Monday, April 11, 2011

Down under (the toupee!).



As many of you will no doubt be aware, the William Shatner School of Toupological studies has an unrivaled global network in place, whose sole function is to gain knowledge of and insight into the crucial subject of William Shatner's toupee. But asides from our thousands of staff positioned at key "Sites of Toupological Interest" (STI) around the world, we also have the crucial assistance of you, our valued readers.


Which brings us to an "Amateur Toupological Field Report" (ATFR) that we received from one of our readers stationed in Australia, fortunate enough to be able to conduct some discreet* (see note at bottom of page) but direct toupological analysis.


Bill Shatner fans will no doubt have heard about the actor's recent trips to Australia and New Zealand as part of his "Kirk, Crane and Beyond" one man shows. Yet - and perhaps curiously - no complete schedule was released by Bill Shatner to account for all of his time in Australasia. That, coupled with the fact that Australia contains numerous unique furry creatures such as the Koala, leads one to wonder whether Bill Shatner wasn't also conducting some of his own studies while down under...

Did Bill Shatner take time out to study or honor the fur of Australia's unique animals?

But anyway, back to the field report from our amateur toupologist, Jason:

Hi there,

Just thought I'd share some personal observations on William Shatner's toupee after meeting him this past weekend. I am both a big fan of Shatner's and your blog...and had the awesome opportunity in meeting the man himself over the weekend.

The possum also has very "Denny Katz-like" fur. A coincidence?

Bill, along with Scott Bakula and others came to Sydney, Australia for a convention, and I was lucky enough to have a ticket to personally meet all the actors. This meant I got to spend some minutes within an arms length of Bill Shatner, which gave me ample time to get a very close look at his toupee - or what I'd probably call a wig now.



So these are my observations:

If we are to believe he is wearing a 'Katz' piece, which I will argue he is, it is one that covers (almost) his entire head. As mentioned in your posts previously, the thickness on the sides of his head is a give away to it not being quite natural.

He doesn't seem to grow his own sideburns as the consistency and colour match the hair on the side of his hair far too closely, leading me to believe that whatever small sideburns he has, are actually an extended part of the overall hairpiece.


"Traitor!"

Even though his 'hair' is very short, it seems to be combed in a way that you can't see the hairline. That is, you can't see hair actually coming out from the skin, as you see on non toup-users.

A rare case of the frontal hairline turning slightly upwards.

There also appears to be a barely visible line around his frontal hairline that's probably about a 1/3 of an inch thick where the hair appears to be ever so slightly thicker than everywhere else. This wouldn't be noticeable to most, but it was something I noticed, and perhaps acts to cover up the exposed hairline making it less visible as being fake hair.


Apart from his hairline, his scalp is actually visible, and is what makes his hairpiece very believable. However, the consistency is exactly the same all over the top of his head with no visible crown where the hair swirls to a point - which could be another give away to it being a toup.(Make no mistake, this is a seriously good toup - the best I've ever seen, and to be honest people might make fun of it, but it looks very good on him)
.


And another point often spoken about is that little tuft of hair at the back of his head - and this I did notice as the consistency is different to the piece he is wearing, as it is definitely real hair...


I say this because it is the only part of his hair which seemed to act like natural hair in that it would get messed up, and he'd correct it as well with his hands.

More info here.

But more importantly, at one point it was sticking up slightly and I noticed something very important and that was hair actually coming from the skin of his head. I believe that small tuft is his only real piece of hair, and it seems to blend into the perfectly placed Katz toup. I seem to think this area of hair was kept as it heightens the believability factor, certainly in comparison to the front of his head, which doesn't have a natural transition from baby hairs and thin hairs into the adult hairs of a normal male hairline.



He also scratched his toup many times during parts of the day. So my conclusion is thus:


He shaves whatever is left of his natural hair completely bald. (He is also always perfectly shaven - there is not a single hair on his face, head or neck - so much so, that it looks like he may have had work done to get rid of any stray hairs which might detract from the toup believability factor).
He is wearing some form of entire head system - sideburns included. That tuft at the back is definitely all that is left of his real hair. It is very believable. He is also a nice guy. Hope this offered some insight!

Regards, Jason

William Shatner in Australia, video here.

Our sincere thanks to Jason for a truly fascinating field report!

*
One of the most sacred tenets of The William Shatner School of Toupological Studies is the "Prime Toupological Directive", which stipulates that staff must cause "no interference with the natural development and evolution of William Shatner's toupee and studies must be conducted in such a manner as to not directly infringe on the right of William Shatner and his toupees to carry out their normal activities."


