Why Do Judges Wear Wigs?

Have you ever wondered? Why do judges wear wigs? Well, the short answer is Colonialism and British Raj. The costumes worn by judges are just about the most distinctive working wardrobe in existence. But that’s not altogether surprising: after all, not many uniforms have had seven centuries to evolve……. The judges who decide someone’s life and death, if they wear a wig it is very difficult to take them seriously. There was a time when every person used to despair in the crowd with this kind of look. Strange as it might seem now, when judges first started wearing robes and wigs they probably wouldn’t have stood out on the street.

The costume of a High Court judge, for example – a long robe, a full hood with a cowl covering the shoulders, and a mantle (or cloak) – was more or less established by the time of Edward III (1327-77) and was based on the correct dress for attending the royal court.

 This dress code was considered suitable for the courtroom. In 1660, in the era of Charles II, the first appearance of these wigs was found. The judiciary, however, took some time to convince; portraits of judges from the early 1680s still show judges defiantly sporting their own natural hair, and wigs do not seem to have been adopted wholesale until 1685. In 1760, the era of George III, the wig fashion started. These wigs are made up of horse hairs. These wigs were not used for beauty but their reason was something else. Because of unhygienic conditions, the people in Britain got lices in their hairs and they had hair loss because of sexually transmitted diseases. To avoid this, they started wearing wigs. The wigs style changed till 1780 because judges wanted them to stand out. Judges wore only full-bottomed wigs until the 1780s, when the less formal, and smaller, bob-wig, with frizzed sides rather than curls, and a short tail or queue at the back, was adopted for civil trials.

The full-bottomed wig continued to be used for criminal trials until the 1840s, but is today reserved for ceremonial dress; smaller wigs are used on a day-to-day basis.

That wig trend doesn’t have any relation with our religion or culture. This trend started in Britain and prevailed there for a long time. Now, this trend has changed a bit.