FashBlog.com

Even after hearing about actresses shaving their heads, I believe that 99.9% of women would refuse to do so. I can’t think of too many good reasons for a woman to go bald, except for a multi-million dollar movie role, or in empathy for a relative facing chemotherapy. But I still don’t know if I could make that sacrifice. For, like most of you, I have an emotional attachment to my hair. Do you really think that any woman is more attractive without it? The look really requires a huge amount of confidence, as well as an exceptionally pretty face, and most of us couldn’t manage it. Let’s hope that baldness never becomes “fashionable”!

When my daughter was in 4th grade, there were kids already streaking or bleaching their hair. By sixth grade, some made trips to expensive salons for dual-processing applications. I’ve even known preschoolers whose moms regularly gel or mousse their hair. Are we becoming a society whose future inhabitants know more about hair products than the world itself? Hair fashions seem to influence people across more age groups than ever before, and this seems to be perfectly acceptable.

A couple of weeks after a trip to the salon, my daughter hacked off her hair with manicuring scissors for that jagged, choppy appearance. (Note that I did not respond by complimenting her desire for individuality, by the way.) Encouraged by hair magazines and internet photos, she also believes that there is no such thing as too much flat ironing and too much hair spray, and loves to cover one eye. This prompts even normally silent relatives to exclaim that we can’t see half of her face. We may as well talk to the wall, because, to her, it’s more important to follow fashion.

It amazes me how much we respond to the fashion standards of hair, and so often those standards are controversial. When I was young, I thought adults were too uptight over boys with long hair, but now I question green, pink and blue in kids’ hair. (It’s funny how that happens, isn’t it?) To me, the fashion of these unnatural hair colors looks bizarre, and I wonder why, if a person has that much time and creativity, they’re not doing more with it than dying the front of their hair black and bleaching the back blonde…It’s ironic how I struggle to cover my gray to make my hair looks as natural as possible, while an entire group is trying to look as unnatural as possible. The only consolation is that almost all of the women on the “most beautiful” lists don’t go the route of unusual hair. Artists have always depicted timeless beauty standards, as well as models who look good without appearing that they’ve fussed with nature too much.

A friend of mine once commented, “If your hair doesn’t look right, you won’t feel right all day.” I understand this. I remember a “Cathy” comic a few years back in which two women, jockeying for the attention of one man, came face to face. The only thing they were both thinking was, “How does my hair look?” You’ve got to give it to hair in that respect: a bad hair day cuts all other problems down to size.

From mohawks to mullets to shags to bobs to everything in between, we are a people who judge and critique hair, and have done so for decades. Some fashion followers change their style every few months, while others retain theirs for years. Their look becomes their individuality. Personally, I prefer that, since there’s a continuum in trusting that the person will probably look the same after months of absence, versus the feeling that the friend you’ve come to know may be replaced by a different person-at least on the outside. I’ve kept my hair pretty much the same for a good while, except that sometimes it’s a bit longer, and sometimes a bit darker. (I like to think of it as still me, with newer and improved versions!)

In any event, you have to admit that commenting on hair fashions keeps life a bit more interesting. Many people say “It’s only hair”, but I still believe hair has a power all its own. Think about it.