Advertisement for Packwood's, 'Perfumer and Hair-Dresser', 1788

Description

Fashion and taste was nowhere more visible in Georgian society than in the clothes, hairstyles and hats of elite men and women. Hairdressing and styling developed in the second half of the 18th century, with many shops catering to new crazes for wigs and extensions, as shown in this advertisement for a ladies' hairdresser in the City of London. By the 1770s women’s hairstyles could be raised into substantial headdresses, supplemented by feathers, artificial hair, even fruit and flowers. The fashion for powdered wigs among men remained popular throughout the 18th century, evolving from long full-bottomed varieties to short ‘periwigs’ later in the century. These were easier to maintain and less susceptible to vermin infestation. A tax on hair powder levied in 1795 brought to an end the preference for wig-wearing, retained thereafter by the legal profession and at formal occasions in the royal court.