Have you ever given someone a lock of your hair, or received someone's hair? I sure haven't, but then again I don't even like holding hands all the time either, so I'm no expert on romance.
If you asked the Victorians, however, they would say it's not only romantic, but comforting. On both sides of the pond, folks in the 19th century were big fans of preserving hair and turning it into jewelry or works of art. If preserved well, hair can last decades, and even centuries - which is a benefit when you want a memento of a loved one, especially one that has passed on. It was common for hair to be used to commemorate friendship and family, or for lovers to exchange hair and braid them together to symbolize how their hearts will be entwined forever and all that mush, but it was also frequently used to remember the deceased. Sadly, high child mortality rates and the Civil War ensured there was a lot of death to go around. Queen Victoria had several pieces of jewelry made with Prince Albert's hair after his passing, which of course only spurred the trend because everyone has to do what the royalty does. Yet somehow, during WW1 everyone was too busy with this new crop of death to deal with, and the trend of braiding and sculpting and painting with hair dropped off.
Nowadays, the closest thing I see to this is a lady I follow online who you can send a lock of your horse's hair to, and she makes jewelry or keychains with it to send back to you. Oftentimes it's to commemorate a beloved steed who is gone, so the tradition of a relic to remember the dead by lives on, so to speak.
Alright, morbid history lesson over. I went down a bit of a rabbit hole when I saw our latest sale is called Love Is In The Hair, and I immediately thought of this instead of romance like the sane person I am. Anyway, this is a great time to do something not totally creepy with your hair while you still have it - everything is 30-50% off! Orders of $40+ get you free standard shipping, so go check it out!
(Way better than Googling Victorian hair art, I can tell you that...)
You have today through Tuesday the 31st, which is tomorrow, so even though hair is forever, don't lollygag! Hit Reply if you have any questions.
-Annalisa
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