A little wonder, every day

the pouf hairstyle

1778 fashion print showing a woman’s coiffure with a model ship; printmaker Daniel Berger; Rijksmuseum object RP-P-2009-2167; CC0 1.0 Public Domain Dedication. Original file: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Co%C3%ABffure_%C3%A0_la_Belle_Poule_en_1778._(titel_op_object)_Almanakprentje_dameskapsel_met_schip_in_ovaal,_RP-P-2009-2167.jpg. No attribution required by CC0; credit: Rijksmuseum.

18th-century satirical caricature of the French pouf hairstyle; artist unknown; public domain (PD-old / Public Domain Mark). Original file: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:CoiffurePouf.jpg. Credit: Unknown artist, via Wikimedia Commons; based on Augustin Challamel, *Histoire-musée de la république Française* (1842).

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1778 fashion print showing a woman’s coiffure with a model ship; printmaker Daniel Berger; Rijksmuseum object RP-P-2009-2167; CC0 1.0 Public Domain Dedication. Original file: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Co%C3%ABffure_%C3%A0_la_Belle_Poule_en_1778._(titel_op_object)_Almanakprentje_dameskapsel_met_schip_in_ovaal,_RP-P-2009-2167.jpg. No attribution required by CC0; credit: Rijksmuseum.

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In the mid-1770s, Queen Marie Antoinette of France helped make towering pouf hairstyles fashionable. Hairdressers built them over wire frames and pads, blending the wearer’s hair with false hair. They decorated the styles with feathers, ribbons, artificial flowers, fruit, and sometimes miniature ships. Poufs took time to assemble, so women might wear one for several days and protect it under special hoods.