Wendy Brandes Jewelry Blog

Never Is the Next New Thing

Stuck a Feather in Her Hair and Called It … Over in 5 Minutes

by

You know how you look at old pictures and wonder, “Why the hell did we think those clothes/makeup/hair looked good?”

If you lived through the '80s, you know the feeling.

That usually happens years after the photos were taken. But feather hair extensions? I feel like the sell-by date for those is right around the corner. Seeing them on Park Avenue ladies and their pre-tween daughters is driving me crazy. Unless you’re literally or sartorially a rock star, this trend is one to skip. The rock-star exceptions that prove the rule are Janis Joplin …

Janis Joplin owned the feather look. I've always wanted to dress as her for Halloween.

… stunning blogger Vix …

Vix has amazing style. She dresses up more in one day than I do in a month. Click for her post.

… and pop star Ke$ha, who is credited with kicking off the feather fad.

Photo from StyleList. Click for source.

People hate on Ke$ha, but I think she does great party music. Her song “Blow” has been stuck in my head for days. I was totally charmed by the video: Champagne! Unicorns! Rainbows! James Van Der Beek calling the singer “K-Dollar Sign-Ha“!

Of course, now that I’ve criticized hair feathers, I’ll wind up wanting to wear them. I often fall in love with things that I used to hate … like the color chartreuse. For decades, I thought chartreuse was one of the worst colors in the world. Now I have a mini-collection of chartreuse skirts. However, my long-held negative feelings about Burnt Sienna remain unchanged. No one likes the Burnt Sienna crayon. No one!

UPDATED TO ADD: I always forget that Chartreuse is a drink too! My gorgeous sister Terri Berry reminded me by forwarding this Wall Street Journal article on Chartreuse liqueur.

UPDATED AGAIN ON JUNE 29, 2011: The New York Times has an article about how the feather fad is irritating fly fishermen who normally use the feathers.

You might also like
Runway to Bloggers' Night Out
Never Is the Next New Thing™: High/Low Hems, aka Mullet Dresses
Mariah Carey's Push Present: Twin Nameplate Necklace

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Hair feathers remind me of the hair wraps from the early 90s, but a coworker got feather extensions recently and they were pretty cute.

  2. I’m not too fond of feather extensions either. It’s just too messy for me.

    Btw with all that Burnt Sienna, were you referencing it to Family Guy? 😛

  3. The worst of the hair extensions is that the little thirteen year olds wearing them let them get all frizzy and floofy. Nooooooo good.

  4. But I loved the Burnt Sienna crayon! It was the perfect colour for the tree trunks in Snow White’s forest, and Cinderella’s broom stick!

  6. I’m more interested in that blue motorcycle jacket; where did that one go?

    Ohhhh… here we go: Hair feathers, teased hair, animal print, blue leather jackets, acid-wash jeans… Viva Retromodern Wendy!

  7. I wanted (and still do) a couple of clip in feathers. I loved my feather headband before I accidentally crushed it. I decided they don’t really fit with my personal aesthetic and will continue to admire them from afar.

    I like Ke$ha in a “turn it up really loud while you’re home alone, but don’t talk about it” kind of way. Hahaha

  8. I dont mind a few on people here and there, but EVERYONE here in the bay area except for me has one or more in their hair!! Not that long ago I saw a guy with a long one in his short hair!! I hope he took a picture of it so that he can have this flashback of horror a few years from now.

  9. Hi there-Vix really suits feathers in her hair, can’t say its a look I would do, but never say never!! You look lovely in the Clovis Ruffin dress, it is such a style stealer!! xxx

  10. Both the feathers and that dreadful Ke-dollar-hah suck. The feathers make me feel itchy! What’s with the lame music Wendy? Why donchta listen to some Slayer or Meshuggah? I do love your 80s look <3. The perfect 80s American girl is what you represent in that pic, which is just how I imagined it at the time.

