Thursday, September 20, 2012

A Hair Story


This is the story of my hair.  Which is kind of the story of my life.  It has been my life's work to be a good person to have good hair.  Let's be honest.  My mom didn't do me any favors.  (Hi Mom!)  I love the woman dearly but she was the one in charge of my hair when I was a child and she did some criminal things to it.  My mom's best friend was a hairdresser--A hairdresser who fancied herself to be on the cutting edge (no pun intended!) of hairstyles--which is how I ended up with a boy short pixie cut WITH A TAIL! when I was about 10. 

Come with me on my hair journey.

Things were good until I got to be about 5.  My mom believes in bangs...as in, she has a firm testimony of bangs.  I call this the "mullet bowl cut."  Gotta love the ribbon bow tie and vest!


When I got to be about 8, the '80s were in full swing and got the child version of the Farrah Fawcet.  Once again, I am donning a vest and ribbon tie. Mom, you should be held criminally responsible!


Then came the low point.  The boy cut and tail.  I searched and could not find a picture of the tail.  But trust me, I had one.  Ashley will confirm.  Salesclerks thought I was a boy.  I'm still not over it.



This morphed into some sort of awful awful 50 year old lady perm.  I just happen to be dressed as a 50 year old lady in this photo because I was in the Fourth Grade Utah Fair Party room (that was a big deal!)  Too bad I look sooooo bad!!!


In sixth grade, I had the requisite'80s perm with huge bangs and a scrunchie.  I got this mint sweater at Fashion Gal!


By the time I got to high school, my hair was better, but I was still rockin' the bangs:


When I got married, I still had bangs--one of my life's great regrets.

Soon after, I grew my bangs out, parted down the middle, wore my hair super straight and kind of had a '70s vibe going on:

Then I had kids and I did the shoulder length mom bob for the next few years or so:



Then for the next five years I did the side bangs with longer hair (Utah hair):

Back in January, my hairdresser talked me into going back to regular bangs. (This is when they were at their longest a few days ago and driving me crazy.)  Most of the time, I loved the bangs.  I got good feedback from guys for the most part.   But sometimes I felt really hip and othertimes I felt frumpy.  And I missed being able to do beachy waves.  Because I feel like bangs go with straight hair.


So here I am today.  Growing out the bangs again: 


Trying to decide what to do next. What say you on the bangs?  Keep growing them out or go back to regular bangs?  I know we aren't curing cancer here but this is kind of a big deal.  Help me people!

20 comments:

gwen said...

Love it! And those yester-year pictures are awesome! I am currently in the same dilemma...grow them out or cut 'em. The other huge positive of bangs for me is that I can put my hair up in a pony or a bun and still look sorta put together. My vote? Stick with the bangs--you look HOT! :-)

Jen and her men said...

I can totally relate! I think you should have a linky party and we can all post pictures of our current hair that we are dying to change. Ha!ha! Maybe it has something to do with being 35, but I'm so done with this hair. I'm ready for someone else's... As for yours, you are beautiful any way you style it. Go with what's easiest!

Ashley said...

Oh man. One of my favorite memories will always be visiting Great Grandma Warner in Las Vegas (probably for the last time) and as we were leaving she pats you on the head and tells you what a good boy you are! Ha ha ha! And the little old lady perm was terrible. Terrible. I also had the Farrah Fawcet and the 80s perm with bangs--they weren't so bad.

As for the cutting edge stylist, don't forget that she said, in front of us, "Brooke has always been the skinny one; Ashley's always been a big pudgy." I was probably 8 at the time.

As for now, I don't know. When you first cut the bangs I didn't like them as much as the side swept look. But now I might prefer them. You need to get some men to chime in. Tyler, Lance?

Ashley said...

*BIT pudgy. Not big pudgy. Still a horrible thing to say about a little girl.

Christie said...

Dude, we have the same Hairstory, except I never had a tail. You stand on your own for that one.

I, too, am in a major bang quandry right now. I am going to let your readers advise us both because I can't figure out what to do about mine either. All I know is they are driving me crazy!!!

Megan said...

Hit me with the dating post! I'm dying of anticipation!

LKC said...

