PEABODY — Nancy Parshley started her own wig business, Mane Attraction Wigs, because she wanted to break the stigma around wearing wigs and provide what she calls “fun and fashionable style” for everyone.
Parshley opened her store at 139 Lynnfield St. in July 2020, and said the response has been amazing. She began the business as a way to provide stylish options for people with thinning hair.
Since the pandemic, Parshley said people would come into her store saying that ever since they had COVID-19 they noticed a direct correlation to hair thinning and loss.
“I see it firsthand all the time,” she said.
Parshley said she found that COVID-19 sometimes affects the stimulation of the blood and prevents it from getting to the hair follicles, with about 30 percent of women infected with COVID-19 experiencing hair loss.
Parshley saw the need for wigs increase, and said she now sees four to six clients per day, all of whom purchase at least one wig.
Parshley began wearing wigs herself a few years ago when her hair started thinning. She eventually decided to shave her hair off when she met two women with alopecia and saw how hair loss affected them.
She said sometimes, when she has a client who is going through chemotherapy or struggling with the thought of losing their hair, she will take her wig off to validate their struggles and show them that wigs do look and feel real.
She said there are so many benefits to wearing wigs, including getting ready quicker.
“Now you can just go out in the rain and have your hair in the wind because guess what? Your hair doesn’t get ruined,” she said.
The wigs that Parshley wears and sells are top of the line, she said, adding that she sometimes has clients sit in front of a strong fan to prove their reliability.
When her clients start wearing wigs, she said they are excited to continue to do so.
Parshley said some refer to her as the “wig whisperer” because she spends so much time studying, testing and styling wigs to make sure they are exactly what the client wants.
She has clients show her pictures of the styles they want so when Parshley orders the wigs — which she said can either be synthetic or made of human hair — she brings them to her friend, Traci L’Italien at Newbury Salon, to cut and color them to the clients’ specifications.
Parshley is working toward making wig-wearing more common, and said she loves how she looks in her wigs.
“I’m giving permission every day for people to wear wigs,” she said.
Parshley keeps about 250 wigs in her store. The synthetic wigs are between $250 and $400, while wigs made of human hair range from $1,400 to $2,800 — because human hair lasts longer and feels more real.
“I won’t let anyone walk out of here with a wig that doesn’t look real,” she said. “They will look great.”