Professional Make-up Project
Kate Garrett
Wig Making Research.
Hand made wig:
The foundation has been whipped/sewn together by hand and the wig is knotted (usually).
Lace front wig:
Hair is knotted to a specific hairline/requirements, it produces a bespoke wig that is made to measure for that one actor/client.
Hard front wig:
This has a hard swen seam at the front replacing the lace front. So on the person it looks like a harsh line. Normally these wigs has fringes to hide the 'hard front'
Machine made wigs/weft wigs:
The foundation is a stretchy material which allows it to be a 'one size fits all' style wig. Wefts are used to build up the wig, this means the styling of the wig is restricted if not inmovebale.
3/4 wig:
This sits 2-3 inches away from the wearer's hairline, with their own hair styled over he join.
Cascade:
A rectangle hairpiece that is a row of curls.
Chignon:
A hairpiece that is worn at the crown (if circle in shape) or at the nape (if rectangle in shape).
Hair extentions:
Weaven strips of hair used to ass length/volume.
Toupee:
This is a hairpiece that sits over a bald patch of a males head.
Weft:
A length of weaving, this can be made by hand or machine.
Ventilating:
Used for knotting (american term).
Cap:
This is the part of the wig that has been knotted, it is normally used when adding a fringe/partings into a weft wig.
Blocking Wig:
This is securing a wig to a block so that it can be set/styled.
Wig Terminology.
Why are wigs used?
Wigs are normally used to create a different hair line, hair colour and style from the actors own. A wig can completely change the shape of someones face depnding on the look you want to achieve.
To types of wigs.
Lace front wig - These are used when you want to have a natural hairline that blends and isn't obvious to the eye. These are more expensive and normally used for TV and and film where up close cameras are used.
Hard front wigs - When you don't need a blended look these are more suitable but still provided a full head of hair wig. These may be used in theatre when a actor is playing more than one role iwht very quick changes.
Template making.
This is the cruticle part of this process as yo do not want to get it wrong, the wig not fit and have you time and materials wasted this is not cost of time effective.
Image 18.0 - Measurement form
Knotting the wig.
Single knotting.
This is the most commonly used method, this is where you take a single hair and attach it to the lace.
Double Knotting.
This is where knots are tied twice to make absolutely secured hairs, becasue ofth edoubled knott it don't look as natural or small so this is only used on thick parts such as the crown of the hair.
Point knotting.
This is the same as single knotting but insetad of using the root you use the point, the roots are cut off. This allows the hair to lift away from the piece. This is used for create the small hairs on the naoe for a male wig and very light fringes.
Washing/dressing out and application of a wig reserach is in Makeup exploration webiste. Please refer to if needed.
Below are examples of knotted wigs set and styled out ready to apply onto the head.
Image 18.1 - Knotted wig example
Different Hair pieces.
These additional hair pieces can be attached into a wig or into someones natural hair to help achieve added thickness/length or enhance a style.
Image 18.2 & 18.3.
Image 18.4
Image 18.5, 18.6 & 18.7.
Image 18.8
Image 18.9
Image 18.10
Image 18.11
Image 18.12
Image 18.13
Weft work.
This is where hair is woven inbetween silks to create a strip of woven hair. The weft can then be used to create mulitple type of addinal hair pieces as decribed above. Wefted pieces are less expensive than knotted but the wigs are not usually used in Tv and the quality isn't as good as knotted wigs making it less suitable for this context.
Here is a recap of the types of Weaving you can do.
This weft is very fine and the hairs fly away as you finish infront of the silk.
This produces a gappy weft but is quicker moving along usually used on the inner pieces of a chingon.
This produces a slightly thicker version of fly weft with no fly away hairs. Commonly used for hair extentions.
Starting Knots. You always start a weft with one of this to secure the hair in place so it doesn't slide off.
Finishing knot this ends a weft to secure the hair preventing it coming loose.
Image 18.14 - Weaving patterns