Fantasia Salon / Spa and Wig Specialists

If you are a practicing Jewish person, you probably know what a shaitel is. For those outside the Jewish faith, I thought you might finding learning about a shaitel somewhat interesting.

For Jewish women, the uncovered head from the earliest of times was considered immodest. Married women covered their heads to as not to draw the attention of other men. By covering her hair with a wig, the married woman makes a statement: “I am not available, you can see me but I am not open to the public. Even my hair, the most obvious and visible part of me, is not for your eyes to see.”

The hair-covering has a profound effect on the wearer. It creates a psychological barrier, a cognitive distance between her and strangers. Her beauty becomes visible but inconspicuous, yes she is attractive but she is unavailable.

The wig, or shaitel, achieves the desired effect exactly, because a wig allows a woman to cover all of her hair while maintaining her attractive appearance. She can be proud of the way she looks with out compromising her privacy. And, even if her wig looks so real as to be mistaken for natural hair, she knows that no one is looking at her real hair. She has created a private space and only she decides to let into that space.

The word sheitel, is Yiddish for wig or half-worn wig.

So, if you ever hear the word sheitel, you know what it means! And if you have ever been curious as to why some Jewish women wear wigs, now you know!