friday afternoon fun: workplace hair
so… for the past several months i’ve been protecting styling religiously. but i’ll be phasing it out soon (hopefully!), and i’ve been thinking about versatile styles for work. you know; styles that are pretty and big, but still somewhat contained. i stumbled across bellemuse‘s fotki album a while back (you’ll hear more from her, she’s doing a ‘rock solid regimen’ interview) and found some great inspiration. these styles aren’t strictly corporate, but they have aesthetic elements i’d like to incorporate into my own workplace look.
and speaking of workplace hair, i’ve been thinking about something…
so, i have a ‘natural haired professional’ wishlist that consists of a.) a truly non-bogus natural hair stylist, b.) more natural hair scientists, c.) michelle obama (or the next black female president/first lady)… and now i’ve added a 4th one — a natural hair consultant.
let me explain.
so, it is generally known when straight hair looks bogus.
exhibit a:
exhibit b:
exhibit c:
but there isn’t a general knowledge of when natural hair (or black hair generally) is bogus, and when it isn’t
for example, some employers can’t tell the difference between this:
and this:
hell, they might even be more willing to accept this, just cuz the shit looks familiar:
i remember when carol mosley-braun (first black female U.S. senator) wore cornrows on the senate floor, and her colleagues said it was a sign of disrespect for her job. what?! that’s why we need a consultant. someone to travel from workplace to workplace to educate people on which natural work styles are kosher, and which aren’t.
what do you think? could you do with a natural hair consultant at your job? (i know i could!)
i no right?? that’ll be soo kwl.
I can’t even comment properly, I’m too busy laughing. LMAO!
i’m with JC, TOO funny. but on the real, i would be down for that. i feel like i’m a natural hair consultant already at my church1
First of all… LMMFAO!! Secondly, that would be so effin hot!
You totally hit the nail on the head. I’m currently trying to figure out what professional styles would be appropriate for my job at a law firm this summer. Last summer I had a twa, so I wore mostly wash and gos, with twists and finger coils thrown in to change things up. This summer I have 5-6 inches of hair, and wash and go’s are no longer an option because of knots and tangling.
I love all of bellemuse’s styles, but would never wear the third one to work at a law firm, because I’d feel like it’s too “wild”. I guess I’m still trying to reconcile my conservative work style with my not-so-conservative hair. The beauty of being a student is that anything goes, which definitely isn’t the case in the workplace.
LMAO ok at the “cause the shit looks familiar* part and seeing the chic with the long blonde hair with her eyes popping out had me cracking up LOL
@ dajaded… lol. that’s hottie from flavor of love
@ moni… yeh, it’s tough to know how accepting an employer will be of natural hair.
and you are SO right about the college thing. i’m KICKING myself for not doing my big chop in college! ironically, i felt too self conscious. now, that i’m working and in the ‘real world’, i have less wiggle room to try new styles and stuff *sigh.
Great post. I love for this to happen.
lol This post just keeps me laughing. I tried to share it with a friend and she couldn’t get it! I realized that she loves her wigs so to her the blonde wig is not an anomally. Too funny!
On a serious note, a hair consultant would be great in USA. I have to say that in UK, I haven’t encountered hair ignorance. Many work places have a dress code but that doesn’t extend to hair or piercings etc, that stuff is generally treated as personal.
Bellemuse has fab hair!!
Ok, I’m going to go back to amusing myself again. My hubby is back home soon, I know he’ll get the joke lol
Last picture, oh my gosh looks so ugly.
Love your kinky hair
Hilarious.. I love this post.
As for hair being “professional”, just walk in with your head up high. Confidence sells almost as much as sex does.
LOL. I think a lot of places need one. I work in fashion so almost anything goes for us.
I have to agree with Jc on that one, I am still laughing while writing this!
to anon who said…
"Hilarious.. I love this post.
As for hair being "professional", just walk in with your head up high. Confidence sells almost as much as sex does.
