Short change: How wigs are back in fashion
In the April issue of Marie Claire magazine, Kylie Jenner stated that she was at the forefront of wigs fashion, which caused a flurry of caustic comments from the media. However, in some respects the representative of the Kardashian clan is right: its influence on the beauty industry is difficult to overestimate, and wigs of all shades of the rainbow became extremely popular on Instagram to a large extent due to her. In fact, the history of wigs dates back several thousand years and hundreds of fans rank from Elizabeth I to Cher.
Diana Ross, Areta Franklin and Tina Turner had their wig collections - the latter once admitted that she makes wigs on her own
From the start, wigs served purely practical purposes. It is known that wigs made of human hair, wool or palm fibers were worn in ancient Egypt and Rome - this not only indicated a high social status, but also protected the shaved head from the sun. The peak of their popularity, however, fell on the XVII century and lasted almost two hundred years. It is believed that Louis XIV introduced the wigs into wide use - they were, of course, worn before him, but it was the “sun king” who contributed to the wide distribution. This also happened for more rational reasons: Louis began to grow bald early and, according to fashion historian Richard Corson, eventually agreed to shave his hair.
It should also be borne in mind that hygiene in the 17th century left much to be desired, and the shaved head was the best medicine for lice - they were wound up in wigs too, but from there it was much easier to get them out. This is what Samuel Pips wrote about this in his diary on July 18, 1664: "I went to Westminster to my hairdresser, who recently cleansed my wig from parasites. I was extremely upset that he even decided to sell me such a thing."
Wigs were very expensive, and people who could not afford them, masked their own hair with wigs. Because of the high price, they were also an indicator of social status or financial well-being, but when wigs finally went out of fashion, they became associated in the public mind with the “little secret” of elderly women with thinning or gray hair.
They returned to fashion only in the middle of the 20th century, and the first to introduce them were African American women: curly hair was difficult to styling, so wigs were the easiest and fastest way to try a new hairstyle. Diana Ross, Aretha Franklin and Tina Turner also had their wig collections - the latter even mentioned in an interview that she makes wigs on her own.
However, wigs became massively popular again only in the late 1960s. Yves Saint Laurent and Christian Dior had their lines; as reported by Vogue, in 1971, 35 million models were sold. This was partly due to the development of technology: cheap wigs made of acrylic and nylon, which were produced in Hong Kong, replaced the handmade wigs; over five years, the volume of imports of such wigs in Britain has increased 25 times. In the late 1960s, every third woman in Europe wore a wig. However, this was followed by the next wave of stigma wigs - they were considered an accessory drag queen or a necessary measure for hair loss, but natural hairstyles were valued much higher.
Why has everything changed now? Firstly, naturalness in appearance has ceased to be the only significant criterion. On the contrary, Instagram became the main driving force in the beauty industry, and bright photogenicity turned out to be much more important than the natural appearance. False nails, eyelashes, and even wigs have entered everyday fashion - wigs seem to be a natural continuation of this trend. It was on Instagram that Kylie Jenner found her wig master Tokyo Stiles; 719 thousand people read it on the social network.
A good wig will last at least several months and will pay for itself if you are used to regularly doing salon styling.
Secondly, the technology has changed again, and synthetic hair is now almost impossible to distinguish from expensive natural. “In most cases, synthetic hair is even better than natural hair — it is lighter, better-shaped and looks very realistic. Moreover, the shape of modern wigs is becoming more and more complex, with indistinguishable edges and parting,” says Louise Keyser, manager of the British company Hot. Hair. If the wig is made by hand, it takes at least 50 hours to make it - apart from taking measurements from the head and searching and mixing natural and synthetic hair of the desired shade.
Thirdly, the fashion for hair changes too quickly, so that they do not have time to grow after a radical haircut or recover from several stains. Over the past few years, we managed to gain and lose the popularity of ombra dyeing, hair of pastel shades, bright colored strands, shaved temples and all sorts of bean - to try it all on yourself, without resorting to wigs, not only expensive and long, but not too good for healthy hair.
Finally, wigs corny save time. They do not require daily washing (no more than once a week), they can be laid in advance and sleep a bit longer in the morning, finally, they keep their shape better even in adverse weather conditions. A good wig will last at least several months and will pay for itself, if you are used to regularly doing salon styling.
The return of wigs can be dated 2012 - it was then that departments with wigs appeared on ASOS, at Harrods and Selfridges, and the demand for them increased by 40%. Then the wigs settled on the catwalks - for example, in 2012 at the Theyskens' Theory show, models came out in emerald and white wigs. Since then, wigs have not disappeared from the media. Among the famous adepts of wigs are Lady Gaga (in the collection of her master Akka Shirakawa at least 100 wigs are listed) and Beyonce, who mentioned her “wardrobe” of wigs and hair products in an interview. According to the creator of wigs Terrence Davidson, who works with Nicky Minaj, the number of models in the artist’s arsenal has exceeded one hundred.
After a selfie with blue hair, Kylie Jenner drew attention to the trend and her other colleagues with millions of subscribers. So, at the Balmain show in March 2016, hairdressers “changed” the hair of Gigi Hadid and Kendall Jenner, causing a strong reaction in social networks and in the press. Thus, the company has drawn attention to the line Balmain Hair, which plans to soon capture the US market. Creative director Stewart Guliker commented on the company's plans: “It’s interesting to change lip color from purple to red, it will attract attention. But changing hair will provide a shock effect. This is what people do when they want to be noticed.”
It's hard not to agree with him, but destigmatization of wigs is not so important for attracting attention on Instagram, as for saving time and nerves - whether in a chair at the hairdresser, in front of a mirror with a hairdryer in hand or in the pouring rain on the way to an important meeting. And "your" is hair or not - in essence, nobody is concerned.
Photo: anna Lachish - stock.adobe.com, WikiArt, Wikimedia Commons, Faustine Steinmetz