Scissors, knives and other weapons

[ladyofastolat]

I was walking past a hairdressers' the other day, and saw their prices prominently displayed in the window. The cheapest women's haircut was three times the price of the cheapest men's cut. Even the most expensive men's cut was more cheaper than the cheapest women's cut. I realise, of course, that most women have hairstyles that are more complicated and time consuming to produce than most men's hairstyles. However, some men have very fancy hairstyles, and some women have very simple ones. When I was a child, the hairdresser used to cut my hair dry. Then I became a teenager, and suddenly the hairdressers swore blind that it was impossible to cut hair without washing it first, then blowdrying it afterwards. My hair was the same, and the style was the same, but suddenly the hairdressers insisted on all these extra expensive stages. It all seems like a bit of a con.

It was especially annoying since the whole washing thing was riddled with awfulness. I hated the feel of all the extra horrid things they insisted on putting in my hair so much that I had to wash my hair as soon as I got home, to get rid of them. They always used shampoo that I was allergic to - despite me warning them - and then sneered in a disapproving fashion when they noticed that my scalp was all red and irritated. ("Do you use a cheap shampoo?" they'd say, dripping with disdain.) I was paying extra money to get a dose of superior sneering, a dash of allergic reaction, and a whole lot of annoyance.

Which is why I did something rather rash and drastic with scissors.

In other news, I've often chuckled at those lists that reveal how many people each year were hospitalised because of clothing-related accidents, and the like - injured by killer socks etc. Today I was almost one of them. I forgot to pack any skirts or trousers when going to a folk festival last year, so borrowed a skirt from someone else, and rushed out and bought the first trousers I found, which were three-quarter length, with a decorative cord around the hem of each leg, held there by being threaded through a series of little loops. It's always looked a bit traily and messy, but today it almost killed me. I was going downstairs, when the big toe of one foot got caught in the cord of the other leg. I would definitely have fallen headfirst downstairs were it not for the fact that I've got cats. I never used to grip the bannister when going downstairs at home, but too many near-misses involving thundering cats have taught me always to grip onto it for dear life.

The cords have now been removed. The cats have ritually killed them.

Apart from that, I've spent most of the weekend playing Assassin's Creed 2. I killed the pope today, but he was evil, so that's okay.

Comments

[ladyofastolat.livejournal.com]

I normally wear cotton batik trousers bought from folk festivals, which are that sort of "one size fits all" that actually means "four inches too long for all normal people." I've several times almost tripped over them. But they're not as bad as the ankle-length skirts that I wear. If you crouch down and manage to stand on your skirt before standing up again, you not only fall over, but your skirt tends to come off, too. This is quite embarrassing when it happens in front of a building site when you're getting up after slipping on the ice.

[sally_maria]

I used to have a uniform work skirt that was like that - just an elasticated waist as well, so it didn't take much for it to start descending. Still, it was an improvement on the coat dresses we had before that, which were so straight that kneeling in them made the bottom button pop off.

Women are expected to wear the most ridiculous clothes sometimes...

[ladyofastolat.livejournal.com]

I don't think women are supposed to do such a thing as crouch or kneel, but are presumably supposed to sit there like delicate little flowers with their knees together and their hands demured clasped. I'm forever ruining tights by crouching in them. My tights never live long enough to ladder; they always rip at the top long before that.

[sally_maria]

I suspect you're right about the delicate little flower thing, but it was a particularly ridiculous uniform for a shop-assistant, who might at any time find herself lifting a box of flat-packed furniture or other heavy item off the floor, or climbing into a display window at least two foot up in the air. :-)

Don't talk to me about tights - not being the lady-like type, I almost invariably put my fingers through them when pulling them on. At least my current uniform has trousers, so I can carry on wearing the holey ones, until they give up completely.