Q&A

Why did people start wearing wigs?

Wigs have long been worn to hide hair loss, act out learned professions, or for fashion. The donning of wigs by barristers, artists such as Andy Warhol, and cancer patients who have lost their hair during chemotherapy each have their historical precedents.

There was, however, one period when wigs were especially popular – only to become widely mocked. In the late 17th and 18th centuries, wigs passed from the aristocracy into the populace. They were worn to mimic the great and the good, and to hide bad health (even