EARLIER this month, two mysterious phone calls came into the Toka Salon in Georgetown, a sparkling emporium that tends to the hair atop some of Washington’s most powerful and prominent heads.
Told that the owner, Nuri Yurt, was with clients, both callers said they
sought his opinion of Callista Gingrich’s hair — the strikingly perfect
platinum bob, with the distinctive over-the-left-eye swoosh, that has
increasingly captured the attention of hairdressers, journalists, and
women of a similar demographic worldwide.
Both times, the callers declined to leave a message, saying they would
call back — creating a moment of political frisson at the salon. Mr.
Yurt, known for styling Laura Bush when she was first lady, was left to
wonder whether the calls were from the campaign itself. Was Mrs.
Gingrich interested in switching stylists, and perhaps going for a
softer, more touchable, more Laura Bush aesthetic?
“If I have an opportunity, sure, of course I would like to change that
look,” Mr. Yurt said of Mrs. Gingrich. “Her friends and people who know
her, they say, ‘Nuri, you should put your hands in it.’ But I never had
any chance.”
Yes, there are pressing issues facing the nation, from unemployment to
foreclosures. But there is still room, it seems, to contemplate the
fixed pale-blonde halo framing the delicate head of Newt Gingrich’s
wife. She has been asked about her hairdo “at every stop,” said
Kellyanne Conway, a pollster and senior strategist for the Gingrich
campaign. “Men say, ‘I love your hair,’ women compliment her and then
say, ‘How do you keep it so perfect?’ ” (The secret: hair spray,
specifically Kenra Volume Spray 25.)
Callista Gingrich’s bob is the latest addition to a distinguished roster
of political hair to be parsed for meaning, from Hillary Clinton’s
headbands to John Edwards’s $400 trim to the Sarah Palin up-do that even
many Democrats grudgingly admired. Mrs. Gingrich’s hair is only the second-most-talked-about
of the current campaign season, with her husband’s rival, Mitt Romney,
coming in first. Hair is, literally, an extension of politicians’
selves, inviting scrutiny, Facebook posts and hair punditry: What does
it say about them? What does it really say?
Cindi Leive, the editor in chief of Glamour magazine, said it was unfair
to judge campaign hair, which exists “in its own realm,” by runway and
real-world barometers.
In Mrs. Gingrich’s case, Ms. Leive said: “I’m just kind of fascinated by
the aerodynamic properties involved, and how she gets it to do the
exact same thing every time. I couldn’t get my hair to do the exact same
thing every day for nine months if you gave me a billion dollars to do
it.”
Political hair, Mrs. Conway agreed, must be seen in the context of a
churning campaign that is “uncertain and dynamic and ever-changing.”
“If you can grab onto four or five things that you can control and that
don’t change,” she said, “that might be the proverbial anchor in the
storm.”
So what does the flaxen bob convey? Mrs. Gingrich is “a very fastidious,
meticulous, polished person, and that is reflected in her hair,” Mrs.
Conway said.
Others have been less generous. On The Daily Beast, the fashion critic Robin Givhan wrote
that Mrs. Gingrich’s “eerily flawless” hairdo, along with other
elements of her style, exuded “an excruciating prissiness.” She wrote:
“Youthfulness is not her obsession. Control and order are.”
Gawker wrote that the “butter-blonde helmet is a feat of modern engineering.”
Holly Allen, of Slate, spent four hours in a Georgetown salon getting her hair colored and cut in an effort to replicate the Callista.
Without the signature hair spray (the stylist refused), the bob was a
different, more natural, beast. “Why does she do it?” Ms. Allen wrote.
“To conform to some ideal of the ‘Washington wife’? To look older,
bridging the age gap between her and Newt?”
(The slender, fair-skinned Mrs. Gingrich, 45, is her 68-year-old
husband’s third wife, and began dating him when he was married to his
second. All of this may rule out certain hairstyle options that could
appear too suggestive, like the popular tousled, sultry looks known as
“bedhead” and “beach hair.”)
Dozens of people have weighed in on Facebook posts. “I absolutely love,
love Callista Gingrich’s hair,” wrote Stan Patten, a retired English
professor from North Carolina. “It is the one immovable object in a
rapidly changing world.”
