(You might want to jump to the article on How to Wear a Wig here)

I used to sell wigs.  I had a site named Tamara's Tresses where I sold wigs for 4 years.  I obviously used to buy from the big names, Rene of Paris, Celebrity Secrets, Ea Gabor, Jon Renau.  At the same time I was investigating other wig manufacturers and happened to be in Taiwan on business. A side trip during that visit completely opened my eyes to the secrets of wig manufacturing. I talk about it more later in this article, but the long and the short of it is  that now, I buy via the Internet, specifically from eBay and a couple of really good suppliers.  Calypso and Carlotta both came from Jenny's Hair Sense in San Diego, California.  Many of my other pieces came from Hair Attractions in Las Vegas. My point is, the big names will continue to sell at high prices while the off-shoot companies like Motown Tresses (don't let the name fool you, they make a lot of great styles for all races) will supply the exact same piece but with a different label. 

(Update 5-14-05.  The Chinese have opened a huge wig factory and have been supplying very good wigs for the past couple of years.  A very large number of labels come from that factory including Golden Wig International, Easter Start Wigs and many other never-before-heard-of names. Some are very well made and require very little styling) 

Did you think each manufacturer had its own manufacturing plant where they made the fiber and all?  The plant I visited made thousands of wigs per day under more labels than I could count.  Very interesting visit. 

Want to look like you fit and not have overdone hair??  Take your time and read this article, then look carefully at the pictures and decide what you can get away with.  I recently went whole hog with my new "hip hugger" look. My hair is now not the first thing people look at.  

This is the first of two articles  for those of you that feel you want to learn about the mysteries of hair styling, or wig styling, which is really different than natural hair.  You have two choices, style it yourself or have someone else do it.  Typically, when you have someone else do it for you, you go to pick up the styled piece, you have a certain level of disappointment and either try to get the stylist to understand your desires, or take the piece home and try and adjust and eventually destroy what little styling was already there, or wear it as is and feel out of sorts.

Nothing in this article will teach all of the fine points of wig styling.  The purpose of the article is to instill a sense of understanding about how wigs are styled and why they won't do what you want them to do.  Have you seen two people wearing the same style wig, one looks great and the other doesn't?  What is the difference? 

Don't say to yourself "Oh, I wish I had her features or could wear a style like that".  You are taking the easy way out!  Fess up, you don't have the same skills as the other person and you want to learn more. We all do!  I am the most envious person there is when I see a really attractive head of hair.  (If you could see what hair I really have you would know why!)  Why, I once followed a woman with a gorgeous French Braid for about 20 minutes, finally approached her and asked her where she had her stunning braid done.  She talked to me for 30 minutes! I learned more in that 30 minutes than I had ever learned on my own about braiding.

The purpose of this article is to learn to understand that not every attempt at styling will be 100%..  Every time I talk with a fellow TV, TG, CD, Person, I learn something.  Each one of us has something to contribute. Believe me, I have shown only my best photos in my web site and I have trashed all the poor ones.  Why advertise mistakes?

First caveat, my  writing style is a little different!  I have a tendency to jump around and hit points as I think of them, not necessarily where they should fit.  Therefore, read all of this before you start.  This is counter to what most males would do, read the instructions and then make up your mind about how you are going to do something.  I have been struggling with this for many years.

This article is directed at learning to style "street" styles, not "show stopping" styles. I have a follow-up article on styling "upsweeps".  If you are looking for "Pageant" styles, try the upsweep section first, then go wild.

Don't be disappointed if after reading this article you are still frustrated with your wig styling efforts.  This article is mostly words, a few pictures and a lot of imagination.  I know that your imagination is not in short supply or you wouldn't be here reading this.  Just remember my parting words, practice, practice, practice!

Okay, one more personal point.  If you are a bit older, and who isn't, and you feel that really long hair just doesn't work, try going for the short stuff.  This piece was offered on eBay for $4, a closeout from an Ethnic wig salon.  That means that the brand, Motown Tresses, is a predominately Black brand.  I have bought other Motown Tresses and other ethnic pieces simply because I liked the style.  Well this piece and it's two sisters looked really funky in the bag.  I needed something that was going to really go anywhere and grabbed this one.  She is a short flipped ends piece in a dark brown, not my typical color but lets see.   

I had a ball!  The piece looked very contemporary (read that modern and seen on others today) and passed with flying colors!  She took a little work to get her to stand out all the way around and stay, but a little Stiff Stuff and I was home free.  She stayed like this for over 9 hours with no problems.  Way too easy...

