The Times's Sarah Maslin talks to John Barrett, who has a salon inside of tony Bergdorf Goodman in Manhattan. He says:

"It's aspirational hair."

In other words, you can dream about it… that doesn't mean you're going to get it.

Nuri Yurt, of Toka Salon on Madison Avenue, whose clients include several former first ladies, says almost all of his customers with long hair ask for Blake Lively's cut, but:

The look, he said, only works for tall, slim women.

In other words, you fatties and shorties need not apply.

Michael Wilson of Bumble & Bumble also warns you not to get your hopes up: "Trouble is, some girls are born with amazing hair," he says, adding that Blake Lively's hair "sets an unrealistic expectation."

Barett can get your tresses like Blake Lively's if you have $1,200 a month to spend on extensions, treatments, haircuts and styling at his salon.

When Maslin talks to Blake Lively herself, and lets her know how popular her hair is, Blake says: "That's always kind of odd, but unbelievably flattering." And. Just to make you feel worse, she tells the reporter that her hair is mostly natural — the color gets touched up every six months, and the "unraveling curls" are created not with fancy techniques and curling irons, but by letting her hair dry in a simple chignon.

To hammer the final nail in the coffin, Lively adds: "I was born with a head full of hair."

A ‘Gossip Girl' Look, Pronto! [NY Times]

The Times' Lisa Armstrong writes:

Vidal didn't think that his clients looked like lesbians. He thought they looked modern, liberated - which they were: liberated from the rollers, the perming, the setting, the back-combing, the huge dryers and the humungous output of aerosol particles that constituted a trip to the salon throughout the Fifties.

Sassoon became a CBE— Commander Of The British Empire — as of yesterday, cementing his already-secure status as an icon. Though his products are no longer sold in the US or Europe, he makes millions in Asia. And there's his reputation. As Armstrong puts it, back in the '60s and '70s, "hairdressers were extravagantly heterosexual sex gods." But if you watch old movies, or Mad Men, it's easy to see why Sassoon's unique cuts were buzz-worthy, and why they arrived at the perfect time. It was in the air, he says: "You had only to look at Mies's [van der Rohe] Seagram [a 1957 New York skyscraper] or Breuer's Whitney [the 1966 art museum, also in New York] to know." The architecture, the clothes, the vibe of the '60s was geometric, no-fuss. Sassoon created hair to match.

But there was also an androgyny happening, a refusal to maintain norms like "boys have short hair, girls have long." When he chopped Mia Farrow's hair for Rosemary's Baby, it flew in the face of what it meant to be "feminine." Yet, as Armstrong writes: "A zillion women copied the style."

These days, most women want bouncy waves and lots of length (often through extensions). Armsrtong asks what Sassoon thinks of that. He answers: "To be honest, I've been out of hairdressing so long I can't really judge." Diplomatic. But you've got to wonder what it would be like if he got back in the game and liberated a few heads.

Vidal Sassoon: The Man Who Made English Hairstyling Great [Times Of London]

"I guess you just go through different phases in your life. I was pretty much at the point where I needed the change and I needed to focus my energy on more productive arenas. I was putting too much into my appearance and I needed to make this about growth and going to the next stage of my life. I felt like I was being distracted by something as simple as hair."

Solange reveals that it's not the first time she's cut her hair, and she's always changed her hair and gone through different phases:

I remember when I was 13 I went through my 'I-am-Miss-Natural, incense-burning, Bob Marley-playing, only-vintage-shop-wearing Solange.' So of course that included cutting my perm off, being a Vegan. I didn't quite understand yet that my hair did not define me. Then I remember being 16 and being like 'Okay, I can still be smart and I can still have the same beliefs that I have, but I did not have to have red Rasta braids. I can do that with straight hair. I can do that with a 'fro. I can do that with a weave down to my butt.'

But Solange seems to know that hair is a complicated issue — for everyone; not just black women.

"As a society we equate beauty with the images that have been placed in front of us since we were little kids. Every Disney movie, every fairy tale, every pop star typically has a certain aesthetic and look. I think that anytime we see something different, it freaks us out. The more people warmed up to it, and they saw more images of me with it and dressed up with my earrings and a little something, something on my face, I think then people were more willing to conform and accept it. Now, it's interesting how the first day I had it, I had nothing but negative, evil, cruel things in my inbox and then yesterday [after Oprah aired] I had 300,000 people saying 'Oh my God, you looked amazing, so beautiful, and you made us proud.'"

