Hair/ Circa 1700s

France was the center point of fashion in the 1700s and thus the focus herein (i.e. Paris and Versailles). A curious development regarding hair occurred in the 1700s when King Louis XIII, displeased with his male pattern baldness, commenced wearing wigs and such "fashion" was then adopted by others and also wigs were adopted by King Charles II of England, likewise not fond of the thinning of his hair)(1600s)...and such trend continued to and included the time of King Louis XIV of France to King Louis XVI. Also, this provided a tidy solution to ridding one of lice (shaving and wearing a wig instead) or as prevention thereof as such was a problem in the 1700s. Women adopted this, in particular in the latter part of the 1700s, when Marie Antoinette wore increasingly high and elaborate hair, so did the ladies who could afford such hair treatment. This included wigs with wire caging and elaborate adornments. In the latter 1700s, powder was increasingly used to so that this increased hair size could be all uniform in color as one's own hair was insufficient and thus other hair had to be used...and often then could be matched with a person's own hair (if powdered) if visible. Men also felt it made them look wise. Women often opted for pastels as well (light blue, pink or lavender). Obviously the intricacies of such hair made it difficult to be washed frequently...thus "back scratchers" (sticks with tiny claws) were carried by women (e.g. at Versailles) who could then insert the stick carefully into the intricate curls and scratch any itches due to lice! Oh, my! In the 1780s, Marie Antoinette became disgusted with politics and withdrew from the Court and began to (when not dressed for state occasions) wear simpler clothes as did others (this was the time she took to dressing and distracting herself by pretending she was an Alpine shepherdess at Versailles). Simpler styles of England and the United States began to take hold also in France (and thus elsewhere in Europe). Of course, the French Revolution of 1789 made it very uncool to continue this wig/fancy hair trend as it was a sign of aristocracy (not a good thing at the time). Thus the trend stopped.