Question About Hairpiece Wearers Of The Old

[cottonReville]

Take James Stewart or Gene Kelly, for example - guys who, unlike Sean Connery - wore their pieces outside of film.

These men came from a time wear waxy/oily pomades & cremes, not water-based products like gel.

Wouldn't these hairdressings just have seeped down through the holes of their mesh - lace/mono - and disengaged the adhesive?

 

[Diesel guy]

This is a good question, Cotton. I use more product than I want to in order to keep to keep the hair less poofy, and it helps lessen the visibility of hair color as it fades with age. But I’ve wondered how it impacts my bond. I have an issue with my bond breaking down and seeping thru the mesh onto the hair. I have wondered if the product I use in my hair is accelerating the break down of the bond. So on this new unit - I am able to use less product because of better density on the unit. I"ll be interested to see how it holds out. I'm on day 5 an haven't used anything aside from 'Its a 10' leave-in conditioner.

 

[Noah]

The hairpieces of the past weren't on for long enough for the pomade to spoil the bond. The strong long-lasting adhesives that we use today were not available until the 80's or 90's. Before that, lacefront hairpieces were attached with spirit gum, which only lasts a few hours. James Stewart and Gene Kelly would have required to have their hairlines reattached several times a day when they were in the public eye. No doubt that is why they are often photographed wearing hats and caps - they were bald underneath.

 

[cottonReville]

@Noah So you really think guys like Shatner and Reynolds were just constantly reapplying some weak bond? I'm sure there was something sticky out there....

 

[Noah]

When they wore the good-looking lace front pieces, yes. Some of those old guys had great-looking exposed hairlines for films, but wore much less convincing toupees in their private lives. Shatner is a good example, as is Gene Kelly. I guess they had make-up men in constant attendance to keep the lace fronts looking perfect while they were on the studio’s time, but after work they would switch to a much lower-maintenance personal hairpiece without an exposed hairline - probably a clip-on in those days.

 

[cottonReville]

/