Wigging out
When comparing men and women, one complaint is that women spend too much time working on their appearance, while men are less vain about it.
The complaint is unfounded, and has been for centuries.
Take a look at any eighteenth century picture of people, and you’ll find that a lot of the men are wearing wigs.
Why?
Wigs were worn in colonial times to make class distinctions clear. The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation explains that even the color of wigs could indicate class and position. Professionals frequently wore gray wigs; tradesmen usually donned brown wigs; white wigs were reserved for judges and military officers. White wigs were also worn for formal occasions, but many men simply powdered a colored wig white because they did not own a white wig.
And some men would have multiple wigs for different occasions. (We’ll return to this later.) To read more about eighteenth century wig habits, go here.
Of course, after we gained independence, the whole wig thing died down and has never been resurrected since.
Um, not exactly – especially in the entertainment world. Mental Floss listed a number of confirmed wig and toupee wearers, ranging from Bing Crosby and John Wayne to Howard Cosell and Ted Danson.
But the champion of 20th and 21st century wig wearing has to be Phil Spector. Long a man of questioned mental stability, Phil Spector’s trials provided watchers with a bizarre assortment of hairstyles. The Telegraph has gathered a variety of these styles together, as well as Spector’s natural look (from his prison mugshot), and shared them here.
As for me, I don’t wear a wig or a toupee. But perhaps I should consider it.
tymshft 