Why do lawyers wear white wigs?

Why do judges and lawyers wear those wigs in court??

  • I mean...everyone I've ever asked always says to me "Because It's a tradition". But I wanna know why they do it...and where this "tradition" came from.

  • Answer:

    It comes from the way judges dressed in England around 1600. They just never got round to updating.

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Although English legal dress has a long history, it has for the most part evolved in the same way as common law, without written regulation. Before the 17th century lawyers did not wear wigs, but professional discipline required that their hair and beards should be moderately short. Nevertheless, the introduction of wigs into polite society in the reign of Charles II (1660-85) was an innovation which could not be resisted! After a period of disapproval, wigs were generally assumed by lawyers in the 1680s. Early wigs are difficult to identify in portraits of the period because they were of a natural colour and were sometimes combined with a lock of growing hair at the forehead. However, wigs soon became larger and increasingly stylised. By the middle of the 17th century wigs of powdered white or grey hair were the universal custom, but during George III’s reign (1760-1820) wigs went rapidly out of general use. Although bishops were given royal permission to abandon their wigs in the 1830s, this was not necessarily true of other officials. There is a story that Lord Eldon, the Lord Chancellor of the day, was refused permission to leave off his wig at court! In the 1860s the counsel were permitted to remove their wigs during a heatwave - this attracted some comment in the press and it was suggested that wigs were abandoned altogether by the legal profession. However, the proposal met with little support, though it has been a common occurrence ever since for judges to allow wigs to be left off in very hot weather, and sometimes turbans are allowed to be worn instead of wigs on religious grounds.

Doethineb

only in the uk

It is supposed to be a sign of their knowledge and intelligence, but so called learn-ed men who wear wigs and black dresses beats me, by the way in France the dresses are RED ,

Angry man

They should wear masks like all good renegades.

just the facts

It is a tradition because people in the old days who could afford wigs like rich judges wore wigs. They wore wigs because they didnt know how to cure lice.

Erin G

They are kinnda cool with them on......................! But I guess it is kinnda a protocol or a tradition & 18th century movies always presents men in all walks of life with those wigs

handofa

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