June 17, 2008

New Look

My Dad, (who reads this blog btw, Hi Dad!) once told me "Men get hair cuts to look the same. Women get hair cuts to look different". I'm not 100% convinced on this, but I will say that I get excited about *new* hair cuts. I'm not talking about trims, which *are* about looking the same. I'm talking about going in to a hair dresser and saying, cut it off!

My beloved Beau, recently had a major hair cut. By recently, I mean 5 months ago, but it was *huge*. He went from long curly locks that went half way down his back to, short back and sides (slightly longer on top). It was a big change to his look and elicited much comment. Since then he's had 3 (or 4?) hair cuts, but they're all about keeping it the same now.

In Jan, I went from shoulder length hair to a playful "crop". It was fun and comment-worthy. I felt lighter having all that hair off and ready to leave the country and travel, without needing a second towel for my hair (a motivating factor for both Beau and I). I hated how it looked while it was growing out though. It looked fabulous when I had glitter streaks through it, but they came out and I found it a bit.. bleurgh (still fun when teased to maximum volume, not so suitable for work).

So, time for another change. Beau and I saw Speed Racer at the movies and I *wanted* Trixie's bob. My hair is inclined to sleek straightness, so it would be a low maintenance style. However, Trixie's bob had a fringe.

I had a fringe in 4th form (age 14) and it wasn't so great. It was so not great that my cousin, who *always* teases me, did not say a word about it in order to spare my feelings. I next had a fringe in my 1st year of Uni (age 18), when I didn't want to pay for hair cuts, so did hairmodelling for hairdressing schools/competitions. I was given a very straight fringe the bottom half of which was carefully bleached and dyed red. There was some other odd stuff going on at the back too (she had a big tuft she styled to stick straight up). I think we were in the "creative day" section. It was a fun cut, but I grew it out and clipped it to the side pretty quickly.

So, I haven't had a fringe in almost 10 years. I wasn't sure if I could pull it off. Would it suit my face? I look fine in wigs with fringes. There are many photos of a young Giffy with fringe and pigtails and frankly, adorable. However, 25 years on and adorable might be wearing thin. I tried holding my hand over my forehead to give me an idea of what I'd look like with a fringe. I looked like me with my hand over my forehead. I tried brushing my too long hair forward over my face to see what that looked like... um Emo/Yaoi. I did the thing where you look in the mirror and hold up a bit of your hair so that it looks like a fringe, a really *crap* fringe. I decided to get over it and book an appointment with the hairdresser.

My hairdresser was a lovely Italian fellow (too old to be a "boy", to young/hairdressery to be a "man"). I didn't have any pictures, he'd not seen the movie and his english was not great. He didn't think I had enough hair. He said he could do the fringe, but there wasn't enough hair on the sides. Too much layering from my previous hair cuts. Yipes! I didn't want a fringe with my *regular* hair. I asked him if he had a pen. I drew a picture. He said it wouldn't be perfect, but he thought he could manage something.

The scissors came out. The hair fell down. I looked in the mirror and was uncertain. I liked the sides, although I wished *once again* that I didn't have such stick-y out-y ears (that was my other concern with the hair style). I could see that the style would be better in 6 weeks when the old layers would have grown out further and I could get it re-cut. I didn't know about the fringe. My hair framed my face in a new way. This is a pretty severe/harsh hair cut. Straight lines. Sharp corners. Could I pull it off?

Now, not much hair was actually "cut", only as much as it would have been if I'd just got a trim. It was a big change in hair style though. People have noticed. Surprisingly (to me) a large number of men have commented and (happily) commented favourably. I decided I *definitely* liked it when my Beau saw me and kept saying how "cute" I looked. I think he likes the anime aspect of it.

Several people have said it seems a particularly "asian" looking cut. This is a comment I often get, no matter how I do my hair. I think when I have a change in look it makes people look more closely at me and reminds them that I look *quite* asian. I was pleased with my Lalli who said that it looked french and 20s though, 'cause I want it to look like that.

Any who, I like it. I like having an new crisp cut. It makes me feel stylish and put together. Having newly shaped eyebrows definitely helps too! I feel like I could go out in old jeans and a t-shirt and look fashionable as opposed to slobbish.

Tell me about your worst/best/most daring hair (for me is probably getting a "number 2" in my last year of Uni). How did it make you *feel*?

Point of Fashion: Fashionable
Current Obsession: How long til I need to get the fringe maintained?

PS the hairdresser told me I mustn't watch any movies and change my mind before the next cut!

Posted by giffy at June 17, 2008 03:59 AM | TrackBack
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