Hair Jewellery Through the Decades: A Style Evolution
Hair jewellery has never really left fashion, it has only changed shape. Long before it became a Vogue-featured category with lab grown diamonds, it moved through decades of reinvention, each era borrowing something from the last while adding its own signature.
The Early 1900s: Combs as Craftsmanship
In the early twentieth century, ornamental combs were a genuine status symbol, often carved from tortoiseshell or set with semi-precious stones, worn to hold elaborate updos in place. They were treated less like accessories and more like fine jewellery, a piece meant to be kept, not replaced each season.
The 1920s: The Headband Era
The flapper era brought the headband into its own, worn low across the forehead, often embellished with feathers or crystal detailing. This period marked one of the first times hair jewellery became a central part of an evening look rather than a practical afterthought.
The 1960s and 70s: Bohemian Combs and Natural Motifs
As fashion loosened into the bohemian movement, hair jewellery followed, floral combs, beaded pins, and nature-inspired motifs became popular, echoing the era's wider embrace of organic, handcrafted design over rigid formality.
The 1990s: The Rise of the Claw Clip
Function met fashion in the 1990s, when butterfly clips and claw clips became a genuine cultural moment. This was arguably the first time hair accessories became mass, casual, and everyday, rather than reserved for formal occasions.
Today: A Return to Craftsmanship
The current era looks, in some ways, like a return to where hair jewellery started, valuing material quality and craftsmanship over disposability. Gold plating, considered design, and pieces built to be kept rather than replaced each season are once again at the centre of the category. It is part of why we think about our own pieces as something to inherit, not just wear, and why the future of the category looks a lot like its most considered past.
What This History Tells Us
Looking back at each era, the pieces that lasted, culturally and physically, were rarely the trend-driven ones. They were the ones built with real material intention. That is as true of a 1920s crystal headband passed down through a family as it is of a well made piece today.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is hair jewellery a modern trend or does it have real history?
Hair jewellery has a long documented history, spanning ornamental combs in the early 1900s through headbands, bohemian pins, and clips in later decades. What is considered fine hair jewellery today draws directly from this history.
Why did hair accessories become more casual in the 1990s?
The rise of the claw clip and butterfly clip in the 1990s reflected a broader shift toward function and everyday wear, making hair accessories part of daily routines rather than reserved for special occasions.
What is different about hair jewellery today compared to past decades?
Today's fine hair jewellery places a renewed emphasis on material quality and craftsmanship, including gold plating and, in some cases, lab grown diamonds, echoing the treatment hair jewellery received in earlier, more craftsmanship focused eras.