The difference between a lace front wig and a hard front wig

The difference between a lace front wig and a hard front wig is a topic that comes up a lot! Custom Wig Company’s founder Heather explains how a lace front wig is different from a hard front wig in this quick video. Not a fan of video? Scroll past it for a quick break down and photo.

The main difference between a hard front and lace front wig is whether the wig is intended to look like it’s the wearer’s own hair!

Most wigs we build here at Custom Wig Co have a very fine ‘stage grade’ lace front. They are intended to look like the wearer is NOT wearing a wig.

But sometimes a custom wig needs to look like a wig. Most often, that happens when the wig in question is a historical piece that needs to look like an overt wig from the 17th or 18th century.

The goal with an overt hard front wig isn’t realism, it’s historical accuracy.  We create a very heavy, stylized edge on the wig. It’s not fooling anyone and it’s not supposed to!

So how do you know which is right for you wig? In most cases, if your goal is a wig that looks like you’re growing it yourself, you want a custom wig with a lace front. But if you are in the market for an authentic looking 17th or 18th century wig, consider a wig with a hard front.

A historically styled custom wig with a lace front.

A historically inspired wig with a hard front.

One final note –

There was a time when most machine made or mass produced wigs had a hard front edge. That edge was generally concealed by styling the wig with bangs or by combing hair over the front edge to conceal it. The only way to get a with with a natural looking lace edge was to have one made by a wig builder.

Those wigs were a different kind of ‘hard front’ wig but the intention was still to give the impression (at least in most cases) that the person wasn’t wearing a wig. You can still find this type of wig, though it’s no longer the default option for mass-produced wigs!

In due course, machine made wigs began to have lace edges. The lace on machine-made, mass produced wigs is generally stiffer and thicker than that used for custom wigs but still provides a much more realistic and flexible hairline.