9.27.2012

Hair Today, Gone Tomorrow.

Speaking of the 80s... If I had old pictures and/or a scanner, I would totally post a picture or two of myself as Young Flutterby. The 80s were known for a lot of things, but nothing more than HAIR. Big, curly, poufy hair. And I freely admit that I tried my darndest to accommodate the trend. Spiral perms, bottles of gel, cans of hairspray, ratted bangs... oh, the trend was rocked as much as I was able. In fact, all my teen years I had longish/long hair. At it's longest, my hair hit around my mid-back. I can't recall just how healthy my hair was -- it was probably in awful condition from all the alcohol-based products we used back then -- but I did love it.

 I think I was about 17 or so when the trends changed. Cute little Josie B from Melrose Place with her adorable short locks... skate boarders and grungers with their bowl cuts... it was now fashionable for girls to have short hair. And with a little bit of trepidation, I sat in the chair as my stylist chunked off great swathes of my hair. I emerged with a short, sassy little highlighted cut that I really loved (I think that Josie's cut was actually my template example). I couldn't believe that it could only take 5 minutes to wash, dry and style your hair! It was a revelation... new life... freedom!

Since then, I have worn the shortest of pixie cuts, assymetricals, bobs, bangs/no-bangs... whatever. But I have never been able to get back to that long length again. The growing out process just takes forever!! My hair grows at a fairly normal rate, I think. However, I hate dry ends and probably instruct my stylist to trim off more than should be if my goal is to grow length. Anyhow, the story usually goes that I struggle with growing things out and somewhere around that annoying almost-shoulder-length stage where it's not laying right and not behaving right, I cut. It. Off. Every single time. And so, for the past ?? years (hahaha... just read "A Very Long Time") I have never once had honest-to-goodness LONG hair.

Two years ago, my hair was short and bleached blond. Very damaged from over a year of constant bleaching. And I decided it was time to grow again. I missed the feminine appeal of long, bouncy waves and this time I would not be denied. I conditioned, and trimmed. Good lord... it took almost a full year to just grow out and trim off the damaged inches of bleached hair. I went with a darker hair color because, well, clearly the blond thing was not working for me. I conditioned some more. I cursed my way through so many awkward and strange hair lengths as I had done so many times before, feeling like I was getting nowhere. And then, two years after I first decided to grow this stuff out and it was once again at that awful almost-shoulder-length stage, I found that the predictable little thought was dancing through my brain, again. I started looking at short, easy hairstyles, fun colors and thinking about... ACK!!! NO!!!!

And so, I went and did this, instead.
They are tape-in extensions and they are rather fun and awesome. They will be with me for the next 6 - 8 months and when I finally say good bye to them, my hair will be this exact length. I am in love with my feminine, bouncy curls and my fun highlights. I may even be tossing my head around like a pro shampoo commercial chick. Just for today. And not in public (that much).

Welcome back, 80s. I missed you. ;)

4 comments:

Craig said...

Aw, yer a luvly one, ya iz. . .

I grew up in the 60s (which really lasted into the early 70s). My senior year of HS and freshman year of college, I, uh, grew my hair long. It eventually reached almost to my shoulders, thick and wavy. At its longest, I could just pull it together into a tiny pony-tail.

Once, one of the ladies at church grabbed me afterward to ask me, "Who does your hair?"

When 1F was 5 or so, she somehow got hold of my freshman ID card. She fell on the floor laughing, and said, "You look like a mommy!"

"Yeah," I answered, "that's what my dad said, too. . ."

Bijoux said...

I have at least one post about my hair in the 80s. I never quite got into the straight hair thing that's been popular. I look terrible with completely straight hair......must have volume!

Your photo is gorgeous, BTW!

Anonymous said...

Heh heh, late 70's I'd let my hair grow long as that was all the fad for young lads. particularly living in a cash-deficient family where the only option was a Mom-cut. ya know, the old uneven bowl cut thing was done and over with come '70. Mebbe some day I'll have to share my prom shot just for alla you.

I'm loving what you're rocking there, great look.

flutterby said...

Thanks for the compliments, everyone. I am pretty fond of the results. My scalp had a small hissy fit the first 5 days or so, but things feel a lot better now and I'm getting used to it all.