Opera Coiffure, 1856 (first attempt)

Opera Coiffure, suitable for a young married lady, Godey's, 1856.

Meantime we open our own novelties, commencing with a simple but extremely tasteful headdress, suited to a young married lady, for opera, or an evening reception.
Fig. 1.—Front view, showing the division of the hair into two rouleaux which are marked by two small jewelled or ornamented hair-pins, placed over the ear; these are softly shaded by the outline of the plumes at the back of the head.
Fig. 2.—The back hair twisted into a smooth coil, on each side of which pure white ostrich plumes are arranged turning in towards it at the end. Plumes are sometimes worn by young ladies, but are more suitable for those who have a right to be addressed as "Madam," though not sufficiently staid for chaperones.
--Godey's, November 1856

My first (very bad) attempt at the hairstyle. It was a Murphy's Law sort of day, but posting these pictures will hopefully guilt me into re-doing them properly as I've been putting off for a month. The main issues I need to address are:

1. Making new rats that fit under half the side-hair. The ones I usually use could not be positioned securely and out of sight. Parting the hair on a diagonal rather than vertically will likely help.
2. Anchoring the smooth coil at the back effectively. After the second failure, I threw it into a braid to make it stay put.
3. Using the right feathers. All my ostrich feathers went into hiding last Opera Night, so I ended up using mirabeau. They really didn't work.

Front rolls. They need to be done over rats (not these small twists).

Braided rather than smooth coil. And the mirabeau (above)
don't really give the same effect as ostrich.