i’d like to talk a little about felice’s hair in both season one and season two (yes, including the comment from the housemistress).
we’ve talked this one to death but i’ve gone through every episode and there’s a lot. (i also may have gotten carried away and lost the plot a little)
for starters, in season one, no one says anything regarding hair or a dress code and i looked into lundsberg skola (people have said this is roughly the real life equivalent? i think?) and i couldn’t find a dress code on their website but in all of their photos, the girls have their hair down. i would assume this applies to non-white students as well, although i couldn’t find any pictures.
(taken from lundsberg skola website, skogshult dorm)
and in season one, the hillerska girls do too! maddie is the one who most often wears her hair up, and stella does half-up/half-down styles, but fredrika and sara typically wear their hair down, as do many of the other girls in the background.
even on parent’s day, arguably the most important school event in season one, felice’s hair is down, albeit pulled back.
during the formal dinner at the manor house, too, all the girls have their hair down except for maddie.
and, of course, everyone’s hair is down for lucia.
it’s interesting to me that when we see all of these influential parents, the majority of them wear their hair up, and yet the girls don’t follow suit. i don’t know if it’s a cultural thing, maybe a work dress code, or just different standards as girls/women age, but it does seem a little odd. hillerska is meant to prepare students for their futures as rich and influential individuals, so obviously there’s a higher standard for keeping appearance.
for felice, part of keeping appearance is straightening her hair, at least in season one. considering how her style changes in season two, i wonder if part of having her hair down all the time is showing off how much like everyone else she is (even if it isn’t true). she’s trying so hard to fit in and do what is expected of her in season one, and she’s almost hiding behind her hair a little bit. it might not be physically in her face, but straightening her hair is putting on armor that doesn’t quite fit.
in all of season one, the only time felice has her hair up is during riding, when all the girls have their hair up to keep it out of their faces and under their helmets. there is not a single moment outside of riding or coming back from riding that felice has her hair up. and the only difference between season one and season two is that felice is embracing her natural hair.
i do agree that it would have been nice to get more of felice’s individual storyline in season two, but i’m still holding out hope for season three. in any case, the very first time we see felice in season two, she’s at a salon (with other black women - i saw someone say black-owned as well, which would make sense) getting her hair done.
in season two, though, felice actually wears her hair up far more than in season one. in fact, her hair is up almost all the time. i’m not sure whether this is her choice or not. now that she isn’t hiding behind her hair, there’s no reason to keep it down all the time, but the change still makes me wonder if maybe she's been called out for it more than just the one time we see, since her hair is down for the choir performance/first day of class-
-and not much after that-
-until episode four (and the fact that she wears her natural hair for the ball? so much to say about that that i just don’t have the words for).
and then in episodes five and six-
-her hair is mostly down again. with all the drama in the last two episodes with sara, i wouldn’t be surprised if she’s hiding a little bit and (even if she isn’t straightening her hair) going back to old coping mechanisms by trying to treat her hair like she did before. of course, it could also just be that having her hair up is more comfortable now, or that it gets in her face more if it’s down. there might not be some big explanation. anyway, i can’t imagine that the staff are being more lenient about rules, with the jubilee coming up, so maybe there isn’t a rule at all? we’ll come back to that.
the exception, of course, is breakfast in 205, when the housemistress reminds felice to put her hair up.
i originally assumed that stella put her hair up as well even though she didn't get in trouble because she was, as established by fredrika, still drunk from the night before and also not entirely paying attention. however, considering everyone else has their hair up as well (except for maddie? why? idk) i'm pretty sure i assumed wrong.
now (backing up a bit), interestingly, in the formal dining scene in 202 (and all the other meals in season two), all the girls have their hair up, including felice. this is a direct contrast to season one, where they all have their hair down, as mentioned above. granted, this dinner looks less like a performance than the dinner in season one, but sara is still wearing her gifted dress, so i assume it’s more formal than a standard meal.
with all those things put together, i would almost wonder if hillerska changed their dress code. i can't imagine they would do that halfway through the year (and the fact that many girls still have their hair down in various situations, like the choir performances and during classes makes it seem unlikely), but they might have. lending credence to this is both sara and fredrika putting their hair up at breakfast, and then felice and stella later, but i'm still not entirely sure.
and, of course, whatever restrictions hillerska may or may not have regarding the girls’ hair, it clearly doesn’t include dye, considering stella’s purple bangs (and an extra in season one, i think?)
it definitely seems like there’s a double standard or changing expectation here, especially from season one to season two. if hillerska (or just the manor house) changed their dress code, especially in the middle of the year, there would have to be a reason. and as much as i hate to say it, felice is the only one who gets in trouble and the only one whose hair changes drastically. and given the way felice and alexander are treated in the show, it wouldn’t be entirely out of the realm of possibility that they would change the dress code because they don’t like her hair. i hope it isn’t that, but again, i don’t know. i would love more information on all of this in season three, but even if felice’s storyline gets more time, i don’t know that this specific bit will.
if there is a requirement for the girls' hair at all, changed or not, my best guess would be that it is specific to the manor house and most likely is only in effect during meals/house gatherings and that different activities and the school as a whole have their own uniforms and preferences that are not necessarily the same.
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okay so remember felice in season one? remember her and the constant posting on instagram? i want to talk about that. felice and the media.
a major part of her media updates seemed to be inclined for this need of validation she was harboring. from anyone, any random person on the web telling her "you look really pretty today!" or "i love the way you wore your hair"-- an awful lot of it was pointed towards her body and her looks. she wanted, needed, this validation because she wasnt getting it from her mother, and mostly, because she wasnt getting it from herself. she didnt see all of those things in herself and needed others to confirm them. it also felt like this thing, once she started it, became something she was obligated to do. to update the people. she wasnt doing it for fame or attention.
and then theres season two felice. i adore season two felice. she grew and changed so much, i dont think theres a single episode where she's posting something or using instagram in any other form besides a communication platform. if there was, it wouldve been shown, no? she was living for herself, not for the wants and needs of other people, people who she didnt even know on a personal level.
(yes there is one episode where felice and her besties are making this cute lil video together, as my favourite found family, but that wasnt for felice, it was just a thing they did. it wasnt to seek validation.)
felice was and is becoming her own person. this headstrong, all around boss bitch of a queen, felice became her own person. and im aware how irrevocably cringe that sounds but its so true.
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