16 comments:

  1. i can only imagine the thrill one gets from seeing The Shat in person at arms reach...being in the same room as Admiral James T Kirk must be pretty overwhelming. in the precese of a living legend akin to being near to someone like Elvis or Monroe back in the day.

    i wonder if anyone has tried and grab the piece? (i ask this as i once saw someone grab Tom Cruise's hair at a film premiere when he meeting all the fans - the guy nearly had his arm broken by one of those big ass minders a second later) then again Shats 'Katz' like reflex must be attuned to any danger (as we have seen several times)

    Fasinating description anyhow - one of the best ive ever read - in fact maybe even THE best

    ReplyDelete
  2. one other thing i noticed recently that the new Kirk - Chris Pine - seems to have very similar actual hair to the Shat Katz piece - esp when its short the whole scalp visible thing.

    see here:
    http://www.altfg.com/Stars/s/star-trek-chris-pine-1.JPG
    http://0.tqn.com/d/movies/1/0/H/X/W/unstoppable-photo-chris-pine3.jpg

    i just think its funny that the new Kirks hair looks alot like the old Kirks later years piece...for that reason alone they should get Shatner in the sequel so people can marvel at how close the hair matches up

    ReplyDelete
  3. this description reminds me of the scene in Return of the Jedi where Mon Mothma is briefing the rebels and finishes with 'Many Bothans died to bring us this information'

    only here itd be 'a Toupologist risked the wrath of the shat to bring us this information'

    ReplyDelete
  4. i cant believe this first hand account hasnt had any more responses!!

    its mind blowing stuff

    ReplyDelete
  5. Wow, I feel honored to have my story posted! Must say it was a truly fantastic experience to meet the man himself. He obviously meets many people, but nontheless he was still very warm and friendly. Funnily enough, I was sitting in the front row, and I couldn't take my eyes off his toup, and in front of everyone he made a point about me looking like 'I was judging him from head to toe!'

    I'll post a photo I had with him tomorrow.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Ratty Lost Years PieceApril 12, 2011 at 5:50 PM

    What an incredible in-hand description of the toupee! Probably better than Katz, himself. Jason's description is as close as we've come to a Universal Theorem of the Toupee: Masked hairlines, toupee-all-the-way down, the patch at the back - it's all tied in! Great work!

    ReplyDelete
  7. One question to ponder: being surrounded by actors with glued on prostheses (most notably Vulcan ears), was Shat desensitized to the questionable, and potentially unhealthy, implications of glue on skin?

    M.D. MD

    ReplyDelete
  8. From the katz website: "In the past twenty years we've tried the finest European hair in the world. In fact, we still buy fine human hair, which can cost approximately $100 an ounce, but we will only use one line of it for the very front of our hair systems. It is very thin, fine hair that gives the front hairline a special softness."

    This might explain why you saw this:

    "There also appears to be a barely visible line around his frontal hairline that's probably about a 1/3 of an inch thick where the hair appears to be ever so slightly thicker".

    ReplyDelete
  9. From http://www.hairlosshelp.com/forums/messageview.cfm?catid=9&threadid=87967

    "I have seen an Ed Katz system in person. It was the most impressive hair system I have ever seen, but let me explain its quirks....

    Ed Katz makes, essentially, only one kind of system. It is a 3/4 wig and is made with SYNTHETIC hair only. It's not available in human hair. I know, I know....it seemed really odd to me too! The wearer is required to shave his head, except for the back of the head and nape of the neck. As far as I know, the hair is always cut short."

    This might explain the tuft at the nape of the shats neck

    ReplyDelete
  10. itd be something to see Shats without the Katz.

    freshly shaven with just the back tuft grown out...man thatd be a sight to see

    i dont like this Katz piece - i dont think it looks that great IMO, the sides are too fake looking and the whole 'look you can see the scalp!' thing just smaks of desperation imo...Shat should go back to the TJ Curly he had in Wrath of Khan (not the helmet style of Treks III, IV etc) or even the JK lace (when no one even knew he was wearing)

    Shats should get on the phone and cancel his orders ending the call with 'KAAAAAAAATTTTTTTTTTTTZ!' when Katz refuses to refund him

    btw i like the music on the Katz website - i have it on when im working out - helps me concentrate

    laters dawgs

    ReplyDelete
  11. Very informative entry. Good job, Jason. I'd love to see Shatner cuddle a koala (or vice versa). Would be so much cuter than Koko, the gorilla!

    ReplyDelete
  12. I was not awared of this "Katz System"...I was so assured about the so called "Plugs" on him, that I'm surprised by Mr. Jason's recent report! Amazing discover, and a turning point for sure, for all the Toupologists on Mr. Shatner's case out there.

    ReplyDelete
  13. I always knew it wasn't transplants.

    ReplyDelete
  14. A Close Encounter of a Toupee Kind
    Pretty good, Jason!

    ReplyDelete
  15. Wow - great analysis by Jason. I really enjoyed this.

    ReplyDelete
  16. James Toupeerius KirkApril 16, 2011 at 11:33 PM

    I also knew it wasn't transplants. Anyhow I feel safe about that it was some sort of Katz-like system, and nothing else. But like one above mentioned, I also don't like the sides, the look odd and too straight.
    Tear that damned thing off!

    Anybody knows this quote of some Track by Jay-Z:
    "Asking me for a Porsche is like asking for a coffee..."
    That always reminds me of Shatner; the Katz-prices are about 2,500$ and rising, but for someone like Shatner, a Katz subscription is like subscribing to one's favourite montlhy Mag for a standard person.
    That`s why Shatners' hair always looks different, he tries to blend us with different lengths and all that, everytime he is seen in public. He just is with Katz every month, getting prepared for the next weeks.

    Anyway, nice report Jason!I envy you!
    The next days or weeks, I'll dig in my (really big) Star Trek Archive for some Shatner close-ups pics etc, scan them and post them.
    Let's see what I find; I didn't have a look at the stuff for years.

    Greetings from Germany

    ReplyDelete