My friend and fellow blogger, West Ender Rebbetzin wanted to write a post about her new "pony sheitel". The post was originally on her blog and is re-pasted below with some extra pics of the cap!
A Sheitel Story by West Ender Rebbetzin
I have a pretty sweet Yaffa sheitel that is made from high-end “virgin” European hair (i.e. never treated, dyed, or processed). It was marketed as a “semi-custom” / “out-of-the-box custom”, which I’m pretty sure is just a buzzword in wig marketing because there’s nothing custom about the cap or hair of this wig-- it's just a very well-made wig that was cut out of the box. A true custom sheitel is for women with large or hard-to-fit heads, or other special needs.
I paid a lot for this semi-custom business, but in the end was unhappy with the cut. I didn’t find it particularly youthful or flattering, and the front layers were shorted than I would have liked.
I wasn’t sure what to do. I looked into reselling it, but there’s practically no market for used wigs, and it’s not hard to understand why. When you can get a really awesome-looking Milano for $400-$600, why would you pay even $300 for a used wig? Like a car, apparently, a wig loses its resale value as soon as you wear it out of the shop. So, I was reluctant to give up the tangible asset, a very fine wig, for $300 or even less. Then I started thinking about what my next sheitel purchase might be, when the time came to get a new one. I looked around at what style of wigs I liked on other young women, and I was charmed by the pony sheitels.
I think pony sheitels are “the new fall”—I see tons of young marrieds wearing them, they are often sold cheap (“kallah special-- buy 1 European wig, get a pony for free!”) They are advertised heavily in frum as as a great alternative to a fall when you want a casual sheitel. A pony has even more advantages over a fall, because it’s quite cool for the summer to have the hair off your neck.
A Milano pony sheitel sells for about $500, but it occurred to me that possibly, just possibly, I could bring my Yaffa wig to my sheitel macher and see if it could be converted into a pony! I did, and indeed, to “convert” a wig into a pony involves an investment of a whopping $5-$10 to have a wide comb sewn in at the nape of the neck. This extra comb anchors the wig at the bottom, which gives a more realistic appearance that the hair is growing out of your head when pulled upwards into a ponytail.
Here is what my new pony looks like! It’s been SO cool and breezy and fun to wear for the summer. In my humble opinion, I think the hair at the neck looks quite natural when pulled upwards into a pony. I left the original side bangs as they were; the front layers that are too short to fit into the pony, I clip back with one snappy clip each. I am quite happy with how this turned out!
A few last words about picking a brand of sheitel:
Yaffa isn’t generally considered one of the “better” or “higher-end” sheitel brands. I think they are better known for their cheaper lines of wigs, like human/synthetic blends. But as my sheitel macher told me: “a wig is always mazal,” meaning you never know when you’ll get a winner or a lemon, since they’re hand-made and hair sometimes misbehaves.
I won with this particular Yaffa sheitel. Despite being unhappy with the cut, it is a gorgeous and beautifully made wig. The virgin hair is silky in a much richer, more natural way than my sheitel made from processed hair from South America. The woman who does my wash and sets has said that my Yaffa is a “very nice piece”, and she sees a lot of sheitels! So don’t be too afraid to go with a brand that isn’t the hottest in sheitels these days. My Yaffa rules, and I have friends with Shevys (the most high-end brand that I know of in Brooklyn) that are losing hair after just a few months.
Have an awesomely wiggy week, ladies!
*****
Thank you for that awesome post. Considering the wig was not cut originally as a pony I think it looks great! Those long side bangs really make it look natural. I do not even notice that the front layers are being clipped back. Also, usually pony sheitels have the hair near the back of the neck sewn upwards so it makes a more natural pony, but I think yours works just fine. This is a great example of working with a wig you already own instead of giving up, trying to resell and taking a gamble with something new. I think we can all learn from her example.
Not a very large skin top, which makes it even more suitable as a pony wig. The comb they sewed in at the bottom looks excellent and allows the pony tail to be made properly.
So there you have it ladies... buyer beware. Just because a wig looks good in the picture or in the wig studio does not mean that it is good quality or that it will last for a long time. If the hair is treated eventually the silky luster will wear off and you will be left with dry, brittle processed hair. If the cap is not good, you will be left with wefts that are coming apart.
