A Progression of Big Hair

Bookhart, Malcontent Mama, Karla May, and some others have been posting pics of themselves in high school prom dresses. There has also been discussion of big hair. And rampant 80's style. The gauntlet has been thrown. The dare has been issued. Here we go, a progression of my big hair from high school into college.

Picture 1) Me, 10th grade. Hair not so big, what you can't see is the scary mullet thing happening in the back and I think I also had a tail. This is the closest, the absolute closest I ever got to wings in my life. This is also the closest I ever got to smiling in a high school picture. I hated my smile and I wanted to look "mysterious". What the fuck ever.

Picture 2, 11th grade. I've always rather liked this picture but why the HELL didn't I straighten that earring? I was quite the fashion girl, always on the best dressed lists, and I remember this outfit very well. A black cowl necked dress made out of sweatshirt material that I wore with those pink "Doggie in the sun" earrings, a black double wrap around belt and black ankle boots. I was HIP man, totally 80's stylin'. My hair has actually gotten a tiny bit smaller here. That would never happen again in my life. Note lack of smile. I look, like, 30 here.
Picture 3) Prom. 1986. That's me and Lawrence. Lawrence was the best friend of my ex-boyfriend Mark. We all hung around together. Mark and I still liked each other, but he was dating someone else at the time. (We eventually got back together and then went our separate ways in college, but he is still a friend, and is now in Iraq. Arg.) Anyhow, Lawrence was voted "Most Handsome Sophomore". I remember after the prom I had tons of girls asking me for one of my prom pictures, just so that they could have a picture of Lawrence. I was all like, "No!", cuz I knew they'd cut me out of the picture and I paid for those pics so why would I give them to those bitches just to have them cut me out? Girls suck.
Anyhow, the dress was a black velvet strapless Victor Costa that I remember dragging my Mom to the Galleria to see. And buy. It cost $300 (To this date still my most expensive dress ever, including my wedding dress!). It had a tulle skirt with giant black velvet polka dots scattered here and there. I felt like that myserious woman in black in that Sargeant painting. I love that dress, still have it and can still wear it!
Picture 4, Freshman year, college, 1987. This is where the hair starts getting BIG. This was on a spring break trip to New York. You can hardly tell where the horse ends and the hair begins.
Ironically, when riding that horse, I ended up falling off it and cracking my skull on the road because my hair was too big for the riding helmet. Big hair can be a safety hazard. I almost had a concussion.
Picture 5) Me in New York City,1987, on a seesaw in the park. This was during my "Lennon glasses" phase. I still think I look cool here. My mom made the coat, the sweater was vintage. I like the layered look. Still do. My hair almost obscures the building behind me.

Picture 6, Oxford, England, Summer of 89. Uh, yeah. Now that's some BIG Hair! That was the summer I met Rich. I wonder if the bigger the hair the more confident? Cuz damn I was apparently very confident. This was right before we went to the Oxford Summer Ball, where I got very very drunk and was the scandal of all Oxford society when I slid down the banister of Town Hall and fell off, exposing my seriously holey tights to everyone. I was NOT graceful.
Jeez my face looks positively chubby in that photo.
I still have a hard time trying to get my hair to NOT part on the side like it did in the 80's. It got trained and remember how when you had long hair, you parted it on the side and then tilted your head to keep it there? I was a major head tilter. Arg. I'm surprised my head is not tilted in this shot.