Is that actually a way men wore their hair back then? What was even going on there? It was like he started curling his hair and then just gave up. Except the rest of it looked like it'd been straightened. I was so distracted by his hair every time he was in a shot.
Please don't feed the trolls.
No, i've got it. He was going for the stick-a-bow-on-your-head-and-joke-that-you're-a-Christmas-present look. It all makes sense now.
Please don't feed the trolls.
Please, don't rely on these 1980s adaptations for accuracy as to costumes and hair. Most of them are pretty awful.
http://currentscene.wordpress.com
Though I will say Tom's second hairstyle is very fashionable for the time period. Henry's hair is pretty good for the era as well.
Those wigs make them look as if they are wearing rodents on their heads.
http://currentscene.wordpress.com
You are certainly within your right to think so, but my post was about accuracy to Empire fashion, not attractiveness. ;)
However, since you brought it up, and I'll take any excuse to talk about Mansfield Park, I'll go ahead and address it. My opinion as a person who got their degree in theatre costuming is that Christopher Villiers (Tom) is actually using his own hair. For comparison, let's use Jackie Smith-Wood (Mary Crawford)'s rather obvious wig, seen here: http://ic.pics.livejournal.com/misssylviadrake/10851815/344089/344089_original.jpg
Most wigs are made out of synthetic material, making them harder, heavier, and stiffer than natural hair. This means they are quite resistant to significant styling, and in order to make them stay, you have to use a whole lot of hair product -- a lot more than you would have to use on average real hair.
The result of the natural synthetic heaviness combined with the hardness caused by the styling products is a wig that, doesn't bounce or move easily, and looks thick and stiff Mary's hair fits this description, but Tom's hair looks quite soft and bouncy.
Even wigs made from real human hair (which are rarer because they are pretty expensive) can't get quite that much volume and liveliness because of two factors. One, they are cut off from the human blood supply which nourishes hair on the scalp, and Two, they go through damaging chemical treatments during the wig making process. So they also require more work and styling product than the average person' s natural hair.
Anyway, those are some of my thoughts about Tom. I'll grant you that Henry's hair could be a wig -- that one doesn't really move so much.