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My mother had impossibly, thin, fine, mousy hair. In those days of the 1950’s, styles were tightly curled perms, cut short, held in place by FIRM hairspray. To me, she looked adorable, but I remember that this otherwise strong woman, shed tears on her ‘bad hair days’. She also wore a lot of hats!
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I inherited her hair. I grew up in the 1960’s to 1980’s where flowing, hippie locks and ‘big’ hairstyles were the trends and I too, shed many a tear over my poor, limp, sparse hair. I once overheard myself described as ‘the girl with the see-through hair’. From the age of 14, I began wearing hairpieces and managed to look, more or less, like everybody else, but secretly, I was constantly nervous of being ‘found out’.
‘ I offer my heartfelt thanks to that SW team, who all have the personalities, skills and knowledge to make wig-wearing such a normal and positive experience for us ‘
Your story resonated with me about tears of limp and thinning hair.
My mum had to start wearing hair pieces when I was a little girl, I often saw her crying looking at old pictures when she used to have gorgeous thick long hair.
I was blessed with thick long hair. Starting secondary school girls would pull it and accuse me of wearing a wig.
At 17 it started to thin, stress I was told.
On my wedding day (I was 20) my hair had to be curled and sprayed to give it body.
It was only in my early thirties I had to do something.
My husband’s family came to visit and we went out for a walk.
It was a beautiful sunny day.
A couple passed us and the woman started laughing at me ” Look at her, she’s nearly bald!”
Few days later two teenage girls were laughing at my lack of hair in a store. Their laughter rang in my ears as they carried on walking around shopping talking loudly making jokes about me. I fled in tears.
My doctor referred me to a trichologist. It was Androgenetic alopecia.
I purchased a human hairpiece from a local woman who had a private salon. She had alopecia.
The hairdresser who worked with her messed up the cut. It was awful.
We couldn’t afford to replace it so for 2 years I wore this terrible piece.
I purchased another hair piece from the same woman but it had a fault and had to be returned after 3 months. The only replacement available was a truly terrible bleached blonde top with dark brown ends. It turned heads for all the wrong reasons.
Had to wait 2 years to save up for another human hair piece.
Then I discovered Simply wigs, if only I knew from the beginning of my hair loss they existed.
I’m waiting for my 2 human hair piece from them to arrive.
My first has stared shedding hair after 2 years.
My husband said to see you feeling confident and smiling, what price can you put on that?
The staff are amazing, informative, friendly and so helpful.
Wow , thank you so much for Taking the time to give me such detailed information ! I truely appreciate it!
Hi Kirsten. This is exciting, talking with all of my wig-wearing sisters!
Thanks for your interest.
My natural hair is brown, but everybody seems to like the blonde coloured wigs. This very elegant style in the small, round photo is the Elizabeth by Jon Renau. The colour is Blonde Brownie, I think. (My current favourite Jon Renau colour is Venice Blonde, which is rooted)
The Elizabeth is a bit special because it is fully hand-tied, so very comfortable to wear. It also has HD – heat resistant fibres, which are very fine, not too shiny – even in photos. Because it is HD, it does require some special products from Jon Renau.
I’ll be honest, after a few wearings, it frizzes at the ends, but don’t panic. You then need to heat-straighten the frizzed fibres. I use Babyliss curling iron on low heat, between 1 and 3 setting. After that, you re-style it, curls/flicks etc. with low heat. When it needs washing, you heat-style it as above, then you wash it and it will hold the style until the next wash.
This wig had a long life with me, about 2 years. The picture shows what it is actually like straight out of the box. I later had a fringe cut, and occasionally trimmed the ends. When I ‘retired’ Elizabeth, it was still good enough to send to the local hospice as a ‘try-on’ sample for patients who had, or might, lose their hair.
The price, at the moment, is really good for a synthetic wig with these features. I would definitely recommend it if you are prepared to care for it, as above.
Thank you for your article and photos . I love all your beautiful blond looks, so natural ! My absolute favourite Is the short bob with extra highlighted side swept fringe and the hair that kinks out the sides in the small round photo. Could you shed some light on style and colour for me please?
Warmest regards
Kirsten
Hi Maggie,
That wig was one of my favourites. Perfect length and style for easy wearing and low maintenance. I didn’t have to have it cut to suit me.
It is synthetic. The style is called Sophia. It is made by Dimples, a UK company. It only comes in ‘petite to standard’ size. I am a standard size, so it was a close fit for me, but I never had any problems.
I had 2 of these, wearing them all day on alternate days. They lasted around 9/10 months, looking good.
The colour is ‘New Highlight’. A lovely, cool blonde, but not too ashy. I actually like this style better than the very similar one, ‘Codi’, by Amore, mainly because of the colour.
Margaret, let us hope we can somehow get a support group going, that would be amazing and I feel sure many would agree.
Thank you for your article and the supporting replies endorsing SW. The series of photos of you in different wigs is really helpful especially as currently is really hard to hi and try in different styles. Can you identify the Bob with a fringe in top left of your photos?
Thank you Julie and to you also Sharon. A Simply Wigs Support Group would be fabulous. This wonderful organisation means so much to us all. This experience can be very isolating and even when we reach some level of confidence in our appearance, it would be wonderful to share with others who really understand from their own experience. I would really welcome that. I am not the most technical person in the world but would be willing to give myself a kick in that direction if it would enable us to communicate. The very best would be to meet of course – what about it ladies??
Hi I fully understand having had fine hair all my life always envious of friends with gorgeous hair used to dread going to hairdresser because I knew they wouldn’t be able to make it look as good as all the other clients walking out of the salon, me I wanted to put bag over head. Then comes along the BIG C the only good thing to come out of it was the wig I was given by NHS best head of hair I ever had. Of course my hair grew back even worse tried all sorts I thought everyone knows cancer cured couldn’t possibly wear a wig again everyone will know. Discovered Simply Wigs after initial shock of turning up to work with a lovely bob time passes it is accepted or forgotten about. Now 8 years after cancer & lost count of wigs from SW don’t be afraid to wear a wig if you are not happy with your fine limp hair it gives you confidence you never thought you would have. These days when you look at women with gorgeous luscious long hair how many are natural with extensions it’s not real. You may make a few mistakes but that is the good thing with SW try on the wig you have sent for & if not happy you can return it doesn’t happen with all sites It would be great to get an appointment & try wigs on in store to find what suits you but whatever way you choose do it, try SW will have a style to suit you change your life!!!
I totally relate to your story. At Christmas I was upset about pictures showing my thin hair so took the plunge and got a fringe piece fitted. The difference it made to my confidence was unbelievable. Being refitted today after lockdown delay. Hooray!
Thank you Julie, heartwarming testimony. I can identify with your story.
Sharon That sounds like a brilliant idea Be great to meet others in the same situation and compare tips etc
Julie your story is amazing, I relate so well to all you say and yet felt very alone with my worry all my life. Simply Wigs are absolute saviours and you are beautiful. It would be lovely if some of us could get together and share our experiences for real one day.