Barristers finally throw off wigs after 400 years
Filed under: Events: On the Scene, Men
If you're like me, and everything you know about the British legal system comes to you through the lens of A Fish Called Wanda then you already aware of the anachronistic lawyer tradition -- barrister tradition -- of wearing a hopelessly foppish, curly wig to argue before the court. Believe it or not, the horse-hair wigs have been a requirement for lawyers and judges since the 17th century. However, after a recent decision by The Lord Chief Justice the good old days of the court room coiffure might well be numbered.
The Lord Chief Justice determined that lawyers in civil and family law cases would no longer be required to wear the white curly wigs (criminal cases stay the same). Wing collars and bands will also disappear from the official uniform as well as the mandatory wardrobe of colorful judge gowns.
Given that these wigs are terribly itchy (so I hear) and cost anywhere between £400-1500, I can understand why someone might want to get rid of the tradition. But not all lawyers are happy about giving up their wigs. The dissenting side says that the wigs gave them "authority" as well as "anonymity".
Uh, right. Like a man with a Cocker Spaniel on his head has any "authority" or "anonymity" to lose in the first place.
