Nigerian wigmaker Helen Williams has created the world’s longest handmade wig, measuring 351.28 metres (1,152 ft 5 in).
Helen spent 11 days and over two million naira (£2,031; $2,493) making the wig.
After constructing the underlay with wig-cap netting and black fabric attached to a bicycle helmet, she completed the hairpiece using 1,000 bundles of hair, 12 cans of hair spray, 35 tubes of hair glue, and 6,250 hair clips.
“Finding the materials to make the longest wig was not an easy task,” Helen said. “My experience as a wigmaker helped a lot.”
Helen Williams from Lagos, Nigeria has achieved a new record for the longest handmade wig which stretches an incredible 351.28 metres (1,152 ft 5 in) 👏 pic.twitter.com/gwGdqjF8Wp
— Guinness World Records (@GWR) November 14, 2023
Helen has been working as a professional wigmaker for eight years, producing anywhere from 50 to 300 wigs per week.
“I have trained hundreds of students and have made thousands of wigs,” she revealed.
Despite having such extensive experience, creating the record-breaking wig was not a simple feat for Helen.
“At some point, I felt exhausted,” she shared.
“However, friends and family encouraged me. I did not want to let them down, so I maintained my focus. The outcome is the longest handmade wig in the world.”
The biggest challenge Helen faced was finding a space to have the wig laid out in a straight line and accurately measured, as none of the venues she visited – including several running tracks – were long enough to accommodate it.
She eventually decided to do it beside the Lagos–Abeokuta Expressway, a long road connecting the cities of Lagos and Abeokuta.
Helen now keeps the wig in her office, where she invites anyone to come and look at it “whenever they want to”.
Having grown up reading the annual Guinness World Records book each year, Helen is overjoyed at now being a record holder herself.
“It will take a while for me to digest,” she said.
“This achievement is one of the best things that has ever happened to me. I still cannot believe it.”
My advice to everyone out there is: dreams are attainable. However, the journey is a very rough one. – Helen Williams
More wig world records
- The world’s widest wig was made by Dani Reynolds (Australia) and measured to be 2.58 metres (8 ft 6 in) wide on 12 November 2022.
- The world’s tallest wig was made by Emilio Minnicelli (Italy). It was modelled in the main square of the Bologna Piazza Maggiore on 15 May 2004, where it was measured to be 14.3 metres (46 ft 11 in) tall.
- The world’s longest hair extension was made by Nikola Kulezic (Serbia) and measured a length of 820.29 metres (2691 ft 3 in) on 26 June 2013.
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