Victorian Hairstyles

Early victorian hair styles were often a loose, relaxed style. The styles would still include a middle parting, much like the previous Elizabethan style, however they favoured a more demure style over the big hair that would have been seen previously. Often the hair looks as if it had been taken down the sides and tucked in on itself to create a shorter look.
1830's-60's hair would often look waved or frizzed at the sides, although the overall texture of the hair looked to be quite smooth and slick.

Here is a portrait of a woman from 1860. This shows a clear example of the hair looking very shiny and  smooth. The hair has been parted in the middle and you can see what I mean by the hair being tucked under itself that gives the overall look a puffy feel. 

Here is another portrait showing an example of early victorian hair. This portrait was taken in 1844 and shows one of the ways the Victorian women would decorate the hair. This woman had taken a ribbon and placed it into the plaiting of the back of her bun style. Here you can see that often Victorian women would include plaits into their hairstyles. 

Overall it seems that Victorian women would have a minimal looking front of the head and have intricate, detailed plaits and bun styles at the back of the head. 

Here is a video I found on youtube when looking into early victorian hair styles. As you can see this person demonstrates the more relaxed side to early victorian hair with the loose curls and various waves that are not included in the undo.

Images sourced from Google images, originally from here
Video found on Youtube, originally from this channel