while her mother, Mary, pinned up her hair. Like most Amish females, she has never cut or trimmed her hair. Amish women pin their hair into buns, and then cover their heads with a prayer kapp, following Paul's instruction to women in 1 Corinthians 11:5 to cover their heads. The idea is that one should always be prepared to pray, and one should be prayerful throughout their days.
 
Mary begins by combing out Christina’s hair. She pulls the hair back away from her face and behind her ears, then fastens her hair on both sides of her head with barrettes.
 
 
 
Next she binds her hair into a ponytail using a simple hair band. The ponytail must be tight and close to the head.

 
 
In order to get Christina’s long hair to fit under the kapp, Mary must double it over three times (this varies depending on how long someone’s hair may be). Once the hair is rolled into a “bun” it’s time to pin it up.
 
Two heavy-duty hairpins are used to hold Christina’s hair in place until the hairnet is on.
Once the bun is stable, the hairnet is placed over the bun from back-to-front, then twisted and
brought back from front-to-back.

                                       

The pins are pushed down through top, then back in toward center of the bun, grabbing some of the hairnet and some of the hair to make it stay. The first two pins that were used to hold the bun in place are removed, then replaced over the hairnet. A total of eight pins are used.
 
 
Once the bun is secured it’s time for the prayer kapp, which can be secured with either straight pins or bobby pins. Mary feels that straight pins look neater, but most often she has her young daughters use bobby pins because kapps tends to get dirty from oily fingers when pins are used. In these photos, Mary places the kapp on Christina’s head, then places two pins on either side, catching the hair beneath the kapp to hold it in place.


* Article & picture courtesy of Amishworkshops.com.

XoXo
Michelle / Simple Pleasures


9 comments:

NanaDiana said...

Great post-That hair is hot and heavy in the summer though- xo Diana

sweetvintageofmine said...

Very sweet post! I never realized this was a taught skill with putting their hair up. I wonder if they ever get headaches with the heaviness of hair always being pinned up. Thanks for visiting my blog...I enjoy yours! Blessings~~~Roxie

Margaret said...

Love it! I know they may also twist the front of their hair into the bun. They do it that way in Lancaster county. Twist the sides . Maggie

Debbie said...

Wow, thanks for sharing. This reminded me of my "nannie" grandma who also never cut her hair and rolled it up in a bun.. Look forward to following your blog!

Michelle said...

I use to wear my hair up like this for work when I was younger ( With out the Kapp ). By the end of the day I had one big headache.

Prims By The Water said...

Wow I knew they pulled their hair up,but did not know the process. Thanks for sharing. Very interesting.Janice

Raymond Homestead said...

Thanks for sharing, very interesting!

Cindi said...

That was interesting Michelle, thanks for sharing!
Be blessed,
Cindi

Farmhouse prims said...

Such a wonderful post, I always wondered how they did their hair. Lecia