The woman on the left is wearing her hair down and free-flowing, something which in the Victorian period was generally only considered appropriate for little girls and for adult women in the intimacy of their boudoirs and bedrooms. However, in 1879 Denmark marked a phase between little-girlhood and adulthood, or more correct the status of marriageable but not engaged. The free hair or a hair without hat/bonnet shows that a young girl was free to become engaged.In Denmark at that time when hair was wore down and free-flowing was only worn by virtuous young women, after religious confirmation (in the spring time about the age at 15), before becoming engaged.
Text in image (spoken by little girl to her mother), "Mo'er! Når jeg bliver stor, må jeg så også blive kæmmet ligesom en hest?" The English translation is, "Mother! When I become grown-up, must I then also become combed like a horse?"
Visit Victorian Hair for descriptions on styles.
