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If some-one gets referred to as being the bigwig around here, you know he is the boss man – the one with authority. He is the one that wears the crown so to speak in that particular environment. Not only big is his wig, but big is also the irony that the expression should originate from the vanity of an insecure man.
It was king Louis XIII (1601 - 1643), who went prematurely bald who started wearing a wig to hide his own thinning mob.
By the time Louis XIV (1638 – 1 September 1715) – also known as the Sun King – ascended the throne in France, wigs were virtually obligatory for all European nobility and 'persons of quality'.
At the time there were also close ties between the royal families of France and England. Once, upon his return from a visit to France, Charles II of England brought the fashion of powdered wigs back with him and it became the standard for members of English society.
Some sources also maintain that, since England had just emerged from a bloody civil war at the time between those who wore their hair short (the Roundheads) and those who wore their hair long (the Beatles), the pervasive use of wigs was also an obvious way to cover over the divisions in society besides the occasional bald spot.
In fact the very word wig originated from the original French name for their king’s vanity cover, perruque, which became periwig in English and was then shortened to just wig
The fashion of wig-wearing became especially entrenched in the British judicial structures and by 1680 most judges and barristers wore wigs in court. Over time it became absolutely entrenched as part of the dress code of officers of the court and much of it was exsported to the rest of the British empire and later the Commonwealth.
For 150 yeas the legal wig was usually of powdered white or grey hair, but in 1822, Humphrey Ravenscroft invented a legal wig made of whitish-grey horsehair that did not need frizzing, curling, perfuming or powdering.
And, as so often happens with matters of pomp and ceremony among the British, it became quite a serious matter as the following account by a practising barrister on an online blog: “If I were to appear in Court without my wig then the Judge could in fact refuse to hear me. I had to speak for a colleague of mine once because he had forgotten his robes and wig.” And it was no joke! So from being fashion accessories unpopular with the judiciary they are now compulsory at the Bar although optional for solicitor advocates.
As a sign that he – or she – is the person with the final authority (the bigwig) in the House of Commons or Parliament (in the case of a colony or a member of the Commonwealth) for many years the Speaker of Parliament would wear a wig. In most Commonwealth countries, including South Africa, the custom of wig-wearing has been dropped.
Even the Speaker in British House of Commons did away with wearing the wig except on special occasions..
But although the first attempt to abolish it in British courts dates back to 1868 and the last one to 2008, it is still in full swing at the Bar.
And if you wonder why, consider the following quote from a report on the reaction to an attempt in 2006 to do away with wigs in civil cases: “Solicitor-advocates have complained that they appear inferior advocates because they are not permitted to wear wigs; solicitor QCs are allowed to wear them.”
A survey by the UK Bar Council, representing 15 000 barristers found two-thirds of them support the wearing of wigs.
Vanity is indeed a motivator that has proven that it can withstand the tides of time!
