“If your hair gone with the wind?”
– sign in a wig shop, Stepney, Tower Hamlets, London

Men’s Wigs, High Rd, Leyton, Waltham Forest, 1989
People were keen to fix their hair in the 1980s. Before the buzzcut became the norm for men with a thinning thatch and hair extensions for women became popular, Peter Marshall spotted high street shops selling wigs. As he walked around London, he took pictures of what was on sale.
There was a plenty of choice. At one shop, you could get the full set: a human hair wig (£125) plus beard (£24.90) and moustache (£4.50).
Let’s take a look around…

Wigs for sale, Stepney, Tower Hamlets, London

High Rd, Leyton, Waltham Forest, 1989

Streatham, Lambeth, 1996,

Stoke Newington High St, Stoke Newington, Hackney, 1989

Leyton, Waltham Forest, 1989

Wig sale, London, 1987

Wig, High Rd, Bruce Grove,Tottenham, Haringey

Wig shop, Stepney, Tower Hamlets, 1994

Maurice, Long & Short Hair Stylists, 345, Commercial Rd, Whitechapel, Tower Hamlets, 1986

King George V Dock, Royal Albert Dock, Newham, 1984

Kilburn Lane:Regent St, Kensal Rise, Brent, 1981

Joyces Hair Fashions, Romford St, Whitechapel, Tower Hamlets, 1986,

Heads, Wigs, shop, Streatham High Rd, Streatham, Lambeth

Heads, Wigs, shop, Streatham High Rd, Streatham, Lambeth, 1990

Head, Wigs, shop, Streatham High Rd, Streatham, Lambeth, 1990

Hairdresser, Hornsey Rd, Holloway, Islington, 1990,

Hairdresser, Hornsey Rd, Holloway, Islington, 1990

Hairdresser, Fulham, Hammersmith & Fulham, 1990

Hairdresser, Chapel Rd, Ilford, Redbridge, 1992

American Dream, Human Hair, Cowley Rd, Acton, Ealing
More hair in the archives.
Follow Peter Marshall on Flickr.
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