Barrister’s Wig

In certain circumstances, both barristers and judges wear wigs as part of their court dress. Judges and barristers wear different wigs. The style of wig also changes for different occasions. Before the seventeenth century, the legal profession in Europe did not wear a prescribed wig or head-dress. Wigs of this period were grand and oversized. Wigs of the late seventeenth and eighteenth centuries needed constant maintenance. In 1822, Humphrey Ravenscroft patented the ‘forensic wig,’ a style featuring fixed curls which didn’t require frizzing, curling or pomatum. Today, barristers still wear the forensic wig. Judges wear a simplified form of this wig, known as the ‘bench’ or ‘tie’ wig for general court duties.