Okay.
So . . . I have some serious Pandemic Hair going on over here. My last haircut? February 12. I was due for a cut the day after Michigan's shelter-in-place order shut my hair salon down. So, yeah. I'm WAY past due for a good cut-and-style.
I've been working at growing out my hair for about a year now - with no real plan in mind. Just a controlled grow-out so I can figure out what I want to do with my longer hair at some point in the future. I'm grateful that I'm not trying to keep up a "style" or anything these days, and I'm extremely happy that I don't need to worry about color or highlights. Just . . . trying to keep everything under control while it grows a bit.
I've been trimming away at my bangs every few days, and I do a little "thinning" with my shaver now and again (desperate times call for desperate measures, right?), and I've dug out all the hair bands and banana clips and barrettes I can find. It . . . works. And someday? My stylist will be surprised at how long my hair has gotten . . . and we'll be able to try something new.
For now? I laugh at myself and remember playing with my hair when I was much (much) younger. My sister and I did a lot of playing around with our hair back in the day. And we had developed a sort of . . . shorthand . . . for talking about our hair and the "looks" we were trying to achieve.
Most of it . . . revolved around the styles we saw on TV or movies or in magazines.
It all started with Jane Banks.
After seeing the original Mary Poppins movie (which we adored!), my sister and I both wanted "Jane hair." Our mom styled us á là The Jane every morning before school -- a high, pulled-back ponytail on top, with our long hair streaming down our backs. (We had the bangs, too.)
After that, our styling tastes, along with our shorthand, expanded -- with heavy Brady influence.
I always wanted my hair to be just like The Marcia -- long and straight, with a center part.
I became very practiced at all of The Marcia Variations . . . like The Side-Barrette.
"Marcia?"
"Barrettes crooked."
Sometimes, to really mix things up, one of us might opt for The Jan. For us, The Jan was any kind of side-part style -- which may even have included a (daring and hard to pull off!) side ponytail.
"I'm feeling a little Jan today."
"Hold the phone."
One Brady look we never wanted, though? The Cindy.
If either of us ever tried to do double ponytails (just to try something different, for example) (in a weak moment), the other of us would intervene.
"Cindy."
Enough said.
When we DID need to go for some sort of pulled-back look, we generally opted for The Paul Revere -- you know, just a single low ponytail.
We generally avoided The Heidi - two braids, sometimes wrapped on top of the head. (Generally, just not a look one wanted in the 1970s.) (Although it did work well under a ski hat.)
"Heidi?"
"Swiss Miss."
But on occasion, we'd opt for The Ellie May -- two low ponytails (hold the curly-top), especially effective under a hat.
Our shared sisterly shorthand kept us from any number of teen-age hair style disasters.
And now, during the Pandemic, it gives us something to laugh about!
My sister is currently working her own version of The Jane once again.
And me? I've reverted to The Ellie May!
Pandemic Hair.
Gotta love it!