Victorian Hair Wreaths
Last weekend, some friends and I had a chance to visit Leila’s Hair Museum in Independance, Missouri. It was amongst the strip malls along Noland Road, near auto dealerships, all you can eat pizza restaurants, thrift stores, and check-into-cash centers. It’s six dollars for a guided tour that takes about thirty minutes. There’s over 500 hair wreaths, ranging from friendship wreaths, wedding wreaths, and mourning pieces. Many of these pieces were made by various people, some took years to make. An elaborate wreath framed in the entry was said to have taken 26 years to finish. Leila also collects hair jewelry with over 2000 buttons, bracelets, hats, rings, necklaces, and brooches.
It’s a really weird place in a really strange area and totally worth stopping and paying homage to a very intricate and dead art form.
