sarah hughes

when sarah hughes won the gold at the olympics, i had this dread that she`d become another short-haired trendsetter like dorothy hamill, who sent miles and miles of hair to salon floors everywhere back in the 70s. thankfully, someone has had the courage to say in print that sarah`s hair is just SO boring. this is from today`s kansas city star:

Kansas City Star

March 1, 2002, Friday METROPOLITAN EDITION

SECTION: FYI; Pg. E1

LENGTH: 616 words

HEADLINE: Lower marks for presentation;
Sarah`s classic hairstyle won`t sweep the nation like Dorothy`s daring wedge

BYLINE: BRIAN McTAVISH; The Kansas City Star

BODY:
Gold-medal figure skater Sarah Hughes may be America`s new
sweetheart, but don`t expect girls her own age to flock to her locks.

The 16-year-old, whose inspirational win in the Winter Olympics
landed her on the Wheaties box, wears a conservatively short
hairstyle. And that `do is a don`t for most image-conscious
adolescent girls, say area hair-salon bigwigs.

The last American female figure skater to win a gold medal with
short hair was Dorothy Hamill in 1976. But Hamill`s `do was more
daring than Hughes`, and long-haired girls and women across America
headed to their stylists for a quick crop.

Hughes, a high school junior from Long Island - who could pass
for a young Reba McEntire - wears a common, easy-to-manage cut
already adopted by millions of mostly middle-age and older women.

"We do that haircut all the time," said Savanah Colon,
educational director at Mario Tricoci hair salon in Leawood. "The
reason why the Dorothy Hamill caught on was because nobody had ever
really seen it. It`s called either a `wedge` or a `firefly.` It was
really a new style that she was brave enough to wear.

"What Sarah Hughes has isn`t anything new and trendy. It`s more
of a classic hairstyle."

And that doesn`t do much for sex appeal, which most high school
girls want, said Emily Johnson, manager of Bangs hair salon off the
Plaza. More to their liking are the longer `dos worn by such blond
teen pop queens as Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera. The latter
shook her trend-setting tresses and wiggled her navel onstage during
the Olympics` closing ceremonies.

"Girls want to look like their friends, like the people that
they see on television and in videos," Johnson said. " Long hair is
hot. It`s sexy. And when little girls want to grow up, they want to
have grown-up hair."

Grownup and flashy, yes. Grownup and practical, no.

"They want to look like Britney in the `Slave` video," Colon
said. "They`re shopping at Victoria`s Secret for G-string underwear
when they`re 16 nowadays. You know, times have changed."

Although maybe not as much in Kansas City as in Chicago, where
Colon is from.

"From what I see, Kansas City is not a real on-edge city as far
as anything is concerned," Colon said. "Here everybody wants to
look like the Joneses. Everybody wants to look like the next-door
neighbor. When I do trendy things on the young girls or middle-age
people, usually they come back and want you to tone it down a little
bit. And I don`t blame them, because they don`t have the clothing
here or the shoe market to support an ultra-trendy hairstyle."

Not that short cuts are totally out in Kansas City.

"I really think anything`s in right now," said Julie Devine,
manager of Hair Style near Westport. "Short and choppy`s in, too.
But short and choppy isn`t conservative, whereas Sarah`s is a
conservative short haircut. And the kids today, if it`s short,
they`re putting the gel in it and making it stick up and all these
different things."

Different doesn`t describe Hughes` hair. And, to Colon, that`s
something of an Olympic shame.

"I wish they would wear much more trendy things on the ice,"
she said. "I would love to be a hairdresser for an ice skater like
that, because I`d really knock their socks off."

To reach Brian McTavish, Arts & Entertainment writer, call (816)
234-4766 or send e-mail to bmctavish@kcstar.com.
@ART CAPTION:"As anybody can probably see, it doesn`t take a lot of
styling," says Savanah Colon of Mario Tricoci hair salon. Easy? Yes.
Trendy? No.

Her hair almost looks like it was shorter and she is growing it out, but thats not the case and its just plain and boring, she should either grow it out or trim it if she plans on keeping it short, But as of now I also don`t see to many girls running to the barber to get there hair cut like her. As a short hair lover I hope she cuts it shorter so it looks good.

On the other hand, it`s her hair. If that style makes her feel her best, then it`s what she should wear.

However, I kind of cringe when an article is written about her hair. It`s placing more importance on the outside than the inside. After all, she`s a world class skater! It seems a bit petty to criticize something so non-important (and yes, I did it, too....)

Jennifer

>>My guess is that she has it that way to keep it out of her face while skating. If you look at any pictures of her in a spin (while skating), you will notice that her hair kinda outlines her face, making sure never to get into her eyes.

True enough; she has a very practical, no-nonsense haircut! And apparently it`s worked well for her.

Hey Jennifer I agree with your first statement see is cute, see did win the gold, and there are better short hair styles then she is wearing. If she got a trim it would be so much better.