I've been freaking out about how to transition from having hair to a wig at a job. I currently can get away without a wig because I have diffuse alopecia areata, and no one can tell that I have any hair loss....yet!!!! My hair is in a downward spiral, and I know I'm going to need a wig eventually, but I'm clueless how someone introduces one when they go to work. Any input would be great. Thanks.

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Just pick something you can live with for 6 months...or two wigs to look like you changed your style one day...and DO IT. You'll get compliments and curiosity the first week...be prepared to say, "Thank you" and "New Miracle Stylist" a lot. Or "All I am going to tell you is that I feel much better, and would love your positive support and compliments!"
And isn't is so sad that that is truly the way it is? People treat us differently with hair, and/or when we "blend in" ..... ??? So many things are unfair. I feel my self worth and self esteem is lacking with this hair condition. I am still...still unemployed, and anytime I go for an interview, I wonder, wear a wig and let them wonder? Or wear my thinning hair, and I guess, also let them wonder? My first thought is do they think I am ill? Why should they hire me if that is what they think. They surely MUST wonder. Why dress for success and wear something nice, it doesn't "go" with my thinning hair. That just ruins the look. So sad I have to think of myself like this! I am the same person I was before the hair loss. I had confidence then, and could dress for success and feel good about myself. It is truly SOOO different when you HAVE a job already, and are not out seeking work, and people's approval.
I went through two hairpieces before I went to a full wig.  Seriously, no one noticed!  I did get a few "Hey I like your hair!  Where did you get it done?"  My sis is a hairdresser, so I would send them to her shop.  It was a secret joke between the two of us :) People just noticed that it looked better!  We are far too observant of our own selves.  Other people do not examine us with that same critical eye that we turn on ourselves.
The first time I had AA it was a patchy combined with diffused, and I did not catch it on time that the fair fell our too much, because I was masking it - by combing over, spraying etc. But then I got a haircut and I realized that I could not step outside like this. So I cried over the weekend, got a couple of scarves and on Monday showed up with a wonderfully tied scarf. I wore different scarves for about 3-4 weeks until I figured out my options with the wigs and got one. People were asking, but I either told the truth (to some) or half-truth to others.
The second time I got hit, a few years later, it was with full-blown AU. The hair was falling out like it was raining. By that time I knew the drill. I had rather short hair and a precise geometrical haircut. I also was going to a wonderful hairstylist who did amazing highlights. I picked out a wig which looked almost like my regular haircut. It was from Renee of Paris and it looked amazingly close to my original color and highlights. So after I picked up and styled my wig, I simply showed up at work - believe me, very few people noticed anything at all....
It has been 2+ years and I when I get complimented on my hair, I send them to my stylist - and I don't feel bad about this little lie, because believe it or not, he is that good and the wig matched perfectly.
Do not worry...
Make the switch over a holiday weekend or after vacation everyone changes their style then right? Works that way for me get fewer questions
No addition still less.ring new phone
Don't freak out! I have found that most people are focused on how they themselves look to others, and rarely focus on how others look from one day to the next. I just last week transitioned from an old rather worn out wig to a beautiful new hairpiece cut similarly to my old one, but with a much richer color and more curl. I did this after two weeks vacation (I'm a high school teacher). I got so many compliments! The kids said my new hairdo had va-voom. I said I went to a spa. People I have worked with a long time remember when my hair fell. That was a time when I had to open up to whoever was there; those people and I have a love and trust today we would not have otherwise. Now they just wink and help my cover not get blown with the newer teachers whenever I come in with new hair. But I remember those first days when I had to be "exposed" for the first time. The ones who were there back then are still my anchor at work. I believe this has made my relationships deeper. Just ride the ride, and let it make you and the people around you all you want to be.

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