Both my mother and my sister have had cancer and the chemotherapy induced hair loss that adds to the total devastation that comes with this most nasty diagnosis. In fact it was their hairloss and wig traumas that prompted me to start wear my hair. I have designed the range myself, based on extensive research with them and others and feedback from past and present customers.
Here’s the thing, some people want a wig to look as much like their own hair as possible, whereas others want the complete opposite. Almost an act of supreme defiance in the face of such horrible adversity, some want to go totally “off the wall” with both colours and style. That doesn’t mean to say that they want a party wig – they almost certainly do not. They do not want to look like they are wearing it for a bet! But rather than have substitute hair that might make them feel doubly aware of their illness, they choose something that is the total antithesis of their previous selves – they are visiting a new place. For my money, that is a fabulous attitude and allows for a little adventure in the midst of this undoubted trauma; a stoic determination to throw back the sh.. as hard and as fast as it comes.
Our Winter sale of wigs will end soon. The offers on the sale items are too good to miss! 25% off selected items – see here! There are reductions across the range – womens long, medium-length and short wigs. Mens wigs too, 25% off selected styles! Go www.wearmyhair.com buy yours now!
Increasingly, I get a number of customers who want to wear a wig in order to change their visual identity. This is usually to appear on a show, for a party or some other event where not being instantly recognised is part of the fun.
And why not. Since time began people have made attempts, serious or otherwise, to change their visual identity. Hair colour and style actually fixes in the memory with remarkable speed and accuracy, so it is not surprising that it is key when trying not to be recognised. This, apparently, is even more dramatic in those we see frequently, and this maybe due to the fact that we will not be anticipating change, whereas in those we see infrequently, we may well be expecting, all be it, subconsciously, some degree of change.
So you see, it’s not just bank robbers and spies who use wigs to alter their appearance!
What I am thinking of here, is that it is probably better to have a straight forward style and colour for most work situations and save the glamour styles and colours for playtimes! In my experience, most people who wear wigs out of necessity, perceived or real, get this distinction right; they plumb for a very sensible style and colour for work and save the more glam looks for fun.
I do find however, that many tv’s omit this little subtlety. A
Molly wig - a sensible everyday wig
llowing for the fact that a work situation in their case is a daytime situation, given that most do not dress up for their real jobs. There are a few things that in their quest to dress as women, and enter that role for a while, they probably get a little wrong. Some, for instance over glamourise themselves which in fact produces the opposite to the desired result. Maybe they choose a name which is not appropriate to their age in that it was simply not around at that time, or, it is incongruous with the way they look and as such, draws attention to their difference. Take a middle-aged man with a typical man physique; large, burly, dark – a name like Tabitha, Anoushka, Mia or Shania will likely appear far more fake and noticeable than the same guy calling himself Tina, Ann, Mandy or Sandra when fully dressed and made up.
Likewise, a sensible, everyday wig will appear far more believable than super long and glamourous tresses in baby blonde. That said, some young tv’s look absolutely fabulous in full regalia because they are blessed with face and body that, to the unsuspecting observer, could rival any woman’s !
Grace wig - a work day wig for those bad hair days!
A customer rang yesterday, somewhat distressed after a visit to a hair salon and a walk home in the rain, had rendered her new cut and blow dry in terminal decline. Always had difficult hair she said on arrival at five thirty. Though normally closing time, she was distraught at the thought of having to turn up at work the next day with very short and totally styleless hair, so I agreed that she should pop over right away.
Well that was easy! we both thought at six when she left sporting a new Grace wig. An ordinary every day wig, this one is perfect for those bad hair days when all you want to do is cover it up. This is what she bought!
It may be a little understood idea, but the fact is, we all feel the same concern about how we look, no matter what age we are. Wanting to look good is not just the perrogative of the young. When we are 20, we cannot imagine still caring about our appearance by the time we are 50, but of course we do. Film stars and models, pop stars and celebrities, have all played their part in pushing the age barriers further and further away. We have pop stars in their 60′s and 70′s still rocking live gigs and drawing huge crowds to their concerts. We have female pop stars looking, with a little help, years younger than they are and still with great fan clubs, and it’s all part of the same thing, people want to look as good as they can for as long as they can. 50 is the new 40, 40 is the new 30 etc, etc!
womens dark grey wig
At wear my hair, we have customers ranging from children at one end to really elderly people at the other. To date, the youngest customer for a wig is 6 years old and the eldest is 96! So that just proves my point, that caring about appearance is not limited by age.
Womens white wig
Because of this, at www.wearmyhair.com we have developed a range of wigs for both children and elderly people, male as well as female. We like to think that providing a service to our customers should be totally inclusive and therefore we do our best to cater for everyone. Years ago perhaps, middle-age or elderly people, accepted the aging process with the attendant grey or balding hair, and just put up with it. Nowadays however, everyone can have a slice of the immortality feel as so much more is possible and that is true long before you consider any extremes such as cosmetic surgery!
I am soon going on holiday and planning how to cope with my horrible hair. Shall I just do what I do every day, or shall I try something different? I am toying with the idea of revisiting an ordinary salon and getting my hair professionally cut for once: I have been chopping it myself for the last 4 or 5 years. The thing is, I am thinking of trying the style that I discussed in my last post; really short back and sides and with well defined curls on the top.
