Evelyn Welch: Wig-Wearing Men and High-Haired Women in the Seventeenth-Century

Why did men in seventeenth-century Europe suddenly decide that wearing someone else’s hair was a good idea? And why did women construct increasingly elaborate towers of hair, wire and lace on their heads? By 1700, wigs had become essential markers of status for all but the poorest men, while women’s extravagant hairstyles were equally loaded with meaning.

In this fascinating talk, Evelyn Welch, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Bristol and author of Skin and Shopping in theRenaissance, explores how these extraordinary fashions became normal – and what they tell us about the societies that embraced them. She reveals the surprising economic world created by Europe’s obsession with hair, from the people who produced and sold it to those who wore it to signal wealth, power and respectability.

What looks like an eccentric fashion craze opens a window onto class, commerce, identity and changing ideas of appearance.