The extraordinary silvery wig above is $13.88 worth of identity experiment: a bargain. Having discovered that searching “wigs” at Amazon, yields an astonishing array of styles and colors, I bought the 32″ Long Curly Hair Lolita Custom Party Wig (Grey) to see what would happen if I went from brown to gray in a flash. I discovered way more.
Around my Harlem neighborhood, wig stores are commonplace. I see my African-American neighbors changing their look frequently with stylish wigs. Once I admired Crab Man Mike‘s girlfriend’s hair by saying “I want your hair“. “I want my hair, too!” she replied with a smile.
I realized that I’d never entertained the notion of wearing a wig, despite my often out-of-control hair, nor of even fooling around with one to check out other hairstyles and colors. How stuck am I? (Is it an age thing?)
My experimental wig arrived looking like a sleeping animal, with instructions for tucking my hair into a tight cap and then adjusting the wig on my head.
Hmmm. Amazing really….
…I felt like a different person. This insta-change was totally fun and silly though…
…I did begin to mull possibilities for silvery dye with midnight blue highlights…
The $13 wig is quite astonishing as an objet unto itself. Mira Keras remarked that it is “oddly entrancing” and was hard to stop touching. I briefly treated it like an art work and hung it next to a Holton Rower Pour painting..
But that cheap wig got me thinking of all the “why not’s?” I could be asking to loosen things up a bit…and have fun.
There are endless options available to all of us, women and men alike…
Gorgeous! It’s amazing that women are so fearful of going grey when, on many, it is wonderfully flattering. And what a fun way to experiment!
PS. I’m a fairly new subscriber, but am thoroughly enjoying your daily updates. Many thanks : )
I went gray years ago when dyeing became a biweekly event. A couple of years later, I decided to let it grow. While it’s not as impressive as your wig,I do get compliments frequently. I figure it is also much healthier than constantly exposing myself to toxic chemicals. But I do want a neon green or pink or… wig!
May I borrow your wig sometime?
Anytime, Harriet. I’m actually thinking of buying others. Perhas a ….. wig party?
How lovely that we get to see you. Thank you for exposing yourself! The coolness of the grey against your warm skin is very dramatic and soothing. I stopped coloring my hair more than 10 years ago when I decided to take a stand against ageism. Also, the color was doing lots of hair damage. Who knows what those chemicals do to us in the end, too? So, the idea of silver as a lifestyle choice is pretty wonderful. DYT?
Sally, grey is so beautiful on you. It softens your whole face and aura. I am 73 and grey and I love it after about 10 years of paying people to put chemicals on my head. Grey is such a great color with clothes too! Try it you would love it. You are a natural girl!
Oh wow that silvery grey looks awesome on you! I’d totally rock an all-over gray like that (unfortunately my gray is currently just a wiry gray streak in the front, which reads more Cruella on me than chic for some reason). I’d love to go full-gray!
Thanks so much. I’m contemplating having a wig party to further explore options.
Thank you Norma. I’ve been working on being a little more “in view”. I’ve always hated being photographed by find that doing so, expecially selfies, can be a great tool…Who knew? I plan to write about it.
Meg, google “gray hair with blue highlights” or whatever other color you imagine. It’s a revelation!