Did george washington wear a wig?

The hair we all thought was a wig? Well, it wasn't a wig. “Contrary to a common belief,” writes biographer Ron Chernow in his Pulitzer Prize-winning Washington: A Life, George Washington “never wore a wig.” I'm stunned. Illustration of George Washington on a quarter. Illustration by Wendy MacNaughton. read more

It may also have been the fashion in America to wear less elaborate wig styles, if one wore a wig at all. By the late 18th century, wigs were starting to go out of style. So Washington could have been fashion-forward in his military simplicity. read more

Washington did not wear a wig. Even though wigs were fashionable, George Washington kept his own hair, which he wore long and tied back in a queue, or ponytail. Washington did, however, powder his hair which was the custom of the time. read more

Myers, the wig scholar, says that’s why Washington bunched his ponytail into a silk bag, to keep from leaving a white windshield wiper splay of powder on his back when he was dancing with the ladies (which he liked to do). read more