Hair today, gone tomorrow....

This week in class we focussed on the 19th century and on the history of fashion magazines.
For this week’s post I'm going to focus on 19th century mourning jewellery, specifically on Victorian hair jewellery.

 Mourning jewellery originally became popular in England during the 15^th and 16^th centuries. Also, after the Civil war, mourning rings were considered to be a status symbol (Poynder, 1981).

The 19^th century saw an explosion of the popularity of mourning jewellery and of hairwork (Guggenheim Navarro, 2001).

 

Victorian mourning brooch with hair

 

During this time period, 18^th century sentiment was replaced with 19^th century sentimentality- as evoked in the popular verse

‘If I should from the world/ Depart you’d have a bit of my/ Hair my hand and heart is we/ Could no more each other see/ You could still remember me’  

(Guggenheim Navarro, 2001 p.485).

Sentimental hair jewellery was worn by everyone- no matter of their societal class (Guggenheim Navarro, 2001).

19^th century hairwork is now very much associated with mourning, and while the majority of it was worn for that purpose, many pieces were made and exchanged to mark happier moments (i.e. an engagement, or friendship) (GuggenheimNavarro, 2001). Pieces made out of human hair included, brooches, pendants, rings, earrings and wreaths.

Here is a clip further describing mourning and hair jewellery

 
It is said that the greatest patron of and influence upon the craft of hair jewellery was Queen Victoria (Guggenheim Navarro, 2001). Victoria may have established her lifelong inclination to accept hair jewellery after receiving several hair bracelets on her 16^th birthday (Guggenheim Navarro,2001).

From the time of her engagement to Albert, Victoria always wore a lock of his hair in a locket, brooch or bracelet (Guggenheim Navarro, 2001). However, his untimely death in 1861 spirited the development and popularity of hair jewellery (Guggenheim Navarro, 2001). Victoria’s intense grief sent herself and the rest of England into what must have felt like a seemingly endless mourning period. The excess of which, made mourning jewellery fashionable (GuggenheimNavarro, 2001).

 Here is a short video on the mourning fashions of the time.

 
Conversely, it is noticed that the majority of hair used in mourning jewellery is of a nondescript brown, whereas fine blond and jet black hair is not often seen (Poynder, 1981). Were these pieces of jewellery always from the heads of those who had passed?

Despite the popularity of this intricate style of jewellery making, the fashion for mourning jewellery as a whole ceased after the death of Queen Victoria (Poynder, 1981)

Despite the rather uncomfortable and uneasy qualities that the material may possess, Victorians fashioned intricate and delicate items that became a big fashion trend.

Do you think they are beautiful?
Perhaps the uneasiness we receive is only from the fact that the hair is from someone who has passed?
Would you wear jewellery made from hair?

I think I would... maybe.
  

Just to get me started, heres an interesting collabroation between Tatty Devine and Louise Gray.
Its a very eclectic combination but I like the idea of the thinking bubble and spech mark earrings. No doubt items along this line will trickle down into something more wearable! For more information on the collection click on the link- Tatty Devine and Louise Gray

So, 'bling 'bling' is my blog based on jewellery and accessories in the fashion world.
After studying jewellery for my undergraduate course I have an in-depth understanding of jewellery and materials. During the course of this blog my aim is to relate jewellery to a different topic as part of my identity and communication module for my masters in fashion management. I look forward to seeing how I can link jewellery to the following topics- 'history of fashion 1 and 2', 'contemporary print media', 'is it different for men?', 'fashion and television', 'fashion and digital media' and finally 'mainstream media, fashion and celebrity'.