43 - I Don't Like Shopping

When it comes to fashion I'm pretty clueless. I don't like making decisions at clothing stores or in my closet.  So how would I handle buying a wig?  Especially since it could be an emotional thing. But Lorrie and Shari were determined to make this fun. (Plus they have much better fashion sense!) We arrived at a salon called Care & Co.  The mother/daughter owners are cancer survivors and offer much more than wigs.  Best of all, there were no bars on the windows!  Do you have any idea how many wig shops look like pawn shops? 

I'll call it a head sock!  When Francesca first put it on my head I laughed.  "I feel like Robin Williams in Mrs. Doubtfire!" Then I thought I looked like a performer, ready to apply clown make up. Or maybe I was in the Olympics, ready to dive in the pool!  

​It was comical.

​

In this photo, I'm giving the big thumbs up, but the smile is forced. When I tried on that first wig, Shari, Lorrie and I looked at each other and gulped. That moment was a little scary.

The photo isn't too bad, but the head-on vision in the mirror was a jolt. I was looking at some unknown lady in a wig. It wasn't me.

​But Francesca worked with me like a pro.  Her sister Sasha couldn't keep herself from intruding, with great advice and tips and opinions. I craved all the attention and suggestions and I filled my brain with info for 2 hours.  Some was wig info, but a lot was just talk, about cancer.  This could have been overwhelming, but hearing this stuff from an upbeat cancer survivor was refreshing. 

We started to have fun.  I tried on styles that weren't me at all, but why not?  I had names for most wigs.  Well, actually I didn't have a name for this one, but I felt like a Sassy Soccer Mom. And how about that silly poof in the rear!  Actually, I learned that there are so many options for thinning and cutting and layering all these styles, later.  What you see, does not have to mean what you get.

I was pretty sure this cut made me look like Jane Fonda in her 1980's work out video.  I needed a headband.  But after a study in the mirror, I think it was Jane Pauley, on one of her news shows.  Both are beautiful women... but not me.

We took wigs outside with the mirror and studied the lighting. And I chuckled over this one with the flip, that made me feel like David Cassidy in The Partridge Family. 


​Shari thought it was more Florence Henderson, who played Mrs. Brady with that Bunch of kids! 

We laughed and carried on, but we really were absorbing and debating and learning. These were not silly costume wigs and I was making an important decision.  But I had to find some humor along the way, or I would have been miserable.

I made Shari and Lorrie try on hats, to join me in a photo op.  I kind of liked the green "flapper cap" as I called it.  There's actually a half wig underneath.  Who would have known you could get a half wig?  The cap-less photo shows a similar wig to the one I'm ordering.  I had to laugh when I saw the photo, because I'm wearing a wig, with some bangs in my face.  That is so me!  There are so many photos of me from childhood days, with hair in my face.

So the big reveal will be later.  I have ordered one that combines these looks.  I might need those eyelashes, too!  The main thing is, I am greatly relieved to have this outing behind me. L & S made this serious job, fun.  We learned lots and laughed hard.  But when those 2 handed over a very festive, "chemo survival kit" that they had purchased behind my back, I was caught by surprise.  Lorrie had to go fetch me some Kleenex from the bathroom to dab my eyes.  Then we 3 were sort of laughing and tearing up together, so I grabbed my wad of tissue to share... "What? You brought me toilet paper!"  I laughed as I tore off sections for my friends.