Middy update

In honor of Marilyn Monroe's 85th birthday a few days ago, I figured it was high time for me to come out of hiding and start posting here again. School has been absolutely crazy, especially the online class I'm currently enrolled in. Just to give you an idea of what I'm talking about, I had an assignment due Friday, on Saturday I had to redo an assignment from last week (the directions for these things border on incomprehensible, so I basically had no idea what I was doing when I did it the first time), another assignment due Sunday, one due yesterday and there's another one due tonight. Oh yes, and I have to complete a complicated two-part project (which I also don't understand) with a partner by next Monday. And I still have an on-campus class to keep up with, in addition to my full-time day job. I continue to go on only because the class will be over in three weeks. (Oh, how I long for that day.) Anyway, enough with the tedium...let's get on to the hair!

As I mentioned in the comments to my last post, I went ahead and brought the middy diagram -- with added notes about horizontal layers and no feathering -- to my hairdresser. I also brought along this photo to illustrate how I wanted it to look when styled. I asked my hairdresser if the photo corresponded to the diagram, and she replied that it did, which I guess goes to show that the middy (or a variation of it) was still popular in the '50s. For reference, my stylist has been cutting hair for over 20 years, so she's not fresh out of beauty school, but she's also not accustomed to '40s haircuts. In all honesty, the middy diagram made no sense to me, but I figured that was because I don't know much about cutting hair. When the hairdresser took her first glance at the diagram though, she appeared almost as confused as I was! After studying it for a few minutes, she began to figure it out and found an actual ruler to see how the lengths indicated would translate to my head/hair. After some measurements, she told me that she would strongly caution against cutting my hair exactly by the diagram. She felt that many of the layers would be too short to work with, and also wouldn't go well with the shape of my face. I told her to do what would look best, since I trusted her judgement more than Ivan Anderson's! (Sorry, Ivan.) The main differences between my haircut and the one shown in the diagram is that mine has longer layers, and less of them. As luck would have it, the indicated length of the middy actually did match up with the length I like my hair, which is right around chin-length. So if you were wondering how long the standard middy is, there's your answer!

It's been about three weeks since I had my hair cut, and I can honestly say that this is the best haircut I have ever had. The front bang section -- which I always spent the most time on trying to get right -- comes out so much better now, and I have basically eliminated the issue of ends that would fall after the second day of a set. I've only set my hair in perm rods since I've had it done, though I actually have a pincurl set in now. I'll post here if the results are particularly interesting! I found that the cut I got from bringing in the diagram definitely surpassed what I'd get from bringing in photos of a particular style I liked, which used to be my go-to method when I'd go to the hairdresser. By the end of the appointment, even my hairdresser, who didn't seem to be too keen on the diagram at first, told me that I should definitely keep it and bring it in next time! All in all, I would definitely recommend printing out a middy diagram and at least discussing it with your hairdresser if you're interested in the cut. I don't think you need to go a stylist who specializes in retro styles, just someone who is open-minded and willing to take the time to study the diagram. Sorry for the epic post, and I hope all of this will help someone out!