Wigging out: Hollywood’s not-so-secret love affair with hairpieces, from Bridgerton and Zac Efron in The Iron Claw, to bold off-screen statements from Lady Gaga, Kylie Jenner and Nicki Minaj

Jul 10 , 2024

Nicki Minaj, Kylie Jenner and Katy Perry have all rocked loud, proud and bright wigs. Is the style right for you? Photos: Getty; Wireimage

Nicola Coughlan wears more than US$55,000 worth of hairpieces in Bridgerton, and Keira Knightley revealed she’d been wearing wigs for years to deal with hair loss

Efron’s wig helped transform him into an 80s wrestler, Jenner’s locks resembled a highlighter, Katy Perry rocked blue hair, and Cardi B channelled the Little Mermaid

From the glitz and glamour of movie sets to IRL image transformations, wigs are the ultimate styling weapon – and a not-so-secret secret in Hollywood.

Tinseltown’s love affair with wigs goes way back to the golden age of cinema. Wigs were essential for quick role changes and for creating those iconic star personas. Over the years, wigs have evolved from practical tools to high-fashion statements and bold expressions of character. Today, they let celebs change their looks so dramatically and quickly that we’re often left wondering if their fabulous hair is real.

Kylie Jenner at the PrettyLittleThing x Paper Magazine – The Pretty Little Playground in April 2017, in Palm Springs, California. Photo: Getty Images

When you think of wigs, it’s hard not to picture Kylie Jenner’s neon yellow-green locks or Cardi B’s unforgettable Little Mermaid-esque bright red wig. Nicki Minaj, Lady Gaga and Katy Perry also use wigs to make bold fashion statements, but not all celebrities wear wigs just for fashion.

Keira Knightley revealed to InStyle UK in August 2016 that she had been wearing wigs for five years – a necessity due to the damage caused by excessive hair dyeing for film roles. “It got so bad that my hair literally began to fall out,” she said at the time. Then there’s Naomi Campbell, who experienced traction alopecia from years of tight hairstyles and extensions. “Everybody in the world wears wigs. It doesn’t matter any more,” she told The Standard in May 2017.

Keira Knightley at the European premiere of Official Secrets, at the BFI London Film Festival in October 2019. Photo: SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images

Nicola Coughlan wears more than US$55,000 worth of wigs in season three of Bridgerton. Throughout the season, she dons seven custom-made wigs, each made to match her hairline, and costing between US$8,000 and US$8,500. Similarly, Zac Efron and Harris Dickinson sported wigs for their roles in The Iron Claw, transforming into 80s wrestling superstars.

Luxury wigs offer a natural look and feel that synthetics can’t match, creating a market that’s exclusive and often pricey. “High-quality wigs are typically made from 100 per cent human hair. If a wig is crafted from synthetic hair or a synthetic-human blend, it will not last as long,” says Brittany Johnson, licensed multicultural hairstylist and director of brand & content marketing at Mayvenn, a brand offering high-quality virgin human hair and extensions (virgin hair has never been subjected to colour treatments or other chemical processes).

Nicola Coughlan (pictured) wears more than US$55,000 worth of wigs in Bridgerton season three. Photo: Handout

“Higher-quality wigs also have a more consistent density, meaning they are fuller from root to tip and won’t have ends that appear to be much thinner than the base of the wig,” Johnson continues. She explains that if a wig is 20 inches long, for example, most of the hair used in the wig should be 20 inches long. However, a lesser-quality wig will have a lot of shorter hairs spread throughout the unit, “creating the illusion of weight when the ends are actually very sparse”.