Is Long Hair of Your Own Even Necessary When Wigs and Weaves Are So Readily Available?

Yes I know. I can just see some of you screaming or rolling your eyes at the screen like “Just get off the wig* thing already!” Don’t wig out now (gotcha!).

I was about to let it rest but after the “spirited” discussion generated on that anti-wigs PSA post, quite a few comments sparked a thought.

I’ve had this topic at the back of my mind recently: Is long hair of your own pointless when you can rock a weave or wig* any time you want?

Some of you may not agree with me but I think that even with the best most natural looking wigs/weaves*, long hair of your own will always be more desirable.

Just ask anyone who has dentures if they wish they still had their natural teeth. Nuff said!

Hair has always held a certain prestige for us. Irrespective of cultural or racial differences, the quality of hair has always been viewed as an indicator of health, fertility and beauty.

It is for this very reason that wigs came into existence. The big wigs* of the day back then or the movers and shakers of the day were as vain as we are today or even more so.

They were the ones who set up an hierarchical system that determined your social and economic status depending on the type of wig you could afford to wear (Yep! that’s how the term “big wig” came into being).

Fast forward hundreds of years later and the wig and it’s more sophisticated cousin, the weave, are still staples of the fashion scene, so much so that it causes us to wonder if long hair is even necessary when wigs* and weaves* are so readily available and have been for so long.

Here are the reasons I believe long hair of your own is necessary in spite of the accessibility of wigs and weaves.

► Being able to grow long hair of your own gives you a psychological rush! Honestly, your strut is a little sassier when you know you don’t have to be totally dependent on some false hair. Your confidence in your appearance is multiplied since you can whip the hair you grow just as if it  were a weave*.

► You have a choice! Without your own long hair you are limited to simply buying a weave or wig to compensate.

► Growing your own long hair affirms your femininity. Sure we would like to believe that we have changed a lot since the Elizabethan era but the truth is that many of the ideals have seeped into our modernized little era. We – and our men in particular- tend to associate a woman’s ability to grow long hair with the picture of delicate femininity. Sure, he may take you with the weave* but if you have some long hair of your own he will be even more thrilled.

► Long hair is equated with sexiness. A woman with her own long hair seems to have a “come hither” effect on many men, since it seems those women are among a dying breed. Men seem to find black women with their own long hair delightfully appealing since it gives them the feeling that you are somehow more real.

► With all the things available to customize the female anatomy (booty tights, push up bras, false lashes, make-up wigs and weaves) a man finds it quite comforting knowing that he is getting the “real deal” as they say. For some men when you strip these things away his heart becomes heavy with disappointment. Even if you do come with add-ons, a man likes to know that after you remove the screen saver the actual picture is actually charming. DISCLAIMER: We are in no way implying that you cannot be beautiful without long hair.

► In the crappy economy that presently exists, long hair of your own is more affordable. Let’s face it, weaves and wigs* can become an expensive habit. Now ladies, the truth sets you free so show of hands if you have a $1000 dollar wig* on layaway. It’s really a bit hard to believe that plenty of you spend around $20,000 a year to maintain this habit. That is money that could pay off your student loan, buy yourself a car, start your own business, go into your kids’ college fund, pay down on your house. Shall I continue?

► The more fly you want to look the more elaborate or expensive the piece. You may even be tempted to take out a loan to ensure you can keep up. Now you can spend eighty percent less on your own hair since you can become your own mixologist and stylist, better yet, use a fraction of the money you would use on weaves* to style and maintain your own growth. Even if you decide to buy your Remy wholesale, at $24 – $60 dollars a bundle, you could be putting more food on your table or gas in your car.

► Having your own long hair means you won’t feel the pressure to keep up with the profiling. Most women who use wigs* or weaves* usually come under a certain amount of pressure to ensure that they remain current, so most will tend to change up their look by getting the latest design to keep up appearances. It turns into a kind of “keeping up with the Joneses” cycle.

► If you have your own long hair the pressure is lessened considerably since you can wear your own and just use the wigs and weaves as alternative styling options to shake things up a bit. However, when fashion trends dictate that long hair is in and you’ve got none of your own, the pressure to maintain your appearance can be a bit unnerving.

Let’s look at it this way, it’s necessary to grow your own hair because you can basically have your cake and eat it! You may choose to live on either side of the fence; be a wig* wearing diva or an equally sassy “natural”  (and here I use the term natural loosely) long haired chic.

But whichever way you look at it, growing your own hair is more to your advantage over relying on weaves and wigs.