Happy Wednesday. My short commute was tinged with hints of monsoon. Wow.
When it rains it Miami, it really rains.
Browning's piece in the New York Times about her refusal to cut her hair,
even though she is deep in the throes of "middle age". In certain circles of
yesteryear, it was a major non non to have long hair if you are past 40, and
back in the day, I would say 30 would have been the cutoff for long and
lustrous locks. There are certain fashion tenets on such things- lighten
your hair as you get older, cut your hair, don't wear bright lipstick. I
have heard all these things and they are etched in my brain (thanks mom)- I
had filed them away for future reference, and now I may just blow off the
dust as I begin to think about such things. But the truth is- I haven't had long hair since I'm about 21. I adore
cutting my hair- it's been Mia Farrow short, Louise Brooks bobbed, Oasis
brothers shagged, and just about everything in between. The common thread
is rarely has my hair grazed my collarbone for more than a minute in all
these years. I prefer my hair cropped and that's that. So this issue doesn't
really concern me. I do applaud Ms. Browning for bringing it up though- she
was on the Today show today with Sally Hershberger (what in the world did
Sally do to her face, she can't even move it) talking about it all. When I
first read the article, I knew it was a press goldmine. Still, it's hard to
believe that as women this is big news- I guess what I'm trying to say is
wear your hair how you want- nobody looks 30, 40, 50 or 60 anymore. All the
rules have been broken. I will say if you keep your hair long and free of
color you run the risk of looking like an art teacher from Taos but that's on
you. Maybe that's your thing. So own it. I am pretty sure women in other countries don't give any of these "rules" a
second thought- I'm thinking of Sonia Braga here specifically whose hair was
always long and spidery despite her age. She's Spanish. Enough said. This
whole article made me think of a friend of my mother's, whose name is Ann.
Ann was crazy cool and stylish in a chunky jewelry and Zoran basics kind of
way. And her way was silver and curly and completely kooky. And fabulous.
That was her look and it worked for her in spades. So Ms. Browning, I think it's an interesting, societal quirk you bring up-
but really- can we stop talking about rules for women and simply just break
them? Do what works for you and makes you feel beautiful. The more clout we
give these commandments, the more they will remain taboo. (This applies for
men too PS, though I must admit very, very few dudes are great with long
hair. I have always been more of a short haired man fan myself). So do your thing long hairs, short hairs, and everything in between. Just
please tell Sally Hershberger to stop filling in her face with Lord knows
what. There should really be a rule against that... And that's what's up this wildly hairy Wednesday in the MIA. XO