Restoration-era Wig Fashion

Timeline

1. 1660–1663Whitehall, London · EnglandAfter Charles II returned to England in 1660, the court once again embraced continental Baroque fashion; courtiers and nobles began wearing long wigs and lace cuffs, using splendid appearance to signal loyalty and high status, replacing the plain dress of the Puritan era.
2. c. 1663–1667Versailles · Île-de-FranceLouis XIV used wigs to conceal early baldness and project the majesty of the Sun King; the curled long wigs, powder, and ribbon decorations of the Versailles court spread to London, The Hague, and elsewhere through envoys and exiled nobles, becoming a common language of European aristocracy.
3. c. 1665–1670Strand, London · EnglandBy the late 1660s, professional peruke guilds appeared in London, Paris, and elsewhere, weaving full wigs from human hair and horsehair and dusting them with starch powder; wealthy merchants, lawyers, and officers followed suit, and the wig became a core accessory of the modern Western gentleman's public image.