How did the custom of men wearing wigs in the British Empire or France develop?

Question

I am not sure which country was first. History is interesting, so anything related to this is welcome.

Answer 1

Charles II seems to have introduced the fashion into England, so possibly they were already wearing wigs in France, where he had spent much of his time during his exile.

Answer 2

Head lice were a problem. People would shave their head and wear a wig, which was more easily cleaned. Often they would put a powder in the wig to discourage the lice from living in the wigs.

Answer 3

The custom started in France in the mid 17th century. The future King Charles II was in exile there during the English Commonwealth and adopted the fashion which he brought back to Britain at the Restoration.

Answer 4

It's said that Louis XIII of France went bald prematurely and covered it with a wig.  Thus he started a fashion which lasted well over a century with its changing styles!  And even in those days, France was the leader of fashion.

Here's a short history:

http://www.costumes.org/history/100pages...

Answer 5

Why did Chrysost get a thumbs down ???    He is exactly correct - - - head lice and small pox were both a problem during the era in question - - - and bathing was often difficult - - - small pox often leaves a person bald with a scarred scratchy scalp and lice, well that ought to speak for itself!!  The other answerers thus far are qually accurate -- - - during the era of Charles the 2nd and James the 2nd the art of wig making made it possible for a man to appear quite handsome with long lush ringlets cascading over their broad manly shoulders.  

Wigs stayed popular well into the early 1800s by which time small pox was mostly on the wane and bathing was coming more into fashion...

By the way when someone zaps a person such as Chrysost with a thumbs down it would be nice if a million voltz of DC would zap 'em!

Peace//////////////////////////////\\\...

(For a great example of wigs during olden times see Boris Karloff in 'Bedlam,' the master of horror was gifted for subtle touches and how the handles his wig is hilarious ....)