Hair - Past, Present and Future

Early on in my dressing career, few things gave me a better feeling of accomplishment in achieving my look in dressing up than slipping on my favorite wig. It was towards the end of the process of getting all dolled up. I would do my makeup and I'd be wearing a slip, but I still looked like boyish myself until the wig was on. It seemed to complete the look for me. I have seen pictures of crossdressers that can pull off a pixie cut or a short do but it really doesn't work for me. I need long hair I can play around with to get a look that I like.

Historically it started out just trying to style the hair I had. It wasn't until I was out on y own that I could afford or had the time to play with a wig of my own. My first wig was from Merle Norman, and it still is my favorite although I haven't worn it in a while. It is a shoulder length mass of brunette curls. I have tried other wigs as a blonde or in auburn, short and long and without curls but brown curls is my natural hair type so it seems to fit me best.

The problem is wigs are hot. In a previous post I talked about how corsets are hot, and to be fair stockings are a little warm too. By the time I am fully dressed and have a wig on I am a 6' 4" oven of girlishness. That is the main reason I decided to try a few other options over the past few years.

My first attempt at life beyond the wig was trying to go back to my own hair. This work out just OK. I usually only lasted for about six months before people started to comment on it or I tried something wacky that could only be rescued by cutting it short again. One attempt took things a step further when I decided to have it styled for one for my dress up weekends. I knew I would have to cut it short again but I wanted to try a dye job or a perm. I made up a lame story to a hairdresser and she frosted my hair for me. Halfway through I learned she was in my graduating class from high school, a little embarrassing. You can read the whole story here.

In the last few years I have tried a combination of my own hair and using clip on attachments to augment my hair. This is much more comfortable temperature wise. I have several types of add-ons such as a few big claw type pieces that grab onto a pigtail of your own hair. I also have some clip in extensions too. These are made up of a number of smaller pieces that clip on the the roots of your hair and the clips are hidden by another layer of hair over the top of them. They hide well and provide you with some extra length. The brand I purchased was Put On Pieces at wigs.com.

The colors I bought are close enough to blend in well with my own hair. Of course, now I am starting to get a few more grey hairs and that might start to be a problem. The picture here is of the year I went to Halloween as a bride. At that time I had ordered hair pieces that were darker than my own so I had to dye my hair darker first. The makeup artist did a great job with my hair and gave me a fancy updo with little flower barrettes holding my hair in place. This was done with two clip in claw type attachments.

One year I also splurged on a lace cap wig. This is similar to a traditional wig but the cap has no elastic to hold it on. They hairs are hand tied on to a nylon cap with a little bit of extra nylon at the edges. The extra nylon is actually glued to your hairline with something like spirit gum. I thought the look was pretty nice. I was able to wear the wig for about three days before the glue started to lose its gluey-ness. I used it for a photo shoot I did a few years back and the stylist had a fun time working with the quality hair, she kept raving about how well it took to styling. She gave me some 1940's type barrel rolls. This was not as warm as a regular wig but it is a chore to get on and off even though it does last a while.

So the question becomes, what am I going to do for my wedding?

Kris is actually OK with me growing out my hair. She didn't really like my old #2 clipper in the back and a little longer on top and side cut that was my standard. She took me to her stylist and we all discussed a plan for growing my hair out. In the past I just didn't get it cut, now it is a process. That was about 16 months ago. The front of my hair is about eight inches long right now, I can even chew on my bangs if I want to. The back isn't as long, the stylist is keeping this shorter I think to keep it looking too mullet like, although with the long in front I don't know how that can be. She also want to keep it less full in the back. I think I might need another two or three inches in back. Luckily there is another 14 months before the wedding.

In December I am going to have a few test runs for hair and makeup done while I am in Las Vegas. I will bring my hair pieces and let the stylists do whatever they think is best. I will discuss the outcomes with Kris to decide who my official wedding make up artist will be. I also think I may need to dye my hair, at least temporarily to get rid of the greys. Just for the wedding. In the end I think I will want something fairly formal with an updo feel to it. I am excited to see what they can do for me when I do my test runs in Las Vegas this December. I'm sure I will post the looks for everyone to see.