Men with wigs? Monks with wigs?

In the Baroque era, most educated men wore wigs as a matter of course. Some men grew their hair long and tied it back to conform to wig fashions. Many combined their long hair with a wig (the front part might be false, or just the back piece). Farmers, manual laborers and servants were exceptions: they did not wear wigs. Whether monks and priests could or should wear wigs was a matter of opinion and often required negotiations with the local bishop: some clerics were deeply convinced that they needed this head covering for health reasons. Others felt obliged to the wig because of class: being shorn made you look like a criminal or a man on the fringes of society. Those who wanted to socialize in high society were better off with a wig (Benediktiner-Museum, 1791, 2:147). 

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