Interesting history of British judges' wigs

The image of British judges wearing a light gray or white wig is very familiar to many people. But there are very few people who know the birth history of this interesting hair .

History was born

These wigs originally appeared in Egypt with the function of protecting the head area from the intense sun in the deserts. Later, the women in Rome wore them as a fashion accessory. This trend quickly went down and it was not until the 17th century that it was popular again because of a rather strange reason . against lice. The prevalence of European wigs (especially English and French) is to help protect real hair from head lice. People will wear wigs instead of shaving their heads so they don't come into contact with hair.

The fancy wig of Louis XIV

Although the original goal was to prevent disease, wigs quickly became a fashion icon in 1624 after Louis XIII put them on to cover their bald head. By the mid-1600s, King Louis XIV saw that wearing a wig was very beautiful and fashionable, so the king and the wealthy wore wigs for beauty. This trend was later received by King Charles II in England in 1663.

When first appeared in the UK, wigs are naturally colored like hair but due to the 'fad' of flour or plaster powder on French wigs in the 1690s, people began to create pink, blue or gray. Judges initially stood out of this trend, but by 1705, they began wearing wigs to match the prevailing trend. The judge's wigs are called peruke or periwig .

The fashions of the era were popular

Wigs in this era are usually very thick and long back. By 1720, people cut short bob wig or campaign wig . Judges still wear traditional long wigs to keep seriousness instead of 'running after fashion'. After the 1720s, silver wig became the exclusive product of judges and no one had them except them.

Decay

The wigs gradually disappeared along with the decline of the nobility. In France, the French revolution of 1789-1799 left the nobility to give up the wig because wearing a wig is no different from being "self- pointing" to be a powerful and wealthy person. murdered. In the UK, the reason is to . save food. To cover up the wigs, the aristocracy needs a lot of flour and it is a waste of food with famine rising in the country. Therefore, the whole UK has boycotted this fabulous, fashionable wig. Those who want to wear wigs will be subject to extremely expensive taxes. After all, in the 1820s, there were only the highest members in a wig court. The long-haired hair was also transformed into a more economical bob wig.

Wig of judges today

The wig is also challenged because animal hair is made of animal hair (mainly horse and goat hair), causing waste and damage to animals. In addition, they are very heavy, expensive and quickly smelly if not properly cleaned.

Wig today

By the 1990s, people still made efforts to remove wigs from society. However, the people still consider it an interesting tradition and allow judges to put them in charge because they think the hair shows the authority of the judges. Even judges themselves want to wear wigs to be more 'professional' . And the wig proved the strength of traditional beauty to this day when it was still a familiar trial of British judges.