Fluffy wig with ears! One of the distinguishing marks of a CATS style costume. True, you could do your hair up in buns or with styling products, but a lot of people prefer wigs. I like wigs. Making wigs is probably what I'm best known for in the online Cats costuming community. I've made over a hundred of them; unfortunately, I don't have pictures of every one. They look nice, though. A lot of people say my wigs are the best they've ever seen outside the actual productions; my personal goal is to eventually make them just as good as the ones from the stage productions, yak hair and all. However, you don't need a professionally made yak hair wig to have a good costume! There are cheaper, easier, and quicker alternatives.
Making CATS wigs for a personal costume can be broken down into two basic categories:
Fur/paint
"Yarn/hair" refers to wigs that are constructed by attaching (usually) pre-colored fiber to a wig cap/base, which is then styled and trimmed. This is the most flexible method, and can range from being the cheapest to the most expensive. The professional stage productions' wigs fall into this category.
"Fur/paint" refers to wigs that are bought pre-made to some extent, then altered and painted; JBW, RCH, or long-pile-faux-fur off the bolt from a fabric store sewn into a wig-shaped cap. This can be the fastest, and for some people it's the only way they can manage to make a wig. In my personal opinion, these never quite look good enough except for small children.
Of course, if you want to, you can actually combine the two methods to save time on a yarn/hair wig. Other people have pages that spell this out with instructions and illustrations, but basically the idea is to make the front part in a yarn/hair way and attach it to the back part made from faux fur or a JBW. I've done this before, but just keep in mind that the join is noticeable and painted faux fur does not match pre-colored fibers.