A wig is a head covering made from human or animal hair, or a synthetic imitation thereof. The word is short for "periwig", derived from the French word perruque. Wigs may be worn to disguise baldness, to alter the wearer's appearance, or as part of certain professional uniforms.
History
Ancient and medieval use In Egyptian society men and women commonly had clean-shaven or close-cropped hair and often wore wigs. The ancient Egyptians created the wig to shield shaved, hairless heads from the sun. They also wore the wigs on top of their hair using beeswax and resin to keep the wigs in place. Wealthy Egyptians would wear elaborate wigs and scented head cones of animal fat on top of their wigs. Other ancient cultures, including the Assyrians, Phoenicians, Jews in ancient Israel and Judea, Greeks, and Romans, also used wigs as an everyday fashion.
In China, the popularization of the wig started in the Spring and Autumn period. In Japan, the upper classes started wearing wigs before the Nara period. In Korea, gache were popular among women during the Goryeo dynasty until they were banned in the late 18th century.
Medieval Europe, 16th and 17th centuries After the fall of the Western Roman Empire, the use of wigs fell into disuse in the West for a thousand years until they were revived in the 16th century as a means of compensating for hair loss or improving one's personal appearance. Several cultural and religious factors contributed to the decline of wigs during this period. Christian ideals emphasized modesty and austerity in appearance, and elaborate cosmetic practices such as wigs were often discouraged. Women typically covered their hair with veils, wimples, or other head coverings, especially after marriage, which further reduced the need for artificial hairpieces. Although full wigs were rare, some limited use of hairpieces and false hair did occur. Archaeological evidence and historical records suggest that extensions or artificial tresses were occasionally used to enhance hairstyles, particularly among elites. In some cases these hairpieces were attached to caps or nets rather than constructed as complete wigs. When wigs were used in the medieval period, they could consist of hair attached to leather caps, sometimes made from human or animal hair. These early forms were often poorly fitted and were not widely adopted. 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 were shaved and replaced with a more easily de-loused artificial hairpiece. Fur hoods were also used in a similar preventive fashion. Royal patronage was crucial to the revival of the wig. Queen Elizabeth I famously wore a red wig, tightly and elaborately curled in a "Roman" style, while among men King Louis XIII (1601–1643) started to pioneer wig-wearing in 1624 when he had prematurely begun to bald. This fashion was largely promoted by his son and successor Louis XIV (1638–1715), which contributed to its spread in Europe and European-influenced countries in the 1660s. Wig-wearing remained a dominant style among men for about 140 years until the change of dress in the 1790s which was affected by the French Revolution (1789–1799).
Perukes or periwigs 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 March 27, 1663: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 virtually obligatory garb for men with 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. The best examples were made from natural human hair. The hair of horses and goats was often used as a cheaper alternative. Several contemporary writings which have survived noted that some viewed men who wore wigs as looking deformed and emasculated. It especially attracted disapproval from Puritans, and during times of plague, it was said that wigs were made of hair of plague victims. Wigs required cleaning using fuller's earth, and the powder used to freshen it was made from low grade flour and scented with pomatum.
18th century
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