WIGGING OUT

Wigging Out combs through the fascinating history of wigs and hairpieces, covering thousands of years of artificial hair worn by everyone from Cleopatra and Louis XIV to Naomi Campbell, Elizabeth Taylor, and the drag queens of Wigstock.

Presenting hair styles and stories from ancient Egypt to the present day, Wigging Out offers capsule fashion histories on hair worn by 2nd-century Roman emperors, 19th-century Gibson Girls and 21st-century drag queens. Showcasing hair of all colors and styles from around the world, the book features famous and glamorous moments in hair history alongside images of London street punks and wild runway shots from the likes of Rick Owens and Alexander McQueen. Prominent figures like Queen Elizabeth I and Marie Antoinette reach through time to share pages with Diana Ross, Claudia Schiffer, and the most forward-thinking styles from the houses of Gucci and Chanel. Filled with page-after-page of beautiful and inspiring images, Wigging Out presents a revelatory mash-up of styles, stories, and personalities that are a cut above the rest.

Featuring over 100 images and informative but entertaining text wrapped up in a stylish package, this is the perfect book to take pride-of-place on the coffee table. Complete with gift-ready, beautiful packaging, and written in an informative but entertaining, clever, compulsively readable way, the voices of wig makers, stylists, dressers, and braiders of diverse ages and backgrounds are featured throughout the book, and help to bridge the gap between historical wig wearers and present-day patrons. As beautiful as it is informative, this book makes the perfect gift for those with a passion for fashion, design, and pop culture and offers a unique look at the way in which style and history collide.

Jessica Glasscock is a writer, researcher, and college instructor currently residing in the Riverdale area of the Bronx. The author of Striptease: From Gaslight to Spotlight (2003), American Fashion Accessories (2008), and Making a Spectacle (2021), she also worked as a researcher and education liaison for The Costume Institute at the Metropolitan Museum of Art for over a decade. An instructor at Parsons School of Design since 2003 and sometime consulting fashion historian for VFILES digital archive, Jessica is primarily devoted to becoming a professional bon vivant. While she loves to write and teach, she hopes to be remembered for being clever at dinner.