As we learned last week, wearing European hair wigs isn’t a modern trend. The trend of wearing a human hair wig has been customary for people all over the world, dating as far back as the days of Cleopatra. Wigs have played a significant role in cultures throughout history denoting aristocracy and class, in addition to being a fashion trend that has changed with each era. It’s truly fascinating to see the development of this unique hair item.
In the time of the Egyptian empire, women, as well as men wore wigs. The style was defined as a page-boy like look, fit with gold garnishes and braids.
During the Roman Empire the wig styles really heightened. Literally! Women’s styles began to incorporate color and volume. The bigger the wig, the wealthier a woman was.
In the Middle Ages, wigs popularity tended to fizzle out. It wasn’t until the Renaissance that women’s hairstyles began to gain importance again. Styles were often aided in these days with hairpieces, braids, and golden taps.
During Louis XIV’s reign, the Allonge wig (think Captain Hook) was made popular for men and became a fashion staple that was worn with every garment.
After 1670, the à la Fontange, named after one of Louis’s mistresses, became a female wig fashion icon.
Wigs really began to flower around the eighteenth century. This is when wigs were truly adopted as a status symbol for both men and women and wig makers experimented with style. The Rococo was a popular style, and stylists had quite a task on their hands sculpting these works of art as some wigs were recorded as 35 inches tall.
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