The entire interview is highly recommended: Solange spills on being a mother and about what kind of parents she has: "It's interesting that people think that my dad is the one who's all strict," she says. "They build up quite a character with that guy, and at the end of the day it's my mom who's going to give you the neck roll."

Plus, check out her response when asked "Five words to describe yourself?":

Water, blood, melanin, bones, and ... vajajay.

Solo in the City [Honey Mag]

Earlier: Solange Chops Hair, Is Called "Insane"

Oprah & Chris Rock Talk Good Hair

First up is Sarah Jones, Tony and Obie Award-winning playwright, actress, and poet. She talks about the "secret weave-y society" that her white friends did not understand. Even though there's comedy in Jones' anecdote, it's also a sad commentary on the fact that hair can serve as such a mysterious divide and cause of underlying tension in female relationships.

In this second clip, Chris Rock talks to some guys in a barber shop about the taboo of touching a black woman's hair. The men seem to enjoy bitching about how protective black women can be about their tresses, but unfortunately, they don't seem to realize that, in a way, they're part of the problem. While Chris Rock does seem to make an effort to get various points of view, hearing men talk about the problems they have with women's hair is a little annoying. That said, we can't wait to see the full film, which goes nationwide in theaters on October 23.

Good Hair [Official Site]

Earlier: Will We Ever Be Able to Stop Talking About Black Hair Politics?
Keeping Michelle's Hair In Perspective
Combing Through The Deeply Rooted Politics Of Black Hair Issues
Weaves, Extensions & "Creamy Crack": Chris Rock's Good Hair Trailer
Chris Rock's New Documentary Explores "Good" Hair

We're still talking about this because:

• No one's hair is every really good enough. The discussions about black hair don't just reflect the reality of black women's struggles, but the internal conversations of women who have hair that deviates from the shiny, full, swingy-straight ideal in some form or fashion. I recently had a conversation with a friend of mixed race heritage who has long dark brown hair that hangs to her shoulders. She confided that she often thought of having a straightening treatment done, but didn't know if it was worth the hassle. I looked at her, aghast. "Dude, your hair is straight!" I blurted out, looking at her locks which hang straight down and can easily be run through with a comb.

  "No, this isn't straight," she replied, explaining her hair had a body wave that made it stand out. "It's not wavy enough to look cool, but it's too wavy to be straight unless I use a flat iron." I heard similar sentiments on from a Korean American friend, also debating a straightening treatment. And I've heard laments from my straight-as-a-pin haired friends who have hair that refuses to hold a curl. It seems that no matter what we work toward, it isn't enough. So while many of our discussions revolve around the racial realities facing black women, having hosted many a conversation about black hair over the years, I never fail to be surprised when women of all shades find parts of their stories in this common, frustrating narrative.

• In two-thousand-fucking-eight it was (and) is still totally cool for black women to be denied service at salons, regardless of what they are having done. And this is on top of what I like to call "the black hair tax" - knowing that you're going to have at least twenty extra dollars tacked on to your service charge because you require flat iron service post blow dry. One time, I went to a salon in my area with air dried, a few weeks of new growth hair. I went to a stylist who had styled my hair before. I sat in her chair, but she looked at my hair like it was going to bite her. She then pulled out a fine-toothed comb and watched it get stuck in my hair before excusing herself to find "someone who can do this type of hair."

  Again: she had done my hair before, about four weeks prior to this occasion. However, seeing my hair in a semi-curly state forced her to run for back up (which turned out to be an Afro-Carribean stylist who wrung my hair out like a rag and then heat blasted it into submission). The worst part? If she had done what she normally does (wash, blowdry, flat iron) my hair would have turned out fine. But she recoiled from my hair and wouldn't even consider repeating the same process she went through the last time she styled my mane. And I will never forget that.