I think you rock the bangs. Keep em.

Watson Family said...

Came out of lurking to vote for bangs, hands down! (Unfortunately, I've got naturally frizzy-curly hair and can only dream of rockin' straight hair w. bangs like you!)

Terri said...

You look great with the bangs - keep them!

Heidi Jean said...

I can't cast a vote on the bangs b/c I'm still stuck on how much you looked like Luke. Wow. WOW. I pulled up your blog this morning to show Butch the Brooke/Luke doppelgangers and as I scrolled through the short-hair phase Adam asked, "Is that a boy?" :-)

But those "where was my mom through all this?" hair stages are invaluable because we're forced to get a personality, right?

Needless to say, you've come a long way baby! You're a knock-out with or without bangs.

Heather said...

I love the bangs... I am jealous that you can pull them off. The only reason I haven't cut some myself is that I have a round face...and running makes bangs tricky.

I love looking at your old pics... I had the boy hair, too, but no tail, thankfully.

Let's get together for some yogurt soon!

Natty said...

LOL!!! Okay, so going down memory lane just gave me a great ab workout. I remember those days! I must say, I cut off all my hair in 3rd grade to have a pixie cut...just like my best friend...& I HATE those years of pics. :)

Currently going through the bang dilemma myself. I think I like bangs, but hate the work & up keep. You look great with bangs. I like both the sweep & original. I can't believe how much you look like Ashley in that last photo. You are both gorgeous!

alexandra said...

I loved these photos. I have never understood the pixie cut on such little girls. They just look like boys! The Mickey Mouse hatted photo caused me to see a resemblance btwn you and Luke.

As for your current hair, I am sort of torn. I usually am not crazy about straight across bangs. BUT, I like them on you. I could never endure them bc, aside from looking awful on me, they would be uncomfortable. I always like a side-sweep bang thing. Of course, I have had the Utah hairstyle since my second year of law school in 2002, so I don't experiment too much. If you kept straight across bangs, you could always side sweep them when you wanted to, right?

Linda said...

First, there was never a tail! That is at best a faulty childhood memory, and at worst a defamatory bald-faced lie, Brookie! Second, to describe what I did to your hair as a little girl as "criminal" simply is not true. my counsel, (your father!) tells me that criminality requires mens rea, which is criminal intent. (Brookie, were you there that day in law school when they talked about that?!) I had no intent other than a mother's love, which currently is being tested!

brooke said...

Ashley, I need back up.

Monika said...

The comments are the best part of this post. Your mom was always the cool mom, so I'm hoping the tail is just a rumor! My mother PERMED my bangs and left the rest of my hair completely straight. It was AWFUL!!

I have to agree, I like your bangs but they look great swept to the side too. I'm not sure I'm the best one to give advice since I basically have my hair in a pony every day.

Holly said...

Those pictures are hilarious! I say keep the bangs while they are still in style. I would love bangs but with this curly frizzy mop I have I can only dream of them!

Sarah said...

What a great post! I love it. I have pictures of myself that I am sure I would prefer not see the light of day. I too got a pixie cut in third grade, when I went down the street to my best friends to ask her opinion, she told me flat out it was horrible. Such a sad, sad day. I was so sure I looked smashing. I am I pretty sure I asked for the cut myself. Loved the comments too!

Heidi said...

I don't comment as often as I should to tell you I love your blog. Whether the topic is funny or serious, it's awesome.
I remember feeling like a lion after my first (and only) perm in 7th grade, my hair was so puffy. I love your Mom's defense, all the while calling you Brookie, that would be funny in court. I was thinking of trying out more bangs, right now I just have a sideswept layered thing going on, but I have a new baby, so I wouldn't be able to leave the house without putting more effort into them. I agree with the commenter who said to stick with the bangs while they are in style!

Em said...

I can't believe I never commented on this. My sister and I laughed so hard reading this. It seriously took us back to the good ol' bad hair days.

Thanks for being absolutely unabashed about sharing these photos. It is a service and act of love to us all who commiserate with you.

Your mom presented a very compelling argument, but I think a judge would strike her argument from court records. The proof is in the photos. :) (I've been watching a lot of Drop Dead Diva.)