To Wig or not to Wig

It's no secret that wigs are one of the most popular Lolita accessories. From those who can't style their hair into the elegant soft curls to those who simply want a hair colour that will better match their coord, wigs have already helped out many, whatever the reason. Even more so now when good ones have become cheaper and thus easier to obtain.

And now I'm considering joining that club of Lolitas Who Don Wigs.

Why considering instead of doing? For a few reasons, actually.

Curls, faux Bettie Page fringe, victory rolls, front rolls - I learned to do all of those

First is that over the past few years I have gone a long way in terms of hair styling skills. I'm no pro, far from it, but by now I can do enough interesting hairstyles and their variations to match my needs. Lolita was a big part of those needs, and once I achieved some sort of competence and confidence in styling my hair to match my coords - and by styling I mean do something more than braid or leave it be - I felt both proud and excited to be able to incorporate my own natural hair into the whole look. In a way it feels that just putting on a wig, however lovely, would be a waste of all the years spent experimenting and perfecting my abilities to curl, arrange, create illusions with and generally style my hair.

My red ombre hair

At the same time after my last trip to the hairdressers I now sport a pretty vivid ombré - a great style and colour, but one that would likely clash with a lot of my Lolita looks, especially the red ones. And while I don't intend to run away from a challenge and will do my best to continue incorporating my own hair into the coord, a wig would certainly go a long way towards helping me make the most of my Lolidrobe and maintain the look that I'm after.







This is where the second argument comes in: wig care. Just like your own hair, wigs need taking care of. There's plenty enough on the Internet already on how to do that for different types of wigs, but the point is that if I don't want to waste the wig money, I have to take proper care of it. And I know that this is where I'd have to seriously battle my own laziness.

So much wig care feels like more than I do for my own hair

My hair is naturally straight and as such, as well as by simply being on my own head, it feels as if I don't need to put much effort into taking care of it, if any: brush daily, wash when it needs it, oil for split ends and heat protecting sprays when curling or blow drying. On the other hand, if I were to get a wig, I'd get one that offers me something I don't already have and/or can't get at the moment - which is usually colour and curls. Having to put the time and the effort in to brush it after every wear (which can take ages, if the curls needs brushing individually), as well as treat it properly with fabric softener or special wig care products feels like a lot more than I do for my own hair. I find it hard to imagine myself brushing out a wig late at night after a meet or event, when I often don't even do that with my own hair unless I teased it. But while my hair will still be fine brushed the following day, and I will do that the following day anyway, once the wig is off it's so easy to forget about it until the next time it's needed - by which time it needs more TLC than it did right after the meet. You get my drift? For a lazy person a wig is an investment that needs to be seriously considered carefully from all angles.

Choices, choices

And finally linked with this is argument number three: the aforementioned colour. As I said, since a wig offers a very easy way to change colour without any consequences, then to me it's obvious that I'd like to have wigs in colours I'm unlikely to get myself. For me personally this means predominantly blonde, but where things get complicated is that I don't possess the ability to judge what hair colour will look good on me. That's why I cling onto my hairdresser, whose advice I trust, but how would I really know what shade of blonde (or other colour) would suit me? I have inklings, hints from what I've had on my head in the past, and I know that a lot of good wig shops offer colour samples, but I'm a bit too tight to buy those.

As a result of all three of these I spent hours and hours online already, looking for something that'd tick all the boxes. So far every time I felt I got close, I chickened out and the wig either sold out (often the case with Lockshop) or I kept it bookmarked, waiting for whatever new box I decided needs ticking off now (wait for my wage to come through, have another serious think about how much I actually need a wig, learn how to trim the fringe on a wig, that kind of stuff). I think we're finally there: I ordered one. The option to return it did help a lot in making that choice, I admit; in the meantime, all and any tips, advice, personal stories and anything else related to wigs will be much appreciated. Thank you! :D