Though hairstyles are constantly changing, there are usually strictly enforced cultural norms, beyond which it is forbidden to deviate. These norms are enforced by rules in schools and on the job as well as by social pressure.
Throughout history, hair has been shaped and decorated to announce its wearer's place in society. In ancient Egypt, nobility was denoted by a bald, shaved head which was then covered by thick, black wigs made of wool, palm fibers, or human hair, braided and decorated. Ancient Romans made marble wigs for their statues in order to update them as hairstyles changed. They changed often, according to one Roman writer: "It would be easier to count the acorns on an oak tree … than to count the number of new hairstyles that appear every day."
In fifteenth-century Europe, a high forehead was prized, and Elizabethan women plucked their hair out to the very tops of their heads. Queen Elizabeth herself had more than eighty red wigs to make sure that her hairstyle was always in perfect condition. Louis XIV brought wigs into fashion in early eighteenth-century France when he wore them to conceal his balding head.
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