The Power Of Red .... Hair

If you look up at the Sistine Chapel ceiling, you will see a very innocent Eve as a blond before she gave the apple to Adam. When Eve is being kicked out of the Garden of Eden, she is wearing nothing but her long red hair. Marion Roach wrote the book, "The Roots of Desire," where she talks about the impact of having red hair. She felt that when Eve succumbed to temptation, she became an object of temptation for others.

Stubborn, fickle and fiery are just three of the adjectives people have used to describe red heads but I've always been intrigued by the women with ginger tresses, whether natural or from a bottle. Only 4% of the world's population are natural redheads but so many women want to be one. Yes ... and I'm one of those women.

It all started with my first and favorite doll ... Raggedy Ann.
And of course, we all remember the most popular redhead of all ... Lucille Ball. Lucy was one of our greatest comedians but she didn't take Hollywood by storm until she dyed her hair red. She was funny, impish and forever whacky on television but Lucy was also one of the industry's toughest and most successful business women.

Vivian Westwood is one of the fashion world's most famous red heads. Her designs are always edgy and relevant. She started her career designing punk rock fashions for groups like the "Sex Pistols." One of my favorite stories of Vivian Westwood highlights the day she was honored with the Order of the British Empire. Dame Westwood went "knickerless" to the ceremony and to show off her flirty skirt, she twirled and the photographers got the "shot."

The photo amused the Queen. I think we all have a little naughtiness inside of us, don't you?

I was in Paris during Fashion Week last fall and came across this shop window in the 6th arrondissement. Of course, Sonia Rykiel stands out among her male fashion contemporaries. She has remained at the top of the fashion pyramid for years and most recently was the guest designer for H&M. Her wild red hair is her trademark and her fashion models all have the Sonia persona.
This is a typical Parisian woman wearing her black skirt and sweater but also accessorizing her outfit with colorful touches ... purple boots, fuchsia purse and henna hair. This year when I go back to Paris, I am going to have the courage to take pictures from the front.
I had always wanted to have red hair. It was one of those items on my "bucket list." I dyed my light brown hair on a dare and after, I felt like a new woman.  
          You want to change your life ... change the color of your hair.

And then I went to Paris. Paris and red hair go together. I felt like a woman from the Follies Bergere!?! For a year, I had fun as a red head but keeping up the color became both expensive and time consuming. But I did it and there are still days when I toy with the idea.......

This is Fifi La Femme, one of my hand painted pillows. She's very Parisian. I was inspired by Sonia Rykiel's Summer 2010 fashion show. I loved her colorful plate hats and the puffy shoulders of her sweaters and dresses. They are just the clothes a confident red head might wear. priscillamae

Alas, if I can't have red hair and be the fiery dynamo like Sonia, Lucille, Vivian or even Raggedy, I will just have to get my red hair "fix" by painting my Priscilla Mae ladies with le cheveux rouge.