Transitioning And Wigs - Pros, Cons, And Misconceptions...

I haven't been very active here the last month or so.  I suppose part of it is simply the time of year as looking back to last year the same thing happened about this time.  But I think the bigger reason, at least this year, is that I'm finding less things to get animated about.  Part of that is because many of those things that might have gotten me animated in the past have long since been covered here; and part of it is simply that I've come to the realization that for some things anything that I might say or write will only serve to upset some people and as such I've tried to become more selective with my topics.  This last point is actually a large part of the reason why I haven't written much lately as I currently have 4 different posts started here that probably all fall into that category.  Yes, they will likely all end up posted sooner rather than later, but I didn't want to just bang them out like I often do, but rather spend the time to give them the thoughts they truly deserve.

That all being said, a comment to a post on Reddit earlier gave me tonight's topic and that is wigs.  The original post really doesn't matter, but the comment in question had some information in it that I believe was flat out incorrect and likely from someone who has never worn a wig, or at least not one that is a very good one.

As I've talked about before I'm personally relegated to wigs.  My hairline was receding from an early age and it's so thin in the front of my head that it would never look right.  Yes, I've tried to grow it out some and yes I realize there are things that could help it.  But based upon the efforts I've made, it wasn't going to be good enough to make me happy and looking at my family, the long term prospects weren't good so I've went the wig route.  So with that being said, I thought I'd touch on some of the Pros, Cons, and what I feel are Misconceptions, about wigs.  As always these come from my personal experiences, others may feel differently and I respect that, but that doesn't change the experiences I've had nor what I'm about to share.

Let's start with a few Cons since that often seems to be what people lead with when the discussion of wigs comes up.

1. Cost.
• Yes, there is a cost associated with wigs.  The nicer the wig, the larger that cost tends to be.  A nice human hair wig can easily run well over $1,000 depending upon where it is purchased.  However, I've got several here that while they are not human hair, I feel they are very nice and all of them have been under $300 and most of them in the $100-$200 range.  Additionally, I don't have the expense of going and getting my hair cut/styled which can easily offset the cost of the wig.
2. Comfort.
• I can't really argue that a wig is as comfortable as natural hair.  However, I will say that the construction of the cap does make a difference and of the wigs I have, the last couple have been nicer wigs and they are in fact far more comfortable than the early, cheaper, wigs I had bought.
3. They look un-natural.
• I feel this depends upon the quality of the wig.  Yes, many cheaper wigs do look "fake", I won't argue that.  However, plenty of nicer wigs (even synthetic hair ones) can look perfectly real.  Just looking at my first wig versus my most recent one there's no real comparison between how they look - the newest one looks far more realistic than the first one did.  I will say that my second favorite wig isn't one of the more expensive ones I have - it's a nice short lace-front model, and while I love it, the way the hair falls on it - it often exposes the wig cap which is frustrating.  From a distance it's not really noticeable, but up close if you look for it you can see it.  Now most people probably wouldn't be looking and even if they saw it, it might not register, but *I* know it's there and I can see what I call the "Triangle" where the hair is parted if I zoom in on the photo below.  Now I will say that some of the blame falls on me as the wig isn't designed to be parted like I have it, it's designed more for a side part, but I really liked how it looked on me done like this - at least until I noticed the triangle.

Now in fairness, a few Pros.

1. Easy to change hair-style.
• Now let me qualify this.  Some wigs can be styled more/less than others, but I'm not really talking about this.  Rather the fact that I have wigs in varying lengths, colors, styles, and I can chose to wear whatever one I want at any given point.  Now for me, I don't tend to do that very much, but it is an option.  Albeit, one with the expense of multiple wigs.
2. Maintenance Cost.
• I sort of touched on this under the "Cost" point in the cons section, but the reality is that while the wigs do need to be shampooed and cleaned on occasion, that is still cheaper for me than many women would spend going to the hair salon.  Additionally, since most of my wigs have "hi-lights" I don't have to worry about having those redone or any root problems which is nice.
3. It can be taken off at any point.
• This is a huge pro for me.  Before I was "full-time", if I needed to present as my old-self, I could simply lose the wig and go back to my regular (usually bald) head.  For that matter, if I come home and I'm hot or simply don't feel like having hair in my face, again it comes right off and goes on it's stand.  This is especially nice for me since I do really like long hair and if it were my own I couldn't do that.  Yes I know if I had my own long hair I could pull it back into a ponytail or put it up some other way, but there are times when it's nice to have a bare head.

Lastly, what I consider some Misconceptions.

1. They require either some of your own hair and pins, or glue to stay on.
• This is what actually pushed me to write on this subject.  While I'm sure with some wigs this may well be the case, the 5 or 6 I have do not suffer from this issue.  Yes, even my cheaper wigs aren't super cheap for many (I think the cheapest one was around $125 or so), but I've never had any issues with them coming off.  And this includes wearing them in the hospital as well as on occasion sleeping in them - not that I make a practice of that, but it has happened.  
2. They are heavy.
• For some wigs this is the case.  Among mine I can tell the difference between the first one I got and the most recent one, and they are loosely the same length.  But depending upon the cap construction and the hair type, they can be very light and I'm to the point where I don't really notice any of them when it comes to this.
3. They are difficult to deal with.
• This one really puzzles me.  I think mine are incredibly easy to deal with - at least provided that I give it the proper care by storing it on it's stand and making sure it gets shampooed and/or cleaned as needed.  Yes, I brush them out after each use, but even that only takes me a couple of minutes.  If anything I think it's easier to style the wigs on their stands and then simply tweak it as needed once I put it on versus having to do it in front of a mirror on my own head.  Now perhaps I'm in the minority on this, but it is definitely how I feel about it.
4. They don't style like real hair.
• This sort of goes with the above point, and I can understand this to an extent.  My first two wigs, because of their cap construction, didn't style as nicely as my last few do.  And even of those last few, the last one (a mono-filament one) styles easier than the two lace-front models do.  Now, the thing is, I paid more for the lace-front wigs than I did for the first couple; and I paid more for the mono-filament one than the lace-front ones.  When/if I decide to go with a human hair one, I'm sure that will style even better.  I guess the point I'm making is that yes, cheaper wigs may well not style like real hair, but as you go up the chain, I believe the difference becomes less and less, and even with my mono-filament model, the consensus around the house here is that it styles just as easily as J and/or M's hair does.  

The bottom line is that wigs aren't for everybody.  And truthfully, I wish I didn't need to wear them to be confident with my appearance.  However, I do, but that doesn't bother me as I am happy with them.  And as I've talked about above, there are upsides to them as well.  And believe it or not, plenty of cis-women wear wigs as well; so it's not like simply wearing a wig differentiates a trans-woman from a cis-woman.

With that I'll bid everyone a good night and a (few hour belated Merry Christmas).

- M