Dolly Parton was once asked how long it takes to do her hair. To which she answered: “I wouldn’t know. I’m never there!”. It was my hairdresser who first told me just how many celebrities are wearing wigs on the red carpet. I know it’s naive, but it just didn’t occur to me that it wasn’t their real hair! Lady Gaga? Wig. Kylie Jenner? Wig. Nicole Kidman? Wig. Everyone’s at it! Apparently, hairdressers have to explain this to a lot of clueless women like me, who come into the salon with an “inspo pic” that is a wig and not real hair – and certainly not something that is achievable in under an hour at Supercuts.

I am not someone who has any experience of wig wearing, beyond donning a cheap, plastic rug for Halloween. I didn’t grow up with wigs, and I am fortunate enough not to have any health conditions that can result in hair loss. They’re just not in my wheelhouse.

Perhaps I would have known more about them if I was American because this is where the biggest wig market is, accounting for a whopping 36.38 per cent of the market share in 2025. Alas, I am just a bog standard, white woman from the north of England who foolishly thought Kim Kardashian’s hair was her own. I am a fashion wig virgin and last week I decided to pop my cherry and discover if I am missing out.

In case you missed it too, wigs are freaking huge right now. The global hair wig market was valued at $2.68bn (£1.97bn) in 2025 and is projected to reach $4bn (£2.9bn) by 2034. I don’t know much about........

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