The Return of the Wig

Today, The Sun featured an interesting little article by Caroline Iggulden about the returning popularity of fashion wigs. It reports that eBay saw a 44 per cent increase in wig sales last month. Of course, it's Iggulden's fashion history reference that's really entertaining. She writes, "The centuries-old popularity of the wig, which was a status symbol for Europe's Royal houses, including King Louis XIV of France, and the male aristocracy, died out more than 150 years ago but was revived in the Sixties and Seventies as a female fashion accessory." Makes sense then that it's the celebrity royalty of today who are bringing the wig back into the limelight, including the likes of Britney Spears, Lily Allen, Pixie Geldof, and Kelly Osbourne.

The vogue for pink is interesting too, as Marie Antoinette, the original pioneer of over-the-top wigs, was rumored to have deviated from the typical white wig powder of the time to a more adventurous pink. There's a scene in Sophia Coppola's Marie Antoinette where she tries it out.

Personally, I think Marie Antoinette did the pink wig the best. Then again, I've got a thing for the Rococo, and I would probably attach a miniature ship to an enormous wig if I had the means. And I think Britney's public breakdown would have been a little bit more interesting (if that's possible) had she been wearing a two ft. high bejeweled and feathered hairpiece rather than a candy pink bobbed wig. What do you think-who's done the fashion wig the best? The royalty of the past, or the celebrity royalty of today?

K.R.