After the American Revolutionary War, styles in North America changed and the wig as a sign of social class died out of use. Wigs began to be used more to augment natural hair for elaborate hairstyles, for religious reasons, or to cover hair loss in both genders and therefore were required to blend with the wearer's natural hair. The selling of human hair glueless lace wigs by the lower classes for use in wigs by the upper classes was captured in stories like "The Gift of the Magi" and Little Women.
In the 19th century a new wig-making method began to replace the weft method most commonly used prior. A small hook called a "ventilating needle", similar to the tambour hooks used for decorating fabric with chain-stitch embroidery at that period, is used to knot a few strands of hair at a time directly to a suitable foundation material.[citation needed] By the 1870s, the lace machine had made lace affordable through mass production and the use of lace as foundation material for wigs entered popular use. Using lace allowed for a more natural-looking wig because the flesh-colored lace is almost imperceptible. The more common use was a strip of lace just at the front, known as a lace front wig, which gives the impression of a natural hairline.