Tag Archives: Fashion

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Growing Grays

Photo by Niklas Hamann on Unsplash

I’m a Pinterest fanatic and I was really fascinated when I started seeing pins of women of all ages with gray hair. Gray hair had become the latest fashion trend and it was gorgeous. Gray actually looked good on all ages not just senior women. Young girls bleached the natural color out of their hair and then infused it with a ghostly shade or a brilliant color of the rainbow.

I was especially drawn to the senior women. Radiant in their natural beauty and proud of their silver strands. Yes, there were wrinkles and many imperfections, but the joy of having lived and seeing the map of their lives written across their faces was beautiful. I loved seeing women of age celebrated and taking the stage. Guiding the public into an era that was embracing nature and realizing that our very survival depended on it. The future looked brighter without chemicals in our food, our beauty products, our water and air. It was time to stop, get smart and start focusing on living in sync with our natural world.

Since I loved this look so much, I decided to try it. It was great at first, giving up the long appointments with the hairdresser. I no longer had to tolerate the bleach that sat against my scalp for at least 30 minutes and irritated my skin. It took 30 minutes or more to achieve the color you wanted. And then afterward, watching it fade away day by day. The expensive color would drain away and fade into bizarre hues. This was often accompanied by the loss of precious strands of hair because of the chemical stress put on the hair follicles.

So after arresting this unpleasant process, eventually the grays peek through. The grays are natural and free and many times curly. Your hair becomes a map of two opposing lands that are so different and don’t really blend.

That’s when it becomes challenging and can be fun, depending on your perspective. You can take many approaches to this. If you love the salon, you can have your stylist help you with blending the old and new. It’s usually a novel experience for them and at first a bit confusing. First you are met with disbelief, “You want to have gray hair?” “You don’t want me to cover your roots?” Then if you’re lucky and they accept that you are absolutely sure that going gray is your chosen path, it becomes fun.

Another route, is going it on your own. There are scads of cover up products to help you on your way. It’s easy, just style, then cover. You will also need a purple shampoo to counteract air pollution and deposits that create a yellow tinge, if not washed away. This whole process usually takes a few years. At three years, my grays were in and the complements rolled in like waves on the beach. Virtually every acquiantence had a compliment and loved seeing a rare head of gray hair.

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The Flea

Headed out to the Rose Bowl Flea last weekend. It was a glorious Southern California Winter day. The Air was crisp and cool and the sun shone clear through blue skies. Fluffy white clouds floated overhead and drifted on the light breezes. The drive was uneventful with just about three slow and goes on the interstate, but the drive was worth it. I arrived on Seco Street and pulled into the line that led to parking. Once the line moved and I was positioned to enter parking, I was able to cut across the green expanse of lawn and find a great space fairly close to the entrance. The grass was soggy from the past weeks of bountiful rain and mud oozed through where heavy cars and trucks had pulled in and down the rows to find the best parking. The Rose Bowl; designed by the great architect Myron Hunt and completed in 1922, rose above the tents and flags. A white coliseum for modern gladiators. A huge neon rose embelished the cement facade. It’s proportions were perfect and graceful and the building was set out at the base of the canyon in the center of nature. Those architects of the newly settled California had loved nature and sought to place their creations within the center of it.

I got my umbrella for shade and my bag for any goodies I might find and marched up to buy my ticket. The venue was filled with people out for an exciting and fun day filled with anticipation. People were out to explore and to look for vintage treasure and funky clothes that you could only find at a Los Angeles flea market. Just watching my fellow human kind was entertainment enough. We humans came in so many shapes and sizes, personalities and characters. People were dressed in all kinds of gear. A couple; impossibly thin and chic ambled by dressed to the tee in Rockabilly style. Their outfits consisted of matching rolled Levis, studded belts and immaculate western shirts. There were gorgeous women who looked like they had just hiked out Laurel Canyon. Their skin pale and untanned, long flowing tresses with the perfect California beach wave, they walked slowly and floated in their patterned skirts and peasant tops. A seven foot cellist in black combat boots with four inch platforms and a kilt had stationed himself in front of the bowl. He serenaded the crowds with futuristic and dramatic compositions that echoed through the canyon walls.

I wandered around, the sun beating against my parasol, the heat settling into my shoulders. Vintage was everywhere and it was more than enough to make for at least two full days of shopping. Thousands of items, each with it’s own unique history and so many stories to tell. The fact that it was so much, created the atmosphere of treasure hunt that could be relished and allowed to slowly unfold. It was a perfect day in nature, a perfect day for relaxing and letting history emerge and entertain.