After I pondered in an earlier blog about the updo’s reversal of fortune, I heard from some of you. Rather than a c
onsensus on whether
updo styling in the formal, traditional manner has a future, though, what I received were opinions on both sides of the aisle.
A stylist who wrote a comment on my blog went on to blog about the issue herself, maintaining that today’s brides and prom girls are making a big mistake in abandoning the proud, timeless look in question. “There are reasons women get ‘updos,’” writes “hairapy” blog author Aura Mae, owner of Azarra Salon in Tacoma, WA. “One of them is the actual art of the hair dressing. Hair that has been dressed can be both a work of art and a feat of arc
hitecture.” The second reason, she notes, is that a well-pinned updo stays in place no matter what. She has a point: as the photos that follow Jenna Bush on her big day make crystal clear, Texas humidity does not become kinder as the hours tick away.
Another hairdresser, Jason Arnold of David Arnold Hair Salon in Jenkintown, PA, sent me the photos shown here from a shoot he did of his most-requested formal style. I think this look is great because, while it is a full updo, it has enough bedhead messiness to announce that this is not your mother’s perfect high bun with tendrils. I’m open to more discussion on
updo styling, and in a future post I’ll share another reader’s prom-look photos to show that she’s just fine with today’s more “informal formal” styles.