• We haven't talked about men's hair issues yet, specifically black men. From wave caps to jheri curls, it isn't all good over there either. Chris Rock's new documentary features commentary from Al Sharpton and Rock explains to Allison Samuels:
  

  Come on, you have to have the good reverend in anything that deals with black hair. He's so not ashamed of discussing his hair and how he keeps it up with a scarf and whatever. His thoughts on black life and what it involves can be priceless.

• We still have to deal with the curly haired stigma. As Dodai wrote when she asked "Why Is Straight Hair the Epitome of 'Style'?":
  

  It sucks to have hard-to-manage hair, of course. But the paranoia surrounding curls and frizz is troubling, to say the very least. Why is straight hair considered to be "polished" and curly hair often described as "wild"? In movies like The Princess Diaries, when the character goes from geek to chic, there's always a scene where they take her crazy, frizzy curly strands (which just need a little deep conditioner and some spray gel) and make them straight... and therefore, pretty. Let's say you had a choice between curly hair and straight hair. If you were going on a job interview and you wanted to seem serious and businesslike, which would you choose? Does straight hair seem more professional? What if you were going on a date? Does curly hair seem exotic, sexy, fun? And is there a subtle racism in this type of thinking?

  I fully co-sign Dodai here. But it is interesting to note that Pool's Guardian piece reveals how deeply ingrained this type of thinking is. As she describes the feeling after flat ironing her hair:

  We were in Sweden for a wedding, and my logic was that if I truly hated it I could wash it and return to London with no one any the wiser. But I didn't hate it; in fact I rather liked it. It felt sleek and modern. My hair was bouncy and shiny, it looked healthy and, best of all, it moved. It even swished from side to side.

  If straight hair is modern, does that make curly hair primitive? It seems like a harsh thing to say, but that's the ultimate connotation. And as I mentioned before, these ideas are deeply ingrained. I often fight with myself before important occasions or events if I will or won't have my hair straightened. I generally decide against it, but the urge is always there to make myself "more presentable" by taming it into a straight style.

  Pool goes on to discuss how she conflicted she feels, an emotion I know all too well:

  There was only one problem: it made me feel guilty. I felt like a traitor. And I became mildly obsessed about what signals I was sending out. If an afro says, "I'm confident enough to wear my hair as it comes," what does wearing my hair straight say?

  But after a few days I started to notice some unexpected side-effects of straightening my hair. Other Eritreans and Ethiopians – who generally all straighten their hair – started to nod and smile at me in the street, acknowledging me as one of them. And I love it.

  The world does react to you differently when you decide to straighten out. The shift in how you are perceived is something that is instantly noticed, even if it is tough to articulate. And it's one of the factors that makes it difficult to truly choose to wear your hair one way or the next - we are all influenced on some level by our peers and coworkers and their attitudes impact how we feel.

  I am typing this post in a cafe in downtown DC. While I was writing these words, a little girl with natural hair, coaxed into plaits with fuzzy puffs escaping wherever it can, stared at me for a minute or two as she walked past. I waved to her and her father encouraged her to say hello to me. She stood there, fixated on my hair. I looked up and realized her mother was waiting at the table. Her hair was long and straightened. I wonder what that little girl was thinking when she saw me. I don't think I'll ever know. But I do know that I don't want her to struggle with the same issues I struggle with now.

  There is so much emotion wrapped up in conversations of hair and choices and desirability that delving into these issues can be fraught with heartache. Women on all sides feel judged, feel scrutinized, feel as though whatever choice they have made, they still need to continually justify it.

  But, please, not on this thread. Let's look inward, let's treat others with kindness whatever their choices may be. And we're going to hug it out - India Arie style:

  

  Should You Straighten Your Afro Hair [Guardian]
  Chris Rock Talks 'Good Hair' [Newsweek]

  Earlier: Woman Denied Service At JC Penney Salon For Having Black Hair
  Keeping Michelle's Hair In Perspective
  Combing Through The Deeply Rooted Politics Of Black Hair Issues
  Why Is Straight Hair the Epitome of 'Style'?
  Dear Oprah, Mariah & Leona: Don't Forget That Curly Hair Is Beautiful Too

  [Image via Hairdressers Journal Interactive]

Straightening hair has been perceived as a way to be more acceptable to certain relatives, as well as to the white establishment…

In the face of cultural pressure, the thinking goes, conformists relax their hair, and rebels have the courage not to. In some corners, relaxing one's hair is even seen as wishing to be white.

