As someone who has long waged war against the white hairs that began cropping up on her head in high school (they’re wiry, blindingly white and multiplying at an alarming rate) I wasn’t sure what to make of the news that gray may be the hot new hair color.
Generations of women have crusaded against the ravages of time (or, in my case, genetics) sparing no expense and spending countless hours at the salon to stop–or should I say delay–the onset of grays or whitening hair.
Leave it to the Millennials to turn that predictable approach on its ear.
If you think the familiar arsenal of rebellious accoutrement – body piercings, risqué clothing, tattoos, etc…is played out then this is the attention-grabber for you.
Millennials are doing something grandma really never would have dreamed of at our age – we’re going gray.
Kate Moss, on trend as always, rocking some 'gray-lights'
Our society holds on to all kinds of stereotypes about hair color. Many women who dye their hair choose a color that reflects their personality or mood.
To bring us up to speed on the more popular perceptions (as if I need to): Blondes have the most fun. Brunettes are wholesome. Raven-haired women are mysterious. Redheads are fiery. And those with white or gray hair are ‘mature’.
So maybe it is time we let go of the idea that gray = old. After all, it’s one of the (many) areas where a gender-based double standard prevails. Men who have gone gray or white look “distinguished” while a woman with her roots showing looks “unkempt”. A woman who has allowed herself to go completely gray or white is “sophisticated” or “striking,” if she’s lucky.
There’s a growing body of evidence that suggests the tide is turning on gray. Some fashion designers even showed gray on the runway last week as they previewed their fall collections in New York and Paris. The jury may still be out on white, though model Agyness Deyn has sported white locks on the cover of Korean Vogue and Anne Hathaway went white all over to portray the White Queen in Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland.
I have to admit that a shiny silvery “do” on someone in their 20s or 30s has an appealing, punk rock sort of ethos behind it that I respect and can get behind.
But similar to tattoos and body piercings, I think it would look great on somebody else. For now, I’ll continue to forgo dye completely, pluck the straggly white hairs that crop up in noticeable spots and ignore the others – despite my stylist’s decree that “we have a situation back here”.
How about you – would you dye your hair gray or white? How do you think your mother or grandmother would react?
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