The Bobby Pin

Michelle Dockery and Laura Carmichael with their hair in prep faze.

I would assume hair and make-up designers for any period dramas are extremely grateful for modern technology in creating old-fashioned looks.  I know my go-to products for theatrical hair is hair spray and tons of bobby pins.  Lots and lots of bobby pins.  We are talking the Witch Hazel effect from the old Looney Tunes cartoons- so many that one leaves a trail behind.  Any time I have had to tackle the Gibson Girl look or a Marcel wave and bun, I bring these two items along.

Bobby pins can also be referred to as hair grips or even possibly kirby grips.  They came of age in the 1920s and got their name from the hair style-the bob.  Suddenly, long locks weren't being held in place in a bun on the back of one's head which meant they were falling in front of one's eyes all the time.  Anyone who has tried to grow out pesky bangs understands this idea.  Bobby pins were much smaller and less noticeable than barettes and could easily be used in one's hair or tucked into one's stockings for future hair catastrophes.

If one wanted tight ringlet curls all over one's head, a simple way to get it is to create bobby pin curls, more commonly referred to as pin curls.  Take a small section of hair, wrap it around your finger completely from root to end (tip: place the finger one is wrapping the hair around directly under the root of the wrapping hair and wrap around the tip of the finger) and then place the curled hair next to your scalp.  Using two bobby pins per curl of hair, make an 'x' with the pins to hold it in place.  Continue these steps until your head is full of bobby pins and no stray hairs.  Sleep on it overnight and the next morning, take out the bobby pins, shake out one's hair, and tada!  Curls to make Lady Edith envious.

If You Were The Only Girl in the World

Lady Edith at the piano

         How could one make Downton Abbey any better other than by including a good old Broadway showstopper?  Apparently our American traditions are slowly leaking into the show.  Next thing you know they will be eating apple pie.  If You Were The Only Girl In The World was written in 1916 by Clifford Grey and Nat D. Ayer.  It was originally sung in the musical The Bing Boys are Here as a duet. Just as in the season two episode, the song became a symbol of escape from the reality of war.

        Only segments of the song made it into the episode sung by Michelle Dockery and the cast.  Here are the rest of the lyrics, so the next time you are humming it to yourself you can complete the song.  I'll admit I've already been spotted in my apartment singing it while doing dishes.

Sometimes when I feel bad
and things look blue,
I wish a pal I had... say one like you.
Someone within my heart to build a throne,
Someone who'd never part, to call my own.

 

 

If you were the only girl in the world
and I were the only boy,
Nothing else would matter in the world today
We could go on loving in the same old way.

 

 

A garden of Eden just made for two,
With nothing to mar our joy.
I would say such wonderful things to you
There would be such wonderful things to do
If you were the only girl in the world
and I were the only boy.