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Hair mementos - obsession, mourning and carrying the ones we love:

I cut a lock of my Nana's hair the day she passed. It wasn’t a decision made lightly, but it felt right - a way to hold onto a piece of her, forever. My obsession with hair mementos had been something we talked about often. She loved how much I adored them. She would smile when I showed her Victorian hairwork pieces or rambled on about the techniques, the history, the strange beauty of it all. She told me once that I could have some of her hair when the time came, and it meant everything to me. She knew how much it made my heart sing, and she was so happy to see me happy, lost in this strange, beautiful obsession.

Hair mementos are not just trinkets. They are time capsules. They are grief, love, and remembrance, twisted and woven into something you can hold. For me, they are a form of devotion.

My obsession properly began after visiting Portsmouth, where I saw Admiral Nelson's hair mementos. The story behind them, his mistress, the intricate ways his hair was preserved... it all lit a fire in me. From there, it spiralled. I learned about the different forms: jewellery, brooches, earrings, bracelets, necklaces, and my personal holy grail - hair wreaths.

I would sell a kidney for a Victorian hair wreath. Actually, I saw one up for almost the price of a small used car, and I still think about it daily.

The techniques are what fascinate me the most. The delicate flowers and petals, crafted from strands of hair, arranged with such care. The waves... God, I am obsessed with the waves. The weaving, the braiding, the sheer patience it takes to create these small masterpieces.

I obtained a old volume of Peterson's Magazine from 1865, hoping it would have hairwork tutorials (I got the wrong issue, classic me), but that hasn’t stopped me. I’ve thrown myself into restoring antique pieces - especially those beautiful convex glass domes with brass rings. Those oval, wall-mounted treasures that once hung in Victorian parlours, holding memories. I’m restoring an 1800s one right now for my Nan's hair. It’s slow, delicate work, but it feels like I’m keeping a piece of her story alive.

And it’s not just hair. The Victorians were also obsessed with feather art. Dita Von Teese, modern queen that she is, has an enormous collection of Victorian feather wreaths. There’s something about using these fragile, personal materials like hair, feathers and petals to create art that transcends time. Feather art might not be as widely known as hair mementos, but it shares the same heart. It's about remembrance. It’s about keeping beauty alive.

People might think it's morbid, but to me, hair mementos are the ultimate act of love. They are the physical proof that someone lived, and someone loved them enough to want a piece of them close, always. In a world that moves too fast, where everything is temporary, these delicate, intimate artworks remind us to hold on.

For me, restoring these pieces is like stitching together tiny fragments of history. Every plait, every twist, every glass dome tells a story. My Nana knew how much it meant to me,. And now, as I work on preserving these mementos, it feels like she’s still here with me, smiling as I obsess over every tiny detail.

This isn’t just a hobby. It’s a love letter to the past. And a promise that these memories, these pieces of the people we love, will never be forgotten.

- Emily xx
Black Labyrinth