We've covered this issue many times, as has the Times, and the discussion is ongoing. Frankly, the debate does get tiring. Saint Louis writes that many people of color ask: "Why can't hair just be hair? Must an Afro peg a woman as the political heir to Angela Davis? Is a fashionista who replicates the first lady's clean-cut bob really being untrue to herself?"

But a quote from Noliwe M. Rooks, the associate director of the Center for African American Studies at Princeton, struck me as as close as we're going to get to an answer. She was asked about what it meant when the hair of Sasha and Malia Obama was sometimes pressed straight, and said: "There's a complexity to who we are now. There wasn't an easy answer to why."

Black Hair, Still Tangled in Politics [NY Times]

Earlier: Weaves, Extensions & "Creamy Crack": Chris Rock's Good Hair Trailer
Chris Rock's New Documentary Explores "Good" Hair
Solange Chops Hair, Is Called "Insane"
The Flesh-Eating Phonies Also Known As Lace-Front Wigs
Why Is Straight Hair The Epitome Of 'Style'?

The premise of the film came from Rock's own daughter, who asked him why she didn't have "good" hair. It looks like Rock talked to both men and women, celebrities and regular folks, for a spectrum of viewpoints. On question: Would any of the stunningly beautiful women in the clip — Salt N Pepa; Raven-Symone; Meagan Good; Nia Long — be celebrities if they had natural hair?

Coincidentally, there is a debate going on over a YouTube video called "Nappy Ass Hair," in which someone is seen (violently?) trying to comb out a little girl's hair. NPR's Dani Tucker notes: "Hair grooming is still a painful, or brutal, experience for too many young women of color." But isn't that because forcing black hair to fit a certain mold that is "acceptable" and "professional" in a white-dominated world is always going to be a struggle?

Good Hair: Chris Rock's Harrowing Investigation Into Raven-Symone's Weave [Movieline]
Good or Bad Hair?: Hair Combing Video Stirs Debate [NPR]
Beauty, the Brush and Black Girl Pain [The Root]
Nappy Ass Hair [YouTube]

Earlier this month, the New York Times noted that "American women didn't shave their armpits en masse until the 1920s." These days, Nivea.com has a demonstration of male body shaving.

In a piece from Friday's Wall Street Journal, Cameron Stracher writes: "The same people pushing hairlessness are the ones selling the products. In the best tradition of hucksterism, we must have what we don't need." But Stracher noticed something else important:

Recently I went to see the play Hair, the '60s musical about hair as a metaphor for rebellion, pride, power, sexuality and love. As the talented cast sang about the joys of their God-given hairiness, I realized that at least half the men in the cast had shaved their underarms. In a generation, hair had gone from plumage to be worn "long, straight, curly, fuzzy, snaggy, shaggy, ratty, matty… bangled, tangled, spangled and spaghettied," to being plucked, shorn, waxed, buzzed, razored, tasered, lasered and depilated.

Over the weekend, I went to my friend's parents' 40th anniversary party, which means they got married the summer of '69. The party was hippie-themed, with tie-dye and what not, and someone joked that they'd Googled "Woodstock" to get a costume idea and "everyone was hairy and naked." How did this happen? How did Americans go from being proud of their body hair to being stalked on the streets by gorillas and encouraged to strip it all off? Being shamed into hairlessness can't be progress.

Or course, all things are cyclical — the Ancient Greeks used depilatories. Hairy pits and bush will probably come back around to being "in style" again in another 40 years. Meanwhile, we'll continue to be stripped not only of our hair and pride, but our hard-earned cash: According to WSJ, the shaving and hair removal business made about $1.8 billion in the U.S. last year. Almost makes you want to be a hippie.

Gorillas And Women Tag-Teaming On Spa's Hair-Removal Campaign [BrandFreak]
Receding Hairlines [WSJ]
Do Women Like Men Quite That Cleanshaven? [NY Times]

Yesterday evening, Solange was the number three trending topic on Twitter. For cutting her hair.

