And now, at the other end of the body, I muse about hairstyles

[moon_custafer]

How did the chin-length bob get stereotyped as the “(white, middle-class, I’d-like-to-speak-with-the-manager) Mom” hairstyle? Because I’ve had it for the past year and it’s probably the most inconvenient and high-maintenance woman’s hairstyle out there.

Short hair is short, and long hair can be tied back, but medium hair keeps falling in your eyes, tends to turn into an unflattering triangle shape if not constantly fussed with, and needs frequent re-cuttting. Not what I’d want if I were raising kids.

Then again, maybe it’s the “I can afford a nanny and frequent visits to the salon” Mom hairstyle.

Comments

[notasupervillain]

I think That Sort of Mom is supposed to value image over function?

[moon_custafer]

Very likely. It's just weird that this hairstyle has acquired that "practical" image in the first place.

[notasupervillain]

I see what you mean. Maybe if it's "no nonsense" rather than "practical"?

[moon_custafer]

I'm beginning to suspect it really is some kind of upper-middle-class "I have the time and resources to maintain this "easy," "simple" "mature" hairdo which is actually high-maintenance as all get out.

It's like the "natural" look in makeup, or worse the "no makeup" look which requires perfect skin maintained by a complicated regime. Apart from the class implications, it's a huge amount of effort to look like you don't make an effort, you just happen to look like this.

[palain-7.livejournal.com]

As I recall, visits to the hairdresser were relatively cheaper back in the 60s and usually included a 'helmet hair' permanent. My Granny, as befit her Scotch background, was pretty tight with a dollar but went to the corner hairdresser almost every week. It was one of those equivalent-to-a-corner-old-Italian-barber places that are just about gone now. They'd usually be in the converted front room or veranda of some immigrant's pillbox bungalow house.

Personally I'm a fan of Big Hair as my personal acquaintance with hair was so fleeting.

Hope the shoulder situation is easing somewhat.

[moon_custafer]

I've seen a few of those in family photos -- they look stiff but I suppose had the benefit of not having to be restyled each day. I sometimes think wigs would be more efficient.

After the cortisone shot did nothing, my GP decided to try Lyrica and a bunch of NSAIDS. This actually is helping a bit, but makes me somewhat drowsy and off-balance-- luckily no one at work appears to have noticed.

[sabotabby]

I think it's because it's inconvenient and high-maintenance.

I used to have that length of hair because I wanted to look like a vampire but it never fell straight on me and would end up at best wavy and at worst triangular. This time when I was growing it out, I hated that stage. Now it's still kind of triangular but the bangs offset it.