An additional shorter, or shortest example. The piece below was an eBay closeout from one of the hundreds of wig sellers. Nobody seems to buy short hair when they can have long flowing tresses, so this piece and others like it go for pennies on the dollar.  She is so real looking that many people that know me and see me in this piece ask if this is my "real" hair. It fits in anywhere, shows off all your face and your earrings.  What more could you ask for?

Background
Hair styling, or more specifically wig styling is a learned art form.  One must practice to be good at it, the same as any other art form. Picasso didn't paint well right out of the box!  Okay, maybe he had a tad more talent than most, but he certainly practiced. Please remember that these are my recommendations, (every artist has their own method)  they may be different from other stylist's recommendations.  Read all that you can about the subject, make up your own mind, and practice until you are satisfied. Nothing that you read will ever take the place of watching others, practicing and more practice.

This may be a frustrating subject to many, I know that I spent many hundreds of hours learning how not to make a wig look like a dead dog after it had been run over. How did I learn?  By making mistakes, lots of them.  I ruined more wigs than I want you to know about, I even ruined a couple of the wig heads in beauty school trying new and different ways to style wigs.

I have been buying, styling, and wearing wigs for over thirty years.  Wigs have changed dramatically over that time, from the heavy monofilament yarn with no color differences heavily sewn onto a solid wig cap, to beautifully blended multicolored fibers lightly sewn into "capless" wigs.  The changes are dramatic.  At the same time, the initial cuts of the wigs have changed from the typical page and gypsy to some very artful and light pieces. 
Today one can purchase a very well styled and designed piece that is contemporary and  wear it virtually out of the box.  Many of the better made (and more expensive) pieces are available through a variety of sources including directly over the Internet.  Many of the less expensive and less styled, heavier pieces are available from mail order catalogs and from wig shops.  Ordering a less expensive piece does not mean that a beautiful style cannot be achieved, it merely means that more work has to be put into the piece before is looks as good as the more expensive piece.

 Step One - Initial Care
Every wig is manufactured in a wig factory where the fiber is sewn into the "capless" wig in thin wefts.  The fiber is manufactured by large factories that extrude or "run" the individual fibers chemically in very large batches.  Manufacturing oils are used to prevent friction during the extrusion or "running" of the fiber.  These manufacturing oils are still on the fiber when you receive the finished wig. 

Update 1-7-06 and 12-25-06  Many of the pieces shown are from reputable wig sellers online at various smaller shops.  Take advantage of the prices from many of these shops, most cost less than $30. The OMG line that I show and detail the "Sheep dip" method of styling are available from the Wig Depot for about $28.  I usually trim about 8 inches off them to reduce the overall length simply because it is too much for me and does not look totally passable. Take a look at the OMG pages for the most recent  look for these pieces. Most of my best looking pieces (Ashanti and OMG and such) are under $40.  Ashanti does not have any bangs but they are easily cut into the style.

ADDENDUM 4-6-05 and 12-25-06  I no longer immediately wash every piece.  Some of the pieces I have received have already been cleaned and have virtually no residual oil on them.  A classic example is the European Natural line of wigs.  They arrive so light and airy that a washing could cause them to frizz immediately without adequate care. Jump over and look at Margie.  She is out of the box styled, or not styled as she is shown.

The first step I used to take was to wash every new wig.  No longer! If I have a really dirty piece I do the following:.  I add a capful of Woolite to a bucket of cold water and soak the wig for 30 minutes or more.  If you don't believe that oil is still on the fiber, place the wig in a bucket of clean water and watch the surface sheen from the oil.  After the wig has soaked, dump the water and rinse at least 4 times.  Rinse until the water has no traces of the detergent.  Refill the bucket and add a capful of your favorite hair conditioner or a SMALL amount of fabric conditioner.  Do not add too much fabric conditioner. Fabric softener breaks down the fibers eventually and the hair will simply break off for no apparent reason. If a little is good, more is not!

Fabric conditioner will actually cause the fibers and the material in the cap to breakdown and become softer.  Remember, the hair fiber is totally synthetic, it does not have a  cuticle pattern  like human hair.  Look at a strand under a strong magnifying glass.  Compare it to a human hair.  Human hair will absorb materials like conditioners and hair sprays.  Synthetic hair or wig fiber won't soak up anything.  All products applied to synthetic hair sit on the surface, coating the fiber.     