The Daily Fail accused Solange of "doing a Britney," even thought Britney shaved her head right down to the scalp and Solange has a close-cropped, natural haircut.

The piece by Donna mcConnell read:

[Solange] once playfully said she would 'go crazy like Britney' if people kept comparing her to her sister.

And it seems she might finally have flipped as she hit the streets of Los Angeles in a new shorn hairstyle yesterday.

A Daily Fail commenter added: "She is trying to copy the newest black icon Amber Rose… I think she looks terrible."

A reporter for MTV News wrote: "The motive is still unclear, but considering how gorgeous her mane was, it's not a great style choice."

On trashy site The Hollywood Gossip, Solange's decision to crop her 'do was called "batshit insane."

So. It's not "batshit insane" for a black woman to wear a flesh-eating lace-front wig, or to glue a weave to her head, or to process her hair to be unnaturally silky and straight. But it is crazy for her to cut it off? Got it.

As for Solange, her Twitter reads:

listen. if. i. wanted. to. make. a. statement. i. would. have. twitpic'd. photo shoot. ect. i. was. simply. taking. my. son. to. school.

stupid. paps. took. pic. ive. had. my. hair. cut. like. this. for. two. weeks. i. was. NOT. inspired. by anyone. but. my. self.

i. have. done. this. twice. in. my. life. i. was 16. i was 18. did. not care about your opinion. then. dont. care. now.

dont. need. your. attention. or. your. co-sign. i am #3. trending topic. before. IRAN. &. some of you cant even locate it on a map. its sad.

dont. want. a. edge. up. or a perm. because. im not trying. to make this "a style" or a statement.

i. just. wanted. to. be. free. from. the. bondage. that. black. women sometimes. put. on. themselves. with. hair.

this. phase. of. my. life. i. want to spend . the time. the energy. and the money. on something else. not in the hair salon.

ONLY reason i responded to this i have is because i was disappointed to see my name more talked about than #iranelection

we. gotta. do. better. people.

Word.

Solange Shaves Her Head [JustJared]
Beyonce's Solange Knowles Does A Britney... As She Shaves Off Her Locks [Daily Mail]
Solange Has A New Haircut And Underrated Videos [MTV News]
Solange's New Bald Haircut: Hot or Not? [The Hollywood Gossip]
Solange Knowles [Twitter]

While the flick is "loaded" with Rock's "wisecracking humor," he reportedly takes a grave and honest look at the cultural pressures and identity issues that come with having "black hair." Rock explains: "I have daughters, and I'm really dealing with them and their hair a lot, and my friends have daughters, and we talk about our daughters' hair issues." In a Reuters Q&A, Rock adds: "I had no idea of the business of hair. I had no idea that it was as organized as Apple or Microsoft or General Motors. I had no idea the chemicals could be scary and damaging."

The film, which is being produced by HBO but may get a theatrical release first, shows "neighborhood salons, businesses dealing in hair-care products and the streets of India, where human hair is a huge export industry for hair weaves." In addition, Rock examines why some African-American women feel they need long, silky, straight hair to fit into white society. Executive producer Nelson George says: "It's this whole thing about approval. That approval is not simply, 'I want white people to love me.' It's like, 'I need a job. I want to move forward, and if I have a hairstyle that is somewhat intimidating, that's going to stop me from moving forward.'"

One might wonder whether Rock's perspective — as a man, a father and a comedian — can do justice to a subject he has no first-hand personal experience with. But consider this heartbreaking passage from Good Hair's description on the Sundance site:

When Chris Rock’s daughter, Lola, came up to him crying and asked, “Daddy, how come I don’t have good hair?” the bewildered comic committed himself to search the ends of the earth and the depths of black culture to find out who had put that question into his little girl's head!

Rock Splits Hairs With Documentary On Black Styles [AP]
Just a Minute With: Chris Rock On his "Good Hair" [Reuters]
Good Hair [Sundance]

"With Drew, we always try to do things that are a bit unusual, yet beautiful. The idea is always to do something that really stands out. She is Hollywood royalty." Yeah, but what if people hate it? "I try not to read blogs because there are a lot of mean people out there who are very incompetent in beauty and styling… I have been working in fashion for 20 years. When I read some bloggers, they are clueless. Actually, I thought it worked out beautifully." [WWD]

Earlier: The 8 Worst Hairdos A Man Can Have

"It never looks good," Hamm admits. "It's a pain." Well it certainly pains us to see it so lank and limp. Do you overcondition, Jon? Under shampoo? Is it dyed? So many questions.

