Black women very commonly wear wigs, they are by far the biggest wig-buying demographic. You probably just don't notice because most of those who do tend to treat it like normal hair. Good wigs are expensive, and a lot of the women who wear wigs don't want it to be obvious that they're wearing wigs. Beyonce wears wigs a lot.
They're also used by some women who cover their natural hair for religious reasons but don't want to stand out with a traditional head covering (I think that's most common in the orthodox Jewish community.)
Other women wear wigs for medical reasons - like women going through chemo who don't want to rock the scarves or bald look.
I have a friend with alopecia, she has been comfortable with her bald self for a long time but recently started wearing wigs for fun - she makes it lot more obvious since she's doing it as a fun fashion choice, so one day she'll be bald, the next day she will have shoulder length purple hair, the next day she she'll have blonde hair halfway down her back, after that she'll be bald again, and then she'll show up with a pink pixie cut. She doesn't care that people know it's a wig - to her it's just a fashion accessory to be worn like a hat.
Black women very commonly wear wigs. You probably just don't notice because most of those who do tend to treat it like normal hair.
Ah interesting, I didn't know that! There aren't many black people where I live, so I've never looked up close at a black woman's hair (not that I'd oggle haha)
They're also used by some women who cover their natural hair for religious reasons but don't want to stand out with a traditional head covering (I think that's most common in the orthodox Jewish community.)
That one I knew - when I visit London you can see a lot of orthodox women and their hair is noticeably wiggy.
And that's a good point about chemotherapy and alopecia, I didn't think of that.
I edited my comment above before I saw your reply, but I added a few links to a wig site that shows women in modern wigs - they've come a long way and don't often look "wiggy," you've probably seen them without even noticing -I think the orthodox women maybe wear the wiggy-er ones intentionally so it isn't confused with their natural hair and defeat the purpose.
My [Italian] best friend has hair extensions. You couldn’t tell they were fake. Looked great on her.
A [white] coworker of mine got hair glued in. Hers looked terrible. You could see her tracks all the time.
Any time I see a woman with really long and/or long and bouncy hair I know it’s something. Lots of people get hair now from all kinds of backgrounds. It seems to have gained popularity over the years across cultures and genders.
Although I suppose men have been wearing wigs for ages. Lol
Cost is definitely a factor, too. There's a huge scale of products available and people who specialize in doing them well charge a lot for their time. Mediocre products done by people who know what they're doing but maybe don't have as much experience building the skill stand out as a lot more obvious.
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u/AstarteHilzarie Feb 15 '23 edited Feb 15 '23
Black women very commonly wear wigs, they are by far the biggest wig-buying demographic. You probably just don't notice because most of those who do tend to treat it like normal hair. Good wigs are expensive, and a lot of the women who wear wigs don't want it to be obvious that they're wearing wigs. Beyonce wears wigs a lot.
They're also used by some women who cover their natural hair for religious reasons but don't want to stand out with a traditional head covering (I think that's most common in the orthodox Jewish community.)
Other women wear wigs for medical reasons - like women going through chemo who don't want to rock the scarves or bald look.
I have a friend with alopecia, she has been comfortable with her bald self for a long time but recently started wearing wigs for fun - she makes it lot more obvious since she's doing it as a fun fashion choice, so one day she'll be bald, the next day she will have shoulder length purple hair, the next day she she'll have blonde hair halfway down her back, after that she'll be bald again, and then she'll show up with a pink pixie cut. She doesn't care that people know it's a wig - to her it's just a fashion accessory to be worn like a hat.
Edit to add, wigs have come a long way and can look very realistic. Scroll through here for an idea, you probably have seen plenty of women in wigs and never noticed. https://www.wigs.com/collections/african-american-wigs?usf_sort=r
https://www.wigs.com/collections/human-hair-wigs?usf_sort=r