Chapter 3: All the Colors of the Rainbow
OK, I've just uploaded a shitload of photos. There may have to be a Chapter 4. Turns out I've changed my hair A LOT in the last 20 years. OK, let the guffawing begin!
1987. It was a funky kind of period, ya know? As my hair grew out I had to improvise occasionally. Like this look, which demanded hair gel, a lot of hairspray and a hair dryer on high to achieve the desired effect. (This was my boyfriend in my early 20s. His name is Casey Jones. Seriously.)
Fall 1987. This is how my hair looked most days. Kinda fluffy. Also? Nice print jeans.
Christmas 1987. I'm pretty sure I was styling with only a hair dryer at this point. Probably scrunching and then pulling that lock of bangs down over one side (w/ my mom & dad).
Summer 1988. It's just about hitting my shoulders by now (w/my neice).
Summer 1989. Much longer and curlier now. I have sunglasses on my head in this photo, so it was pretty much big & curly at this point.
Christmas 1989 or 90 (w/ my brother). Yeah, this is pretty much what my hair looked like for about 3 years. It looks like it's just to my shoulders but it's not. It's much, much longer in back.
Sometime around 1990. Still big & curly. (That's my brother - who you should know by now - my sister, and her daughter.)
Christmas c. 1990. My hair is bigger than my face.
Eventually, the hours under the hair dryer got to be too much and I chopped it off. Still big though.
OK, the short is boring and ugly. Fast forward to 1992 when it's grown out long again. And I'm coloring it red. (Remember Daisey from high school?)
September 1992. When I met Big Daddy my hair was long, red and curly. Possibly influenced by the popularity of the Pretty Woman movie. Maybe.
Easter 1993. When I found out I was pregnant, I cut my hair off short. Because that's what we do. It's a Mom Rule. (I thought I was precious with this big bow in my head.)
Our wedding, May 1993. (Yes, I know this appears out of order, but no, it's right.) Dude, that is some big ass hair. Still red.
July 1993. My best friend Susan's wedding. The hair is longer now - nearly touching the shoulders. And occasionally...
I would straighten it. Horrible. It's triangular hair. It was SCREAMING for some layers.
August 1993. The Kid is born. It was actually kind of convenient to have it straightened here.
This was maybe March 1994. (He looks to be about 6 months old.) The hair is growing out, but the red had gotten so bright (and thus the beginning of my War on Roots) that I tried to go back to my natural color to cover it. It turned out a little dark. Wearing it curly, but still no layers.
In 1997 I graduated college (age 30). I cut my hair in order to appear professional and hireable. I took a photo of a soap opera character I liked and said, "I want this hair." It was STACK LAYERED and I straightened it with a huge curling iron. (I don't know if it's the hair cut or the weight, but my face looks really thin to me in this photo.)
c. 1998. Red again. Same cut, slightly longer, worn curly.
c. 2000. Longer, straightened, a nice soft red. I think this is my favorite look. This is the photo where I go, "Damn, I got good hair." Still straightening with the curling iron.
2002 on a cruise with Big Daddy. I suffered for years under the delusion that if I cut it short, I can control it. I never failed to be highly disappointed.
And then I grew it back out (it's a pattern) and went BLONDE. This is 2004 I think? Very long stack layers; straightened with a flat iron now. (*cough*roots*cough*)
Really, REALLY blonde at one point. (Sorry for the poor quality, but I broke TWO nails trying to get that photo out of the frame and finally said fuck it and scanned it in the frame. I wanted you to see how lethally blonde I was.) Still stacked (no pun intended), but much shorter layers.
Summer 2005. Still blonde (only not so severe). Still stacked, long layers.
I can still wear it curly, like when I'm at the beach. I never straighten my hair when I'm at the beach.
Fall 2005 (w/my co-worker Amy, who, BTW, as terribly, terribly cute hair). I cut off several inches and went Gilmore Girls dark. Still stack layered, my signature cut.
Summer 2006. Dark and curly (b/c I'm at the beach).
I'm sorry I'M SORRY I do not have a recent photo of me w/my bangs. Coming soon! I promise!
And that catches us up! Up next: I think I might go Dr. Addison Shepherd Red because I really like her hair color. Although I watched an old re-run of "Friends" tonight and Cortney Cox had the most adorable cut. Oh, you just never know.
Man, I don't know about you, but I'm worn. out.
Labels: fashion and style, hair
8th Grade. Mom took some "before" pictures before we cut all my hair off. (She tried to make me "model" but I wasn't very good at it.)
"After." 8th Grade Beta Club Induction. I wore it curled under and pulled back on one side in a look that was befitting of the disco era.
9th Grade (1980). I cut it even shorter in a "Dorothy Hamill." This was the only photo of it I could find, although it obviously is in desperate need of a trim here. 
Summer after 9th grade (1981) I permed it. Then I didn't know what to do w/ it so I mostly let it air dry and wore it in an afro. Lovely. I might have warned you that we're about to enter into my most awkward teenage phase.
Later that summer: I grew out the perm a bit and began hot-rolling it. This photo was taken at the mall in New Orleans with my best friend Daisey after we got make-overs at Merle Norman.
10th Grade. Trying to cut out the perm, I went back to the wedge. Ugh.
Junior year (Fall, 1982). God this is BAD. Permed, curled (quite unsuccessfully) and pulled back in barrettes. Every day.
Junior Homecoming.
Spring of Junior Year (1983). Finally - the perm is grown out, the hair is hotrolled and tucked behind my ears.
Homecoming, Senior Year. Feathered, hotrolled. By this point my hair had become thicker and curlier although I didn't really realize that it was curly. I just thought it had these weird kind of waves in the back when I hotrolled it.
Senior Portrait, 1984. Still hotrolling, but now I'm curling the back BACK instead of under. That's why you can't even see it in this photo. Plus, it was pretty short.
Graduation, and I'm trying to keep my hat from falling off the back of my head.
1985 (with Shelley, right) I went even shorter.
Spring 1986 (w/ my brother) I went super short. 
So I started growing it back out later that year. (On Beale Street, my first trip to Memphis.) (1986. Nice cut-up t-shirt. How fashionable of me.)
And what I discovered, as I just let it grow and didn't do anything to it, was CURLS! To be continued...
Age 4. The short hair over my ears is pulled back in red plastic barrettes. The rest of my hair is half-way down my back. And check that "Allergic to Penicillin" jewelry I'm sporting. 
Second grade. I'm guessing my mom kept those bangs cut herself. Geez, they're blunt. And short. Also? Nice barrettes.
Sixth grade (Spring, age 11). Again with the mullet, but parted on the side now. My mother told me to pull my long hair around to make sure that it showed in the photo. If I were smart, I'd have used it to cover up the SILK-SCREENED POCKET OF ROSES on my dress. 
