When Hairstyle Inspirations Go Wrong

Everyone remembers their pop style crushes, and I'm no exception. In the mid to late '70s, when I was in high school, it was all about either having Farrah hair, or having Dorothy Hamill hair, depending upon what one's style was. 

I tried to emulate the Farrah look as best I could with hair that was never below my shoulders. Of course I had to perm my hair and use hot rollers and mounds of hairspray to get the desired effect, but that was no deterrent to me or millions of other girls my age.

As the '70s wound down, there was increasing inspiration from the music world. I admired a lot of female singers, and there were a lot of great ones, with great style. The one woman whose style I wanted to be like was Stevie Nicks.

She had the face of an angel, that perfectly matched the ethereal sound of her voice. She wore clothes like a mystical gypsy goddess, and she gave off an air of being not quite human.

One of the essential ingredients of Stevie Nicks' look was her hair. She had beautiful, layered, (sometimes) big long blonde hair. It was a sort of rock take-off on the Farrah look, but far more casual and yet more daring. This is Stevie Nicks in the early-to-mid 80s.

I personally was never confident enough to rock clothing like Stevie Nicks back then, and as the '70s turned into the '80s, I was working in a retail store as a cosmetician, so my clothing was somewhat reserved, and even my clothing for going out on at night was relatively conservative. By 1981, I had cut my permed hair off, and I grew it into a simple pageboy.

In early 1983, I felt I needed a change. I went into my salon and simply told the hairstylist that. She suggested a perm with long layers. I thought it was a great idea.

I have to say, I loved my hair when I came out of the salon. It was shorter in length at the longest point, but it looked a lot like Stevie Nick's hair in the photo immediately above. To style it for work however, I styled it in more of the fashion of Olivia Newton-John's hair at the time. My hair was longer, but you get the idea.

Now, you have to remember that my hair is very fine, and stick-straight, so even with a perm, it was impossible to achieve the look I wanted with wash and go. It had to be styled with  mousse, which was then the new best thing, a curling iron,and hairspray.

I was Olivia by day, but by night, I tried to style my hair to look like Stevie's. I think I did a pretty good job of it too.

The first night that I went out with my friends with this new style, I was feeling mighty fine, I have to tell you. Then one of my buddies took one look at me and he said, "Oh, you look like Rod Stewart."

D'oh!

So that was the end of my Stevie Nicks dream, then and there. Lesson: be true to your hair type. Even if it's not in style.



I'm still getting my blog feet wet again, so I may continue to post non-daily for a while. I will have a new hairstyle posted on my website tomorrow.

'Til next time, my friends. Love to all, and extra hugs to anyone feeling physically or emotionally exhausted today. xoxo