May 6, 1998
Hair today, gone tomorrow
Hair show clips local models
By Carol South
Herald contributing writer
"I am getting a taste of the future," said Kinsey Edwardson, 17, of Williamsburg.
Some newfangled high technology? ... No.
"I was really scared at first - all this is so not me," said her 19-year-old sister, Taite.
A crazy extreme sport? ... No.
"I looked like a wild man, a major fashion emergency," said Kip Burns of Garfield Township.
Two days of satin gowns, feather boas, blue lipstick, long gloves, false eyelashes and more than 800 hairstylists? You guessed it!
Welcome to the Maly's Hair Show at the Grand Traverse Resort, where stylists from Michigan and Indiana on Sunday and Monday learned the latest cuts, tips and tricks of the trade and 36 local models were pampered, polished and primped to the max.
Straight-banged pessimists may claim too much aerosol was in the air, but these local models willingly gave up their inhibitions - and their hair - to a crowded room full of strangers.
"It would cost $200 for this haircut, style and highlights," said Taite Edwardson of formerly long, straight hair. "I never wear makeup or take time on my hair, but I love it."
Her sister, Kinsey, aspires to be a fashion model, but her two-day experience had revealed the true horrors of the industry. "I cried at first," she said, "when I looked down at the floor and saw a big pile of my hair."
The hair show did sport an international flavor. The Grand Rapids hair-care company holds two or three shows a year to promote its products. International stylists are flown in to demonstrates the latest techniques and styles.
"The show is really education driven," explained sales associate Karen Carpenter, adding that, in northern Michigan at least, stylists refrain from creating that big-night-at-the-Oscars look.
"We don't want the local models to leave unhappy; so we don't do too wild of cuts - this is still a conservative area."
This was the company's second show in Traverse City. More than 100 local people, ranging from junior high students to mothers in their 30s , showed up for Saturday's open model call, a true gesture of hair today, gone tomorrow.
"We were here yesterday from 10 to 4:30 and I got here at 8 a.m. today," Taite Edwardson said on Sunday.
"I saw the ad in the paper and I just wound up here with all these lovely ladies," said Burns of Garfield Township. "I did this a couple of years ago and it is a lot of fun."
Ashley Ascione, 13, had to convince her mother to let her participate. She had pined to volunteer as a hair model in the past, but she said her mother was worried she would wind up with one half of her head shaved and the other half dyed purple.
"They wouldn't do that. They are all very nice and professional," Ascione said. "I am really excited, and I have no idea of how they are going to cut it. I want something different from everybody else."