Extras Index > The Georgian Man and
His Wig
Edward, the hero of THE
RAVEN PRINCE, eschews a wig unless he absolutely must wear one…and even
then he’s not happy…
The Georgian Man and His Wig
Compared
to his father, the typical wig-wearing man in mid-eighteenth century was downright
conservative. Only a generation before the style had been the full-bottom wig,
a curly, flowing contrivance that reached the shoulders or even further. Think
of Captain Hook in Peter Pan. But by the 1760’s men were wearing a much
smaller wig, generally with the hair pulled back from the forehead, some type
of side curls, and a tail in back. Think of any of the American founding fathers—except
Benjamin Franklin, who even in his own time period, was a bit of a hippy.
A gentleman’s wig was a rather big investment. They were
generally made from horsehair or other animal hair, although the most expensive
were made from human hair. The wig needed to be curled and powdered—usually
with white starch, although the powder could be gray, yellow, pink, or even lavender.
The tail in back might be braided or encased in a black satin bag with a big bow.
Some wigs had multiple tails or long curls in back. Bob wigs were chin length
and frizzy all over. They were a bit cheaper than wigs with tails, and they were
worn by the clergy and doctors and were more favored in the American colonies.
Catholic priests wore bob wigs with a cut out tonsure in the middle.
A
man who usually wore a wig would often shave his head to make the wig fit better.
There are many paintings from this time period of fashionable men lounging about
their houses wearing banyans—a sort of early robe—and big floppy hats
to cover their shaved—and presumably cold—heads.
The latter part of the eighteenth century saw the end of wigs
for men. As the century drew to a close, the majority of men first began to wear
their own hair clubbed and powdered, then simply clubbed and then, in the beginning
of the nineteenth century, they cropped their hair short. Many a feminine heart
must’ve sighed to see those masculine locks fall…
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