entirely frivolous post

[sebastienne]

Dearest internets:

Speak to me of hair, and of drag.

In about three weeks' time, I am doing a drag turn as Stephen Fry. I am also very bored of my current haircut, and in desperate need of a change.

It seems obvious to me that these two factoids can be combined to their mutual benefit.. however I would like to avoid, as far as possible, looking like this.

I have had some damn weird hair over the years, and am not afraid to get quite radical cuts.. but at the same time I am vain. I'm not convinced that I look right without the hair from my forehead grown to around chin length - shorter and I'm into "aargh, a fringe!" territory, longer and it starts to hang strangely, or get reflexively tucked behind my ears.

So I'm thinking about compromises. A happy medium where most of my hair can be quite short (hurrah, low maintenance!), but the fringe-parts stay chin-length (hurrah, socially-acceptable prettiness!). I'm imagining that such a cut would allow me to pull off effective drag if I were to sweep the fringe-parts back. But does such a cut exist in the real world? Will I really end up looking like this, or is this the closest I can expect to get to butch if I try to keep the front of my hair chin-length?

Comments

[deathbyshinies.livejournal.com]

I have no contribution to make that is of any use whatsoever, but damn, how I <3 all of your weird hair.

[marrog.livejournal.com]

You and I have quite similar hair, I think, and I have had similar struggles with the desire to have short hair that drags well fighting against the conviction that I must be able to have my hair frame my face at the front.

For the record, it dragged best at (http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/photos-ak-ash1/v331/122/107/509281671/n509281671_1359730_4794.jpg) this (http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/photos-ak-snc1/v343/90/3/517914518/n517914518_828004_7814.jpg) length (http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/photos-ak-snc1/v344/192/93/715900791/n715900791_1991025_9186.jpg) but I felt pretty self conscious about how it exposed my (lack of) jawline, and despite the fact that I know it was probably my most flattering haircut I just couldn't ever quite make myself love it.

Currently my hair has a huge undercut and is purple (indeed I'm topping up the roots as I type) which is super dykey and looks quite cute I think but not remotely useful for costuming purposes. My current plan is to grow it out a bit longer so that I can get lots of layers cut into it to make it kinda shaggy as that never worked with a full head of hair but I think might when most of the underneath is a #7 buzz.

Anyway, perhaps none of this is helpful but I wanted to express my solidarity.

[sebastienne.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I get that. I think that you look totally awesome in those photos, but know immediately how uncomfortable I'd sometimes feel with that haircut, even if I knew I looked awesome a lot of the time.

[deathbyshinies.livejournal.com]

Oh, oh, wait, what am I thinking? I do have sensible advice: Have you considered dragging up with wigs?

Cosplay sites are often quite useful for good men's ones, and for some reason IME people are much less likely to read short-hair wigs as wigs than long ones. I wonder if something like one of these (http://www.hellocosplay.com/standard-wigs-32cm-short-layered-c-79_201.html), styled a bit, would work? (And if you do put in an order and would like to share shipping, er, let me know?)

Not that I want to discourage you from doing fun things with your hair, as that would also be awesome!

[annalytica.livejournal.com]

OMG now I want ALL the wigs on that site!

[highfantastical.livejournal.com]

I know naught of hair, but who is that in the 'Will I really end up looking like this' picture? Because I LOVE THAT PERSON. :D

Now I sort of want to try drag... *muses*

[sebastienne.livejournal.com]

It's Adam Lambert - I think he comes from an American reality TV show - but isn't he gorgeous?

I can definitely see you rocking drag.. I'd imagine you suiting something historical, like this Holmes / Watson cosplay (http://bluelarch.deviantart.com/gallery/24493352)..

[highfantastical.livejournal.com]

OH MY GOD. That is so awesome. Now I really, REALLY want to dress up as Holmes and/or Watson. *enthusiastic bounce*

And yes, yes. He is gorgeous. Gorgeous in the extreme...

[loneraven.livejournal.com]

I'm sorry I'll be missing your act!

[vampire-kitten.livejournal.com]

Come talk to the fab hairdresser in Didcot?

[lilka.livejournal.com]

I'm not sure that any of them is quite what you're looking for, but I really liked this hairdresser's reference of butch haircuts (http://thesocietypages.org/socimages/2010/11/18/revisioning-aspirational-hair/).

[sebastienne.livejournal.com]

That is gorgeous - thanks for sharing!

[rex-dart.livejournal.com]

I'm doing drag (http://27.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_l5w843hrdK1qbt9jco1_500.png) in a couple of weeks that requires my hair to be slicked back. Short back and sides and long on top/in front is perfect for this sort of thing, but there's a limit to how long you can go. This (http://pics.livejournal.com/rex_dart/pic/001bckw0/g8) is my hair at present - long enough to slick back, but not too long to come off as very feminine. I don't think I would recommend the chin-length hair as an ideal. There will come a point when you're going to look like Trinity from the Matrix instead of a guy.

I work for a wig company, and I have to say that while wigs certainly have their uses, a wig is definitely not going to be ideal in this case. Cosplay wigs in particular are not the best for dressing up as real people, especially real men and especially when purchased from a site like the one linked above where the sellers don't even seem to know what they're made out of (those are not kanekalon fiber). I can give you advice on what to look for if you do end up deciding on a wig, but it's going to be extremely difficult to find something that looks both natural and like Stephen Fry's hair, especially on a budget, and it's especially hard to do without a lace front.

I think you'll be much happier with the results by slicking your own natural hair back. Could you perhaps compromise and have your fringe cut a bit shorter than chin-length and then grow it back again? I think the length of marrog's hair in the pictures she posted is wonderful, but you could probably get away with another inch or so before it started to look a bit awkward.