  11. Oh I like Burnt Sienna – and your feathery hair! By the way, I recently saw a woman in Paris wearing the Galliano newsprint jacket and thought of you. This was pre-trial but still, no-one batted an eyelid.

  12. I remember when the feather clips were all the rage…people added them to cowboy hats in the early 80s. The year they wer esuper hot, my teenage next door neighbor bought a buttload of them at the county fair that summer and would clip them to her newly bought cowboy hat, her purse, her jeans belt loops, and her hair at times.

    Ahhhh the early 80s…

    BTW: How fitting is it that I got “trublood” as my anti-spam word? I just finished watching episode 2 twice because I loved it so much!

  13. Oh Wendy, I’m dead flattered at the mention. Everything I hate at first sight I seem to end up wearing, too. I only wish I’d looked as good as you did duing the 80’s.xxx

  14. HAAAA, the Burnt Sienna crayon. OMG, you are right. I used to hate it! However I think I do have some Burnt Sienna in my closet.

    But there shall be no feathers in my hair. That I can promise. Not for me. And I’m always freaked that anything I do to my hair will damage it. And the feathers just don’t jive with my aesthetic.

  15. OK, I liked Burnt Sienna because it was a good color for drawing/coloring horses, my favorite artistic subject. :-p

    I’ll probably pass on the feathers though. I’d look deranged. Janis could wear anything and it looked good.

  16. I’d rather put the hair tinsel in… it’s not quite as trendy here as the feathers, and it SPARKLES! I CAN HAVE UNICORN HAIR.

    That all being said, I hate that I loved that video. I also bet Ke$ha had a crush on James Van Der Beek from when she watched Dawson’s Creek (I bet she wanted to be Jen but felt like a Joey).

  22. Thank you!!!! I do not like or understand this feather extension thing. If it was just tweeners getting them, then it’s kinda cute, but a friend of mine (30’s) said she wanted them the other day. No, just no. 🙂

  23. I’m not a fan of feather extensions myself; I think I’ll stick to variations on buns and braids this season.

  25. You look cute in feathers!

    I like feathers better on hats. Do you like to wear hats?

    And as noted above, Burnt Sienna is very good for horses and trees, and muddy rivers.

  26. Is that you in the first photo? Cute!

    Not even tempted by the feathers…they haven’t drifted in to my little neck of the woods.

  27. I don’t know about feathers in the hear…but I do enjoy feathers from the lobes! And I always hated that crayon too.

  29. i totally know what you are feeling as i did live through the 80’s. i wonder if you ever saw that pic of me and my mom with the huge hair i put up on my blog. hmm….. well if you didn’t i know you would appreciate it. i actually really love that jacket though, i have to say it.

  30. Aw, Wendy you’re so cute. I love that pic. of Vix… so vintage cool. Orange van!! Me loves the orange 🙂
    I’m on the fence about the feathers. Perched on a fence!

  31. So cool you visited my blog.I admire your designs I think you are very creative.Other than that I have no attraction for feathers .But …you never know

  32. I have to say… I really love my feather extensions. To the point I’ve had them in over 6 months (it’s getting to the point where they’ve grown out so far you can almost see the extension – not a good look) but I’m very reluctant to take them – despite how “faddy” it’s become.

    If it helps, mine are chartreuse 😉

  33. Wendy, they’re right. You look totally cute in this shot. -and the nerve of said coworker assuming cuteness expires! No, madams and gents, it need not ever.

    It’s strange to me that it’s this a huge trend all of a sudden.  I live in true hipsterville, Silverlake LA (for better or worse) and this look has been everywhere here for about five + years in variations. As an actually rocker girl ;p -I could maybe see me donning the feathered hair look but once I see a trend like this, it feels kind of robotic to just follow it. 

    Unless you look like you’d be on Chris Robinson’s arm, maybe not the best choice.

    But: I think trends in general can also be a lot of fun. People seem to judge experimenting and especially so after 30. We all have labels and we apply them to others, inadvertently or not. Experimenting with trends helps us have fun with the way we identify with ourselves.