Has it truly been thirty one years since our beloved CATS opened?  Wow. Do you know where I was thirty one years ago? Non existent, that’s where.  (Okay, technically I was non existent…)

Since I’m terrible at celebrations, all I will say is: Happy Birthday 31st, CATS.  Thank you for changing the world of musical theatre and bringing a spectacle to the stage.  Thank you Andrew for thinking T.S Eliot poetry would make excellent music, and thank you Trevor Nunn and Gillian Lynn for being the boss people you are.

(Geez, if I’m this corny for their 31st birthday, I can only imagine when we reach the good old 50…)

So, the neverending debate continues of “What should I make my wig from?”.  The answer depends on what you want from your costume, really.  Are you trying to replicate the stage costumes as authentically as possible, or are you wanting to add your own flair to the costume?  Are you going to wear the costume for a couple of photoshoots where you’re carefully posing, or are you going to spend hours rolling on the floor?  Are you taking the costume to a convention where you’re going to get petted and your ears pulled, or will no-one touch your wig but yourself?  Will you wear it once then put it away, or do you want years of use from the wig?

I’m no expert wig maker, however I have been in possession of wigs made of all the main fibres used for wigs.  I can’t tell you all the ins and outs of making, but I do know how they wear.

YAK HAIR.

This is the material of the authentic wigs.  It’s hard wearing, takes colour well, and is the best choice for the professionals.  It’s what you’re trying to copy if you are making a costume as stage-accurate as possible.   Authentic wigs are fully hand tied, and cost thousands of pounds each. The yak may not be cheap, but it’s the weeks of work that go into each wig that cost so much.  But these wigs do last for years of abuse, with actors sweat, dust and mauling onstage every night.  They can be washed and restyled without worry.  Yak hair is crisp and bouncy, with a slight kink to it that gives it body and holds shape well.  It’s relatively shiny too, catching light and refracting colours because it’s a natural hair.

The downside to using yak hair is the elements that make the authentic wigs so costly - the time needed to hand tie every. single. hair. 

CREPE HAIR

Crepe hair is a form of wool.  It is most commonly sold for dolls’ hair, and fake beards in theatrical use.  As such it comes in a good range of natural colours plus some primaries.  Crepe wool is very soft and pretty, which is both an advantage and a disadvantage.  It’s very pettable, but is easily mussed up, and needs a lot of hairspray to hold its shape.  It is moderately pricey.  It is sold in braids, and in order to use for wig making the hair needs to be ironed out to give you the smooth fibres. 

Crepe hair can be hand tied like the authentic wigs, but is commonly glued to a wig cap.  The preparation time is considerably higher than making with Kanekalon wigs, and the maximum fibre length is quite short - it is not suitable for making wigs of any great length.

KANEKALON (fake hair)

Kanekalon is a type of fake hair used commonly for extensions and dreds.  It is cheap, easy to come by, and remarkably close to yak hair in texture.  It is available in a wide range of both natural and artificial colours, and the fibres blend well to produce further subtle shades.  It requires no preparation before using to make wigs, you simply cut from the hank of hair.  The maximum length of the fibres is somewhere around 36” - it is sold in packets folded in half.

The downside to Kanekalon is that it is plastic.  It melts under high heat (which is in some ways an advantage - when using with hot glue, the hair inside the glue melts into a plug and is easily laid in one direction), and it is shiny.  However the shine is almost identical to that of yak hair!  It is not particularly soft to the touch, and does feel plasticky.

YARN WIGS

One of the oldest methods within the Cats fandom is using- and abusing - yarn to make wigs.  Originally it was acrylic rug yarn that was found to have long enough fibres to make into wigs, but now wool is preferable.  Some types of yarn are composed of long enough fibres to be brushed out and used in wig making - however many yarns are not suitable.  Those which will work tend to have similar characteristics to crepe wool - very soft, often natural fibres, needing a lot of preparation and maintenance to result in a very soft, pettable wig.

However my example here is real old-school, this is an acrylic yarn so more plasticky than crepe - it’s not designed to resemble hair.  This wig has been sprayed to give a wider range of colours than the original yarn provided. Since the fibres were never intended to be fluffed out like this, they tend to flop and get matted up easily.  This type of wig requires a lot of maintenance, and in the time I have had this particular wig I have never managed to get it looking good.

KANEKALON or CREPE?

Here we have two wigs, both handmade. Compare the black fibres - Kanekalon on the left, Crepe on the right.  And, if you will, scroll back to the top and look at the close-up on the black Yak hair.  You can see that the kanekalon fibres are about twice as thick as the crepe, kanekalon is shinier, and holds the kinks more.  Crepe requires a lot of hairspray to hold its shape - you can see the hair is a bit clumpy here from being sprayed.  Crepe is a subtler fibre than Kanekalon, but Kanekalon is more like Yak. 

Which is better?  well…

For imitating the authentics - Kanekalon

For ease of use - Kanekalon

Budget - Kanekalon

Pettability - Crepe

Natural fur-look - Crepe

Allergy possibility - Kanekalon

Holding style - Kanekalon

Longevity - draw

Availability - draw

Colour range - Kanekalon (just!  depends on supplier)

My personal preference is Kanekalon because I tend to want wigs to be hard-wearing, easy to style, and I’m more interested in replicating the look of the authentics than creating a natural fluffy look.   But that’s my personal priorities, you may well disagree!