Old Lady Wigs?! | Amber's Thoughts

Old Lady Wigs?! | Amber's Thoughts

This blog was written by Amber, one of our Community Ambassadors.
"Wearing wigs has transitioned from one generation to another, no longer is it just a thing our GRANDMOTHERS or aunties wear. Times are changing, along with our hair trends; wigs are now so popular that almost every young woman (...and many men!), young or old, wears or owns a wig/hair piece (or several for that matter)." 

Nowadays, when you hear someone talk about the taboo of wig or hair wearing, or that it's wonderful how so many women are now normalizing and removing the stigma of alternative hair; we often use phrases like, "When I use to think of wigs, I thought of Grandma", or "This ain't no Grandma Wig!" It was anything referring to the thought that wig-wearing had to do with little old ladies with bald heads and bad wigs. I get the point behind using this expression - it's to prove that wigs are current, hip, trendy, and have improved over the years! WIGS ARE HOT right now! But referring to "GRANDMAS" as the negative, is completely opposite of how I look at things... let me explain.  

About 13 years ago, I was a newlywed. We moved into a tiny little home we had fixed up, and across the street, lived a little old couple. I noticed right away how put together this little old lady was, even with her old age, which really inspired me. She was always well dressed from her outfit, to her shoes, to her fluffy, pretty fresh hair-do. I found out later from a neighbor, that she wore wigs! No wonder her hair always looked so good!  At the time, I wasn't too familiar with wigs. I had taken a "field trip" to a wig shop in beauty school, and I remember being so impressed with the "real scalps" on the wigs we had looked at, but other than that, wigs were foreign to me. It really intrigued me, because I was very much into hair add-ons, such as extensions, pony-tails, etc, and I had very thin hair. I instantly told my husband, "THAT lady will be ME!", beaming as proudly as ever. Little did he or I know, that only 5 or so years later, I'd be looking to purchase my first wigs, and less than 10 years later, I'd be instagramming, youtubing, and blogging about how absolutely amazing toppers/wigs are!   

I tell you this story of the little old lady with the wig, because SHE was my first impression of a wig wearer, and it was a good one! SHE was the GRANDMA with a wig...and SHE inspired me because of her put-together, classy ensemble...even at an age that would seemed to have been a little more difficult to accomplish. (WIGS are easy, convenient, and fashionable... for ALL ages! Yaaass!)

Lets think about this though, during "Grandma's" prime, priorities were different. For example, during the 1960s time period, people did dress for occasions, up until the 1990s. You’d dress for the theater, the grocery store, for dinner. It wasn’t as casual as it is today. The priority today is more about comfort than it is on glamour. I love a good pair of sweats and a topknot, don't get be wrong!... but I love how classy they looked even at the grocery store during those times, they definitely took pride in their appearance. This fashion sense extended into hairstyles. Wigs were quite normal and popular during the mid century. Those GRANDMAS who people refer to in a negative light when talking about wigs in a positive light, came from an era when wigs had become more normal again, after not being as popular in the 1920s- and up. Wigs started resurfacing in the 50s, mainly for those who wanted to chemically straighten their hair, because this could be a very long and painful process, but with rapidly changing fashion, by the 1960s, there was a "wig boom" and it is estimated that one-third of all women wore what hair-dressers called a "wig of convenience." In the 50s and 60s, they used to keep their mail-order wigs in fancy cases or on mannequin heads or stands, so that they'd have a fresh new look for every cocktail party they were invited to. And then after awhile, wigs seemed to fizzle out. 

Now the wig is in! It's official, the wig has come out of the closet for many reasons, and of course celebrities have helped "normalize" wigs tremendously.
‘It’s like it happened overnight’, says wig pro stylist Tokyo Stylez,  ‘At one point it was shameful to admit you had a wig on. Now ladies will take it off in front of you and swing it round like a new pair of shoes.’ Once hair extensions became commonplace, women weren’t afraid to admit to wearing wigs and so a trend began.

I think Grandma knows her stuff. 
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