Madame Martin (fl. 1671) was the hairdresser at the court of Louis XIV who popularised a style of elaborate tall hair.
Madame Martin was married to a whig maker and her profession was not as unusual in her position; however, she demonstrated true creative talent and became unusual in her success as an independent professional artist in a period when the profession of hair dressing was only just starting to emerge in France.
In 1671, she became a leading artist of her time by creating hair style known as the "harum scarum", which became very popular and Marquise de Sevigne recommended to her daughter. Her style was a new initiative, as she broke with the previous fashion and arranged women's hair upward instead of on the sides, signifying a new style of fashion.
She invented the hair style a' la Maintenon, which was famously adopted by Madame de Maintenon. She remained the leading hair dresser of the French court for several years during the late half of the 17th-century.
References
- Diana De Marly (1987), Louis XIV & Versailles,
Much to Louis XIV's relief the French hairdresser Martin was able to save the reputation of the French court ... On 4 April 1671 the Marquise de Sevigne wrote to her daughter the Comtesse de Grignan that Madame Martin was...
- Louis Napolitan: Six Thousand Years of Hair Styling, Polygraphic Company of America, 1939
- Louis Napolitan: Six Thousand Years of Hair Styling, Polygraphic Company of America, 1939
- Gisèle d'. Assailly: Ages of Elegance: Five Thousand Years of Fashion and Frivolity, Hachette, 1968
- Wendy Cooper: Hair: sex, society, symbolism, Aldus, 1971
- Louis Napolitan: Six Thousand Years of Hair Styling, Polygraphic Company of America, 1939
- Mary Trasko: Daring Do's: A History of Extraordinary Hair, Random House Incorporated, 1994
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