How to choose a wig, in the order the decisions actually come

Seven things get decided when you buy a wig. Most guides list them. Fewer point out that they are not independent of each other, and that choosing them in the wrong order is how people end up with something that fits nobody’s head and suits nobody’s morning.

Here is the order, and the reasoning for it.

1. Cap size

First, because everything else is decorative if this is wrong.

A cap that does not fit is the difference between a wig you wear and a wig that lives in a box. Too tight becomes a headache at hour six. Too loose creeps backwards all day and has you touching it constantly, which is the single most attention-drawing thing you can do to a wig.

It takes five minutes and a soft tape measure. Measure your head, do it twice, and order the size the tape says rather than the size that sounds normal.

Reversible? Downwards only. Adjustable straps take a cap in by about an inch. Nothing lets one out.

2. Length

Second, because length quietly decides three other things.

It sets the weight you carry all day. It sets how much tangling you deal with at the nape, which is where wigs age fastest. And since density is effectively fixed across ready-to-wear listings, length is the only lever you have at the point of purchase for making a wig lighter.

Be honest about how often you will wear it. Daily wearers converge on 14 to 20 inches almost universally, and they get there by buying long once.

Reversible? Downwards, by a stylist. Cutting a wig shorter is routine. There is no going back.

3. Texture

Third, because it interacts with length and with how much time you are prepared to spend.

Straight is the lowest maintenance and the least forgiving — uniformity is one of the things that reads as a wig. A wave breaks that up without you doing anything. Tighter patterns need re-defining after washes.

The style pages go through what each is like to live with, including the parts that are harder.

Reversible? Partly, with heat, and at a cost to the hair. Better to buy the texture you want.

4. Lace size

Fourth, and it is a smaller decision than the internet suggests.

The choice is where your parting can go. A 13x4 gives you a parting anywhere across the front. A 13x6 adds depth, which is what you need if you want a deep side part or want to pull hair back off the face. The comparison page has the specifics.

Reversible? No. This is the one spec you genuinely cannot change afterwards.

5. Colour

Fifth, and deliberately late.

Colour is the decision people start with and the one they should finish with, because it is the least constrained and the most reversible. It is also where a wig most often goes wrong for reasons that have nothing to do with the wig — a shade that photographs beautifully under a ring light can read grey or brassy in your bathroom at eight in the morning.

Choosing a colour covers undertone and what dimensional colour does that a flat shade does not.

Reversible? Darker, yes. Lighter, no — lifting colour out of processed hair does not go well.

6. Density

Sixth, and mostly not a decision.

Ready-to-wear listings have converged on 180%. You will not be choosing between densities so much as deciding what to do about the one you are given. The two levers are buying shorter and having a stylist thin the crown after it arrives, and the second one is twenty minutes and a fraction of the price of the wig.

Reversible? Downwards, easily. This is the friendliest item on the list.

7. Attachment

Last, because it follows from everything above.

If the cap fits, glueless is enough for most people most of the time — straps, combs, and the wig’s own tension. Adhesive buys security you probably do not need for ordinary days, and it costs you removals, which is where hairlines get damaged. The glueless guide covers where the line sits.

Reversible? Entirely. You can change your mind about this weekly.

Before you press order

Two of the seven decisions above cannot be undone, which makes the seller’s terms part of the decision rather than paperwork you read afterwards. Four things are worth knowing before the money leaves, whoever you buy from.

How long you have to decide. Return windows on wigs are usually shorter than on ordinary clothing, and some start from delivery rather than from when you get round to opening the box.

What condition it has to be in. This is the one that catches people. Almost nobody accepts a wig back once the lace has been cut, and cutting the lace is the first thing most guides tell you to do. Try it on before you take scissors to anything.

Who pays return postage, and whether there is a restocking fee.

What happens if the colour is not what the photograph showed. Colour disputes are the most common reason a wig goes back, and policies differ on whether that counts as a fault or as a change of mind.

We sell through SoftWig, so for the wigs on this site the answers are on their return policy and shipping policy pages — read them there rather than taking our summary for it. If you are buying elsewhere, the same four questions apply and a seller who makes them hard to find has told you something.

The short version

Two decisions are permanent: cap size and lace size. Two are one-way: length and colour, both of which go down and not up. Three are freely changeable: density, attachment, and to a degree texture.

Spend your care in that order. Most of the regret we hear about comes from someone who agonised over shade for a week and guessed at the measurement.

If you would rather answer four questions than read seven sections, the Wig Finder produces the same spec and shows you which of your answers drove which part of it.