Aoi Kotsuhiroi and other weird stuff

Sitting in my kitchen, discussing various fashion-y things with my flatmate, he mentioned this website www.notjustalabel.com. For those of you who have not heard of this website, you need to check it out; it's brilliant if you're into contemporary fashion, and some of the stuff on the online shop will blow your mind. Example number one; Aoi Kotsuhiroi. As soon as the home page had loaded, my flatmate insisted I go straight to her page; I can understand why. Her range of accessories marries the beauty of natural form with the rawness of fetish. She incorporates fine materials and completely outlandish ones; from horn, fur and leather, to matted human hair! Each piece just looks like some relic found from far away in the space/time continuum; I could go on about how much I desire one, but I think I'll leave you with these visual gems to speak for themselves, and her website if you want to read more. www.aoikotsuhiroi.com

And if that isn't enough, the way she describes her items is so beautiful and melodic; I'm sold.
 http://www.notjustalabel.com/aoi_kotsuhiroi

So keeping in mind the use of, 'organic' materials, that got me thinking about a discovery I made a few months back. I was on the tube when I noticed this utterly fantastic lobster brooch (following an obsession with lobsters after meticulously studying Salvador Dali) on the lapel of a very dapperly dressed woman. After a brief discussion with her, interrogating her where she found said trinket, she told me about Grays Mews antique market, located just behind Bond Street station. Many a visit later, on the search for something special and unique for my birthday, I came across an abundance of these rings which had a pretty peculiar appearance; having a sort of weird weave-like aesthetic.

Yep, you guessed it; human hair. They're called 'mourning' or 'memorial' rings, and belonged to a genre known as, "hair jewellery", popular in the late 19th century. Now I know what you're thinking; "how gruesome!", but I think there is definitely something enticingly sexy about it. You say gruesome, I say macabre. Plus, there are several other reasons why I wanted to feature them in a post; I mean, there must have been some reason why hair was so massively popular as a material used in jewellery at this time. For one, hair is extremely durable and can last as a material over hundreds of years without decay. It is often featured in ancient myths and biblical tales. Another association hair in jewellery, especially memorial jewellery, was so popular, is that it retains a certain amount of sentiment. Anyway, I'm rambling. So if you want something completely macabre, with a less "contemporary design" take on jewellery, see these rings at Grays and Grays Mews market; 

58 Davies Street, & 1-7 Davies Mews

London, w1K 5AB