Figure 1.-- .

Boys' Wigs

Wigs are not today associated with boys or even men, but in the 17th and 18th century men wore wigs and boys from welthy familes might also wear them. A great deal has been written about wigs because of their importance in period fashion. Much less has been written about children wearing wigs. While wigs were primarily worn by adults, boys did also wear wigs on occassion. There was a class element involved because of the cost and the fashion influence of royal and aristocratic families. Boys from affluent families were much more likely to wear wigs. There were also chronological factors. If a boy did not wear a wig, for formal occassions his hair might be dressed with curling irons, powdered, and even pomade added.

Factors

While wigs were primarily worn by adults, boys did also wear wigs on occassion. There was a class element involved because of the cost and the fashion influence of royal and aristocratic families. Not only did adults wear wigs more than children, but younger children did not wear wigs, even aristocratic children. Here the age at which children began wearing wigs varied. Boys from affluent families were much more likely to wear wigs. There were also chronological factors. If a boy did not wear a wig, for formal occassions his hair might be dressed with curling irons, powdered, and even pomade added.

Chronology

We have not yet persuedc the chrolological trends associated with wigs. This was a fashion primarily associated with the 17th and 18th centuries. We note for example English king Charles I's children during the 17th century did not wear wigs. Another painting shows the uncrowned James III's children in the 18th century who are wearing wigs. They were in Italy at the time. We do not have detailed pages on the wigs in the 17th and 18th centuries. We do have general hair style pages on the 17th century and the 18th century. The fashion of wigs ended quickly in the late 18th century. They went in out of style in France with the French Revolution (1789) because they were associated with the aristiocrracy. The went out of fashion during the Napoleonic Wars in England when the Parliament ibstituted a wig tax.

Countries

Wigs were a widely accepted fashion throughout Europe, especially Western Europe. This was in part because at the time nobility and aristocratsc dressed similarly following fashions set in Italy and France. The common people were less fashionable, but more likely to have destinctively styled clothing.There were country differences, but we have not yet explored them.







HBC







Navigate the Boys' Historical Clothing hair style pages:
[Return to the Main M-Z hair style page]
[Return to the Main hair page]
[Bangs ] [Long hair] [Ringlet curls] [Hair bows] [Curls] [Hats and caps] [Collar bows]



Navigate the Boys' Historical Clothing Web Site:
[Introduction] [Activities] [Biographies] [Chronology] [Cloth and textiles] [Clothing styles] [Countries] [Topics]
[Bibliographies] [Contributions] [FAQs] [Glossaries] [Images] [Satellite sites] [Tools]
[Boys' Clothing Home]




Created: 9:47 PM 10/18/2005
Last edited: 9:47 PM 10/18/2005