Wiggle Room

As my plan is to make wigs from unconventional materials (reference to hair ball monster) and not exactly natural looking - I blend right in - wigs, most of the material research does not relate to my ideas.  Though one thing that crossed over is the use of foundation or wig cap.  I have decided to try three difference styles of foundations:

First a knit cap.

Cool drawing no?

Yes, I thought that was a genius idea as well.  Based on this DIY post on about.com by Rain Blanken (link here).  My plan is to focus on the "hair" arrangement and colour combination of the yarn and or ribbons and or any other string like materials I come across.  The knitted quality of the cap is ideal for such choice as the strings can easily be hooked through or sew on.  Be prepared for some wacky and fun colours!

Second wig cap will be of the helmet type using a wrap around mold of my head.  This iteration is from Whimsey Box by Alison Strang (link here).  She used newspaper as her "hair" choice but I will be doing something a little different.

Upon my research into wigs, I came across this term "macaroni", a term I associate with dried pasta that was used in an absurd context that I knew was not what the paper referred to.  After Googling it, I can across this image from Wikipedia:

Click here to see wiki page

"Macaroni" in this case referred to someone what dress or acted outlandishly which suited the phase of periwig period wonderfully.  Therefore a periwig inspired wig out of macaroni is a must!  And thus the helmet style cap will be more suited as I imagine it may end up really heavy.

Third foundation will be a more traditional with the fabric style wig cap but as I lack a proper wig block, we will compromise and use hosiery.  This idea is also from a DIY website called "This MAMA makes stuff" (link here).  It will require more sewing and the tradition of working with more elastic base.  "Hair" material to be determined upon inspiration.  Any suggestions?

High on Wigs

Here is an image to wet your appetite for a history lesson on wigs and its historic and cultural contributions.  The image is from a hilarious post on wig illustrations in a blog called Bili Odyssey (link to post here)

That is one amazing wig

I first started my research not particularly focused on the periwigs that where in height of fashion during the late 1700s.  But those white elaborate curls with the ridiculous frills of lace, ribbons, and ruffles that were popular for both women and men were an unavoidable period of wig history.  What was said to of started as a simple remedy for aging man to conceal their baldness and a way to avoid lice and grease- as wigs don't produce oil- became a status symbol.  The more elaborate wig-dos, the more time you (or your servants) have to groom yourself, the higher your status symbol.

Wigs became such a craze that for a period of time it was thought as a moral sin to wear a wig.  It became a topic of controversy, as it was argued by certain religious individuals, as an act of rebellion towards "God" and what "He" naturally given you.  The use of wigs as a way to cross-dress also contributed to the disdain.  Women can try on short hair without having to chop of their feminine locks (though that was not done as often as it is done now) but more often, men are trying out longer and longer wigs.  That was what made the religious group uneasy.

Of course wigs were not limited only to that period of history.  Hair is often used as a maker of race, class, gender, and therefore identity.  For example in Ancient Egyptian drawings, the wig style and length can be used to differentiate the presented figures.  The pattern repeats throughout history; the longer and more elaborate the wig, the higher the social status.  The lower class where shown clean shaven or sometimes wore wigs of animal or vegetable fiber. I guess those who can not afford the real thing gets knockoffs.

Things haven't really changed from thousands nor hundreds of years, we may not have wigs that is at the same level as birds but we still do pretty crazy things to gain access to certain social identity, don't we?

Why Wigs?

Wigs are kind of creepy.  Makes my scalp feel itchy just looking at them, though I never actually tried one on.  I always link them to giant hair balls in the tub that forms into a monster when you least expect.

The purpose of this wig project is to attempt to make something you never never done before within the discourse of consumer culture versus maker culture.  What attracted me to wigs was the idea of it as something to hid under, sort of like a constructed identity.  Bald people may wear wigs, people who has short hair may wear long hair wigs for occasions, or cancer patients may wear wigs to ease the lost they have to go through.  (More research into that soon) 

My plan is to make 3 iterations of wigs using 3 different materials.  Tentatively, the first will be more "hair-like" material (yarn?) and progressing to more unconventional materials as my technical skill gets better.  Please feel free to suggest any materials you think I should attempt.  Some of my current ideas are: feathers, leaves, straws, something food related?

As the time budget is pretty tight, hopefully get the first one done before end of the week and two next week.  In the mean time, stay tune for some wig info on historic and cultural associations.