Friday, January 13, 2012

Pleez help me with my Hair... or lack thereof


Dear ESB,

I've been searching for wedding hairstyles and have gotten super annoyed. When I search for "short wedding hair styles" the perception of "short" is horribly off. Apparently "short" means above the mid-back. I need short- and I mean SHORT. 

Basically, I have a very short A-line cut. The back is messy, but not quite spiky. The front is longer and frames my face. To add to this, I have very little hair. After 3 bouts with cancer (yup- all by the time I was 22), chemo left me with baby hair. It is fine, limp, and if it were long enough for a pony tail, my guess is that it would all fit in a braces rubber band. So, I bleach the shit out of it. I bleach it with 30 volume developer and powder bleach every 2 weeks because A) I hate roots B) I'm a little OCD and C) It gives it volume. So, I have short platinum blonde hair.

Our wedding is in an historic mansion. We're in California, but my fiance is a southern boy. The wedding will be very vintage/traditional with some style and spunk. I plan on having a blusher veil. 

I just want to see some inspiration for short hair. Help!

*****

Clearly you need to plop a big bow on top of your head.

I'm kind of not kidding?

Never thought I'd say it, but the Brigitte Bardot pic won me over. Only a platinum blond can get away with a black velvet bow.

p.s. Notice how she has pinned up her long hair, ATTEMPTING TO MAKE IT LOOK SHORT? HA!

Brigitte Bardot by Sam Levin via Lula Mag

28 comments:

  1. what about something slick and flapperesque? your hair (which is gorgeous) has all the detail it needs from the color; i'd argue that you should create a few finger-waves in the front and call it a day. you'd look beautiful with the veil/theme you're planning.

    my hair's pixie-short, and i've struggled with formal hair for years; no matter what i'm wearing, i find that i'm most successful when i'm channeling bowie.

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    1. My first ever style/hair crush was the brunette in The House of Elliot - a BBC drama set in 1920's London about two fashion designers. Sadly despite many attempts to copy the hair, it never worked on my 12 year old self.

      The blonde one also has cool hair.

      Also - don't forget Marilyn Monroe!

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    2. I have nothing to add. I just wanted to say you're adorable and you will look amazing on your wedding day no matter what.

      Also, cancer 3x? That makes you super badass.

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  2. My haircut is pretty much exactly the same as yours. I think a bow might look a bit mini mouse cartoonish and a flapper hair style is sort of too specific of a theme/era. For my ceremony this summer, I am going with a slightly more volumeized version of my normal hair cut and glaming up other aspects of my overall look. I mean, who says you need to have pagent/prom/formal hair for your wedding? I've been to half a dozen weddings in the last year and a lot of the hair I've seen is really uncharacteristic of the person who is wearing it. One chick with short hair ended up with very tiny and tight curls. It made her look like a totally different person (and not in a good way). If you were going to do a bow, don't do something huge that will overwhelm your gorgous face. I would say, maybe a small flower barette, but nothing huge and nothing too trendy.

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  3. First off, surviving cancer THREE times? You're amazing.

    As for your hair question, I used to work at TheKnot.com (I know, I know...just let me finish), and I wrote this article about "traditions you can skip," and one of my favorite slides was always this one. Instead of a veil (though you could obviously still have one if you wanted), this bride had a barrette custom-made to spell out her new last name. I'm pretty sure she got it on etsy somewhere, but even if you can't find a particular seller, I'm sure you could find someone to make it through alchemy.

    Plus, I think this bride has a haircut similar to yours? Anyway, I always thought it was such a cool idea and want SOMEONE to steal it.

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    1. Just an FYI, they did away with alchemy (boo). But you could always contact an individual seller and see if they could do something similar.

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  4. Um Hello!!?

    "Try this,"

    "or this,"

    "or this?"

    "or this!"

    For the record I'm super jealous of your gorgeous short blond locks!

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  5. My best friend has a haircut very similar to yours, and on her wedding day she just went to her regular hairdresser, who trimmed any stray pieces and then just gave her a fancier blow dry than normal. No veils, no bows. Nothing to fuss over. She looked *super* hot.

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  6. I think that your normal hair, like @Miss K suggested, will look great. You could still use the blusher you have, or a bow.

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  7. I vote for @Anna's suggestions!

