Last week our salon attended Fashion Houston, Houston's version of its very own Fashion Week. It was a great evening for our staff, and of course, the "people watching" was the best! I love fashion. From the simple to the hideous, you can always count on something to talk about, drool over, and even make fun of. As artists, we're constantly looking for inspiration. My inspiration at fashion shows comes more from the environment than the runway.
Looking at some of the models on the runway, you can't help but notice how young these girls are. They're wearing clothes made for women and purchased by women, yet most of the models look like they have just celebrated their 15th birthday. Now I don't want to get on my soapbox here, but I am confronted with two things. First, I am the mother of three strong girls, ages 9, 11 and 14. I have fought hard to keep my girls young and to teach them that value lies mainly in who you are, not what you look like. Second, I am also a hairdresser that adores fashion and the art of making people beautiful. I see value in making my clients feel and look their best. When a newly divorced woman sits in my chair and longs for a new look to match her new identity, it rocks my world to give her a great new color and cut and have her walk away with her head a little higher and feeling a little more confident.
I understand that while fashion and glamour can be used as tools to inspire, they can also create false expectations of beauty in the minds of certain people. So I have to ask the question -- is the beauty industry and the media responsible for our view of beauty, or does the beauty industry and the media simply give us what consumers are looking for?
After much discussion and research on this topic, I have concluded that consumers drive what the media and the beauty industry puts out as "beautiful." I know there are a lot of different views on this issue, and that there is no simple answer to this question.
This topic makes me want to take a close look at what beauty means to my clients. Though it varies from person to person, I can say with confidence that most of my clients want a look that best suites their personality and accentuates who they are. To put it simply, they want a look that brings out the best in them and is a reflection of who they are and what they stand for. When you can capture that as an artist and create something that the client can reproduce at home, there is beauty in that. I think beauty wears many faces. It is personal, complex, and not without flaws. That is what beauty is to me. What is it to you?
