I like to say that I have big hair because I was born in Texas—and everything’s bigger in Texas—but let’s talk big hair of a different kind.
You know the expression “big wig” refers to someone important or influential, but did you know that it comes from the formal wig fashion trend started with the kings of France? Rumor has it that Louis XIII went prematurely bald and began wearing a wig, and by the time of Louis XIV, wigs were an essential status symbol for the noble class.
One could show off his or her wealth through the size of a wig. Was it simple? Full of curls? Falling past one’s shoulders? Piled up high toward the sky? All that extra wig hair and the extra work to fashion it cost a lot of money.
The “big wigs” were the richest who could afford such things. They were the ones with the highest status in society. Fashion trends have strayed past the ornate powdered wigs of centuries ago, but the idiom remains.
Now don’t you feel smarter? Brainier? Of course, having a big head is a different conversation altogether.
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