Tuesday, November 14, 2023 – Nigerian wigmaker, Helen Williams has broken the Guinness World Record for the Longest Hand-made Wig in the world.
A statement released by GWR says she created the world’s longest handmade wig measuring 351.28 metres (1,152 ft 5 in).
Helen is said to have spent 11 days and over two million naira (£2,031; $2,493) making the wig.
After sewing the underlay with wig-cap netting and black fabric attached to a bicycle helmet, she completed the wig 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. My experience as a wigmaker helped a lot.”
Helen has been working as a professional wigmaker for eight years, producing about 50 to 300 wigs per week.
“I have trained hundreds of students and have made thousands of wigs,” she revealed.
She disclosed that while attempting the challenge, she felt exhausted at some point but that her friends and family encouraged her and she did not want to let them down and so she maintained her focus until she achieved her goal.
She said the biggest challenge she faced was finding 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.
Having grown up reading the annual Guinness World Records book each year, Helen said she is overjoyed at now being a record holder herself.
“It will take a while for me to digest. This achievement is one of the best things that has ever happened to me. I still cannot believe it.”
Watch a video of Helen and the wig she made below
