JerkyFlea: Jan/Feb 2000

Australian actress (not gonna screw THAT up again) CATE BLANCHETTE, best known for last year's "Elizabeth" in which she played the titular role (No, it doesn't mean that.  Stop giggling.  What are you, in sixth grade?), has snipped her below shoulder locks to an above the shoulder shag,  Her straight hair falls a few inches below her chin in choppy layers, with the longest being to about her chin.
 

Before	After

FLEA'S CALL:   Cate's hair is rather fine, but has the advantage of being naturally wavy.  Because of that it looks better with a little length and not pulled straight.  Unfortunately, this shag, especially in conjunction with her round face doesn't work.  Other than flattening out any volume her waves would have provided, it commits the cardinal sin of having the front layers end right at chin length, which only makes a round face rounder.  If you look at the picture of her from last year's Oscars (the "before"), you can see how the additional length and fullness make a big difference. 

Oh stop yawning, not every Flea's Call can be a laugh riot.  Some are just learning experiences.  Like that time you stuck a fork in the electrical outlet.

Ok, you know it's been a fairly slow month when I'm reporting on a change in WINONA RYDER's hair.  With Winona it's always short, so any difference is just in degrees of shortness.  By fluke luck, I happened to notice that a picture I had of her from July showed her hair to be just slightly longer than it appears to be currently as she begins to appear on awards shows and do promotion for "Girl, Interrupted".  In fact, I had thought she was possibly beginning to grow it out a bit, but I was mistaken.  She's actually taken her pixie shorter than it has been in the last year or so.
 

Before	After

FLEA'S CALL:   You know, the funny thing is that I'm not sure if it's even worth making a call here.  Winona is the poster girl for the pixie cut (she was even the reason that Katie Couric attempted it a few years ago) and so to criticize it would be pointless.  I will say that I would like to see her hair just a bit longer and fuller (hence the reason I was hoping she was growing it a bit), but I figure that's probably a rather quixotic desire.  Yeah, quixotic.  As in Don Quixote, who futilely jousted with windmills.  Who says this column isn't educational?

BONNIE HUNT, who is probably best known as Renee Zellweger's friend (sister?) in "Jerry Maguire" used to have beautiful long (between mid-back and waist) blonde hair.  A couple of years ago, for some inexplicable reason, she chopped it off to a bob, as you can see in the before picture.  The only reason I can figure is that someone told her she was too old for long hair or a movie role demanded it.  In any case, since that time, she has been growing it back out.  It's now a few inches below her shoulders, with some soft layering below her chin.
 

Then	Now

FLEA'S CALL:  Bonnie has terrific, thick hair that I've always admired.  Thus, I thought it was a shame when she cut it short, not only due to the tragic loss of length, but because the bob she adopted wasn't the most complimentary style she could have chosen for her triangular face.  Fortunately, she kept it a bit below her chin, so it didn't turn out as bad as it could have.  Even so, I think you'll agree that the longer style she is wearing now is tremendously more flattering than the bob.  And if you don't, you should.

On a completely unrelated note, am I the only one that thinks this is exactly what Melissa Joan Hart will look like when she gets older?

Just when you thought she had slid off the planet, former MTV video teen vixen (there's a phrase that has to look good on a resume) ALICIA SILVERSTONE has resurfaced.  As you can see from the "after" picture, Alicia has gone to her natural medium brown color; significantly darker than the blonde she normally wears.  In addition, she has cut a small, brow-length bang section in front (as opposed to, say, the back).  Length appears to remain essentially unchanged, falling below her shoulders with some light layering in front.
 

Before	After

FLEA'S CALL:  The color is ok, but the obvious difference is the bangs.  As much as I think bangs get a bad rap and, thus, are worn by virtually no one since they aren't considered trendy, they still aren't for everyone.  For every Helen Hunt or Jennifer Lopez in desperate need of a few wisps of hair on their spacious foreheads, there's an Alicia.  Though there should be no reason she can't wear bangs, given her face shape, she has to be careful on how they are cut.  Since she has a bit of a baby face, cutting them the wrong way, such as in the "after" picture, has the unfortunate result of reverting her to almost a pre-pubescent appearance.  Ok, from the neck up at least.  Suffice it to say she should start growing them now and style them to the side or back in the meantime.

As soon as the promos for the new season of USA's "La Femme Nikita" began airing, I was bombarded by emails asking about PETA WILSON's new hairstyle.  Not being a viewer of the show, I hadn't realized that she had made a change.  Sure, I knew that her blonde locks had gotten progressively shorter each season from the between mid-back and waist-length style she wore in the first season, but I hadn't seen a significant change in a while.  Finally, I caught a promo and saw that, indeed, Peta's nearly platinum tresses were now just a few inches below her shoulders.  Not only was her hair shorter, but there were now lots of long layers cut in, starting at about nose level in front and angling to about chin level in back.  Sorry about the bad picture, but it's the best I could find (thanks Hal).

Before	After

FLEA'S CALL:  Though I'm probably going to get letters on this, I'm glad she cut it.  Peta has fine hair, but, fortunately, has a lot of it.  The downside of that is when it gets very long, as she used to wear it, it gets very thin and wispy appearing on the ends.  Because of that, cutting it shorter (and blunter) is her best option.  However, in lieu of going blunt, the layered look with the wispy ends does look better with less length.  So, given all of that, I think this was an excellent style choice, since going blunt would have been too conservative for her character anyway.

I realize that many of you will see the above as a specious argument in favor of cutting it, especially since the stick straight, long, wispy-ended style is actually quite popular now (though it's usually done with the help of extension).  To you I say this: I simply don't think that look is flattering and have grown weary of being bludgeoned with the fact that it's supposed to be stylish.  Hey, just because it's popular doesn't make it attractive.  If that were true, you'd be seeing the fashion runways packed with guys sporting comb-overs.  

Cate Blanchett pictures courtesy Reuters, Winona Ryder picturs courtesy Reuters and Entertainment Tonight Online,  Bonnie Hunt pictures courtesy Hollywood.Com , Alicia Silverstone picture courtesy Star Magazine, Peta Wilson pictures courtesy InStyle magazine and USA Network

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