Another weird thing from Ribeiro

[frualeydis]

Just when I was getting to really appreciate Fashion and fiction. Dress in art and literature in Stuart England, almost forgiving Ribeiro for the aforementioned offenses she writes that constant wearing of caps and hats were a cause for hair loss (and thus a reason for the use of wigs). If that had been the case, which of course is refuted by scientific research on hair loss, wouldn't women, who have been wearing headwear from dawn 'til dusk for centuries have been more prone to hair loss than men? Think before you write is a good maxim to apply to your work I think.

Comments

[sarahnucci.livejournal.com]

Ohhhh, that's fantastically not possible! My sister went to an 18th century site here where they told them that they wore white caps to prevent their brains from heating up to the point of killing them. Now, I ask, how many sun brain deaths are there? And if so - if a man went hatless wouldn't they die as well?

[therru.livejournal.com]

That's like saying that people get fat by wearing corsets.

Also... people generally wore hats or caps outdoors at least well into the 1960s. It's only in the last fourty years or so that people have started going bare-headed as a matter of course.

[marcine.livejournal.com]

Hmm, the summer I worked almost everyday in costume wearing a cap over my hair which was pulled up in a bun, my hair was NICER -- softer, stronger and grew like a weed. If all the modern bleaching, coloring, shampooing and perming hair doesn't make it fall out, how could wearing a cap??

[isiswardrobe.livejournal.com]

Goodness! What an odd idea and also an idea that would be very easy to check.

[sneprinsesse.livejournal.com]

Someone said on a LARP forum that wearing a head covering prevented the hair from getting oily. I didn't understand how that would work.

[m-nivalis.livejournal.com]

Well, the cap would prevent external dirt, and if you confuse external dirt with natural scalp oils I can see how one would assume the cap made the hair less oily.

[knightsmarshall.livejournal.com]

It's good to see there are still idiots in the world of academia.
: )

[frualeydis.livejournal.com]

The thing is that she is not generally an idiot and has written many good books and articles on historical dress - and that makes it mote annoying than if she had been an idiot right through.

/Eva