Mark Campbell’s nineteenth-century manual is a complete guide to the once-popular craft of hair work: dressing hair, making curls, switches, and braids, and fashioning the elaborate hair jewelry that Victorians treasured as mementos. Detailed instructions and patterns walk the reader through techniques for weaving human hair into rings, brooches, and ornamental designs.
At a time when a lock of hair carried deep sentimental and mourning significance, this self-instructor served both professional hairdressers and amateurs at home. It documents a vanished decorative art with remarkable thoroughness, preserving the tools, terms, and aesthetics of the craft. A vivid artifact of Victorian sentiment and handiwork, it is available here as a free EPUB download.