Regina Blizzard

Regina Blizzard of WilliamsburgRegina Blizzard of Williamsburg Adrin Snider/Daily Press

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And whether you want to be shaved bald is usually one of the first questions Regina Blizzard or the other wigmakers ask visitors -- both men and women -- as they enter the Barber and Peruke Maker shop on Duke of Gloucester Street at Colonial Williamsburg.

More than 200 years ago, that was the first step when being fitted for a wig.

"We have to shave your head bald, or cut your hair short," Blizzard explains about 18th-century beauty techniques."To go out and make yourself bald, that means fashion."

It also means you're wealthy enough to afford one of the shop's fashionable wigs to tightly cover that bald head.In the 18th century, a person's wig meant everything about them.It told of their rank in their profession or whether they were a member of the gentry in Virginia.

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Today, as one of four wigmakers at the 18th-century shop, Blizzard brings that history to life.

"I love working with the history of it -- to make a wig that Thomas Jefferson would have worn," she said."With what I've learned, I can call myself an 18th-century cosmetologist."

Blizzard -- with more than 16 years of experience at the shop -- is now a part of history at Colonial Williamsburg and its Historic Trades program.She's the first black woman to earn the title of "journeyman," an honor she received in 2000.

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Blizzard worked with Myers, who also became a journeyman in 2000, to establish the apprentice program manual for the wigmaker shop.
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Though there have been black male journeymen in the trades program at Colonial Williamsburg, Blizzard is the first black woman with the title.

"It's a standard of accomplishment," said Blizzard, whose husband, Linwood, also works at Colonial Williamsburg as chef at Christiana Campbell's Tavern.

Blizzard said she never gave much thought to becoming a journeyman.

"I just said, 'I've got a job to do and I'm going to do it well,'" she said.

A Colonial Williamsburg employee since 1983, the Surry County native worked as an interpreter at different sites in the Historic Area before joining the wig-making team in 1985.

For Blizzard, it was love at first wig.

"I really fell in love with it," Blizzard said."I love working with my hands.I love people.I love the teaching.We have revived an art that only a few people in this world know."

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"To me, that was special to us," Blizzard said.

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According to Blizzard, a wigmaker in the 18th century once stated that it took six men working six days from sun-up to sundown to complete one wig.

In the 18th century, those wigs could cost more than 40 pounds.Today, they range from about $600 to more than $2,000 for wigs made of horse, yak or human hair.

To begin the process, rows of hairs -- either goat hair from Turkey, horse hair from China, yak hair from Tibet or human hair from women in Europe -- are woven a few strands at a time using a wooden tress frame.Wigmakers use about 12 different types of twists to weave the hair.

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While that may seem odd in today's world, Blizzard said the bald heads were all part of keeping up with 18th-century fashion.And it didn't stand in the way of romance when it came time to take the wigs off.

"You could be shaven and she could be shaven and you just blew the candles out," she said.