Saturday, July 3, 2010

Short Cuts

It's funny how much a woman's self-confidence is tied up in her hair. If you are having a good hair day? You feel awesome. Even just a t-shirt and jeans makes you feel sexy. You are gorgeois. If you are having a bad hair day? The cutest outfit in the world will not make you feel pretty. It's all about the hair.

I've even noticed a difference in how customers respond to me at work based on how I have styled my hair. Ponytail? Meh. All down, like a blanket around my face? Meh. Half-up, half-down? More smiles, more small talk, more sales. Braided pigtails? They love me. "You look so cute with your hair like that," they'll say. "I just love your hair!" Braided pigtails it is, then! Besides, it means I can roll out of bed at the very last minute.

When I was little? Mom kept my hair short. Chin-length (or shorter) with blunt bangs. Possibly the worst haircut someone with a square face could have. And she would curl my bangs for special occasions, and my forehead would always get burned. Every. Time. The day Mom got married, when I was fiveish? I had a curling Iiron barrel-shaped burn so bad that it scabbed over. Thank goodness my fluff of hairsprayed bangs covered it for the pictures! To this day, I cannot see a curling iron without getting a little nervous.

As a teen and now adult [Yeah, I think you better put that in quotes.] okay, "adult," I have kept my hair long, no bangs, with a few, sometimes disastrous exceptions. I get bored, I get the urge to get it cut, I pore over hairstyle magazines, looking for one shortish cut that will look perfect on me. I usually got it wrong. I would leave the hair salon with a smile plastered on my face so the stylist wouldn't feel bad. After all, they had given me what I asked for. But I would hate it and feel ugly until it started to grow out.

Summers in the South? Will make you yearn for short hair no matter how bad it looks on you. Around the end of May, I was dying to get my hair cut. I made the appointment. I perused magazines. Glamour came to me in the mail with an article titled, "The Haircut That Will Change Your Life." Yessss. It was like an omen.

I chose my haircut, but I was nervous. It was a bit shorter than I wanted to go. It had bangs. There were opportunities for disaster. But when I showed my hairdresser? She gasped. "Megan, I love that! It is so cute!" Sold.

And she was right. It is cute. I love it. My history with short cuts? Rewritten. And I am so saving that magazine picture.

7 comments:

  1. I always look better with short hair, but I hate getting my hair cut. So much. So much that my hair is currently held back with my sunglasses as I sit in a basement room typing this. So much that I can pull the scraggly back into a horrid little pony-tail.

    You have inspired me. Haircut.

    This week.

    Really.

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  2. I love long, long hair on women. I don't know why. I think it might even be part of my predjudice against Kate Goslin because she had possibly the worst hair I have ever seen in my life. Megan has said for years that she wanted to cut her hair short, and I always make the same face of disgust and horror. I guess that is why I was not informed about the extent of her haircut plans this time...but she is adorable. I think any fears she had about my reaction were put to rest last night.

    I will say, though....I married a woman, not a man, and if the Goslin haircut ever shows up, I will be gone faster than John was.

    :P

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  3. @Kris - I have always pictured you with short hair. Have you mentioned your hair was short? I love haircuts... especially the shampooing.

    @Michael - I didn't mention my haircut because if I even mention the word "short" you freak out on me as if I am going to chop it all off a la Halle Berry. I cannot pull that off. The length of my hair now? Absolute shortest I would go. I am glad that you agree it's cute though - it so is.

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  4. It’s amazing how much hair affects your entire persona. I’ve seen women, especially black women, change their whole attitude…even their likes and dislikes (like Sybil or some shit) just from putting on a wig. It’s crazy!

    Or look at how bad ass the cook in Breaking Bad became when he shaved his head.

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  5. I'm letting mine grow back out after cutting it short. I'm one of those get it cut, let it get long, and cut it again. It's a vicious circle :)

    I do have a magazine pic I keep in my purse for the color I want to do my hair next time I get it done!

    Found you from Pretty All True...the greatest blog in the entire blogging world...swinging by to say hi!

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  6. @Natalie - Hi! I do the same thing - I'm either growing my hair out or thinking about cutting it. Why do we do that??? Pretty All True is my favorite blog, so glad you came by! Thanks!

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  7. @zodiblog - New hair can definitely help you play a new "part." And these women you know, who wear lots of wigs? Are they female impersonators? For some reason I feel like you would be right at home with them, because they have LOTS of personality! :) Thanks Scott!

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