Have You Met Bob?

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Dress: Gift (from Italy)

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Let's talk about my hair. I have had a few emails asking what products I use when washing it - Pantene Pro V Shampoo & Conditioner - & what implements I use to style it - none, wash & wear is all I can handle & some days I even have issues PARTING it correctly! - so I thought I would do a little post, post-haircut...

My cap of hair (it's not really thick enough or wild enough to call it a "mane" or "mop") has pretty much been the bane of my existence ever since I was a small child & couldn't wear the scrunchies we made at Girls' Brigade because they kept on falling out. It's extremely fine & poker-straight, much to the chagrin of my hairdresser Sue, who spends ages snipping away until my fringe - complete with "cowlick" - is as straight as possible. 

It's also extremely soft, which has led to few humorous incidents with members of the public who ask if they can touch it (!) to see what it feels like, including one particularly bizarre occurrence when a middle-aged businessman who was behind me on the escalator at a department store in the city actually lent forward & SNIFFED it, audibly. If my mother hadn't been a few steps behind him & had actually witnessed it, I would have thought I was dreaming! 

As styling goes, luckily I'm a fan of short hair (as a general rule, I think thin hair often looks thicker when kept cropped & angled around the face) & take inspiration from the "bob" styles of both 1920s flappers such as actresses Louise Brooks & Ruth Weyher & 1960s mods/beatniks such as fashion designer Mary Quant, featured below:

Louise Brooks (1906-1985) 

was an American dancer & actress, who was noted for popularising the "bob" haircut. Best known for her leading roles in 3 European movies - Pandora's Box (1929), Diary of a Lost Girl (1929) & Prix de Beaute (1930) - she starred in a total of 17 silent films & 8 "talkies" before retiring in 1935. 

"A well dressed woman, even though her purse if painfully empty, can conquer the world."

Ruth Weyher (1901-1983)

was a German film actress of the silent era. She appeared in 48 films between 1920 & 1930, but is best known for her role as a femme fatale in the 1926 film, Secrets of a Soul.

Mary Quant OBE (1934-)

is a British fashion designer & icon. An instrumental figure in the 1960s London-based Mod  movement, she is credited with the creation of both miniskirts & hotpants & the popularisation of "street" fashion as a representation of "youth culture." 

"The fashionable woman wears clothes. The clothes don't wear her."

"Fashion is not frivolous. It is part of being alive today."

The above picture shows Mary Quant having her hair cut into a sharp style by visionary British-born hairstylist Vidal Sassoon. Credited with creating some of the most iconic hairstyles of the "Swinging Sixties," Sassoon revolutionised the hairdressing industry with his precise, geometric cuts & chic "swingy" bobs, freeing women from the stiff up-dos of the 1950s. The pair became great friends & collaborators, with Mary famously telling him: 

 "I made the clothes, but you put the top on."