e are those who over-dress the part:
To some prescriptive right gives settled things--
Black wigs to murderers, feathered hats to kings.

Quin appeared upon the stage almost invariably in a profuse
full-bottomed periwig. Garrick brought into fashion a wig of much
smaller size, worn low on the forehead, with five crisp curls on
either side, and known generally as the "Garrick cut." But the great
actor occasionally varied the mode of his peruke. The portraits by
Wood, Sherwin, and Dance exhibit him in three different forms of
wigs. As Hotspur, he wore "a laced frock and Ramilies wig." When John
Kemble first played Hamlet he appeared in a black velvet court suit,
with laced ruffles and powdered hair, if not a periwig. It is to be
noted, however, that there was nothing in this system of dress to
shock the spectators of the time. Powdered wigs were the vogue, and it
was not considered strange that the actor should be attired similarly
to the audience. Some ventures had been made in the direction of
correctness of costume, but they had been regarded as rather dangerous
innovations. Garrick candidly confessed himself timid about the
matter. Benjamin West once inquired of the actor why he did not reform
the costume of the stage. "The audience would not stand it," said
Garrick; "they would throw a bottle at my head if I attempted any
alteration." The truth was, perhaps, that Garrick had won his triumphs
under the old system, and was disinclined, therefore, to risk any
change.

Actors have often been zealous treasurers of theatrical properties and
appliances, and some have formed very curious collections of
stage-wigs. Munden, who was most heedful as to his appearance in the
theatre, always provided his own costume, wearing nothing that
belonged to the wardrobe of the manager, and giving large sums for any
dress that suited his fancy. His wigs were said to be of great
antiquity and value; they were in the care of, and daily inspected by,
a hairdresser attached to the theatre. Edwin's biography records that
that actor's "wiggery cost him more than a hundred pounds, and he
could boast of having perukes in his collection which had decorated
the heads of monarchs, judges, aldermen, philosophers, sailors,
jockeys, beaux, thieves, tailors, tinkers, and haberdashers." Suett,
also a great wig-collector, is reputed to have assumed on the stage,
in the burlesque of "Tom Thumb," a large black peruke with flowing
curls, that had o