Friday, October 8, 2010

Toby Day

If you’re the inquisitive type, you may be thinking, “What is Toby Day? Am I missing out on something?” I’ll explain: I drive 300 miles round trip for Toby, the Vernay of Jacques & Vernay Hairdressing, to do my hair. You’d think I could find someone closer who does hair as well, and God knows I’ve tried, but to no avail.

So to answer your questions, Toby Day (as in "OMG, your hair looks fantastic. It must have been Toby Day," or "Seriously, have you taken a look at your roots? When is Toby Day?") is my every-other-month all-day trek to get my hair colored and styled…and, yes, you’re missing out on something if he’s never done your hair.

On the two-and-a-half hour drive there, I started thinking about this blog and about hairstyles of the 50s and 60s, particularly the ones I had back then, and I decided to make that the topic of today’s post. One thing led to another, and I found myself matching my old coifs to those of vintage Barbie dolls. It was amazing...in an embarrassing sort of way...how much alike they were. And to think that by the late Sixties I had long, straight hippie hair and was a raging feminist! (The Jane Fonda shag and the Stevie Nicks do of the Seventies deserve posts all their own...LOL)


Poodle Barbie
hubpages.com

It just wouldn't be the Fifties without a ponytail.  And what
you can't see is my red felt poodle skirt or the sheer red scarf
tied around my hair in the back.  The black thing peeking out 
from under the cardigan is a chenille applique of a 45 record 
with music notes around it.  Ultimate coolness!

Bubble Barbie
alldolledup.com

And, oh, what a boufy bubble I had in the early Sixties.  I don't know
which looks goofier, the immensely tall hair which made me look at 
least 6" taller than I am or the uber girly voile shirt.  I'm so not into 
ruffles today!

"Bewitched" Flip Barbie
momlogic.com

Yes, I was the undisputed Queen of the Flips, as evidenced by this 1965 
yearbook photo. According to my cousins, I had a much better flip than 
Shelley Fabares, who played the daughter on the Donna Reed Show or 
Elizabeth Montgomery, who played Samantha the housewife/witch on
Bewitched...and, trust me, that was the pinnacle of flipdom.

Bubble Barbie Redux
vintagebarbiedolls.net
The bubble, or a variation thereof, was the hairstyle that wouldn't die.  It
just kept getting smoother and sleeker, like everything else back then.
This photo of me was taken in 1968. Another of my claims to fame was that you 
never, ever saw one of my "rats," which we also called back-combing or 
teasing.  Smoooooooooth as glass, baby.

5 comments:

  1. Well, that's a given...but I'm really sportin' Barbie styles, aren't I? How embarrassing...

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  2. When I wrote this post, I was focusing on the hairstyles. I just gave them another look...and I'm actually dressed like some of the Barbies. Look at the cardigan and the ruffles. How embarrassing is that?

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  3. OMG DANA!!! This just made. my. day. I love your hairdos!! As such a big fan of the retro 40's, 50's and 60's looks... (I really need to find a pic of myself with my large and in charge bouffant from college) I fully support all your Barbie-esque 'dos! They are just so absolutely FABULOUS! You should do a youtube tutorial on some of the techniques!! :)

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    Replies
    1. I'm in the process of growing layers and color out of my hair. Right now my natural dark blonde/light brown has a lot of not-so-natural light blonde highlights, but I have a good bit of pure white (not gray), and I'm hoping that if it's all one length and in a shoulder length bob, the white streaks will be really dramatic. Of course, if I hate it, there's always the option of going blonde and layered again. It's just hair...and subject to change at a whim. :)

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