In fact, Callista Gingrich’s Hair has its own Facebook page.
“Ron Paul challenged the other candidates to a bike race,” one
commenter wrote on the page. “Seems clear to me what Newt would wear to
protect his noggin. ...” On the day of the Florida primary, another
commenter posted, as if addressing the hairstyle, “You were definitely a
bit shy of the perfection we’ve come to expect,” adding, “I hope you’re
okay!”
Hairstylists across the country have also taken notice. In interviews,
several expressed a longing to see her hair an inch or so longer,
perhaps with some layering. Many said they would add some “depth” to her
color, to make it more varied. Mostly, they were mystified.
“Not getting political, because I don’t mind Newt, but gosh, I wish
she’d lighten up a little bit,” said Jeffrey McQuithy, the owner of Vis-à-vis,
an upscale salon in the Buckhead section of Atlanta. “If I could just
reach through the television and kind of shake her hair a little bit,
that would be great.”
One client, Patricia Queen, recalled sitting down in Mr. McQuithy’s
chair recently, and requesting this look: “Something spunky, with
movement and natural, a little edge but we don’t want it too edgy. And
don’t do a Callista on me.”
Ms. Leive, of Glamour, could have predicted that. “Is it hair that the
average woman who is not married to someone running for president is
going to walk into a salon and say, ‘Give me the Callista?’ ” she asked.
“Probably not. But it’s doing something specific. It’s sending a
message that this is a woman who is not leaving anything to chance.” In a
way, Mrs. Gingrich’s hairstyle is an interesting departure from the
traditional role of a first-lady hopeful: to humanize her husband and be
his more relaxed, down-to-earth half. On the other hand, perhaps some
candidates need less humanizing than others. Has anyone ever accused
Newt Gingrich of being too controlled?
For example: Mr. McQuithy, a Republican who hasn’t decided whom to vote
for in the primary, said that while Mr. Gingrich’s “ideas and tenacity”
are admirable, “there’s all sorts of loose-cannon issues.”
Put that way, might not helmet hair be a reassuring counterpoint?
As far as the nuts and bolts of the look, Mrs.
Gingrich provided some clues, via Mrs. Conway: She has had the look,
which she describes as a “classic bob with a swoosh,” since March 2010.
She gets it cut once every five weeks, on average; when traveling, she
will go to a local salon “when necessary,” but in the morning she
generally styles it herself. “It is simple to maintain and does not take
much time for daily prep,” Mrs. Conway said. (Mrs. Gingrich declined
comment on the color.)
So what about the tantalizing whispers at the Toka Salon, that Mrs.
Gingrich might be considering a new stylist? Not so, said Mrs. Conway;
Mrs. Gingrich is sticking with Tatjana Belajic, of the Sugar House Day
Spa and Salon in Alexandria, Va. She is, Mrs. Conway said, “very happy”
with the status quo.
Deconstructing the ‘Callista’
L IKE many hair professionals, Brad Johns, color director at the Halcyon
Days salon at Saks Fifth Avenue in Manhattan, and Chris Cusano, a
stylist there, have their own thoughts about what Callista Gingrich
should do with her hair. Mr. Cusano would “layer it a little bit,” and
cut the hairspray. Mr. Johns would like to see her hair longer, and a
darker, more varied blond.
“Hair color is the icing on the cake, and the cake is the cut,” Mr.
Johns said. “And that is too short of a cake and too much one-color
icing.”
Still, they agreed to speculate on the steps that lead to the Callista.
Cut: “It’s basically just a blunt cut bob,” Mr. Cusano said. Sounds simple.
Color: That depends on the underlying shade. On gray
hair, Mr. Johns might recreate the look using Wella Light Pure Gold
Blonde. For those without gray, he might use Clairol High Lift Golden
Blonde if they were blond as a child, or Clairol Arctic Blonde if they
were not.
Styling: It’s probably teased with a teasing brush or
comb, Mr. Cusano said, then smoothed out. The signature swoop could be
achieved by simply brushing the wave, then setting it with hairspray.
Hair News Network
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