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The ancient Egyptians loved pubic wigs – and now they’re making a comeback

The ancient Egyptians loved pubic wigs – and now they’re making a comeback

In the ever-changing world of fashion trends, this especially intimate accessory has lasted in one form or another since the 15th century

Graphic illustration of a classical white statue of a nude woman with googly eyes, standing behind a horizontal string of colorful triangular party bunting on a white background

Jonny Wilkes

Published: October 26, 2026 at 3:00 PM

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The history of wigs goes back at least 5-6,000 years, when the ancient Egyptians considered them a status symbol. The merkin of the early modern period, meanwhile, was not meant to show off the top of one’s head, but to cover a person’s most private of parts.

The pubic wig began to be worn by sex workers who chose to shave their nether region to stop the spread of pubic lice and still wanted to keep the natural look. Society at the time did not regard being clean shaven down there as attractive; quite the opposite, pubic hair meant health and nobility.

First appearing around 1450, merkins could be made from the hair of animals, including goats and horses, or even taken from recently deceased people. After being worn, they could be boiled or baked to kill off any lingering lice. With a major syphilis epidemic sweeping Europe at the end of the 15th century, known as the Great Pox, the merkin may have been helped in concealing the disfiguring scarring, too.

Fashion model smiling on a runway during a Vivienne Westwood show, wearing an open striped fur coat and a matching fur bikini bottom

Carla Bruni models a merkin from Vivienne Westwood's collection, 1994–95. The first merkins appeared in the mid-15th century | Credit: Getty Images

High fashion, down low

Yet despite their association with vice and venereal disease, they grew in popularity until they became an addition to the fashions of high-society women. Along with fake hair between their legs, women would also plaster their face with makeup, containing toxic chemicals, to give them the desired pale skin that was the beauty standard of the day.

It was not just on the private parts of the nobility that wigs became a much-needed accessory, either. Queen Elizabeth I of England (r1558-1603) became something of a fashion icon for her 80-plus collection of fiery red hairpieces, while Louis XIII of France (r1610-43), who grew increasingly concerned about his encroaching baldness, launched the trend of oversized, over-coiffured wigs that lasted until the 18th century.

Read more | Bear fat, false rumps and arsenic makeup: 7 of the most bizarre beauty trends from the past

Similarly, the merkin continued to be worn well into the 1700s, eventually losing their practical purpose as the result of improvements in hygiene and health. This, in turn, led to a shift in societal attitudes back to a preference for natural pubic hair. So much so that it became common practice among men to keep hair samples from their lovers as souvenirs.

Among the collections of the museum of St Andrews University, Scotland, is a small snuff box that once belonged to the Prince Regent (the future King George IV). It had formerly been filled with the pubic hairs of one of his mistresses.

Product grid showcasing six pairs of thin-strapped string thongs, each featuring faux hair patches in different shades and textures, set against a white background

The range of merkins available in Kim Kardashian's SKIMS collection – the latest in a long line of pubic wigs through history | Credit: SKIMS

Modern merkins

The merkin did not entirely disappear into historical obscurity, though. For instance, movie actresses have worn them during nude scenes to preserve their modesty or to get around censorship laws.

Read more | 12 modern trends with surprisingly ancient roots

Moreover, the world of fashion has occasionally enjoyed the headline-grabbing scandal caused by the launch of a new genital hairpieces, from Vivienne Westwood in the 1990s to Kim Kardashian’s ‘faux hair’ thong in 2025.

Authors

Jonny WilkesFreelance writer

Jonny Wilkes is a former staff writer for BBC History Revealed, and he continues to write for both the magazine and HistoryExtra. He has BA in History from the University of York.