After letting the conditioner soak for 5 minutes, thoroughly rinse the piece again.  Hang it to dry by the manufacturers tag at the back of the neck.  You may blot the wig in a towel if you want to hurry the drying process, but do not blow dry the wig.  Heat may permanently damage the fiber.  I use a hanging rack that can accommodate up to 22 pieces at once hanging over a utility sink.  I can wash and hang any number of pieces in anticipation of a styling session.

There are 14 pieces drying on this clothes hanger over a utility sink in my shop.  I occasionally set a small fan next to the rack to speed the drying process.

Plan ahead.  (Hopefully some day I will be able to follow my own advice) If you are like me, and I have no reason to think you aren't,  you'll  want to wear that new piece that you just received in the mail  right now!  If it is one of the newer thinner and well designed pieces it may be possible, but if it is one of the heavier and thicker pieces, you may have to put considerable work into the piece before it will hold the style you want.

The hardest part of styling is the time factor.  It takes time to do a good style.  I have suffered through rushing for years until I finally realized that you simply can't rush some things.  I talked to a drag queen on the East Coast who did her own wigs and she told me that she spent anywhere from 2 to 4 hours on her intricate styles.  No wonder the salons charge so much to style our wigs.

Buy a good wig head, preferably a canvas  covered cork one.  A Styrofoam head will work fine, just don't expect it to last forever.  Also buy wig pins, the straight type with the T-head, commonly known as T-pins.  I bought 200 T-pins 20 years ago and still have at least half of them.  They will last forever, bending them and dropping them are the biggest problems.

Get a supply of bobby pins, some large roller pins, and some U-shaped pins.  Also buy a wig pick, a blue (any color works, the blue seem to be more well made) comb looking device with 5 metal picks on one end.  Look for a pick that has minute projections on the teeth of the comb.  

These are for backcombing.  All these supplies will come in handy for intricate styles.  For the loose styles, no pins are usually required.  Obtain some wig fixative or spray, don't use hair spray.  Wig spray is formulated for wigs, remember the smooth finish?  Hair spray contains products that are designed to penetrate the human hair shaft.  The hair spray will work fine, but is harder to wash out than wig spray. Also get a spray bottle and fill it with clean water and set the nozzle for a fine spray.

Ready to start? Place the completely dry wig on the wig head. The wig head must be securely fastened to a table or bench so that you can work on it.  There are suction cup holders that sometimes work once when they are new, otherwise get a clamp-type holder or screw a one inch dowel onto your workbench. Since I style my wigs in a multi-purpose shop, I have a small forest of fifteen dowels with tapered ends screwed onto the bench edge all around the bench.  Some are taller than others, and some have devices to hold a wig head upside down for upswept styles.

On the left, a typical regular height commercial canvas covered cork wig head. In the middle is a tall canvas head for longer styles.  The marks on the blue head are to show the front center so that I center the wig appropriately, there are other marks  for ear tabs.   On the right is a Styrofoam wig head stand in use.

Straighten the wig until it fits the wig head well.  I mark my wig head to show the location of the front center of the head and the ear tabs.  That way I can put a wig on the wig  head quickly.  Push a pin through the very edge of the wig in the front center, each of the ear tabs, and three more spread evenly around the back.  If you are doing an upsweep, place a number of pins all along from the ear tabs around to the other ear tab.  10 pins is not too many for an upsweep but I typically use an average of 6.

At this point we are dealing with standard "non-upsweep" styles only.  I will get into the methods to do upsweeps in another article.  With the wig securely pinned to the wig head, use your fingers to rake through the fiber and look at the way it wants to "naturally" flow.  Synthetic hair is sewn and  heat-set at the factory and may be heat-set by the owner, but with extreme care.  If you use a brush on curly hair you can very easily remove or totally destroy the curl.  You end up with a frizzed mess.  Some salons will "rejuvenate" your piece for you by carefully picking out the hair and heat setting the piece.  Don't try that at home unless you have a piece you can afford to practice with.  At this point I generally pick the wig head off the stand and holding it upside down vigorously shake it.  Then when it is inverted and placed back on the stand, the fiber falls as it was designed to fall. 

