Page 17 - Cake, Croquet & Corsets
P. 17

  A wig isn’t human and therefore the wig can be hacked. I grabbed a glue gun, duct tape and some chewing gum and got back in the game without using the duct tape or the gum. I took about fifty of the hair extension pieces and started gluing them all over the wig. I ended up creating a two and a half foot tall beehive blonde wig that had red solo cups hidden inside the hive to give it the height it needed. It was a glorious success.
The lesson I needed was that wigs allowed me a freedom that human heads simply couldn’t offer and I was hooked.
When Amee and Maggie asked me to take part in the Rococo shoot I was excited to see how far
we could push the limited wigs we had. I was also a last minute substitute so I had limited time to concoct ideas and put them into practice. The wigs didn’t disappoint though! The wigs were finished before the models arrived to save time, but of course having never measured the models we ran into a problem. One of the wigs just would not fit the model and half her head was hanging out, laughable now, but in the moment I was sweatin’ lil’ baby bullets. The other wig I had with me just didn’t fit the style of the shoot as well as the others so we were forced to scrap it. Not to worry, the panic was short lived when I remembered my very first lesson. I began ‘the Hack’. First, I placed pin curls on the very top of the models head in the center of the skull. The wig only fit that far so I let the wig rest where it fit and pinned it down using the pin curls as anchors. I then styled the front half of the models hair pulling it up over the wig and teasing it from behind to match the height
of the wig. I intertwined the models hair into the wig, giving the effect of a two tone color job that read really nicely on camera. Thankfully the other wigs fit like a gloves. I also got to use a steamer on this project to get those tiny period curls around the base of the neck. Hot irons will melt the hair but steaming the hair will change the pattern of the hair to whatever curl it is positioned in at the time heat is introduced. I had a blast adding bird nests, shipwrecks, and rope throughout the hair pieces. As a result the models connected to their hair pieces like actors to a script telling their stories with beauty and grace.
Wigs offer the artist such an advantage because the artist can take hours or even days designing the intricate maze of curls and hair spray before them. The stylist also has the freedom to use super glue, hot glue, hair pieces, socks, duct tape and even the gum should that scenario arise. The familiar constructs are broken down and a blank canvas lays ready and waiting for its first drop of scalding hot glue. Now, does anyone want me to do their hair?
   




























































































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