Renee Russo's 'do catches fire!

As soon as I caught Rene's new do from the Thomas Crown Affair remake, I smelled a trend... She drew major applause from the audience on Regis when he brought up her hair. She commented "I love this look, I don't know why I didn't do this years ago!"

Here's what we're seeing back east and now it's being fueled by appearences and even a stint on Extra TV's evening magazine:

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From their site:Monday August 23, 1999
The Rene Russo Craze

Rene Russo the sexy star of the "The Thomas Crown Affair", is setting off a trend that is being called the "Russo" revolution. EXTRA has the scoop on the biggest hair trend since the "Jennifer Aniston" shag look.

Fiery yet sophisticated, rugged yet sleek, it has women everywhere longing for it. Pierce Brosnan? Nope, it's Rene Russo's red-hot new hairdo. Women everywhere are flocking to salons to copy her happening haircut, from Louis Licari's hip Beverly Hills Salon to New York's trendy John Barrett salon.

Russo went Rusty for "Thomas Crown" at the urging of the movie's director who wanted his fair-haired star to look more assertive. But Beth Minardi, the colorist, says the star was actually somewhat stressed-out about dying her do. But in the end Rene love it.

But why the hair hype? Cosmo magazine's Andrea Pomerantz says it's more than the color it's also the cut. It's a basic chin-length layered look that can be set with rollers for volume and then blow-dried upside down for a finish that fits any face. Women in their 20's can wear it, women in their 50's can wear it and it's wash and wear so it doesn't take a lot of styling. That's what's appealing to women all over America." But just how much does the Rene look cost? Well at Lewis Licari's salon prices start at $130 dollars.

Well, It might be hard to communicate the look to an unwary unhep stylist... but it's actually a very basic (slightly longer than) -chin length beveled bob. The interior is carved out and the shorter layers support the longer layers. Like the Rachel-shag the cut gets more of it's appeal from the inverted blowout and round brushing or a two inch roller set than a super complicated cut. The color is getting the nod too. Granted Louis is a color genius , but soon the color techniques will be well documented and the average stylist will have the instructions to cut and color by the numbers.

As the 'do gains popularity beauty distributers may go as far as to do video work-ups to pass out and alert stylists to it's potential. The industry at large needs a real color (chemical services)trend right now to supplement the loss of perm revenue from the current straight hair quagmire.

It will be interesting to see if this hairstyle stays all the rage once the movie is gone from theaters. And don't forget it could always resurface like the Sliding Doors, Gwyneth Paltrow phenomenon that really didn't take hold until the later video was released.

My prediction is this:

All in all it probably is somewhat of a flash in the pan albeit, only because Rene' in Thomas Crown is not all that visible to the weekly viewing public at large like Jennifer Aniston was in Friends.

But that doesn't take into account the fact that it is like the Rachel in the reality that it's a real showstopper and all-in-all a very sexy haircut. Other wise how could you explain all this attention?

--Rich

> I love the cut! I couldn't take my eyes off it during
> the whole movie. I really hope that it does take off
> and become popular...then maybe other stylists could
> duplicate it other than that $130-an-hour guy. :-)

As a high-end stylist myself, I have been getting requests for this particular cut quite a lot. Most like the shorter feel from the layers, and the versatility that the length delivers. It IS a great cut, but I think much more has to do with who they all saw it on first, and how she wears it. Now if only they would all glom onto the fabulous color as fervently!

NEED A GOOD DETAILED PICTURE OF RENEE RUSSO'S CUT TO SHOW
MY HAIRSTYLIEST. SHE HAS NOT SEEN THE MOVIE AND NOT SURE HOW TO CUT MY HAIR THE CORRECT WAY. THE FASTER I KNOW WHERE TO GET A GOOD PICTURE, THE FASTER I GET A NEW LOOK.
ALL I HAVE SEEN ARE VERY DISTANT PICTURES. HELP.. THANK YOU.