Going for the chop!

OMG! I’ve had my hair cut… And it’s quite short… For those of you who know me you’ll know it’s quite a big deal because I’ve had long hair for about a gazillion years. And apart from having a fringe cut several years ago, in reaction to splitting up with my ex, I have had the same swinging locks for nearly two decades.

It almost happened 3 months ago when I last went to the hairdressers and I mentioned that I’d been thinking about going for the “chop”. I told him that I didn’t want it “lurking around no-mans-land” looking like I was growing out a bob or something – and basically I chickened out. I had my usual “take off as little as possible trim” and didn’t give it another thought. Until last Tuesday…

As usual my copy of Grazia was on the doormat and there on the front cover was the head-line “Jen’s crisis make-over… Sleepless night before that crop”!!! Slightly dramatic you might think but apparently not. Seemingly, Jen’s hair is not only a barometer to how she feels, but also it affects us too! We’ve been obsessing with her barnet ever since she became famous for the “Rachel” hair-do in Friends, back in 1994. Since, then apart from going up and down a couple of inches and various shades of blonde high-lights, it’s remained the same. Which has been rather comforting and familiar; she looks approachable and friendly with her “wash-and-go” glam but girl-next-door locks. This is probably why we all like her so much and can’t stand her “husband thief”, Angelina Jolie.

© Turkbug | Dreamstime.com

Now I don’t know why Jen decided to go for the plunge – to be honest I’m not even sure why I did. But after having a flick through Grazia and spotting not only Jen, but Olivia Palermo and Scarlet Johansson sporting substantially shorter locks – and after Ian my hairdresser and I having the same boring “Should I, shouldn’t I?”, conversation as 3 months ago… I simply said, “Just do it“.

So he did it. But he didn’t do it whole-heartedly at first, initially it was definitely lurking in “no-mans land” (my feared length) – so I told him to keep going as it was all or nothing and had to be done properly. Bless him he kept saying “I’m waiting for you to burst into tears!” But actually, it felt quite liberating – it was only when washing my hair for the first time the next day that I felt bizarre – there was just nothing there… And tying hair back? Well, I’ve never seen such a poor attempt at a pony tail in my life… And don’t believe anyone who says short hair is easy – it’s a lie. I spent longer straightening my hair this morning than yesterday when I had over double the amount. And now you have to have a good hair day every day as there’s sure as heck no option to simply “tie it back”!! OMG – what have I done?? 

On a plus point however, people keep telling me how much they like it (even though what else are they going to say!!) and how young I look… Which is quite worrying as how old did I look before?? But seriously, I do like it. I’m sure I’ll end up growing it again before long – but for now I’m happy with my “hairline bob“… Jen had better not turn up on this week’s cover sporting a full-head of hair extensions!!

Take a look at Jen for yourself….

http://www.graziadaily.co.uk/beauty/archive/2011/02/22/breaking-hair-news-jennifer-aniston-gets-a-bob.htm

P.S. My hairdresser Ian is based at Willie Smarts in Clapham Common – www.williesmarts.co.uk

1940s NYE glamour

I spent my last few hours of 2010 and initial hours of 2011 at a 1940s fancy-dress Blitz party in an outfit that would have done my grandmother proud (www.theblitzparty.com). At first my friends and I decided we weren’t too bothered about having our hair done professionally and were fairly relaxed about our outfits until the day before NYE, when we started to panic! On closer inspection our dresses weren’t “Pearl Harbour” enough, shoes weren’t retro enough and don’t even start us on the Youtube videos of recreating a “Victory Roll” in our hair! Suddenly, we were sifting through charity shops scouring the shelves for fur collars, brooches and trying to book last minute hair appointments. Thankfully we went ahead with the latter and it made ALL the difference! We had to go to the salon in shifts as only the owner was able re-create the 1940s look… And as I was in the hot-seat first my second friend had the benefit of seeing two trial runs so she could decide if it was worth it or not going through all the trauma of extensive back-combing and serious hair-spraying… thankfully we were all thrilled with our newly-quaffed barnets (please note: the next day I can’t tell you what my hair looked like after I’d removed all the pins and brushed out the back-combing, I looked like a crazy person and have never seen volume like it!!).

Anyway, back to NYE… I put on my make-up (fake-eye lashes, red lipstick etc) and got dressed, when I looked in the mirror I barely recognised myself, I was my Granny (I’d never worn red lipstick before as I’ve never found it in any way flattering, but with the rest of the look complete it seemed to work)! Getting the tube to the party was hysterical because we stood out so much and everyone kept chatting to us. I’ve been to fancy-dress parties before, but this time it was bizarre as everyone’s outfits and the location (kitted out with sandbags/bunting/a Red Cross tent etc) seemed to really recreate the scene. So as we walked through the door I felt as though we’d almost gone back in time – as though we were on a set of “Goodnight Sweetheart” or a movie or something and that Nicholas Lyndhurst (I was actually hoping for Josh Hartnett in Pearl Harbour preferably) was going to appear…

Apart from the weirdness of feeling like we’d just entered another era, it hit me how everyone looked so glamorous and how much of an effort women made in their appearances years ago. When I was researching hairstyles of the 1940s, I discovered that women went to town with their hair and make-up because they could only have simple clothes due to the war and rationing. It made me think about how different decades in the Twentieth century had such iconic looks; there were flapper dresses in the 20s, tea dresses in the 40s, prom-style full dresses in the 50s, flares in the 70s, leggings in the 80s etc. And that by adding the right hair and make-up from each time period, you can almost be sent back in time. But what will the Noughties be remembered for – how can we create an iconic look that in years to come would take us back to 2005 for example? I’m not entirely sure.

However, no matter what is “en vogue” in 2011, my money’s on the fact that we will want it to be easy… when we go to the hairdressers what do we ask for? “Low maintenance please!” Actually these days we want clothes, make-up and hair to be as simple as possible – which is fine for everyday but how much effort do we really make when we “go out”? To be honest I liked the fact that I’d had to properly “glam up” on New Years Eve – my friends and I felt that we had to be more “lady-like” in our 1940s feminine outfits and actually, it was rather nice. I wonder was it due to the events of the time? People wanted to forget about what was going on around them so they made an effort to make the most of themselves, as best they could. Fingers crossed we will never know the horrors of war first hand or rationing but with continuing financial woes hanging over us and general January blues, maybe we should seek some inspiration from our grandmothers, grab some red lipstick and black eyeliner and generally glam up!

INSIDER INFO: if you’re in London and wanting a fab “up-do” go to “W2K”, 65 Bedford Hill, Balham, 02086750151.

Waiting for the tube in our 1940s outfits...