Making Headway : Easy-to-Wear Hairpieces, Turbans and Hats Can Stylishly Conceal Trouble Spots or Give a New Look

Whether they’re having a bad hair day or have no hair at all, women are finding new ways to cover their heads.

Forget the stiff-looking, helmet-like wigs of the past. Today women who want to augment their tresses can not only find more natural-looking wigs, but a variety of easy-to-wear hairpieces, head wraps, turbans and hats that either cover an entirely bald scalp or give a full head of hair extra oomph for a night on the town.

“Plenty of women weren’t born with the hair they wanted to have,” says Neil Letham, director of the Jose Eber Salon in South Coast Plaza, Costa Mesa.

Those who just want more of it can find hairpieces that fasten onto their locks as easily as a barrette. Jose Eber offers a Secret Hair extension system that includes five clip-ons, wefts of hair attached to a metal clip that add length and volume, and a circle enhancer that adds fullness to the area of the scalp where hair might be sparse.

“It gives you more hair to play with,” Letham says.

“On certain days women want to look different than they normally look,” he says. “This gives them more options. It creates glamour.”

Women who have hair, just not enough of it, can add clip-ons to create a style they otherwise couldn’t wear. A short, above-the-ears hairstyle can be turned into a chin-length bob, or bangs can be created to add softness around the face, Letham says. Likewise, one’s existing locks can be concealed beneath a hairpiece.

“If a woman has short hair framing her face and she wants a Barbra Streisand bob, she can have it,” he says.

The Secret Hair clip-ons and enhancer are made of human hair that can be cut, permed and dyed to match the client’s hair ($190 for the system and consultation).

“They’re undetectable--that’s why women are so curious about this,” Letham says.

Hairstylist and image consultant Rudy Shavira, owner of Studio in Costa Mesa, has all kinds of tricks for taking the hair from flat to full, or making a chemotherapy patient who has lost her hair look as if she’s got a natural ‘do.

Like a scavenger of style, he finds hats, wigs, head wraps and even remnants of fabric to create glamorous styles out of little or no hair.

He can take a piece of tulle, gather it into a rosette and attach it to the nape of a client’s neck to give the illusion that there’s more hair pulled into a knot than actually exists. He can wind a swatch of material through the hair for a fantasy up-’do.

“I use fabric as hair,” Shavira says. “You can take a short head of hair and a swatch of fabric and make a stunning hairdo,” he says.

Jan Thielbar, owner of Make-Up Creations and Belle-Amie in Irvine, found another option for women in need of total coverage. She created her line of head wraps and hats that have hairpieces attached to the inside with Velcro. A woman can wear a baseball cap with a ponytail and bangs or a romantic floppy velvet chapeau with silk flowers on the brim and a shoulder-length hairpiece.

“They’re even for women who haven’t lost their hair,” Thielbar says. “Their hair can be curly or straight one day, or they can take turns being a blonde, redhead or brunette.”

Thielbar often works with chemotherapy patients before they lose their hair so their locks can be cut to create bangs and partial hairpieces. She then attaches the hairpiece to a hat or head wrap.

“It gives them another alternative,” says Thielbar, a former cancer patient. “They can go to the store and not look any different than anyone else.”

Her hats sell for $20 to $30 and the hairpieces for $20 to $30. Belle-Amie also carries assorted berets, head wraps and headbands, all under $25.

“Headbands, head wraps and hats bring back femininity. You even stand differently,” Thielbar says.

Perhaps no one understands the trauma of losing one’s hair more than Rita Kaye. Sixteen years ago, she lost every hair on her body to a rare disease called alopecia universalis. She now has a business, Secrets by Rita in Irvine, in which she matches wigs for others who are losing or have lost their hair.

“I help people deal with baldness,” Kaye says.

Kaye helps women who want to wear a full wig choose a style that looks natural. Wigs usually look artificial, she says, because they haven’t been thinned, and they’re too neat.

“Real hair is messed up,” she says. “You need to get your hands in it and mess it up. If it’s too perfect, it looks too wiggy.” She’s walking proof of how natural a wig can look: Many who know her never suspect she wears a wig. Even those in her exercise class don’t suspect a thing.

“I even stand on my head,” she says.