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Sunday, December 04, 2005

Cutting to the matter of modesty with style

The 26-year-old hairdresser has built a business in recent years cutting, washing, and styling sheitels -- wigs -- worn by local Orthodox Jewish women, whose religion requires that no man other than their husband sees their natural hair.

The custom, intended for centuries to signify modesty and chastity, has definitely evolved.

The old bushy wigs -- often made of artificial material or coarse horse hair -- have given way in recent decades to the French top, the layered look, and the feathered cut, among others, nearly all fashioned from human hair imported from Europe.

And they're anything but matronly.

They come in all shapes, sizes, colors -- and prices. Orthodox wives can be blondes, brunettes, or redheads, with bangs or curls, wavy or straight hair, though most try to match the color of their natural hair, Darling and others say. (Many often have several wigs, for formal occasions, daily chores, and synagogue.) The permutations allow them to affect a short, spiky look, a frumpy and disheveled mop they can connect to hats or headbands, or a long, sultry mane more lustrous than their own hair.

The elegance and expense of the pieces arguably contradict the tradition's purpose: Darling and Orthodox Jews interviewed say that sometimes they find the women's natural hair less attractive than their wigs.

Women may spend weeks or longer shopping for their wigs before their wedding, and they can cost as much as $5,000, they say. Wigs are now available on websites such as www.savvysheitels.com, which includes advertisements with come-hither models wearing bright red lipstick.

So when the women visit Darling, who's Catholic and learned only in 2001 about the Orthodox wig tradition, they often know exactly what they want. ''They're very to the point -- and they can be stubborn," she says. ''A wig might be made to go to the left, and they want it to go to the right. I'll do it their way, but I'll show them it doesn't work."

http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2005/12/04/cutting_to_the_matter_of_modesty_with_style/

Comments:
"They're very to the point -- and they can be stubborn," she says.

Wouldn't you be if you are spending $2000 on some russian's hair?

 

your blog went from boring to boooorrring..... zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz....

 

do u have pics from the cops funeral today

 

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