    Also, I'm a Vidal Sassoon grad and our philosophy is that when you have a short cut, the cut *is* your style. You don't really need to "style" it as the the style has been *cut* into it.

    In other words, just rock it.

    P.S. Your wedding sounds rad! All the best!

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  8. First of all, I want to second everyone's sentiment that YOU ARE A ROCKSTAR. Secondly, you have the haircut I've always wanted, but never had the balls to try. So, this makes you even more badass in my book.

    I agree with ESB, you could *totally* get away with a big black bow, but since you already mentioned a blusher veil... you could go sleek with a side-part like this bride, or you could rock curls like this... using this tutorial . Good luck! xo.

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  9. I like the bow idea if it suits your personality, but also want to echo everyone else that you don't need to do anything dramatically different on your wedding day, since your cut is already so stylish and cute. Short hair brings out the eyes in a big way, so focus on having great makeup and worry less about your hair- which looks awesome already.

    Congrats on getting hitched and being ALIVE! You're an inspiration, woman.

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  10. I had short hair that sounds similar to yours on my wedding day. I just gave myself a really great blowout. That was all the styling I needed to look extra hot.

    If you worry about doing it yourself, go to your stylist, or find one that'll give you the perfect blowout.

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  11. I don't have short hair, but I just wore my hair like I normally do at my wedding. No veil, no up-do, no nothing.

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  12. I say hair piece! I have super short hair too - ESB has pics of me in my wedding threads here - but my hair is curly so I was able to finger wave it. Hair pieces make all the difference and ESB is right, even if the bow doesn't fit the best way to make short hair different is to slap something in it. BTW you are adorable. Also - here are my favorite hair pieces.

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  13. i love your hair as-is! in a *7 days to go and no hair-do in mind & nothing to wear on my big head* panic i blew $200 on a veil that was "good enough". big regret. not a fan of my ceremony look. my favorite pics are from late into the reception when i changed into my still-sweaty bach party dress & my hair was messed up, pulled into its normal low side pony & the veil was LONG GONE.

    stay true to your regular look, it's adorbs.

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  14. I love your hair! I was always always a super short haired girl until recently and it still feels like it's not all mine. There is something so charming about a woman with short hair, it takes confidence to pull it off, you can't hide behind your hair! My husband loves long hair and balks at the idea of me cutting mine short again and I have secret crushes on girls with short hair. Like as in "I want to be her".

    I agree with the other commenters, your short hair is your style. Nothing else needed. When I was planning my wedding and going through all the cute styles I saw on blogs, I realized that it all felt too costume-y and it's so important to feel like yourself on your wedding day. Like yourself but a little more punched up and glamorous but still yourself. You don't want to feel like you're wearing costume or have some weird prop.

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  15. i echo the comments of you are amazeballs. I nothing to add to the hair conversation buuuuut.... I just HAVE to pipe up and say if you haven't already seen a genetic counselor you definitely should consider it. Cancer, especially a reoccurrence or a new primary in a person so young is very unusual and could be hereditary. that's it, off the medical soapbox. i am sure you are going to look amazing on your wedding day--pls send ESB phots so she can share!

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  16. This is perfect hair for a FINGER WAVE. Kind of depends on your dress, may not work if it's super modern, but this look is timeless and elegant:
    old school finger waves
    I did this for my wedding, as I am and always have been a short hair gal. Good luck!

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  17. Maybe a headband type piece? These were linked from snippet&ink (hush) and they're puuurdy. Probably cheaper versions could be found on etsy.

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  18. BHLDN is having a killer extra 40% off of their sale section right now and there are some fantastic bow head pieces there. Also, several of the models have short, whispy locks. Maybe try out some looks with your FH and see what he likes best. Don't tell him, just do your hair differently or bust out the bow on a date night... see what makes his eyes shine and stick with that :) I am sure you will look stunning and you will HAVE to send pics to ESB so we can see how it turned out!

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  19. If you are still reading this thread... I will jump on the finger wave bandwagon. I did loose ones done with a curling iron b/c well... I have a pin-head and the tight ones looked ridiculous on me. My hair was only slightly longer than yours (Swear I have photos of it from the week before) and I've always had fine hair. I've even done the platinum thing too for the exact same reasons. Here are the photos...http://www.glamour.com/weddings/blogs/save-the-date/2009/01/genius-wedding-idea-city-hall.html

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