# Why did parliamentarians start wearing those funny white wigs? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 17, 1999, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-parliamentarians-start-wearing-those-funny-white-wigs/5425 "1999-12-17T23:33:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![voltaire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voltaire/32/313_2.png) [@voltaire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/voltaire)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 1999, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-parliamentarians-start-wearing-those-funny-white-wigs/5425/1 "1999-12-17T23:33:00Z")
You know the wigs I’m talking about, the funny looking white ones with the curls. I believe the custom originated in the British Parliament and was carried over to the early parliamentary proceedings here in America. What’s the straight dope on those? I mean, who decided that they should wear them and why? I know it was a different time and place with different customs, but come on, how could they take each other seriously. Those things were so silly! (If this has been previously covered, don’t blame me, blame that infernal search-engine) ---
**Author:** ![handy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5a626/32.png) [@handy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handy)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 1999, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-parliamentarians-start-wearing-those-funny-white-wigs/5425/2 "1999-12-18T00:29:00Z")
While you wreak, you might want to take into account the wisdom of James Brown, who said ``` "Sometimes you like to let the hair do the talking." ``` ---
**Author:** ![Rich\_Hall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ebca7d/32.png) [@Rich\_Hall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rich_Hall)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 1999, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-parliamentarians-start-wearing-those-funny-white-wigs/5425/3 "1999-12-18T00:50:00Z")
It goes well with their pantyhose. ---
**Author:** ![Jois](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ea666f/32.png) [@Jois](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jois)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 1999, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-parliamentarians-start-wearing-those-funny-white-wigs/5425/4 "1999-12-18T01:15:00Z")
Shouldn’t we be asking **you**? * * * Oh, I’m gonna keep using these #%@&\* codes 'til I get 'em right. ---
**Author:** ![voltaire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voltaire/32/313_2.png) [@voltaire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/voltaire)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 1999, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-parliamentarians-start-wearing-those-funny-white-wigs/5425/5 "1999-12-18T16:58:00Z")
> [@](#): > > While you wreak, you might want to take into account the wisdom of James Brown, who said {sniffing armpits}…You mean I wreak that much that you can smell it from over there? ---
**Author:** ![SanibelMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e4f/32.png) [@SanibelMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanibelMan)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 1999, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-parliamentarians-start-wearing-those-funny-white-wigs/5425/6 "1999-12-18T17:16:00Z")
Voltaire, please shower before you come to the meeting. And check your E-mail - it’ll be this Tuesday now, in Tampa, and I want to know who’s coming. Sorry, you can have your thread back now. ---
**Author:** ![voltaire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voltaire/32/313_2.png) [@voltaire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/voltaire)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 1999, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-parliamentarians-start-wearing-those-funny-white-wigs/5425/7 "1999-12-18T19:58:00Z")
> [@](#): > > Voltaire, please shower before you come to the meeting. Why? I’ve already taken my shower for December! > [@](#): > > And check your E-mail - Oh, thanks for reminding me, I **haven’t** done my email check for the month of December yet! 🙂 > [@](#): > > it’ll be this Tuesday > now, in Tampa, and I want to know who’s > coming. Sorry, no dice. I’ve gotta work that day, and it’ll be a busy day at that. Getting all the last minute y2k patches in place at all of our remote sites. Sorry dude, maybe next time we could do a Peace River trip and I’ll be able to make it. P.S. I’ll check my email and respond, in case you’re not checking back at this thread. P.P.S. Sorry in advance to everyone for the OT. ---
**Author:** ![handy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5a626/32.png) [@handy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handy)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 1999, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-parliamentarians-start-wearing-those-funny-white-wigs/5425/8 "1999-12-18T22:20:00Z")
The rule of the Pelhams from United Kingdom, history of Defeating the rebellion also strengthened the position of the Pelhams. In February 1746, George II attempted to replace them with Granville but failed. Thereafter Henry Pelham and Newcastle insisted upon and received the king’s full confidence. The attempted invasion widened once again the gulf between the Whig and Tory parties. The Whigs… ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 1999, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-parliamentarians-start-wearing-those-funny-white-wigs/5425/9 "1999-12-19T03:31:00Z")
Oops! Sorry, I thought we were talking about George Clinton’s “Parliament,” which I had not previously seen wearing powdered wigs. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 1999, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-parliamentarians-start-wearing-those-funny-white-wigs/5425/10 "1999-12-19T03:41:00Z")
I don’t think you can safely say there’s anything that the members of P-Funk haven’t tried wearing. Come to think of it, they might clash with the feathered boas. * * * Elmer J. Fudd, Millionaire. I own a mansion and a yacht. ---
