Heads Up: Curls, Crimps Are Glamour Dos
So what’s next for hair?
A few stylists have definite thoughts: soft curls, crimped hair and elaborate twists and coifs as seen at the Academy Awards this week or on the runways last month.
Salma Hayek wore curls to the Oscars, as did Charlize Theron. Ashley Judd had a crimped ponytail. Cher showed up with soft, luxurious curls. Mena Suvari went for an elaborate twist. You might not have noticed, but Jack Nicholson’s hair was spiked; perhaps a nod to the hot, hot trend of surfer hair?
Hollywood stylist Robert Vetica predicts that styles from the 1960s will return. “But a modern-day version of the ‘60s ‘Valley of the Dolls,’ ” he said.
Richard Marin, another Hollywood stylist, sees styles from the 1970s returning in some form--especially if the much-anticipated movie “Charlie’s Angels” (starring Cameron Diaz, Drew Barrymore and Lucy Liu) is a hit. Even so, he said, there will be a modern twist to those wisps and shags.
Women are returning to “nice, pretty hair,” said Marin. But he warned, “What looks wrong is if your hair looks too coiffed.”
Michael O’Rourke, founder of Ecoly International hair-care products, believes hair will be about “disconnect,” a term he used to describe hair that doesn’t initially make sense--color that appears to be one hue (the top layer) but is actually a different color underneath or hair that seems to be long but when pulled up reveals short, cropped layers underneath.
Although it’s impossible to deny the influence of hairstyles worn to the Oscars ceremony, the runways of Europe and New York are often the place where the stars get inspiration.
Today’s celebrities attend fashion shows, then translate what they see, getting credit for popularizing the looks. (Even musicians, such as Lil’ Kim and Mary J. Blige, who are often thought to be trailblazers, are taking cues from the fashion shows.)
A stylist often watches tapes of the collections with his celebrity client, who will say, “Do that for me” but with a twist.
For instance, the famous, widely copied “Rachel” hairstyle worn by Jennifer Aniston was on the runways two years before its appearance on “Friends.”
Marin, the hairstylist who helped Aniston move on from her signature “Rachel” hair two years ago, said the public may not pay attention to hairstyles on the runways, but “they want to know, ‘How’s Jennifer Aniston wearing her hair?’ ”
California falls in and out of fashion on the runways. Fashion designers seem to love the visual cliches of surfer hair (short and color-streaked for guys; straight and blond for women).
“There’s a big cycle,” said Michael Toth, creative director of the North American Hair Awards show. “Blond’s in, blond’s out, blond’s in, blond’s out.”
And sometimes, said Toth, California is home to renegade hairstylists who buck the runway system and hang onto the past--most notably with the Farrah Fawcett shag from her “Charlie’s Angels” days and rocker-inspired Van Halen hair, both of which, while dated, still have loyal followings.
Barbara Thomas can be reached at barbara.thomas@latimes.com.
