Wedding Blog

So I’m finally going to talk about one of the biggest challenges for me in terms of planning. It’s been even harder than my dress, I think. It’s my HAIR. As I’ve alluded to earlier, I have locs. I don’t call them dreadlocks or dreads because to be honest, there is nothing to “dread” about them. I think people have many ill-conceived ideas about people like me, simply because we choose to wear our hair this way. Common misconceptions include:

1. We are dirty individuals - I bathe every day. I like to look good, and I think I smell pretty good, too. I take care of my hair. I’m at a salon almost every four to six weeks. I take pride in my appearance.
2. We can’t get jobs - I have had multiple, very good jobs at some point in my life already. I am now in a job that requires representing important individuals, so I think I have pretty job prospects. I will admit that this has never always been true. Thank God for living in 2009.
3. We are counter-cultural/trying to make a statement - This one might be a fair assumption. Although I have to admit, for me and many Black women I know who choose to wear their hair this way, it’s because we like the way it looks, as well as the opportunity to wear our hair without chemical and/or heat straightening. Also, it requires little to no daily upkeep, which is great for a lazy person like me.
4. We all smoke drugs of some form - I never have, and never will… moving on…
5. We are adherents to Rastafarianism - I grew up going to church in a denomination very similar to the Lutheran/Presbyterian church. I would now consider myself a nondenominational Christian. Obviously, none of that is Rastafarian related. Having done research into Rastafarianism, I think it’s a pretty interesting religion/cultural expression. Some recommended reading on Rastafarianism: “Rasta and Resistance” by Horace Campbell.

April marked five years that I’ve been wearing my hair this way. I love it, and at this point, I have no plans to  change my hair (yes, Mama Swan, I’m not changing it). As the wedding approaches and my hair keeps growing, I’ve been trying to figure out some ways to style my hair and to possibly do hair trials.

I say possibly do hair trials, because I am contemplating how to. I can’t curl my hair with a curling iron. Usually curling my locs that requires my hair to be roller-set when it’s wet, and then sitting under the dryer for about an hour! One of the burdens of my hair, I guess, is that as it grows, my hair appointments grow longer. Usually they take between 2.5 to 3 hours on a good day. I think this means that I’ll need to stagger out my hair trials? Hmm…

I think my plan will be to at least start figuring out what I like, and what I don’t like for a style. I’m also thinking about possibly cheating on my hairstylist, but that’s another post.

Here’s what I think I want:

A soft, basic, but pretty updo

(source)

I think this will look great with my dress. Also, it would get my very long hair off my neck in the middle of the August heat.

I also like when my hair has texture, e.g., when it’s curled with a roller set or when two or three individuals locs are twisted or braided together and loosened to produce a “crimp” look like this:

(source)

Sorry for the picture of the hardcore looking dude, but it’s a good representation of crimped locs. He looks pretty mean, doesn’t he? I would mostly likely wear my hair half-up if I chose something like this. I’ve been wearing my hair like this a lot lately.

As I said before I also really enjoy wearing my hair curly. I think this is a fun look that can be pinned up to add some drama. I’m not sure what kind of style I would want, but here’s a good example:

(source)

I have choices, but I think the journey of trying to figure out how I’ll wear my hair will be an interesting one. Stay tuned for this one, as well.