"
u hit it on the head.. I wish a mark would even try to make my natural hair an issue.. my hair is clean dammit & its going to do what it does. It just irks the hell out of me that some of us are faced, or feel the need to lament over the whole damn, can I wear my twists, damn should I wear my fro, damn is my fro too big.. thats the way that ish grows.. Ive just grown tired of the who thing… Im going to try & take a pic of this older sister who works in the building i work in. She STRUTS with this huge & I mean huge ass afro with her work suits on & its fresh & shes still " professional" in appearance.
@ msjaim… i NEED to see this afro! share the dopeness, spread the knowledge
lol – that would be such a cool job going from office to office – where do I apply?
Hilarious post!
PS: LOVE that braid out like none other and wish I could get mine to look like that.
You definitely raise an important point (as usual); instead of having a hair consultant, could it be part of the customary diversity training or the like? Shouldn’t it be? It’s kind of along the same lines, although I hate that it’s even necessary.
I also think it’s how one carries oneself. If your hair is fly and you look like you mean business, then you mean business. Like msjaim’s building-sharer (I hope you can get a pic!!).
Luckily I haven’t. I wore what I wore and if they didn’t like it they were probably too scared to say so. I wore twists a lot to my last job. Looking back I would have done that differently, not because I think it was inappropriate but because I now know I didn’t do them properly and could have made them look more attractive in that state. However, I did rock some awesome twist-outs!
What’s sad is that my family, (two relaxed sisters and two nieces of mixed race) probably agree with that Buckwheat comparison. They are obviously upset that I did the Big Chop AND that their baby sister is going natural with her gray hair too. Well, tuff.
My nieces have great natural curl that they were never properly taught how to care for (since their mother relaxes and despite me buying them the great Curly Girl book) and now get their hair straight ironed all the time.
That is hilarious, especially the Lil Kim not, that’s just not cute.
With all jokes aside I think it depends on where you work, right now I work at a school so the teachers and the kids love my hair and th different ways I sometimes wear it but in a month I will be working at a hospital or doctors office so of course I will have to tone it down to be more professional. Not all the way but just a bit.
ON. POINT.
Hottie=ewwwww
But lol at the reference to her!
Lol at the Buckwheat reference too…
You got me smiling….
It’s hard with natural hair at work though. When I used to wear my fro, my old supervisor(black older lady) said in a voice that was so vicious she sounded like a witch….”PICK OUT YOUR HAIR”
All I could say was “Good morning to you too!”
I would love to have a natural hair consultant on my job. I’m glad to say that all of the women who are on my job that have natural hair do a great job at keeping it looking nice. I would just like to have the consultant to tell us about more hairstyles and tips
The idea of a natural hair consultant sounds cool. However, who would decide which styles are kosher and which aren’t? I feel like that’s leaving to much to personal interpretation. Some people may not like locs, others may feel only twists are acceptable. Some think cornrows are elegant, others say they are ghetto. A lot of naturals themselves have hangups and can be overly judgmental. Just a thought, had to throw in another angle, lol.
I HATE the fact that Black women’s natural hair is WRONG, UNPROFESSIONAL, IRRESPONSIBLE, DIRTY, etc to everyone in the world, including Black people, and especially White people.
I said it before and I will say it
again.
If the way God made you is PROFESSIONAL, then the way God made ME is PROFESSIONAL too.
And that’s the last I want to hear about it.
That is actually something that I want to do (natural hair consulting)!!
bellemuse’s photos are gorgeous!
I just think it’s funny that a lot of the people who think natural hair looks unprofessional are black and some have natural hair themselves! I had a colleague with beautiful natural hair who kept it weaved or braided up as much as possible. When she did let the hair out to breathe, she would spend so much time explaining why it looked that way. The thing is no one cared apart from her.
Whether I’m rocking a fro or twists, white people left and right tell me know much they like it. But run into the wrong black person, and I’m lectured on how my hair should look “tidy and clean”.