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    Hairstyles of men and women have been an issue with the lifestyles of the rich and famous, and the poor,

working class people ever since the beginning of time. Along with that of clothing and accessories, hairstyles

have become something more of a social status symbol then anything else. Within this paper I shall compare and

contrast the hairstyles of the sixteenth to eighteenth centuries, with those of modern hairstyles. Even though

there may be significant and very obvious differences, they also share some quite interesting attributes.

     Lets begin with looking at the hairstyles of men in the seventeen hundreds. Hair was left to grow out, from

the short hairstyles of the earlier periods, and curls were as popular as Gap sweaters today, everyone had them.

Also mustaches, which were large and curled up at the ends, and goatee type beards that were trimmed to a

point, were extremely popular. With hair being as fashionable in this period, it can be imagined how one who

was in the midst of balding would feel. Such a case happened to Louis the 13th. Apparently the king had become

prematurely bald and had large curling wig made in order to aid him in his lacking appearance. It was because of

this, that during this era, wigs become a very popular item, and very much of a status symbol, �the more wigs

one had, the more prestigious or wealthy one was considered� (Eras of Elegance).

     As this wig craze continued, some men even went as far as to shave their heads, in order to be more able to

wear and carry off a wig. Even so, there were still those who would continue to let their hair grow naturally,

and style it in the same fashion as a wig.

     Nearing the early seventeen hundreds the wigs grew larger, with a large concentration of hair piled on the

top, as seen in figure 1 below. A portion of wigs during this period were dusted with white powder in order to

make them white, but the majority of wigs, were worn in natural colours. These wigs required also required

constant care from a hairdresser for cleaning, curling, and powdering.

Wigs at this time were being made of either human, yak or horsehair. They were extremely expensive, and

therefore usually only the wealthy were able to obtain them. . It was very likely that �a man could outfit himself

with a hat, coat, breeches, shirt, hose, and shoes for about what a wig would cost him� (The Costumer�s

Manifesto).

Around 1715, the popularity of lighter wigs began tremendous. There were many attempts in order to make a

whiter, bleached out wig, but after many unsuccessful attempts of perfecting this use of powder became

extensive. The wig powder was made from �finely ground starch, scented with orange flower, lavender, or orris

root, and occasionally colored blue, violet, pink or yellow, but most often white. Powder rapidly became an

essential for full dress occasions and it continued in use until almost the end of the century�(The Costumer�s

Manifesto).