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Hair Jewelry

During the Victorian Era hair jewelry was something that held its place among the Crown and the wealthy class. The two main types of hair jewelry that were commonly seen through the era were jewelry that was worn in the hair and jewelry that contained or was made of hair.

The pieces of hair jewelry that had become popular during the era were combs and head dresses. Combs were something that became popular among the rich and wealthy in the late 1800’s and was something that women were often seen wearing. Women often styled their hair with the use of a comb. As Margaret Flower states in her book Victorian Jewelry- Late Victorian Jewelry, “The hair is arranged in a top-knot, and the heading of a comb stuck into the topknot rises even higher. Most combs have a foundation of tortoiseshell with a gold or jeweled heading”(197). They were not only worn out of fashion, but also to help enhance the style and height of the hair. The most popular combs of the era were the two pronged tortoiseshell pins with a gold coil. Another type of hair jewelry that was popular during the era was the headdresses women wore during times of marriage. The most well known was the headdress worn by Queen Victoria when getting married to Prince Albert. The headdress she wore was a wreath made up of orange flowers. This became so popular that her headdress became the standard “uniform” of brides throughout the era and extended beyond the Victorian Era, per page 26 in Charlotte Gere’s book Jewellry in the Age of Queen Victoria: a Mirror to the World. Although these types of headdresses Victoria wore became the uniform look, they were also made with jewels that weaved through the hair, and can even be found displayed in some portraits of Victoria herself.

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  Queen Victoria in her head dress made of orange flowers she wore in her marriage to Prince Albert.
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  Victorian Comb made from tortoiseshell that women often wore during the Era.

The other type of hair jewelry that was made during the area was jewelry that actually contained human hair. These pieces of jewelry were often viewed as more special and personal pieces of jewelry. For example, Victoria was presented many types of jewelry to establish power that came along with being the monarch. But as Charlotte Gere mentions in her book Jewellery in the Age of Queen Victoria: a Mirror to the World, Victoria treasured items that came from her friends and family more. Gere states, “This is demonstrated by her attachment to the heart locket containing her husbands hair, which she wore constantly…”(26). This shows that hair jewelry was not just confined to the actual items that were worn in the hair, but also those that contained hair. During the Victorian Era, hair was something that held a lot of meaning throughout society, and to have or be given a piece of jewelry that was made of or contained hair, especially from a loved one, was something that was looked at as exceptional and precious. Gere mentions that Victoria wrote in her journals about giving Eugenie, Emperor Napoleon’s wife, a bracelet made of her hair, and when the empress received it it brought her to tears. This type of jewelry was something of great sentiment and was cherished by those lucky enough to receive it.

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  A mourning broach of the Victorian Era that was made containing hair of a relative in the center of the broach.