Step Three - Orientation
The only thing I am trying to convey here is the visualized finished product you are seeking.  Can you do it with what the wig offers, will it be big enough, natural enough or whatever?  Don't spend three hours working on a piece that won't fill your needs, it just becomes a waste.  You can't make a beautiful style out of a ratty wig.  Don't waste the effort and end up frustrated and resolve never to style another piece.  Heaven knows I have done that many times, backed off styling until I was under control again.  This is not a forced situation!  You are doing this for fun and enjoyment.  As soon as it turns otherwise, send the piece out to be styled to your specifications.  The time and money spent will be identical either way!

Step Four - Thinning
Update 1-3-08 . I haven't taken the time to thin in a number of years. If you have looked at a wig that looks like it has too much hair, don't buy it!  Look for a newer more modern style.

 This advice is for any wig that is too thick, or has too much fiber in it.  Many of the cheaper wigs are manufactured with too much fiber simply because it is easier to sew more fiber than less.  It can be manufactured much faster.  Some of the more expensive wigs take three or four times the amount of labor to make as the cheaper pieces.

Thinning is not for the faint-of-heart.  You will be cutting fiber out of a wig and it won't grow back.  Make a mistake and you can easily ruin the whole look. Practice on a ratty piece.  I have a lot of those pieces around that I still practice on to develop a feel for how to thin and how to cut.  Buy a pair of thinning shears from a beauty supply house.  Look for a "light" thinning shear.  It takes an effort to cut out too much hair with a pair of "light" thinning shears.  Look at the differences between "light" and "heavy" thinning shears. Don't try to thin with regular shears until you have had years of experience, and even then don't do it!  (Yes, I have over-thinned a few pieces.  I keep them around to remind me of cost of a new wig)

Standing directly in front of the wig, at or slightly above the top of the wig, grab a small handful of fiber slightly back from the front hairline and make a thinning cut.  One to three snips is fine.  Pick out the cut hair and move on to overly thick areas, generally right on top of the head.  This is the typical area of a wig that screams "wig".  Most women do not have an abundance of thick hair growing on the frontal portion of their head.  If they do, their hair stylist thins it and shapes it.

Thin until you get scared of ruining the piece.  It is rare that the first 30 snips will ruin a piece, but some people will certainly prove me wrong.

If the style calls for bangs, are they too long?  Don't cut bangs too short.  Cut them at least one inch too long at this point.  Leave the bangs until you put the wig on for the first fitting.

When you are satisfied that you have thinned the wig sufficiently or it came that way, look at the profile of the piece.  Does it have the height that you want, does it look natural from the side? In the old days, plastic cups, fuzzy donuts of material and many other objects were used to increase the apparent volume of the piece.  If you are styling for a cotillion or a show, you may end up with hairpieces tied into a wig and many additions simply to get the overall volume and size you are looking for.  We are dealing with street styles that are designed to pass, not stand out blatantly, unless you want them to.

Step Five - Backcomb
Update 1-3-08 October 6, 2004 and once again on 12-25-06.  Backcomb only if the piece really needs the volume.  The only time I backcomb now is for the bangs and maybe a light touch on the sides of longer hair to make it stand out just a bit. 

This piece came out of the bag, was shaken and put on.  I lightly picked the hair into place, pulled a side up and clipped it and took off!  Nothing but raves about the hair and I fit right in with all the general traffic at a local mall. Her name is Hannah and is offered all the time on eBay by various sellers for about $30.

This is Calypso, taken out of the bag, shaken lightly, put on, picked into place.  Sides lightly backcombed to make them stand out a bit, and off to the world.  Cost on eBay from Jenny's Hair Sense, about $50.

Update 1-3-08  I no longer backcomb anything totally except some very short pieces that need more body.  Backcombing some of the pieces now makes them  totally unmanageable.

All the backcombing does is set up a raised base to work from, rather than having hair come out of the cap and lie flat against the head.  Some styles call for the hair lying flat against the head, but most wig-wearers don't wear this type of style. If you don't backcomb the hair, the hair wants to go in a pre-set direction.  The backcombing sets the hair up to be "adjusted" in any direction with a flick of the wrist. Look at the piece before you start backcombing.  Is it already backcombed from the factory?  Many of the newer more expensive pieces have backcombing built-in or they use different, frizzy short fibers at the base to create more lift.  If the piece is already full enough, skip the backcombing step and move on to the comb-out.


On short pieces, carefully backcomb or tease the hair carefully, getting every fiber involved.  The overall look of the finished style depends on how well the fiber has been "redirected" after the backcombing.

