This article provides a brief introduction to the different types of wig caps that may be used in the construction of a wig. It does not go into as much technical detail as some other articles you may find on the internet as this intended to be a simple guide that for those new to wigs.
Put simply, the cap upon which a wig construction is based has an effect on what you can do with your wig, how it looks, and ultimately, is one of the main contributors to the price you pay for it. Which type of wig is right for you will depend a great deal on why you wear it (necessity, fashion, etc), how often you plan to wear it and how much you plan to spend.
Regular Caps
There are a number of terms which are used for this type of wig cap; regular cap, machine-made cap, wefted cap, etc. Below is a picture of a wig of this type which has been turned inside out:
There is a large section at the top of the wig which is made from a lace-type material, from which thin lace strips radiate to the edges of the wig. Onto this base, wefts of hair/fibre are sewn horizontally in layers. The wefts are made by sewing the hair/fibre onto thin material in long strips first; if you think of how a grass skirt looks when opened out, with strands hanging down from the fabric they are attached to at the top; then this is how the wefts look.
As most of the work involved in making this kind of wig can be done on a sewing machine, this is the quickest and easiest type of wig to make, and is also the cheapest to buy.
Below is a picture of the outside of this type of wig, taken from above. As you can see, the parting does not look particularly natural, and this is limitation of this type of wig in that you cannot change how it is styled to any great extent. In many cases though, particularly if simply worn occasionally as a fashion item, this is quite acceptable.
Monofilament Caps
Monofilament refers to the translucent fine mesh material used in this type of wig. If you look at the picture below, you will see that, on the particular wig pictured, it replaces the lace crown section we saw on the wefted cap wig we saw previously:
This fine mesh material allows fibres to be inserted through it, one at a time, and hand knotted on the inside to attach them. Because this technique is much more labour intensive, monofilament wigs tend to be more expensive - the greater the proportion of monofilament used, the higher the cost.
The advantages of this approach however are that it allows the hairs/fibres in this area of the wig to behave much more naturally as they are not attached in anyway to their neighbours like they are in wefted sections. This means that the hair/fibre can be parted anywhere within the monofilament section. Because the mesh is translucent, the scalp of the wig wearer is also allowed to show through to a certain extent and the parting looks much more like that of natural hair, as shown below:
Other advantages of the monofilament are that they lighter and more breathable and therefore cooler to wear.
Note that we would refer to the example shown here as a “three quarter” monofilament, because of the size of the monofilament section. A “full mono” would have a slightly larger monofilament section. There are also other terms such as “mono crown” (just a small section at the crown is monofilament), mono part (just a small section either side of the pre-chosen parting position), invisiline (monofilament at the fringe), are used to refer to the different combinations and relative sizes of monofilament of wefted areas used by different manufacturers in their various products.
