Thursday, April 9

Bell Bottom Blues

So this week we’re reminiscing about our school days and after Sara’s great post about uniforms and Amanda’s about books, I was sort of floundering about what I could possibly add to the mix.

My high school years were a dichotomy. Spliced right down the middle with optimism and enthusiasm marking my Freshman and Sophomore years, only to morph into such a tragic state of apathy by my Junior and Senior years I barely graduated. (Yes, sadly, it’s true. Don’t try this at home.)

And I was totally going to write about that when I visited my old yearbooks for inspiration, and came across a subject I could not resist:

High School Hair.

If you’re in high school, there’s a good chance you just shrugged and thought: Whatev!

If you’re out of high school, especially long out of high school like me, you probably cringed.

Because no matter how cool you may have looked back in the day, no matter how many cans of Dippity Do and/or Aquanet it took to achieve the look—the passage of time has a cruel way of dating things. Turning them from totally smokin’ to totally embarrassing (as evidenced by my look below).


For the record, I blame Charlie’s Angels, Farrah Fawcett in particular, and yes, cans and cans of Aquanet.

By sophomore year I had the good sense to morph the Farrah wings into this:


But still, it’s a bit too fluffy for my current straightening iron obsession.

And by senior year, well, there’s no photo to be found. 

Not even a blank square where my face should be—a result of the aforementioned apathy.

Which is too bad since I had the most rockin’, New Wave, Semi-Mullet, Do ever!

But now you’ll just have to take my word for it!

So what about YOU? Did you have “high school” hair? Do you still have high school hair? Tell all in the comments below!

PS- I'm giving a little radio interview Friday April 10, at 8:30 PM (eastern) HERE. So feel free to stop by! And signing copies of EVERMORE on Saturday, April 11, from 12:30- 1:00 PM HERE. (note, it's a $10 admission for members, $20 for non-members!), and the following Saturday, April 18, I'll be talking and signing from 11:00 AM - 3:00 PM HERE. Hope to see you there! 

14 comments:

cindy said...

loved the fotos! have fun at your signing! i'll try and catch your radio show!! exciting!

Gina Black said...

I had Janis Joplin hair in HS. And I still do--there doesn't seem to be much I can do about it, really.

What's really changed is the mustache. And eyebrows.

Alyson Noel said...

Waving to Cindy!

Gina- That is hilarious! And for the record, Janis had great hair--LOVE her!

TinaFerraro said...

Hi, Alyson, fun to see those photos! My hair was FRIZZY in high school, seemed no matter what I did, it had a wild mind of its own. In that regard, time (and hair products) have been kind to me...

Brooke Reviews said...

Ah I was in high school in the late 90's so my high school hair was STRAIGHT parted down the middle grunge. haha Love the pics!

Alyson Noel said...

Tina- Here's to new and improved hair products!

Brooke- Ah, grunge! I still kinda like that look--better than the 80s- that's for sure!

Amanda Ashby said...

Ah yes, eighties hair. Gotta love it! I had a brown frizzy mullet which I made even frizzier by getting permed. Do people still even use perms??????

Alyson Noel said...

Amanda- I feel prey to the perm too (post new wave mullet do!). Hair just couldn't be "big" enough for awhile there . . . so glad those days are over!

Tina said...

Freshman year started off with a perm. I think that continued until Sophmore year. After that, I wore it long and straight and plain.

I did the fun Aqua Net + hair bear doo in junior high ... those are fun pics to look at.

Alyson Noel said...

Tina- Aquanet + hair bear = LOVE it! I did it too!

Sara Hantz said...

Gotta love the permed look. I had short hair with a perm on it.... resembled a toilet brush!!!!! Am I allowed to say toilet brush????

Melissa Walker said...

I had a very short cut that was a total mistake in 10th grade! But now I'm thinking of going total Mia Farrow in Rosemary's Baby... wonder if I'll regret it!

Alyson Noel said...

Sara- Oh, yeah, the short hair perm-- I remember it well!

Melissa- I've done the Mia Farrow a few times now- (most recently 2.5 yrs ago) It's a really cool look and I think it'll look great on you! Go for it!

Lauren Baratz-Logsted said...

I had long straight hair in high school - so long it was half my height - but now it's short and spiky.