Georgie Kennett
Professional Make-Up Project
Wig Making Research
Reference;
Musgrove, J. (2003) Make-up, hair and costume for film and television. Oxford, U.K: Focal Press.
Wigs vary massively in price and quality. There are some extremely good machine wigs available now at reasonable prices. They are made with stretchable foundations to fit all sizes of the head, some are made from real hair and some are synthetic; it is important to know that the camera reacts differently to synthetic materials. Natural hair absorbs light and is made up of many colour. For wigs with real hair there are suppliers who fit, make and dress wigs nor only for television, cinema and theatre but also for public. If a make-up designer or hair dresser is working on a large production requiring many wigs most will be hired. However, if the wig is being used for any length of time it may be cheaper to buy it, it is not always necessary to have a full wig. Hard fronted wigs (with no lace foundation at the front are made to fit the back of the head using natural hair around the hairline to cover the wig front. This reduces the problem of disguising the hair lace.
If a wig is a good fit but the hair lace is not in good condition, it can be re fronted. Re fronted means when the whole front section of the wig can be renewed with fine lace. These are wigs made entirely on hair lace. These are very expensive and very delicate. They would probably be used over a bald cap to give the effect of blading or thin hair.
The picture to the right states four different types of foundations including the circumference band foundation, a nape foundation, one piece foundation and the hat makers coif foundation all used to build the wig. The diagram shows the four areas of the wig foundation.
This page from the wig styling book gives an explanation about the various forms of wigs, roughly how long an average wig can take to make and various forms of foundation.
Pages below taken from: Ruskai, M. and Lowery, A. (2010) Wig Making and Styling: A Complete Guide for Theatre and Film. United Kingdom: Focal Press.
This page in the book explains how you achieve the foundation and where the net should be whipped, sewn and what materials are used.
On this page there a wig foundation is being made with ribbon, this is not necessary so much when the wig is being hand knotted etc. or having wefts attached. This is generally used for hard front wigs.
Here the foundation net is being applied and sewn onto the ribbon to create the base for the wig, this is then whipped shown in the far right images.
Weaving makes a long weft of hair that is either folded and sewn into straight sections of hair or marteau, used for making waves, or is made into a round hairpiece or chignon that is used for adding fullness or dressing to curls and various period styles.
The pages below are from : dotcome, sgezine (2007) How it’s made a lace wig. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FxWs79J4pUY (Accessed: 1 April 2015).
Knotting is done with knotting hooks of various sizes, the size dictated by the fineness of the lace being knotted. At the front of the wig if it is fully hand knotted only two or three hairs will be picked up to be knotted. A larger hook will pick up six or seven hairs to be knotted on the crown and back sections. A small amount of hair at the root end is held between the finger and thumb turning the roots over in a small loop. One or two hairs are picked up by the knotting hook and anchored onto the lace. The hair will lie in the direction of the knot so it is important that the lace is knotted in the direction that the hair grows naturally.
For wigs to look and move like real hair they have to lift accurately especially around the hairline and around the nape of the neck. If the wig is too large there will be too much hair to dress and if too small it is likely that the hair will not sit properly onto the neck. When taking measurements to pass on to a wigmaker there are specific measurements required. The diagram explains the measurements needed to make a wig it is also important to take not of the natural hair line when making the template to give an idea of how it will fit etc.
If it is not possible for an artist to attend a wig fitting the hair can be flattened down to the head as close as possible, either in large flat pin curls or by wrapping the hair and pinning. If the hair is not too long there are products available that will flatten the hair to the head. It is important to be able to see the back hairline. Cling film is placed all over the head and covered in strips of clear sticky tape all over. This gives strength to the cling film. Once completely covered and firm a marker pen is used to draw around the hairline as accurately as possible. This cap can now be lifted off the hair and will give an accurate shape of the head.
Reference:
Blake, J. (2013) Women Wigs Final. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=70 (Accessed: 5 April 2015).
The video above shows the preperation and application of a lace front wig, this is the process once the wig has been made and is ready for the model.