Victorian Hairwork, Victorian Hair Art, Victorian Hair Wreath, 19th Century America, 19th Century Domestic Arts, Material Culture, Memory and Mourning Practices, Women’s History, Gender Studies Diane Irby Victorian Hairwork, Victorian Hair Art, Victorian Hair Wreath, 19th Century America, 19th Century Domestic Arts, Material Culture, Memory and Mourning Practices, Women’s History, Gender Studies Diane Irby

Hairwork Flowers and Wreaths, and the Material Culture of Gender Ideology

Discover how Victorian hairwork flowers and wreaths reflect the gender ideals of the 19th century. This post explores how piety, purity, submission, and domesticity shaped women’s lives, and how hairwork materialized these values in the home through acts of sentimental craft.

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Victorian Hairwork, Victorian Hair Art, Victorian Hair Wreath, Hair Flowers, 19th Century America, 19th Century Crafts, 19th Century Domestic Arts, Gender Studies, Material Culture, History, Women’s History Diane Irby Victorian Hairwork, Victorian Hair Art, Victorian Hair Wreath, Hair Flowers, 19th Century America, 19th Century Crafts, 19th Century Domestic Arts, Gender Studies, Material Culture, History, Women’s History Diane Irby

Gender, Class, and the Social Function of Victorian Hairwork Flowers and Wreaths

Victorian hairwork wirework hair flowers and wreaths embodied class, gender, and emotional labor. Learn how their role as handmade domestic art reflected women’s cultural expectations and the performative expression of sentiment in the 19th-century home.

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Victorian Hairwork, LGBTQ+ History, Pride Month, Women’s History, Material Culture, American Folk Art Diane Irby Victorian Hairwork, LGBTQ+ History, Pride Month, Women’s History, Material Culture, American Folk Art Diane Irby

The Double Silhouette: Celebrating Pride Month through the Victorian Hairwork of Sylvia Drake and Charity Bryant

Explore the story of Sylvia Drake and Charity Bryant, a same-gender couple in early America, through their braided hair silhouette. This Victorian-era artwork honors their 44-year partnership, blending material culture, love, and LGBTQ+ history in a rare and moving work of hairwork art.

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