The history of hair accessories

Hair accessories, like jewellery in general, are items of adornment. Nowadays, we distinguish between the different meanings of the term ‘hair accessories’. Normally, the term ‘hair accessories’ is used to describe jewellery that serves to adorn hairstyles or to help shape them. On the other hand, in addition to this type of jewellery, the term also refers to accessories made from one’s own hair.

Hair accessories as hair adornments

Hair accessories are not a modern invention. The historical development of hair accessories can be traced back several thousand years. Flowers or simple pieces of wood are considered to be the earliest forms of hair accessories. However, it is debatable whether they were deliberately used to style hair even back then. As the first advanced civilisations developed, jewellery came to be accorded much greater importance, alongside education, technology and medicine. In ancient Egypt, for example, braided strands or gold ornaments were worn in the hair. Within the Chinese dynasties, too, the use of wooden sticks to pin up the particularly thick hair of Asian women was not uncommon. The feather headdresses of Native Americans are regarded as particularly striking examples of hair jewellery. These were frequently used for decoration, but also, amongst other things, to distinguish hierarchical structures within a tribe. In the modern fashion world, too, one finds a development of this feather headdress – the so-called fascinator. These extremely colourful and versatile one-off pieces are attached to the hair with small claw clips and barrettes and enchant the public with their uniqueness.

To this day, hair accessories have continued to evolve in a wide variety of ways. There are now no material limitations whatsoever – and so it is possible to purchase hair accessories made from a wide variety of materials, such as wood, metals and precious metals, textiles, plastics, gemstones and cut glass, right through to diamonds. Nor has there ever been any lack of ingenuity when it comes to adapting these beautiful hair accessories to the shape of the head. Today, there is a wide range of fastening options – from the practical claw clip, through the particularly secure barrette, to the hair twister – which leave nothing to be desired when it comes to styling the hair. Hair ornaments cannot be entirely distinguished from the concept of headwear. The crown, for example, is regarded as a variation of hair ornamentation. In addition to its hierarchical significance, the crown also serves as a distinctive adornment. Today’s visual remnants of the crown can be found in so-called tiaras. These are classified as hair ornaments in the context of bridal jewellery and derive from the laurel wreath – a wreath used in ancient times to crown the victor of a battle.

Hair accessories as jewellery made from hair

A person’s first impression is crucial for future interactions. It is therefore not surprising that our hair continues to play an important role in our appearance to this day. The desire to preserve such beautiful images in our memories is a human inclination so intense that even a lock of hair can fulfil the need to remember. Even before the 18th century, hair was transformed into personal jewellery to serve as an artistic memento. Hair has always played a major role in mythical legends. One of the best-known stories is that of Samson, a member of the militaristic sect of the Nazirites, whose belief that long hair was the source of strength is fascinating. This deeply romantic connection to our hair is also reflected in a Swedish collection of proverbs:

“Rings and Alice bands make love grow.”
(Vadstena Town’s Notebook)

In Denmark, at Rosenborg Palace, there is an extremely valuable Alice band made of precious metal with a simple clasp formed from intertwined hair. This was a very elaborate and loving gift from King Christian IV (1577–1648) to his wife. King Charles I of England, who was sentenced to death, also left his most loyal followers commemorative rings as a token of remembrance and appreciation. The fashion for jewellery made from one’s own hair at that time was fuelled by the dire financial straits of the hair artists and wig-makers of the day. Whilst wigs fell out of fashion amongst the nobility in the 17th and 18th centuries, the craftspeople’s field of activity shifted towards creating fashionable accessories from natural hair. At the outset of this trend, jewellery was mostly crafted from precious metals such as gold and silver, but also from pearls and gemstones. The extremely high cost of these items limited the customer base to a small but very wealthy clientele. Among the best-known owners were Napoleon and Admiral Nelson, as well as Queen Victoria – including her large entourage – Christina Nilsson and Jenny Lind.

In the 19th century, a wide variety of jewellery items emerged across Europe, including earrings, bracelets, rings, brooches, necklaces and hair ornaments. One very common piece of jewellery, for example, was the so-called ‘memory brooch’. A ‘memory brooch’ is typically made of precious metals and contains a lock of hair from a deceased person, protected behind glass. This lock of hair is also known as a ‘Prince of Wales lock’. This trend continued into the 20th century but was superseded in 1925 by fashion innovations such as the short skirt and the bob. There are a multitude of reasons why hair jewellery enjoyed incredible popularity over the centuries. Unlike the rest of our bodies, human hair lasts for a comparatively long time. Its chemical composition – with carbon as the main component – allows it to be preserved for hundreds or even thousands of years.

Nowadays, there are very few places left where jewellery is made from human hair. Mora, Sweden, is one of the most important regions in the historical development of hair jewellery made from one’s own hair. In the village of Våmhus, jewellery has been made from hair for more than 200 years. This tradition grew out of the local peasant movement’s efforts to earn a living through the craft of making hair jewellery. It was not uncommon for many women to leave their rural homes for up to six months to offer their artistic skills in the cities. Alongside conventional jewellery, a particularly large number of pictures whose motifs were made from human hair have survived to this day. These so-called ‘hair pictures’ served as mementos of a living or deceased person, or of a particularly important event, such as a wedding or a christening. Jewellery made from one’s own hair plays a much less significant role in today’s society and is now only encountered in isolated instances. It is therefore hardly surprising that individual memories in the form of hair are being lost to the much simpler, yet less romantic, technique of photography.