I was too busy dancing at Sabrina Carpenter's Short 'n Sweet Tour Madison Square Garden performance this week to ask a lot of questions, other than wondering how long "Espresso" will stay stuck in my head afterward (it's still on a loop). And, which designers were responsible for Carpenter's bombshell bodysuits. (They're custom Victoria's Secret and Patou, for the record.) But other fans clocked how great Carpenter's bouncy, blonde curls looked from start to finish and ran to Google with the same query: Does Sabrina Carpenter wear a wig?
Throughout the 21-song set list, Carpenter's signature blonde hair is teased at the crown and curled in extra-large ringlets, with feathery curtain bangs framing her face. Her hair has noticeable volume that plays into the avant-pinup girl styling she's adopted in her Short 'n Sweet era—and apparently, it's too perfect for some people to just let Carpenter swish it around unchecked. TikToks with views in the hundred-thousands purport to "reveal" that Carpenter is wearing a wig onstage; others zoom in on her "Juno" performance to hunt for extension tracks.
Wig gate, as I'm now calling it, is spiraling more than Carpenter's ringlets. The tone from a lot of commentators suggests that a potential Sabrina Carpenter wig (or extensions) are something the star is hiding. There's no way her quote-unquote real hair can look that nice, they imply.
This is unfair for several reasons. First, because these armchair hair-analyses suggest that the artist is pulling a fast one on her fans—like it's somehow dishonest to wear what's ultimately a costume for a performance. Second, because dozens of artists—from Megan Thee Stallion to Lady Gaga to Nicki Minaj to one of Carpenter's own influences, Dolly Parton—incorporate precisely styled wigs into their art. (Dolly Parton's wigs are also a staple of her day-to-day style.) Third, as one more level-headed TikToker noted, wigs can also protect hair that's under stress from, say, getting heat-styled every night for a massive tour, while keeping personal style on the table.
Finally, shouldn't the time spent analyzing every hair follicle on Sabrina Carpenter's head be spent, I don't know, at a job? While I love to find out which NARS lipstick Taylor Swift wears or how Carpenter worked Prada lip balm into her "Please Please Please" music video, this wig search feels more like a witch hunt when it's entirely based on speculation.
Carpenter has not made any direct comments about enhancing her hair—which has always been long, blonde, and somewhat curly—during her tour. She has enlisted a team of bona fide beauty experts to prep her for the spotlight, kicking things off in Columbus, Ohio on Sept. 23 with Evanie Frausto, and then switching over to Scott King for the successive stops. Both hairstylists shared photos of Carpenter onstage after a performance on Instagram, with King even detailing the exact tools he used on the "Taste" singer's hair. (A Wavytalk blow dryer, a 5-in-1 curling wand from the same label, and wide-tooth comb for the final brush out.) Both stylists also received comments exactly like this one: "Hair so good there was [sic] wig allegations."
I reached out to King to clarify whether Carpenter is wearing a wig, extensions, or neither; if I hear back, this post will be updated. For what it's worth, the hairstylist liked a few comments under his Instagram product breakdown, indicating that Carpenter is wearing blonde extensions with her natural hair instead of a full wig. "You're gonna have to film a video styling the extensions cos the blend is [clapping emojis]," went one that King liked.
Sabrina Carpenter also winked at the discourse with a pointed post on Instagram Stories. On Oct. 6, she reposted a video where Hacks star Meg Stalter parodies wig gate conspirators talking to their partners about Carpenter's hair. "No, I can't tell if it's a wig or a hair piece," Stalter says. The singer didn't provide any extra commentary.
In conclusion, let's stop asking whether Sabrina Carpenter wears a wig and focus on the beauty questions that really matter: What sort of haircare sorcery does she practice to keep her bangs so perfect?
Editor's note: This post was updated on Oct. 7 to include Sabrina Carpenter's Instagram post on Oct. 6.
