for fashion or various other aesthetic stylistic reasons, including cultural and religious observance.The word wig is short for periwig and first appeared in the English language around 1675. Some people wear wigs to disguise the fact that they are bald. Actors, on the other hand often wear costume wigs in order to portray better the character they are playing. Wigs are also commonly used for cross-dressing, gender- bending and for drag performances. In addition, some people have worn pubic wigs or merkins. Egyptians for instance wore them to shield their hairless heads from the sun. Other ancient peoples, including the Assyrians, Phoenicians, Greeks and Romans, also used wigs. Curiously, they are principally a western form of dress-in the Far East they have rarely used except in the traditional theatre of China and Japan. After the fall of the Roman Empire, the use of wigs fell into abeyance in the West for a thousand years until revived in the 16th century as a means of compensating for hair loss or improving one's personal appearance. They also served a practical purpose: the unhygienic conditions of the time meant that hair attracted head lice, a problem that could be much reduced if natural hair
Royal patronage was crucial to the revival of the wig. Queen Elizabeth I of England famously wore a red wig, tightly and elaborately curled in a "Roman" style and King Louis XIII of France pioneered wig-wearing among men from the 1620s onwards. world with other French styles when Charles II was restored to the throne in 1660, following a lengthy exile in France. These wigs were shoulder- length or longer, imitating the long hair that had become fashionable among men since the 1620s. Their use soon became popular in 1665 that a barber had shaved his head and that he tried on his new periwig
"3rd September 1665: Up, and put on my coloured silk suit, very fine, and my new periwig, bought a good while since, but darst not wear it because the plague was in Westminster when I bought it. And it is a wonder what will be the fashion after the plague is done as to periwigs for nobody will dare to buy any haire for fear of the infection? that it had been cut off the heads of people dead of the "plague."Wigs were not without other drawbacks, as Pepys noted on 27 Mar " I did go to the Swan; and there sent for Jervas my old periwig-maker and he did bring me a periwig; but it was full of nits, so as I was troubled to see it
With wigs becoming virtually obligatory garb for men of virtually any wigmakers' guild was established in France in 1665, a development soon copied elsewhere in Europe. Their job was a skilled one as 17th century wigs were extraordinarily elaborate, covering the back and shoulders and flowing down the chest; not surprisingly, they were also extremely heavy and often uncomfortable to wear. Such wigs were expensive to produce. The best examples were made from natural human hair. The hair of horses and goats was often used as a cheaper alternative. distinctive white or off-white color. Wig powder was made from finely ground starch that was scented with orange flower, lavender, or orris root. Wig powder was occasionally colored violet, blue, pink or yellow, but was most often used as white. Powdered wigs became an essen- tial for full dress occasions and continued in use until almost the end
the development of the naturally white or off-white powderless wig worn an auburn wig for his ( made of horsehair) is no doubt what has made the retention of wigs coronation in 1821 and this in every everyday court dress a practical possibility. By the 1780s, official portrait by: young men were setting a fashion trend by lightly powdering their nat- Sir Thomas Lawrence more conservative men, and were in use by ladies who being present- ed at court. In 1795, the English government levied a tax of hair powder of one guinea per year. This tax effectively caused the demise of both the fashion for wigs and powder by 1800.
worn in various countries of the Commonwealth. Until 1823, bishops of the Church of England and Church of Irelandore ceremonial wigs. The wigs worn by barristers are in the style favored in the late eighteenth century. Judges' wigs are, in everyday use as court dress, short like barristers' wigs (although in a slightly different style) but for ceremonial occasions judges and also senior barristers (QCs) wear full-bottomed wigs. States and France by the start of the 19th century, although it persisted a little longer in the United Kingdom. although at first only surreptitiously - and full wigs in the 19th and early 20th century were not fashion- able. They were often worn by old ladies who had lost their hair. In the film Mr. Skeffington (1944), Bette Davis has to wear a wig after about of diphtheria, it is a moment of pathos and a symbol of her frailty. as a matter of convenience as they can be styled ahead of time and then worn when there is not sufficient time to style one's own hair. They are also worn by individuals who are experiencing hair loss due to medical reasons (most commonly cancer patients who are undergoing chemotherapy or those who are suffering from alopecia areata. In men, the most common cause of baldness is "male-pattern baldness" and this is probably the most common reason for wig-wearing in this group. The post-menopausal diffuse baldness of women, while commoner than generally realized, is
A number of celebrities, including Dolly Parton and Raquel Welch have popularized wigs. Cher has worn all kinds of wigs in the last 40 years- from blonde to black, and curly to straight. They may also be worn for fun as part of fancy dress (costume wearing), when they can be of outlandish color or made from tinsel. They are quite common at Halloween, when "rubber wigs" (solid bald cap-like hats, shaped like hair), are sold at some stores. hand-custom-made hairpieces and wigs. certain parliamentary and municipal or civic officials as a symbol of the office. Today, Hong Kong barristers and judges continue to wear wigs as part of court dress as an influence from their former jurisdiction of the Commonwealth of Nations. reflect the Edo Period when most stories take place. Only a few starring in big-budgeted films and television series will grow his or her hair so that it could be cut to a proper hair style instead of using a wig. used to make the men have more feminine hair in all sorts of styles, they wear this along with other
modesty. Some women wear wigs for this purpose. * Merkin |
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