No Turning BackSidetracked Sisters

First Grade

It was the summer before Second Grade that I got my hair cut short. I remember loving momo’s new short pixie/shag. Mom warned me that there was no going back when you make a decision to go short.

So go short I did.

Mom actually still has the thick blondish ponytail that her friend Tom cut off (he was a barber) before beginning my transformation.

I quickly realized that I preferred long hair. But as mom warned, “There is no turning back!”

6th Grade

So for the next decade, I kept my hair short, pixie short. Sometimes I styled the sides towards my face, sometimes I swept them back. Once when I tried to grow my hair out, I remember the sides stuck out from my head like hairy horse blinders…arghhh.

Mom’s friend Tom (the barber who amputated my ponytail when I was 8) was the person who usually cut my hair, especially when I was in grade school.

10th Grade

When I was in middle school (probably around 8th grade) she took me to a “hairdresser”. I don’t remember this one guy’s name, but he was memorable nonetheless. Wooden paneled private booths lined the salon and provided privacy for the professional to create fabulousness. “My” guy had a neatly trimmed mustache and beard along with permed poodle-ish brown hair. A gold medallion sat nestled in the abundant chest hair that was exposed by the opened buttons of his white shirt. The last time I saw him, I was in 8th grade and he asked me “if I was getting enough”. I knew what he meant and related the question to my mom.

It was the last time he ever touched my hair.

It was only when I went to college that I finally said “NO” to regular trims.

Since then, my hair has grown pretty long and then I’ll cut it into my favorite tailored, sleek bob. I like the way I look in an inverted bob with some “stacking” in the back.

Currently, I’ve had my hair trimmed a bit, but not really cut since before Covid hit over 2 years ago. It’s been over 30 years since it’s been this long!

I was wondering if I should cut it again. In preparation for such a decision, I did a google search of current hairstyles. The first one that came up was called “The Jellyfish”. It is a full blobby bob with a wide hunk of extra long hair poking out from underneath. It kind of looks like the stylist forgot something…maybe had to take a cell phone call or somehow got called away before the cut was finished.

Other cuts that are “trending” include The Frame, Wolf, Curtain, Butterfly, and the “Bixie”. They are all 2022 contenders for “must-try” styles for fashion-conscious women today.

The one style that I will definitely want to stay away from is called “The Karen”. It is defined on google as “shorter in the back than it is in the front, it’s often blonde in color and it often resembles an inverted bob. When someone says you have a Karen haircut, they could be referring to the look of your hair or the fact that you’re being high maintenance and demanding.”

Um…okay. I guess I’m not going back to that favorite hairstyle that I considered “tailored” and “sleek” a few paragraphs ago.

Maybe the “Butterfly”…

You know, I did research on my spirit animal a couple of months ago and determined that the spirit of the butterfly was calling to me.

I just didn’t realize she was telling me to get a haircut.