How a bespoke wig is measured and made

Most people have never seen how a wig is actually made, and the ones sold ready-to-wear give a misleading impression. A bespoke wig is closer to a tailored jacket than to a product on a shelf. Here is what happens between the first conversation and the day you walk out wearing it.

1. The consultation — before anything is measured

The first appointment is mostly looking and listening. We look at what hair you still have, how your scalp behaves, where your natural parting falls, and how your hairline sits at the temples. We ask how you live: whether you commute in Manila traffic, whether you swim, whether you wear it every day or for particular occasions. A wig for someone who takes it off each evening is built differently from one worn continuously.

We also ask what you want it to do. Some people want to look exactly as they did before. Others take the opportunity to change something. Both are legitimate, and they lead to different decisions later.

2. The measurements — nine of them

A head is not a sphere and no two are alike. We take nine measurements: circumference, front to nape, ear to ear across the forehead, ear to ear over the crown, temple to temple around the back, the nape width, and three depth points. They are taken with the hair flat, and taken twice.

If any measurement is out by more than a few millimetres, the base will either lift at the nape or press at the temples. That is the single most common reason a wig feels wrong, and it is almost always a measurement problem rather than a hair problem.

3. Choosing the hair

We work with European virgin hair — unprocessed, with the cuticle intact and running in one direction. That matters more than it sounds. Hair that has been stripped and re-coloured tangles against itself, and it dulls after a few washes. Cuticle-intact hair behaves like your own because structurally it is the same thing.

Colour is matched against your own hair, in daylight, at the roots and at the ends separately. Most natural hair is not one colour. A wig that is one flat colour reads as a wig from across a room, even when everything else is right.

4. The base — built to your head

The base is the part nobody sees and everybody feels. Which one suits you depends on the answers from the first appointment.

• Lace front — for an undetectable hairline. The knots sit in fine lace that disappears against the skin, so the hair appears to grow out of your forehead. It is the most natural option at the front and the most delicate to handle.
• Monofilament top — for a natural parting. Each hair is knotted individually into a fine mesh, so the parting can be moved and the scalp shows through where it should.
• Silk top — the knots are hidden under a silk layer, so even close up there is no visible knotting. The most convincing at conversational distance.

In the Philippine climate, breathability is not a luxury. A base that traps heat becomes uncomfortable by midday, and discomfort is what makes people stop wearing something they paid for.

5. In the atelier — six to eight weeks

This is where our own factory matters, and not for the reason people assume. It is not mainly about cost. It is that we can see the piece while it is being made, correct it mid-build, and answer a question about your wig by walking down the hall rather than sending an email to another country and waiting.

The knotting is done by hand, hair by hair. A full wig takes an experienced maker weeks. The direction each hair is knotted determines how it falls, which is why a hand-knotted piece can be parted anywhere and a machine-wefted one cannot.

6. The fitting and the cut-in

The wig arrives uncut. That surprises people, but a wig cut before it is on your head is cut to a mannequin, not to your face. At the fitting we check the base first — nape, temples, front edge — and adjust before a single scissor touches it.

Then it is cut in, on you, the way any good haircut is. This is the appointment that decides whether it looks like your hair or like a wig, and it is worth not rushing.

The questions, in short

How long does a bespoke wig take?

Six to eight weeks. Selecting and matching the hair, building the base and hand-knotting all take time, and rush work shows.

Do I need to shave my head?

No. The base is built around the hair you have.

Can you match my natural colour exactly?

Almost always. We match in daylight, roots and ends separately.

What if it does not fit at the fitting?

It gets adjusted. That is what the fitting is for.

Where we stand on this

A bespoke wig is not the right answer for everyone. If you need something for a single occasion, or you are in the middle of treatment and your situation is still changing, a ready-to-wear piece is the sensible choice and we will tell you so. Bespoke makes sense when you will wear it daily, over a long period, and it has to hold up to people who know you.

If you are not sure which of those describes you, that is exactly what a consultation is for — and a consultation is ₱500, credited against anything you go ahead with.