What actually happens at a wig fitting

People put off booking a fitting because they do not know what they are walking into. It is a fairly ordinary hour. Here it is in sequence.

Before you go

Wash and dry your hair, and leave it flat rather than styled up. If you normally wear a liner or braids under a wig, wear them. The measurement has to account for whatever will actually be under the cap, and a high bun on the day distorts it.

Take three things if you can. A photograph of your own hair from before, if the aim is to look like yourself. A rough idea of your budget, so nobody wastes an hour in the wrong bracket. And any wig you already own that is not working, because the reason is usually obvious to an experienced eye almost immediately.

Stage one — talking

Ten to twenty minutes, and the part that decides whether the rest goes well.

Expect questions about why you are buying, how often you plan to wear it, whether you have hair underneath, and whether anything about your scalp needs accounting for. If loss is medical, expect questions about where you are in treatment, asked matter-of-factly.

This is where to be honest rather than aspirational. Saying you will handle a long wig every morning when you know you will not produces a recommendation built on that answer.

Stage two — measuring

Five minutes, and mostly a confirmation.

Circumference along the hairline, above the ears, around the nape. Front-to-nape and ear-to-ear may be taken as well. If you measured at home, compare — and if the two disagree by more than about a quarter of an inch, ask which of you was doing what differently. Usually it is tape tension.

Stage three — trying on

Twenty to forty minutes, and the part that changes minds.

This is the thing no website can do. Lengths look different on different faces, and a bob that looked severe in a photograph frequently looks better in a mirror than the mid-length everyone assumed they wanted.

Two pieces of advice for this stage. Put on things you did not come in for — the whole value of being in the room is seeing options on your own face. And look in a mirror across the room rather than the one directly in front of you, because nobody is going to view you from eighteen inches away.

Stage four — cutting and adjusting

The part you are really paying for, and the part people forget to ask about when booking.

An off-the-shelf wig is made to a photograph, not to your face. Cutting it in means shortening the front to suit your features, thinning the crown so the density stops announcing itself, and adjusting the straps so it sits without pressure.

Ask for less than you think you want. A cut cannot be undone and thinning cannot be reversed. Any reasonable stylist will say the same thing and will be happy for you to come back.

What to ask before you leave

Some of these are much harder to ask once you have walked out.

• How do I wash it, and how often? Practice varies more than you would expect. Take their answer for the specific wig you are holding.
• How should I put this on? Watch them do it once and copy it while they watch. Ten minutes here saves months of doing it awkwardly.
• What did you take out, and can I have more taken off later? Establishes whether a return visit is normal and what it would cost.
• What will it look like in six months? A straight answer tells you a lot about the person answering.
• What is your policy if it does not work out? Ask this even if you feel awkward, and especially if you have just spent a significant amount.

Afterwards

A well-cut wig feels different from the box version in a way that is difficult to convey in advance — lighter, less uniform, more like a haircut and less like an object.

If you bought online and are taking it to a stylist rather than buying in the room, the same four stages apply minus the first. You are paying for stage four, which is the one that matters, and it is a modest cost against the price of the wig. Finding someone who will do it covers how to identify who is set up for that work.