Gibson Girl Hair Tutorial : A More Elaborate Version

When I posted my first Gibson girl hair tutorial, it was the simplest version of the style – sort of a flatter topknot secured with pins, with plenty of big-hair-height. I promised a more elaborate version, and this is it.

Be forewarned – this turned into a hot mess. The style isn’t known for being super-neat, so I decided to post it even though it looks like a tremendous case of bedhead. Even if I can’t follow my own damn directions, someone else may be able to follow the tutorial and get better results.

So. Here we go!

First, part your hair straight across the top of your head, from behind one ear to behind the other ear. Gather the hair and pin it into place on top of the head. You can tease this section for height, or just push it toward your forehead before pinning into place.

I call this section the Front Pouf. Because I am a dork.

For a simple Gibson girl style, the remaining hair would be gathered into the aforementioned topknot and secured with pins. For this style, sections of hair are going to be taken from just behind the Front Pouf and they are going to be left down. These sections can be as large or as small as you like, depending on how you want to style the hair. I took 4 small sections from behind the Front Pouf.

Leave your sections down. Gather the rest of your hair and flip your head upside down. Brush the hair to make it smooth. Form it into a loose coil or knot and pin it in place just behind the Front Pouf.

Now take the remaining sections of hair and do whatever you like with them. Large sections of hair can be swooped from one side to the other. Small sections can be formed into curls and pinned around the Pouf or the topknot.

I pinned my bangs back at this point.

I took one section, looped it around the topknot, formed it into a curl, and pinned it to the back of my head. Which you can sorta-kinda see in the photo below. (BTW, this is where this started to go downhill for me. The Victorian Era was known for its elaborate hairstyles which required salon visits [or lady’s maids] and I sure as heck could have used an extra hand or four at this point.)

The remaining hair was divided into 3 sections and formed into pin curls which I pinned at the front of the topknot.

And at this point the style was finished, and I had to laugh because WTF. I somehow deflated my Front Pouf, the pincurls were sticking up all over, and I had more hair flying away than I had pinned down.

But it’s like a Monet. Up close it’s a mess, from far away it’s not so bad. Maybe.

Well, if anyone attempts this and has better luck than I did, let me know!

3 thoughts on “Gibson Girl Hair Tutorial : A More Elaborate Version”

Just found your blog and I'm enjoying it! I've been trying to do the Gibson Girl with my long hair for ages, even bought a hair rat, but I have too much hair also. Anyway, I tried your way a few times and still couldn't get it right. Here's what did work: separate hair in front and ignore it. Take back section into high pony on top of head and put in a pony holder. Twist and wrap the ponytail around the base of the holder to cover and pin it into a big bun. Take 1 side of the front section and twist slightly then pouf a bit and pin across front. Take the remaining tail of that section and wrap it loosely around the big bun and pin. Repeat with the other side. Finally, to get a bit more fullness in the back, pull out the back a bit with fingers. Does that make sense? BtW, I also live in WI.