I have learned that short pieces are sometimes harder to backcomb than longer pieces. They are so short that every hair has to be properly directed or they look out of place.  Short hair is harder to backcomb, but is generally already aimed in the general direction that you want it to go anyway.  Looking at my example photo of short hair, this Noriko piece is already very well styled, can be worn out of the box with very little work. The little frontal flip I have added to this piece takes a lot of backcombing on the side that is raised and is then re-directed in a different direction than the wig was designed for. I get raves about the piece every time I wear it, both from men and women.  Each piece will work with the factory-set style, its just that we want more than one look from every piece!

Step Six - Comb Out
What do you want the finished style to look like?  I always keep a picture posted so that I can refer to it if I am trying to copy a particular style.  Otherwise, I simply let creativity and the fall of the hair dictate the finished style.  Some pieces are very difficult to style in anything other than the factory-set style. 

When you are ready to comb out the piece,

 Hide your brush! 

Do not drag out a brush simply because you have seen many women spend long periods of time brushing their long luxuriant hair. (…..pardon me, I had a momentary lapse of consciousness..)

The wigs we are dealing with do not stand up well to the use of a brush.  I tell people never to brush a piece, unless it is bone straight and then to do it very gently.  Otherwise, you break off hair and pull curls straight and essentially stretch the fiber unnecessarily.  Never under any circumstance brush a wet or damp wig.  The moisture causes even more friction and hair loss is very high and the fiber stretches more than when it is dry.

What tools can be used?  A styling pick that I described before, water, and your fingers. With only those tools you can create gorgeous styles.

Where to start?  I start in the front and work my way around. If I am putting in bangs, I backcomb the bang hair and leave it teased, being finished only after I have put the piece on.  After working the bang hair, I move just behind it and re-direct the hair in the direction of the proposed style.  I dip the tips of the styling pick into the top of the teased hair-pile and flick my wrist in the direction I want the hair to go.  It takes a little practice, but after you master it, the hair seems to magically aim in the desired direction.  If you are trying and the hair simply won't go in the desired direction, re-tease the hair and try again.  Don't stick the metal teeth of the styling pick too deep into the hair or you will lose the support of the amorphous base and the hair will go in the factory-set direction.

All you are doing is redirecting the top layer of hair, not all of the hair.  If you try to re-direct all the hair in a direction other than the factory desired direction, you will end up getting frustrated and writing me a nasty note.  It does work, just don't get impatient and practice.  I clearly recall throwing out a beautiful piece that I could not control when I was in beauty school.  One of my classmates, a gorgeous 18 year old, picked it out of the trash can and lovingly re-worked it into a masterpiece.  She then handed the head back to me and said, "be more  feminine with it and enjoy what you are doing, don't turn male on it".  Heady advice from a child!

I changed my approach and soon learned that anything is possible with practice and care.

So you are looking at your picture and you have before you a mass of uni-directional hair on a stick. You adjusted the bangs somewhat and have gently attacked the area just in front of the crown.  The hair is going generally in the direction you want.  Does it seem to fly away and not stay?  Gently mist it with fresh water. Nothing more.  Don't use water to style when you are trying a harsh style.  If you want some hair to stand straight up and only the very ends to curl down, lightly mist and only pick the very ends of the hair, gently lifting with the styling pick and flicking your wrist in the direction you want it to curl.  Using too much water will cause the hair to droop. 

This is Georgie Girl from Jon Renau.  Just one of many styles currently available that can fit into any setting.  She is fairly easy to style, this piece takes about 30 minutes.

This is Jazzy in color Vanilla Lush. Short simple pieces like this generally require more work initially, but tend to hold the style longer.  The first time I styled this piece I took about 45 minutes.  The next time I wore her it only took 5 minutes with a water spritz to pick the ends of the hair out and fix any little problem area. 

Take your time.  A competent stylist will take 15 to 20 minutes to do a comb-out.  Don't expect to do it in that amount of time the first time.  I still take 30 minutes per piece to comb-out and finish styling on my head.  That is generally about the minimum time necessary to make a wig fit properly and look natural from all angles.

Frustrated?  Stop what you are doing and paint nails or sew up a dress or whatever.  Visit a local salon and watch stylists comb-out a head of hair.  Rent, buy or borrow styling videos and watch the moves.  Look on the Internet and pick up styling tips from the hundreds of sites available.  Styling is not difficult, it just takes practice.  Women have had their entire lives to practice manipulating hair and you have just recently started thinking about styling a wig which is even harder!  Give yourself a break.  I have seen over three hundred styling videos, mostly about rolling patterns and perm patterns, but with good detail on the comb-outs. 

