Hair Loss Forum

The problem with hairpieces is that they may look great when perfectly groomed, but as soon as you start to try to live your life they quickly start to look like crap.

A hairpiece is very much like a piece of clothing, especially wool clothing--both are made of "dead" hair that is no longer replenishing itself by growing new fiber.

Think of wearing a wool jacket or trousers 24/7; imagine sleeping in them, showering in them--wearing them during everything you do in the course of a weekday or weekend.

And like wool clothing, the more you wash a hairpiece, the faster it wears out. So the dirtier your activities (ocean spray, dust raised on trails, pollen on the wind, pollution in the air, sweat, bird and bug crap in the woods and fields, grease from working on or under your car, woodworking sawdust, and on and on and on), the more it will need washing.

Then ask how they would look at the end of one day, a week, a month, etc.

Like theatrical makeup, the illusion created by a hairpiece cannot be sustained in real life.

I remember asking can I wear a toupee when I wear a helmet, when I go hunting, when I go camping, when I go mountain biking, when I walk in the rain or under the bleaching summer sun, when I ski or sled in the snow, when I go swimming and scuba diving, when I'm sailing in the salt spray with lines eveywhere, when I'm in the shower with my girl, when I'm sleeping, when I practice martial arts, when I am sweating heavily, when I'm working on the car or house or in the yard, when I wrestle with my dog, etc.

And when the answer was no to all the above unless you want to look like a fool and/or buy a new hairpiece every few days--then I asked . . .

When do I get to wear it?