A wig or toupee is a head of hair - human, horse-hair or synthetic - worn on the head for fashion or various other aesthetic and 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 wigs so they better resemble the character they are portraying. Wigs are also commonly used for cross-dressing, gender bending, or for drag performances. In addition, some people have worn pubic wigs or merkins.

History

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Wigs have been worn for thousands of years; the ancient Egyptians, for instance, wore them to protect their shaven 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 been 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 unhygenic conditions of the time meant that hair attracted head lice, a problem that could be much reduced if natural hair was shaved and replaced with a more easily de-loused artificial hairpiece.

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.

Periwigs or perukes for men were introduced into the English-speaking 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 the English court. The London diarist Samuel Pepys recorded the day in 1665 that a barber had shaved his head and that he tried on his new periwig for the first time, but in a year of plague he was uneasy about wearing it:

"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 March 1667:

"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 (it being his old fault) and did send him to make it clean."

With wigs becoming virtually obligatory garb for men of virtually any significant social rank, wigmakers gained considerable prestige. A 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, as the best examples were made from natural human hair; the hair of horses and goats was often used as a cheaper alternative.

During the 18th century wigs became smaller and more formal, with several professions adopting them as part of their official costumes; this tradition survives in a few legal systems. They were routinely worn in western European countries and the British colonies of North America. The wearing of wigs as a symbol of social status was largely abandoned in the newly created United States and France by the start of the 19th century, although it persisted a little longer in the United Kingdom. Women's wigs developed in a somewhat different way. They were worn from the 18th century onwards, although at first only surreptitiously, and full wigs in the 19th and early 20th century were not fashionable. They were often worn by old ladies who had lost their hair. In the film Mrs. Skeffington (1944), when Bette Davis has to wear a wig after a bout of diphtheria, it is a moment of pathos and a symbol of her frailty.

In the mid-to-late 20th century, wigs underwent a major increase in popularity. Elaborate bouffant hairdos became popular from about 1960 and brought the revival of full wigs for fashionable women. This was boosted by the development of wigs made from inexpensive synthetic fibres which look like human hair but are easier to obtain, use and wear.

Current usage

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Today, wigs are worn by women on a daily or occasional basis 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 a number of medical reasons (most commonly cancer patients who are undergoing chemotherapy or those who are suffering from alopecia). 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.

In Britain and most Commonwealth nations, special wigs are also worn by barristers, judges, and certain parliamentary and municipal or civic officials as a symbol of the office. Until 1823 all bishops in the United Kingdom wore ceremonial wigs as well. The wigs worn by barristers are in the style favoured 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. In the eighteenth century such wigs were made from real hair and powdered in order to give them their distinctive white or off-white colour. Powdering wigs was messy and inconvenient and the development of the naturally white or off white powderless wig (made of horsehair) is no doubt what has made the retention of wigs in everyday court dress a practical possibility. Formerly under the jursidiction of the Commonwealth of Nations, Hong Kong barristers and judges continue to wear wigs as part of court dress.

In Jidaigeki, a genre of film and television, wigs are used extensively to alter its casts' hair styles to reflect 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.

External links

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• Rodolfo Valentin - creator of the first custom-made wig and hairpieces.
• Rene of Paris - fashion wig brand.
• Louis Ferre - fashion wig brand.
• Stanley Ley - supplier of legal wigs and gowns.
• Aderans - major multinational manufacturer of wigs and hair products.
• Wigsalon - multinational distributor of wigs
• RugOrReal - homage to celebrity wigs and toupees

see also Hair prosthesis

Wigs | Hairdressing | Jewish religious clothing | Judicial clothing

Perücke | Περούκα | Peluca | Parrucca | פאה נוכרית | Pruik | 鬘 | Prüük | Peruukki | Peruk