**Author:** ![Jois](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ea666f/32.png) [@Jois](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jois)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 1999, 6:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-parliamentarians-start-wearing-those-funny-white-wigs/5425/11 "1999-12-19T06:20:00Z")
Long ago there might have been a good reason why people powdered their hair and somewhere near that time powdered wigs were worn, too. Whatever the reason was, I forget it, if I ever knew. But white wigs in court or parliament are hold overs from a time when they were commonly worn in every day life by real people. It is a kind of conservatism. Tradition (whether it is a form or set of words or way of acting) lends weight to the activity or adds authority, let’s say. It would probably tend to de-personalize the authorities in the courtroom, make them seem colder and more distant and above the ordinary person. Maybe it made the members of “parliament” act with more dignity towards each other and their duty - but that’s a guess. If they are as badly behaved as our congressmen it would take more than wigs and robes… ---
**Author:** ![Bubba\_blue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e19b73/32.png) [@Bubba\_blue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bubba_blue)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 1999, 11:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-parliamentarians-start-wearing-those-funny-white-wigs/5425/12 "1999-12-19T11:50:00Z")
Jois is right: in the eighteenth century, anyone who could afford to wore a wig. When styles changed, some institutions held on to the old ways. Why wigs in the first place? Apparently it’s rather painful and time-consuming to be deloused; a wig, however, can be deloused regularly without the wearer being inconvenienced. Most people who could afford to shaved their heads and wore a wig in public. Why were lice such a problem? This was back before sewage treatment. Water was contaminated, and regular bathing was more dangerous than remaining dirty. Ah, the good old days. Don’t ask me about the powder; maybe it was meant to discourage vermin, or maybe it was just fashionable. ---
**Author:** ![UncleBeer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/977dab/32.png) [@UncleBeer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleBeer)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 1999, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-parliamentarians-start-wearing-those-funny-white-wigs/5425/13 "1999-12-19T14:56:00Z")
I can’t answer your question but I believe those wigs were called, “perukes” or “periwigs.” * * * “There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences.” ~P.J. O’Rourke~ ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 1999, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-parliamentarians-start-wearing-those-funny-white-wigs/5425/14 "1999-12-19T15:07:00Z")
I believe that in Georgian Britain, most professionals could be identified by the style of wig they wore; physician, solicitor, banker, landlord, Army and Navy officers. My guess is that the legal trade retained their wigs as a badge of honor that distinquishes them from other professionals. * * * Elmer J. Fudd, Millionaire. I own a mansion and a yacht. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 1999, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-parliamentarians-start-wearing-those-funny-white-wigs/5425/15 "1999-12-19T15:26:00Z")
Interestingly, from what I’ve heard and read, many FEMALE barristers and M.P.s, including those on the far left of the political spectrum (the people you’d think would ridicule the robes and wigs as archaic) actually LIKE them. NOT because they’re traditional, but because they make everyone in the chamber look essentially the same. Thus, courtroom or parliamentarian observers CAN’T spend time looking at and analyzing how a woman is DRESSED (as they did to poor Marcia CLark every day for months), but must actually pay attention to what she’s saying. ---
**Author:** ![dlv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/5f9b8f/32.png) [@dlv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dlv)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 1999, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-parliamentarians-start-wearing-those-funny-white-wigs/5425/16 "1999-12-19T17:05:00Z")
I recall reading that the British took to wearing wigs because some queen was bald and wore one. All her loyal subjects (MPs, judges, etc) did too; and being British they never stopped even after she was gone. ---
**Author:** ![Erik\_Raven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/c4cdca/32.png) [@Erik\_Raven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Erik_Raven)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 1999, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-parliamentarians-start-wearing-those-funny-white-wigs/5425/17 "1999-12-19T21:53:00Z")
Uhhh… I don’t think MPs wear wigs And the dubious use of the word “parliamentarian” in the topic is really bugging me. ---
**Author:** ![TomH](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/90db22/32.png) [@TomH](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TomH)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 1999, 10:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-parliamentarians-start-wearing-those-funny-white-wigs/5425/18 "1999-12-20T10:49:00Z")
I think that the wigs were just the normal fashion in the 18th Century, and they stuck. In the UK, they’re worn by lawyers and judges in court as well. The Speaker of the House of Commons used to wear one but the present one does not. ---
**Author:** ![John\_W.Kennedy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_w.kennedy/32/1031_2.png) [@John\_W.Kennedy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_W.Kennedy)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 1999, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-parliamentarians-start-wearing-those-funny-white-wigs/5425/19 "1999-12-20T15:56:00Z")
Yes, it was a fashion, starting with the Restoration. (The change to white was later.) The word “wig” is short for “periwig”. * * * John W. Kennedy “Compact is becoming contract; man only earns and pays.” – Charles Williams ---
**Author:** ![handy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5a626/32.png) [@handy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handy)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 1999, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-parliamentarians-start-wearing-those-funny-white-wigs/5425/20 "1999-12-20T16:19:00Z")
Which came from ‘peruke’: pe•ruke \pe-"ruk\ noun [MF perruque, fr. OIt parrucca, perrucca hair, wig] (ca. 1573) : wig; specif : one of a type popular from the 17th to the early 19th century pe•ruked -"rukt\ adjective ©1996 Zane Publishing, Inc. and Merriam-Webster, Incorporated. All rights reserved.