Hello from Wigs etc.
Based on an article written by Caroline Cox
Wigs have been in existence since early Egyptian times (c 2700 BC) . They were constructed of human hair, but cheaper substitutes such as palm leaf fibers and wool were more widely used. They denoted rank, social status, and religious piety and were used as protection against the sun while keeping the head free from vermin.
Wigs were revived in the 17th century by King Louis XIV who went prematurely bald. So suddenly, wigs were again a status symbol and hence began a long history of wigs worn by both men and women.
By the eighteenth century, those who had the finances had a large wig for formal occasions and a smaller one for use in the home. The larger the wig, the more expensive, thus they were also a mark of class and income and the target. If one was unable to afford a wig, one made one’s natural hair look as wiglike as possible. By the mid-eighteenth century, white was the favored color for wigs, and they were first greased then powdered with flour or a mixture of starch and plaster of paris.
After the brief period of respite during the French Revolution, when a natural look and thus natural hair was fashionable, the elaborately dressed hairstyles of the Victorian and Edwardian era demanded a myriad of false pieces. As the feminine ideal in the Edwardian era required enormous hairstyles, the natural bulk of the hair was padded out.
However, in the 1950’s their use returned, but only as a way of having temporary fantasy hairstyles. It was not really until the late 1960s that wigs underwent a massive renaissance. Rapidly changing fashion led to a vogue for the artificial over the natural. By 1968 there was a wig boom and it is estimated that one-third of all European women wore what hair-dressers called a “wig of convenience.” Men still tended to wear wigs differently moving further toward the naturalism that many women were rejecting.
The invention of the machine-made, washable, nylon and acrylic wig in Hong Kong led to cheap, mass-produced wigs flooding the market. The novelty fashion wig or hair-piece became one of Hong Kong’s fastest growing exports and by 1970 the industry employed 24,000 workers. By 1969 around forty percent of wigs were synthetic and the leading companies in wig development were the American firm Dynel and the Japanese Kanekalon, who both used modacrylics to create wigs that were easy to care for and held curl well.
In the late twentieth century, many false forms of hair were used and the change from a long to a short hair-style could be completed on a whim. Interestingly enough in 2022, the wig industry is experiencing yet another boom. How much is the hair wig market worth? Fortune Business Insights states that the global market size was USD 1.94 billion in 2020 and is projected to reach USD 3.0 billion by 2028.
Ladies, no matter your age, you are definitely not alone in wearing wigs. For those of you dealing with hair loss, you do have a choice. A wig, hair piece or topper may make quite a difference in not only your looks but also your self confidence. And, for those of you who just love wigs, I am with you. The ability to change your style depending on your mood, or maybe your wardrobe, plus never having another bad hair day works for me!!
Cheers! Dianne
Bibliography
Cox, Caroline. Good Hair Days: A History of British Hairstyling. London: Quartet, 1999.
