Meg Ryan's hair -- which is probably none of my business -- almost ruined the movie in which she currently appears, "Kate & Leopold."
For me, at least -- maybe not for everyone. Certainly not for Alan D'Angerio, the style genius who gave her this "natural" look.
In a recent article in which he takes "credit" for the style, he says, "Kate needed to look like someone the time-transported duke, Leopold, recognized as someone from his day, 1876."
That's an insult to any 19th-century woman with hair on her head.
He adds, "But I also wanted him to see the woman of today, so in most scenes she is very natural."
Messy is modern. I got it.
I tried to concentrate on her co-star, Hugh Jackman, as Leopold -- not a bad decision.
I like a good love story, so the hair didn't ruin the flick, but it made me think, "What was she thinking?" instead of "Gosh, I want the guy to get the girl."
Her hair kept getting in the way.
I thought hairstyling was about making us look better, making us feel good. Meg happens to be appealing on screen, despite the hairdo, but still, what is the beauty-salon world saying?
Next, you are going to think, "Well, Barbara, I don't like your hair."
Yes, some people feel obligated to tell me that from time to time.
"Meg is young and with-it, and the style is sexy."
Point well taken. We are two different people (as if you hadn't noticed).
Still, I can't help but wonder -- what happened to healthy?
Wasn't that a key hair word not too many seasons ago?
Meg's hair, in just about every movie, has been casually mussed. It's her trademark.
But now it is distracting. There's a difference.
It has made me look at ads, commercials, soap operas, award presentations. Messy and chopped seem to be the combination. Meg isn't alone.
Her style even warranted a feature online, in which her stylist shared with us how we could get the same look. Oh, spare me.
Model Kelly Gray, daughter of the designer for St. John Knits, Marie Gray, appears in ads for the expensive knits with a similar overbleached, messy chop. In an ad for DKNY Eyes, the model has a messy meat-cleaver chopped do.
Cate Blanchett, who is normally very pretty, showed up on a talk show with a similarly chopped style.
Ashleigh Banfield, at present a TV golden girl, has had her hair darkened for her Islamabad reporter duties. It's been described in Vanity Fair as "chop 'n' dye." Ouch.
She's in Afghanistan. She's allowed to be windblown.
Meg, on the other hand, has no excuses. She's more likely to be on Rodeo Drive or Madison Avenue.
Arnold Zegarelli has been around for a long time. As a stylist, he understands change, new looks and the need to update our dos from time to time. Good for business, good for morale.
Even this professional reacted to Meg's latest style with raised eyebrows.
"There was a time if I had cut a woman's hair like that, I would have been sued."
But guess what? His customers are requesting Meg's new style, as well as Paula Zahn's shorter cut.
Zahn's highlights by Garren, according to VF, cost $7,000. I hope he tossed in the cut, wash and blow-dry.
Some men asked for Gary Condit's do while he was dominating the news.
Faith Hill saw the wrong image in the mirror after her chip-chop style a year ago and thought better of it. You would have a hard time making her look unattractive, but it almost happened.
Actress Joan Allen was a presenter for the American Film Institute awards. Her black gown, her demeanor, her voice and her speech had class.
Her hair? The scrunched, uneven cut and just-out-of-bed style looked as if a 3-year-old had been playing barber.
My sister did that to me once. She was punished.
Switching my concentration to Jackman wasn't the hardest thing I've ever done. If anything was wrong with his hair, I didn't notice.
Did he have hair?
As his character was transported to the 21st century, befuddled by telephones and toasters and palm pilots, wouldn't he have been just a wee bit disturbed by Kate's tresses?
No, Leopold would have been too polite to question his fair lady's choice of hairstyle, manners being one of the nicer traits of that earlier century's society.
The unkindest cut of all would have been if Leopold had allowed Kate's bad hair days to get in the way of their love story.
This is, after all, a fantasy. Even I will accept a mussed mane if it means a happy ending.
Please, this is not a hatchet job on Meg. Her stylist beat me to it.
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