We’ve Come So Far We Don’t Know What Too Far Is Anymore

Elie Saab

I am struck, in looking at these pictures of the models from the 2012 Fall Fashion Week runways in Paris, that we’ve come to the point where anything – and I really mean ANYTHING – goes. I can remember that it wasn’t so long ago that precision was the reason you went to a professional hairdresser. Precision cuts, precision color; when you walked out of the salon, everyone knew you’d had your hair done by someone with training and knowhow and professional standards.

But much like today’s lifestyles, when it comes to hairstyles, nothing is out of bounds. Nothing is perfect anymore, and literally anything goes. It’s the era of no precision. Look at the bangs on the model for Elie Saab. They look as if they were hacked at with those blunt-tipped scissors issued to first-graders.

Sonia Rykiel

And what about the hair we can see hanging limp and almost greasy from below a wide black headband at Sonia Rykiel? Her hair looks absolutely fried, and in the past, we would have cut off hair that looked so damaged and unhealthy. Now, we say anything goes, but what should go here is a good eight to ten inches off the bottom!

Gaultier in Blue

And then there’s all that temporary color – or they’d better HOPE it’s temporary. 

Gaultier in red

Haider Ackerman

I’m not so worried about the dark-haired models at Gaultier (those are colored powders worked into hair that has been coated with styling cream) or Haider Ackerman (that’s a heavy gel infused with a lot of color and glitter). 

Junya Watanabe

I’m not even worried about all that pink paste on her hair at Junya Watanabe, because I think it’s been worked into a wig. 

Yojhi Yamamoto

No, the young lady who is going to regret her time on the catwalk is the blonde at Yohji Yamamoto. Her platinum hair is color-treated and therefore at least a somewhat porous material, even if she’s a natural blonde. That inky blue is not just going to wash out.

Alexis Mabille

The braided and twisted up-do at Alexis Mabille is interesting, and relatively speaking, looks highly complex by comparison. 

Giambattista Valli

The half-up-do at Giambattista Valli is shiny and healthy... 

Chanel

The slicked-back ponytail at Chanel a classic (if a bit boring, which must be why they felt compelled to glue stones to her eyebrows)... 

Givenchy

And the loose chignon at the nape at Givenchy also a classic shape.

Chloe

The loose natural texture at Chloe and Isabel Marant could have used a bit of finishing.

Isabel Marant

Just look at the difference between those two models and the two from Nina Ricci’s runway. Just the tiniest bit of styling and a deep side part, and their hair looks incredibly shiny and vital.

Nina Ricci

Nina Ricci

To some extent, we can blame this revolution in mediocrity on our worship of celebrities. They are some of the worst offenders when it comes to unflattering, damaged, imperfect hair. We’ve just blindly followed behind them as they set trends that are so ridiculous that most people have no idea what too far is anymore; now, too far is the new normal.

 Until next week, ciao…