Your cap size is one number.
One measurement decides whether a wig sits or slides: the circumference of your head. Length, texture, lace and density are taste. This one is not. Here is how to take it, and what it means on a bare head.
On a model · bare head
Slide to your number.
Each collection has its own chart, so the same head can be a Small in one and a Medium in the other. Atelier ready-to-ship comes in Small, Medium and Large. Atelier custom has no sizes: it is cut to your own numbers. Choose one, then set the tape to your circumference.
What each cap measures.
Circumference picks the cap. On the Atelier, five more measurements build it, so the cap follows the shape of a head as well as its size.
| Measurement | Small | Medium | Large |
|---|---|---|---|
| CircumferencePicks the cap | 21.5 | 22.5 | 23.5 |
| Front to napeWhere the lace sits, how far back the crown goes | 13.5 | 14.5 | 15.5 |
| Ear to ear, over the topThe width of the cap | 12 | 12.5 | 13 |
| Ear to ear, across the foreheadFrontal 13×6 · Absolute 11×5.5 | 11.5 · 10.5 | 12 · 11 | 12.5 · 11.5 |
| Temple to temple, around the backThe width of the lace, where the hairline is drawn | 14 | 14.5 | 15.5 |
| NapeAcross the back, at the hairline | 5 | 5.5 | 6 |
Circumference, then your number.
| Cap | Circumference |
|---|---|
| Extra small | 18.5–19.5″ |
| Small | 20″ – 21″ |
| Medium | 21.5″ – 22″ |
| Large | 22.5″ – 23″ |
| Extra large | 23.5″ and up |
Between two sizes, take the larger. Give us your number either way: we set every Signature cap to your actual measurement, Extra small and Extra large included.
Every Archive piece is one of one, and its cap size is printed on the piece. Archive pieces are styled and finished before they are listed, and final sale: no cap, color or style changes, so ask us before you buy if you are unsure.
Four passes with a soft tape.
Use a soft dressmaker’s tape. A steel tape will not follow the curve of a head and will read short. Write the four numbers down: on the Atelier they become part of the build.
- 01Circumference: the one that sizes the cap
Start at your front hairline, in the center. Take the tape back above one ear, around the nape at the lowest point of your hairline, forward above the other ear, and back to where you started. Keep it snug against the skull, not tight.
- Read it in inches, to the nearest half-inch
- Take it twice; if the two readings differ, take the larger
- 02Front to nape
From the center of your front hairline, straight over the top of your head, to the base of your nape.
- 03Ear to ear, over the top
From the top of one ear, across the crown, to the top of the other.
- 04Temple to temple, around the back
From one temple, around the back of the head at the level of the occipital bone, to the other temple.
A wig cap, braids or a bun all add circumference, and they add it unevenly. Measure your head exactly as it will be on the day you wear the wig. If nothing goes underneath, measure your bare head.
On the Atelier there is no in-between. Small fits 20.5–21.5″, Medium 21.5–22.5″ and Large 22.5–23.5″, and each cap is made at the top of its range. Wear it as made, or we take it in to your exact number for a $10 add-on. On Signature, take the larger and give us your number: we set the cap to it. A cap can be taken in, never let out.
ONE SCAN · on her own phoneOr let your phone take all four.
ONE SCAN® reads your head in ninety seconds from the phone already in your hand: circumference, nape, temple to temple, the shape of your hairline, and the tone your lace has to disappear into. No tape, no kit, no appointment.
From opening the camera to a number.
Your next order reads from the same measurement.
Matched to your skin, not to a swatch chart.
Eight in ten of our orders have needed no cap-size adjustment. The scan takes the measurements; a person sizes every wig by hand before it is built. Rather use a tape? Enter your numbers by hand when you start a scan and we build to those.
A cap is not a fixed object.
Three things hold a cap on. Only the band changes its size, which is why the size you measure into matters.
Elastic band and strap
An elastic band around the back of the cap, with an adjustable strap to set it to your size. It takes up a little slack and gives a little under pressure.
Clips
Combs sewn into the cap that anchor into your own hair. They hold position rather than change circumference, so the cap has to be the right size to start with.
Ear tabs
Bendable tabs at each ear that keep the cap close at the sides. Like the combs, they hold position rather than change size.
An adjustable band, no adhesive.
It comes on and off in seconds. Closures are usually worn this way; a frontal can be too, with practice. It is the easier of the two to learn, and the one to choose for sensitive skin.
Held at the hairline.
Held with lace adhesive or gel, for the longest hold and the cleanest melt. It is the method for HD lace frontals, and it asks more of you than a glueless install does.
A cap can be taken in.
Inside the first 30 days, cap size is a free adjustment on every Atelier and Signature wig, and a cap re-set is free. After that, a wig that is too large is a short piece of work in the Studio. One that is too small is harder, which is why the guidance above is to size up when you are between two.
Cap size is part of our Happiness Guarantee: thirty days of free adjustments on Atelier and Signature, a cap re-set included. Archive pieces ship as they are, with no adjustments.
The Wig Cap Size Adjustment: the cap is taken in by hand and the band re-set to your measurement. On wigs we made and wigs we did not. 15% off your first Studio service.
From the day your wig reaches us to the day it ships back. Bring it to Palm Springs, or send it to us.
A thirty-minute consultation on video. If you are unsure which size you are, this is easier than a return for both of us.