Thursday, July 30, 2015

Fashion, Curly Hair, and The Runway







Fashion, Curly Hair, and the Runway

With 70% of the population being curly- one wonders why do we see so much straight hair?

The history of style and fashion is long and storied with the emergence of Haute Couture during the reign of Marie Antoinette and Louis XVI.  Although things have changed in the fashion world in recent decades, curly hair had a long run as the stylish woman’s texture of choice.  Lorraine Massey, author of the Curly Girl:  The Handbook, said it best “You never see straight hair on a Botticelli goddess or Rubens angel”.   As quickly as fashion changes, so do hairstyles and today the runways are filled with analogous straight hairstyles
So where did our curls go?!

Beginning in the 1900s we said goodbye to curly locks and welcomed in much shorter, straighter hairstyles.  The timing coincided with big events:  the Great Depression, WWI, WWII.  With the focus on finances, women entering the workforce and war, curly hair was manipulated into a straighter look bringing straighter styles into fashion.

With this shift, a multi-billion dollar industry was born in hair straightening products and services.  As a result of societal pressure to fit this cultural ideal of beauty, women and men alike endure sometime-painful or unhealthy hair treatments.  The recent boom of Brazilian Blowout hair straightening treatments was quickly followed by news that exposure to one of the main ingredients, formaldehyde, is classified as a known carcinogen in gaseous form.  This new definition of beauty has even drawn national attention as a tool for racism, sexism, and classism – but that is a topic for another day!
Thankfully for those of us who love our naturally curly hair, the trends are changing again!  Although high fashion has been slow to respond, relegating curls to ‘street fashion’ type shows, the natural hair movement is gaining steam!

To help celebrate, and help men and women everywhere to love your hair the way it is, Twisted Hare Salon & Spa is excited to be doing a charity event fashion show kicking off Fashion Week Minnesota #FWMN  showing curly hair on the runway, clothing by the Minnesota College of Art and Design modeled by Curlies from around the Twin Cities! #SavetheDate, September 20, 2015, come see Through the Looking Glass:  Where Curls Meet Fashion and help us team up with Crave, Muse Event Center, Lorraine Massey, and OIE to help raise money for Keepa Child Alive!,  Check out our event page www.events.thetwistedhare.com.   Amusee Wine will also be at the event pairing wine with your curl type.  Can you imagine...Botticelli curls....mmmm...Sauvignon Blanc?  Cheers! As Lorraine Massey says Curls are not a fad they're a life style.  Long Live Curls!!!

 

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