Hair Wigs as Costumes and Fashion Statement

Everyone is aware that hair wigs are often used to hide hair loss. This is no longer an issue, at least for most of the informed individuals who understand the condition of hair loss and the need for hair wigs and pieces. But beyond the practical use, there’s the more colorful, lively side—hair wigs used as costumes or as a fashion statement.

Hair wigs as costumes are common, of course; everyone has seen someone wear hair wigs and pieces as part of it. This is common during Halloween. There are also people who where wig hair when they attend a “cosplay,” or a costume play, where they dres up as various characters from comic books, television, and movies. And since fictional characters often have the most outrageous hair (like Son Gokou from the Japanese animated show Dragon Ball, with his spiky hair that’s humanly impossible to imitate naturally).

Actors, artists, and theater actors wear hair wigs too, especially when growing their hair in order to style it to achieve the desired look is not always possible. In Hollywood, some actors do this, especially when their project is a big one. Remember Natalie Portman in the film V for Vendetta? Instead of wearing a wig, she really had her head shaved to achieve authenticity in the film. On the other hand, Johnny Depp relied on hair weave wigs in his Pirate of the Caribbean films, mainly because the look the film is asking for is too extreme for him to actually do. For films or television shows of a lower profile, actors and actress often wear wigs, mainly because maybe they do not feel the movie deserves that much dedication. In Japanese period dramas, for instance, the actors wear hair wigs, because they had to recreate hair styles from centuries ago. Traditional Japanese hairstyles are very different, for lack of a better term. It will require them to shave a part of their scalp while maintaining the hair on the sides—something no actor would ever do today!

And then there are male actors who play the role of females in a film or in theater. Obviously, they’ll have to wear hair wigs, because how will they be able to grow their hair otherwise? A good example of this is in the film and Broadway musical Hairspray, where the role of the lead character’s mother is played by male actors: Divine in the 1980s film, Harvey Fierstein in the 2002 musical, and John Travolta in the 2006 film musical. Another example would be actors having to sport afro hair—needless to say, they’ll need afro hair wigs for that.

On the other side of the spectrum, there are those who use wigs as some sort of fashion statement. They revel in the fact that hair wigs are indeed artificial, so they take this to the next level by sporting unique hairdos. They wear colorful afro hair wigs or hair extension wigs. A common misconception is that only people who are into cross-dressing would do this. But today, many have utilized hair wigs for the purpose of fashion.
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