Back to the comb-out.  (I warned you about my writing style)  Go to the back of the piece.  Is it long and curly and you want to brush those curls into place and make them really look great?  Where did you find that brush???  No brushes!!!  Using your fingers and a little water mist, grab hands full  of the ends of the curls and roll your fingers over your palms. This is called "scrunching" and it causes the curls to stand out and separate.  If the curl doesn't stand out right or seems to frizz a little, add some mousse to your hands before you start scrunching. 

I get so involved in "scrunching" a long piece that my hands cramp.  Take your time.  If you are looking for a wet look or maybe a more controlled curl, apply mousse to your hands before you start scrunching. ("Sheep dipping" explained: Wash the piece, rinse thoroughly, fill the basin with cold water and a "Leave-in" conditioner. Infusium works well. Soak the piece for a few minutes and hang by the tag over a sink, don't blot, don't do anything but hang.  With your fingers straighten the hair in the direction it should be going, or down and let dry.  Place a fan next to the piece to dry it faster.)

ADDENDUM 1-7-06 and 12-25-06  A modified and faster method of sheep dipping is to hang the piece on the wig head upside down.  Spray the dangling hair with a combination spray that contains the fixatives you use.  I make up a combination of mostly water, wig spray, silicone shine additive, maybe some Infusium leave-in, and whatever else smells good.  The point is that only the ends of the hair get dampened and scrunched and it helps add body to the overall look.  Take a look at the OMG I trimmed 8 inches off of and hung overnight with my modified sheep dip method.

 Scrunch once or twice on each curl area and move on.  Don't spend too much time in one area.  Look at heads of real hair.  Very few heads of real hair are perfect in the back.  Most women do their best to control the back and then simply pay more attention to the area around the face.  It is basic human nature. 

In your field trips into malls where you do your female watching research, watch for the back of the head hair styling.  It is generally minimal, usually dependent on the condition of the perm or the roller-set alone.  The only time you see a really "perfect" head of hair is on a crossdresser or a woman who has just stepped out of a salon.  This can often be thought of as one of our major faults.  I have been criticized by women in lounges and club settings for having "too perfect" a hair style.  I stand out for the wrong reasons.  Sometimes that is the look you want and you do it to attract attention, otherwise play down the look and pass much more easily.

Step Seven - Elation or Frustration?
Styling is an art form.  Some people pick it up the first time and others take years to do a poor job.  If you can't take the time to learn to style your pieces like you want them to look, find a stylist or wig shop that can meet your needs.  I have met hundreds of excellent wig stylists over the years that can work wonders with wigs. The only real problems involved with this step are the fear of "exposing" yourself to others and the fear of "exposing"  yourself to others!  At some point or another, you will find that nobody cares!  They are business people and are simply looking at you as a customer, and generally a very good one.

A wig shop in Oakland, California that I used to frequent rolled out the red carpet every time I went in.  They stayed in business due to the high percentage of TG customers they had.  They had no problem matching styles to pictures or cutting a piece on my head, it just costs money. 

So, take your pick, do it yourself or have someone else style your wigs for you.  I find that the pieces I style fit my face better and accent or hide the appropriate features.  I spend far more time styling a piece than a shop would spend, but my wigs last longer because I treat them better. 

Don't know what looks good on you?  Do the typical face shape exercise, look at pictures of models, go to a wig shop and ask them.  Once you have the basic idea, you can comfortably order wigs through the mail or over the Internet.

Are you wearing a wig that would only look appropriate on a person twenty years younger?  I am guilty of this all the time.  I can only wear really long fabulous looking curly masses (…..pardon me again, a slight reddish tinge covered my eyes…) to cotillions, TG groups and things of that nature.  Wearing them in a general public setting is an invitation to closer scrutiny.  If you want the scrutiny, go for it!  But if you don't,  stick with age-appropriate hair.  I now typically wear very short pieces because women of my age group (well over 30) typically don't go to the bother of having big hair.  It is simply too much work to manage.  Those that do usually either take excellent care of their hair and use it as their "crowning glory"  or they leave it straight and long and make all of us go weak in the knees. 

One of my really old pictures, when this style was seen on the dance floor many times....

This group of pictures shows my current look....

Click to jump to the second article on "How to style Updo's"

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