The baby fashion accessory you didn't know you needed

When it comes to baby accessories, we were confident we'd seen it all. Tutus, animal onesies, Converse sneakers not much bigger than a matchbox… We had all the conceivable bases covered, right? 

Alas, how wrong we were. Introducing: the solution to the unseemly problem of hairless babies…

…no, no, it's not baby Rogaine – not yet, anyway (great. I've just put the idea in someone's head, haven't I?)

It's baby wigs. 

Hallelujah! Now your poor bald bub can sidestep the acute grief and deep, deep shame of being born without any hair! Oh, hang on…

The most peculiar thing about baby wigs is that some people feel the need to create and use them for a serious, non-novelty purpose. That is, a purpose that has no relation to totally adorable bub Halloween costumes (let's face it, babies in fancy dress are oh-so cute – the evidence is on Google). 

Baby Bangs is one company manufacturing "hair + band" accessories specifically for follicularly-challenged infant girls to protect them from the self esteem-crushing experience of being confused for a boy.

That's right – what the parenting books don't tell you is that a newborn girl's primary concern – apart from the whole learning to eat/breathe thing – is ensuring she looks like the lady she is. Even if that involves wearing a toupee.

Baby Bangs promises "beautifully realistic" hairpieces "for the girl who has everything – except hair." Hear that, ladies? You really can have it all, even from birth! 

The wigs, currently available in five colours, are as "dainty and delicate" as the baby whose downy head they sit upon, and are designed by a mother-daughter-granddaughter team. 

"We hope you find our HAIR+bands to be a unique conversation piece filled with laughter and fun memories. May you enjoy them and welcome them as a new one-of-a-kind childhood keepsake for you and your baby girl to adore," the Baby Bangs team writes. 

They're right about one thing – the wigs have certainly ignited a conversation. A global conversation about the absurdity that is baby wigs.

Jezebel's Callie Beusman was among the most vocal critics of Baby Bangs, writing: "Just what is so horrifying about having your sweet little lump of newborn human mistaken for the opposite gender? Babies all look the same; that's kind of their thing. It's not only unncessary, but also pretty much insane, to start forcing cosmetic enhancements on a child too young to even have hair on her head."

If all this talk about sincerely purchasing hairpieces for babies to protect them from gender confusion makes you want to stop the world and get off, there are some brilliant examples of wigs used to hilarious (and temporary) effect on bubs all over the internet. Like this, for the baby who's all "Jamaican me crazy, mon!":

And this, for nostalgic bubs who prefer the windswept styles of the '80s:

Can you say Wham?

And don't forget about the Rolls Royce of baby wigs – the one, the only… crocheted Cabbage Patch Kid wig. Remember this story?

Much better. No chance of your daughter being confused for a boy in one of these – but there's a HUGE likelihood your fellow '80s kids will confuse her for a long-lost doll from their childhood. 

What do you think of baby wigs? Innocent fun? Or totally unnecessary?