To this end, I took a long hard look at my horrible hair last night and decided that it is long enough for a preliminery cut and shape and so I have made an appointment with “Elaines”, round the corner from home, to have it cut. It may well take several goes to create shape but I am seriously thinking of giving it a try. I have nothing to loose as I can just cover it up again with a wig if I dont like it.
I am very sure that it will turn out to be high maintenance again for me, in which case I will abandon it straight away. I simply loathe high maintenance hair. I just cannot be bothered. I am imagining that if this new style does work for me, I will simply get it wet cut £18 every 2-3 weeks and dye it as required and then when I wash it, I will scrunch dry the top without heat but with mousse or gel and Lo! I should have a really wacky do! That’s the theory anyway.
Today is a good hair day. I am wearing a wig I love in my favoured copper colour and a bandana around my forehead. This is because the wig was dried crunched up a bit so sticks out a bit – no worries, a bit of water will sort that, but I kinda like the bandana anyway!
The party was fabulous – lots of interesting people, plenty of food and drink and everything rocked along wonderfully.
But for one girl, her high maintenance hair took the shine off every event. She told me what she went through every day to keep her hair looking sleek and shiny. Well, actually, I dont know if it was shiny as it was quite dark – black outside and subdued lighting in the house. She is having a truly torrid time taming her wild hair and to add insult to injury, the monthly visit to the hair salon only makes matters worse as she always comes out feeling angry and fed up as she hates the way the stylists do her hair.
I can so identify with that. For those of us with wavy or curly hair and if we don’t like wavy or curly hair, the stylist blow dries it to look like a real frumpy barnet. I used to just get home and wash it all over again and ended up wearing my hair really short and spiking it with Black & White wax. At least that way it looked quite funky as opposed to a coiffed frump!
Then yesterday I saw a girl who I hadn’t seen for ages and I had always admired her funky jet black hair-do (think Thompson Twins of the 80′s if you can??) Very short sides and back and a mop of curls on the top. But I was completely amazed as she still had the same style in hair and clothes but she had let it go really grey. It’s her choice and some people really get fed up with the high maintenance of dying their hair, but it made me think about my own situation. Her hairstyle would work for my hair, I know it would but it would be extremely high maintenance as I would want to keep it red, as now, and that means dyed, and worse, I would have to have it trimmed every 2 weeks. This is because that style needs to be very trim to look good, so whereas if you have straight hair, it will just lie flat when it grows a bit, with wavy or curly hair,
Mary May wig.
each little bit of growth will stick out and wreck the style.
Hey Ho, I will definitely be sticking with my wigs! For simplicity, like a lock-up & leave holiday home, just pop it on in the morning and pop it off again at night – Sooooooooooo Low Maintenance!
When you wear it with your own hair showing through! This is what my friend did today. She came round to give me a belated birthday present, and I hadn’t seen her for ages. She was wearing the first wig she ever bought from me and she had had it cut and styled as a long bob but with the back shorter than the front. She had her own fringe showing with the wig and you could not tell them apart.
This is a good way to wear a wig if you can match your colour hair to the wig colour or vice versa. It works especially well if the two hair styles are roughly the same length and it makes of course for a much thicker barnet.
Wouldn’t work too well for me as my hair is so very thick and in fact too thick, but I do apply it in a way because I always dye my own hair to match the wig and so it can show through at the sides without it ever being noticeable that some is my own hair and some is wig.
With the development of all things accessorise including false nails and eyelashes, it is, in my opinion, only a matter of time before girls will wear wigs as commonly as they now wear false nails. And why not! Here are some styles that work well when colour matched and showing own hair through.
Holly wig - another style that works well with own hair when colour matched
It really does not matter at all why you want to wear a wig; if you do, then you do, so do it! There are few things that can make you feel better so quickly and effortlessly than putting on a really nice wig.
If, like me, there is nothing wrong with your hair, but you just don’t like it, that is as valid excuse as any, no matter what your friends and family tell you. It is about you, not them – remember that!
There are many amongst us though, for whom life is made cruelly difficult just because they feel at odds with the gender that they were ascribed at birth. I speak of course, of cross-dressers, transvestites and trans-sexuals. This is a group of people who often find themselves persecuted not just in the big bad world, but even and often, within their own families. I feel that this is a real tragedy as these are almost always, gentle, kind and loving people who simply do not “feel” the sex that they have grown up with.
It takes all sorts to make this world an interesting, fun and vibrant place to live in and I say we must embrace our differences and let people be who they want to be.
I wear a wig because I dont like the hair I was born with, that is all. It is enough though. I feel much happier wearing a wig that is straight and frames my face which is small, and therefore, swamped by the thick, unruly mop of wavy hair that is my natural lot! There is a part of most of us that wants to be different, or look different; go for it is what I say! Life is short and it IS meant to be happy! So get out there in your new wig and “be who you want to be”!
There is a sale on right now at www.wearmyhair.comso visit the site and choose a new wig for the first day of the rest of your life!  A little preview….
Kayleigh wig - a long tapered wig with dark streaks - On Sale Now!
I am soon going on holiday and planning how to cope with my horrible hair. Shall I just do what I do every day, or shall I try something different? I am toying with the idea of revisiting an ordinary salon and getting my hair professionally cut for once: I have been chopping it myself for the last 4 or 5 years. The thing is, I am thinking of trying the style that I discussed in my last post; really short back and sides and with well defined curls on the top.
