History

• The word "toupee" comes from the French word for "top." Toupees have a long history because of the general bias against balding in most civilizations, which had its foundations as early as 3,100 B.C. The earliest examples of toupees were found in the pyramids of ancient Egypt. Julius Caesar is known to have worn toupees. The toupee became popular in the United States beginning in the 1800s. Sears Roebuck sold toupees in its mail-order catalog in 1900. In the 1950s, great advancements were made in making toupees that looked natural. Max Factor, a leading cosmetic manufacturer, made toupees using hair woven into almost invisible, flesh-colored lace. Manufacturers started advertising their special toupee brands in the 1950s. Today the largest manufacturer of hairpieces, including toupees, is Aderans, a Japanese company.
  
  

Features

• Toupees can cover small areas or the entire scalp. Ready-made toupees are available off the shelf, or toupees can be custom-made when customers require a nuanced shade or want the very best quality. A toupee can even be made with the hair of the person who will wear it. Toupees are held in place using adhesive or tape, or by weaving the toupee into the wearer's natural hair.
  
  

Psychological Effects

• Besides covering bald spots, toupees also play a psychological role in helping people recover their self-esteem. Both men and women can feel unattractive without a full head of hair. They may feel less confident socially and even become depressed. Toupees can restore their joie de vivre.
  
  

Considerations

• The color of the toupee must match the hair of the wearer. An artificial-looking toupee can look worse than a bald patch. The style of the toupee should also match the hairstyle and hair texture of the user. The wearer should try both a human hair toupee and a synthetic hair toupee to see if one looks markedly better than the other. Wearers must do a patch test if the toupee is to be fixed using adhesive, because some scalps may have an allergic reaction to the adhesive.
  
  

Benefits

• Toupees are temporary hairpieces, and this is their main benefit. They do not require any invasive or surgical procedure to cover a bald patch. Toupees come in a range of styles and colors, and wearers can change their look easily by changing their toupee. Wearing a toupee is affordable, but surgical processes such as hair implants are expensive. Even if a toupee is custom-made, it costs less than a surgical procedure.