If you can’t find any use for all the hair that you are losing, think again. Hair art is in fashion. Your hair could find a place in one of the world’s hair museums. For centuries, in some cultures, people have collected human hair and turned it into objects of beauty.

Some of these items have found an unlikely home in the United States at Leila’s Hair Museum, in Independence, Missouri. The owner, Leila Cohoon started collecting these ‘objets d’art made from hair, years ago. The collection grew to over 2,000 individual keepsakes that have been fashioned into jewelry using hair. The collection also has over one hundred wreaths made from human hair, along with buttons and artwork.

There is even an organization called the Victorian Hairwork Society that works to increase popular interest in hair artwork. One of the most interesting thing on their website is a photo of a crown made entirely from hair. The hairwork society is the brainchild of Ms. Cohoon. The organization also has hosted hairballs since 1998 for members and friends.

The impetus for this hair artwork comes from the Victorian era. The craft of making keepsakes from hair blossomed alongside crocheting and knotting. This skill was popular because once the memento was complete, the receiver could wear it or display it as a reminder of a current or lost object of affection. This intricate artwork appeared in many forms, but the most popular was mourning jewelry, mainly broaches and pins.

On the other side of the Atlantic Ocean, a man in Avanos, Turkey has a hair museum with 16,000 locks of women’s hair. The museum’s owner, Galip Korukcu, is a potter who started this collection as a way to attract participants to his pottery classes.

He started his collection in 1979 and has now won a place in the Guinness Book of World Records. he does not use the hair in any artwork. He keeps each person’s hair along with their address. Every year, he invites several of his museum’s donors to attend a free workshop at his estate.