Why Do Barristers Wear Wigs?

Why do barristers wear wigs?

The term ‘wig’ is the short form of another term called periwig which is taken from the French word known as perruque which means ‘wig’. The courtiers in the earlier days were conscious about their wig sizes and they used to compare their wigs with those of others. For about centuries people in the court used to wear some type of head gear. At the time of early Tudor, they were wearing black flat bonnet or cap. The judges and lawyers began wearing wigs during the period of 1680s. This wig was considered as legal symbol and it was used for about 150 years in the form of powdered white or grey hair.

A person called Humphrey Ravens croft prepared a new wig which had legal importance in the year 1822. This wig looks like whitish grey horse hair which did not have any curling, perfuming, powering or frizzing. After some time a square cap has come into existence till the removal of capital punishment in 1969, the judges could wear black cap on the top of the wigs while passing death sentence.

By the year 1680 the court judges started wearing wigs in court and were just practicing the fashion that was started previously. This practice was considered as a symbol of status. Wigs were accepted by the court personnel gradually though they were considered as stupidity by some courtiers. Later wigs have become a part of dressing in the court. These wigs were prepared earlier from the human hair itself. The people who are in debts were known to be selling their hair to the people making wigs and this has become a business. As the people were under the impression that lies might spread from the wig to their normal hair, they used to keep their heads shaved under the wigs.

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