Mirror, Mirror: Trendlet: The half-shave
Remember the days when only the punked out - or, eek, the goth - shaved wide swaths of their hair? In the late '80s, the majority of us - although overprocessed and oft blown-out - thought removing chunks of hair in prominent places was a little too wild and much too crazy.
Remember the days when only the punked out - or, eek, the goth - shaved wide swaths of their hair? In the late '80s, the majority of us - although overprocessed and oft blown-out - thought removing chunks of hair in prominent places was a little too wild and much too crazy.
Well, dolls, crazy is not so crazy anymore.
The trendlet
The half-shave. The scalp is sheared clean from the top of the ears down, or pruned along one side. Sometimes both sides are closely snipped into a Mohawk.
Where does it come from?
This cropped coif goes back to the 1980s, and, like Doc Martens, stayed popular on the fringe for years. In 2010, Willow Smith shaved the entire underside of her hair and pulled the rest into a high ponytail with the release of her song "Whip My Hair." Parents gasped. Celebs from Rihanna to Kelly Osbourne copied, and, these days, many of those same moms are opting for the half-shave, too.
Who's wearing it?
College students are getting the half-shave and dyeing the leftover tresses pink, blue, and green - both shamrock- and Eagles-appropriate. Artistic types, especially hair stylists, favor it, and more than likely your barista is a half-shaver, too. Philly salons from Parlour Hair & Skin in Fishtown to Valentine's Hair Studio in North Philadelphia report an uptick in businesswomen wearing shoulder-length manes over half-shaves during work hours, then rocking a ponytail at yoga and a side sweep on evenings to show off the bold look.
Would Elizabeth wear it?
Ummm, that would be a no. It took me way too long to grow these dreadlocks, and having a chunk of hair missing from my head would cause major anxiety. Not to mention blue hair is so . . . not . . . Elizabeth.
Should you wear it?
Only if you have the confidence, because people - including me - will look twice. The cool thing about the half-shave is that whatever you wear - be it a moto jacket and leather leggings, a sweat suit, or a police uniform - you will look fearlessly fashion-forward.