The bangs! The bangs are not right. Sure, they're sort of reminiscent of someone from a different era. But not the right person. Or era.

Egads. Hamm says he's always worn his hair long, but had to cut it for Mad Men, in which — for the uninitiated — he plays a 1960s ad exec. Apparently the stylists on the show use hairspray and blow dryers for the "hard shell" on Don Draper's head, which Hamm says has come in handy: "I've had a piece of the set fall on my head and my hair didn't move. I had seven stitches in my head and my hair didn't move. That's impressive." Not impressive? These Davy Jones-ian wisps. The GF looks amazing, though!

Weed whacker. That is the only plausible explanation. He cut his hair with a weed whacker.

That sound you just heard was a million ladyboners withering. Libido levels fall down go boom.

Behold: Jon Hamm gives up. Without the talented hairstylists from Mad Men, he has no clue what to do with the testy tresses that top his head.


Unfortunately, Don Draper's hair — and the AMC series — is still in peril: The network still doesn't have a deal with Mad Men creator Matthew Weiner to make more episodes. "We can't do the show without Matthew," Hamm tells Fox 411's Roger Friedman. "Of course, you 'can' do it, but you know you can't."

'Mad Men' Star's Hair Is 'Bane Of My Existence' [CNN]
'Mad Men' On Thin Ice? [Fox 411]
Earlier: Don Draper Steps Out Of Time Machine
Related: The 8 Worst Hairdos A Man Can Have

[Lead image AMC/Splashpic; gallery images via Getty.]

Marketing exec Nina Wales was given an Afro.

Earlier: 'Glamour' Editor To Lady Lawyers: Being Black Is Kinda A Corporate "Don't"
GlamourPussy
Glamour "Racist" Freed From Slavery To Fashion
Glamour & "Political" Hair: What Have We Learned?
How Does A Black Woman Feel About The Glamour Controversy? I Asked Myself!
Glamour Attempts To Negotiate Peace Between Blacks, Bitchy Redheads
Related: Dear Oprah, Mariah & Leona: Don't Forget That Curly Hair Is Beautiful Too

Ms. McElmore wears a wig, and the hair (underneath) that she wanted dyed is not relaxed or treated in any way. It's natural hair that could be dyed with regular hair dye. A JC Penney spokesperson issued a statement, which read, in part:

Our salon receptionist felt that we did not have the technical proficiency... to perform the service you required. She may not however have expressed this to you in a way that was not offensive. For this I again apologize. Because customer service is ... so important to our company, we would rather not attempt the service if we cannot perform it as required.

Over at Womanist Musings, blogger Renee writes, "Isn't that beautiful lawyer speak for your hair is too nappy and untamable to deal with?" One commenter posts, "That's funny because when I dye my hair, I can use the boxes with white women on them and it turns out just the same. I didn't realize that my hair was such a problem."

But the reader who sent this story to us as a tip muses: "Isn't it also somewhat true that 'ethnic' hair is structurally different that white hair? Where do we draw the line? As an Asian-American, I tend to gravitate towards Asian-produced shampoos (Shiseido's Tsubaki) and stylists because of an assumption that they'd 'get' my hair better."

Womanist Musings' Renee calls the hair care industry segregated. "We have become accustomed to the segregation," she claims. "The segregation is so normalized that black hair care even has its own aisle at Walmart… Think about the idea of a profession that specializes according to race, and what that means. By simply refusing to learn specific skills they can daily exclude blacks from patronizing their business; thus creating an all white environment."

Should a woman be able to walk into her local salon and expect services, no matter her color, race or hair texture? Or should black people only go to "black" salons, Asian people go to Asian salons, and so on?

Woman Says JC Penny Refused Service Because She Is Black [KTLA]
Salon Sued Over Racial Discrimination [KABC]
JC Penny's Doesn't Do "Black Hair" [Womanist Musings]