Rosemarie Swinfield
Lecturer, Author & Make-up Designer
Take A Look At Some Of My Talks
All of these talks can be delivered in person or via Zoom
The Fashionable Face Of Restoration
When he was restored to the English throne Charles II set about creating a fashionable court to rival that of his young cousin Louis XIV at Versailles. He never quite succeeded but High Society ‘ the Ton’ as it was called then nevertheless relentlessly followed French style encouraged by the King.
This talk looks at the astonishing lengths elegant ladies and foppish gentlemen went to to be in fashion regardless of the perils to their complexions and their health. Learn about the poisonous Ceruse used to give the whitest of skins and the famous beauty so totally addicted to her image that no warning could save her from this deadly make-up from which it was said ‘ nothing could persuade her ‘.
Discover the important role of the wigmaker, purveyor of all products for achieving the fashionable face and hairstyle. Agonise with the wonderful Samuel Pepys as he decides whether to invest serious money in a periwig with all the pitfalls and costs of owning one. At a time long before hairspray find out how the elaborate hairdos of the time were achieved. This is a time when to be in fashion was everything in London Society and vast sums of money were used
to achieve it.
* This talk via Zoom is accompanied with PowerPoint images
* In-person it can be booked with a demonstration of the make-up
Shakespeare's World
William Shakespeare was a country boy from a comfortably off family in the small market town of Stratford-on-Avon who traveled to the City of London to make his fortune. He is our most famous playwright and yet we know very little about him. However, we do know a lot about the world he lived and worked in. In this fascinating talk come with me and follow him as he navigates dangerous, violent Elizabethan London.
Discover the pitfalls an aspiring actor/ playwright would encounter living in a city of filthy narrow streets, pickpockets, vagabonds, and the ever-present possibility of the contents of a chamber pot landing over you as you went on your way. Learn why the playhouses were forbidden inside the city walls, how the actors learned their parts and where their costumes came from.
Learn the difficulties of presenting your actors’ company at Court even with an aristocratic patron, and about the man who held all power to grant that - at a price. To rise in fashionable society Shakespeare needed to learn its rules, the rigid etiquette that was observed even with your clothing and woe betide the person who fell foul of it.
In this amusing and thought-provoking talk, Elizabethan London opens its City gates a chink and reveals the world Shakespeare lived and thrived in before retiring back to his quiet country birthplace a wealthy and successful man.
Photo Source: Wikipedia Commons
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The Victorian Girl & Her World
What were the expectations of a young woman born into Victorian Society?
In this talk, using contemporary images, Rosemarie explores her very limited options and the exacting moral code she had to navigate. We look at the rigid rules and social etiquette that Polite Society lived by.
Reputation meant everything to the Victorian and losing it would ruin you - and put your family at risk as well.
We also look at fashion and the importance of the right outfit for every occasion, our girl would change her outfit four times or more a day to be correctly attired.
To be considered a lady was vital so we consider the traps that
lay in wait for her - the perils of the bicycle, the worry of the piano
stool and many other unexpected social gaffs.
Discover the books that guided her and other aspiring young women through these minefields. Finally, learn about the courageous women who defied this patriarchal society to pave the way for the Suffrage and Suffragette Movements
Photo Source: Wikipedia Commons
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Where's The Make-up Lady?
Make-up artists are often asked to solve unexpected problems
when they are working. Join Rosemarie on a light-hearted jour-
ney through her long career working in photography, film,
commercials and theatre. Hear her stories of working with top models and actors with all the challenging and often hilarious things that can happen.
In a career that began at the famous Max Factor Salon in Old
Bond Street and led to work with top photographers like David
Bailey and Lord Litchfield, then to hundreds of commercials,
horror films with Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing and later
professional theatre working with actors Martin Shaw and Nigel
Hawthorn among many others. Hear about session with Lady
Thatcher at no 10 when the PM had a nasty cold, and the world
famous musician who booked a make-up lesson was too busy
to come so sent her mother as her face.
Learn how you cope on location when your actor had to be
covered in gory wounds but they forgot to mention that he would
be floating in a river and the blood was not waterproof or the
Japanese TV documentary about healing wounds using fishing
grubs which wouldn’t keep still on the very nervous actor.
Rosemarie has made up many famous people but also babies,
tables, plants, dummy figures and even ten fingers dressed up as
people. A make-up artist’s role is often so much more than
slapping on make-up so join Rosemarie and learn what the job really involves.
