NEW YORK (AP)
-- Before we start rambling on obsessively about Michelle Obama's
bangs, let's be clear: The president started it.
It
was he, after all, who called the new hairdo, unveiled just a few days
before the historic occasion of his second inauguration, "the most
significant event of this weekend."
And he
hasn't stopped there. On Tuesday night, he introduced his wife at the
Staff Inaugural Ball: "And the First Lady of the United States, bangs
and all..."
So given the president's evident
interest in the subject, perhaps the rest of us shouldn't feel so bad
about analyzing ad nauseum the first lady's new look, an activity that
has certainly taken over social media for days (and, perhaps, ended
discussion of an earlier obsession, Michelle Obama's arms.) Heck, the
bangs even have their own (unauthorized) Twitter account,
FirstLady'sBangs, which has taken to issuing dispatches like: "Just got a
text from Hillary Clinton's side-part" or "BREAKING NEWS: Barack just
named me director of Hairline Security."
And how about the headline in New York's Daily News, the day after Obama's private swearing-in? "In With A Bang."
Quips
and clever headlines aside, everyone seems to have an opinion about the
new style - not only how it looks, but what it means. And so, just
because it's fun, we analyze some of them here:
THE
YOUTH FACTOR: It's no secret, say fashion experts, that on the right
person, bangs can make you look younger. It's also no secret that Mrs.
Obama turned 49 the very day she unveiled the cut last week, in a photo
tweeted from her new Twitter account, FLOTUS.
"None
of this is accidental," says Linda Wells, Allure magazine's
editor-in-chief. "She tried this on her 49th birthday. She wants to
spice it up a bit. And it's definitely a more youthful style than what
she had before. It just has a flirty, young quality to it."
THE
FASHION PLATE: Clearly Mrs. Obama, well known and admired for her
fashion sense, is aware that bangs are in these days. Sure, they've been
around forever, and your 5-year-old may have them, but recently bangs
have become a full-fledged fashion trend, with actress Zooey Deschanel
one of the standard-bearers. (Fun fact: Deschanel, 33, and Mrs. Obama
happen to share the same birthday - Jan. 17.)
"Bangs
have always been there, but they are clearly having a moment right
now," says celebrity hairstylist Harry Josh, who was in Washington to
style singer Kelly Clarkson's hair for the inauguration (Clarkson sang
"My Country, `Tis of Thee.") "Mrs. Obama is really being modern and
fashion-forward. We haven't had a fashion-forward first lady like this
since Jackie Kennedy."
New York hairstylist
Robert Stuart agrees. "Bangs have been really, really big for about a
year," he says. He thinks Mrs. Obama has picked the perfect cut for her
looks. "It's much softer and younger, and it makes her look more
approachable," Stuart says. "It also works well for her sense of
fashion. And it brings out her eyes."
THE
NAYSAYERS: Just in case one thinks everyone loves the hairdo - and the
reaction does seem extremely positive - there are naysayers. Count among
them Joan Rivers, comedienne and fashion commentator, who tweeted on
Inauguration Day: "Today starts President Obama's next four years in the
White House. Let's hope the same isn't true about the first lady's new
hairdo." Explanation? She didn't provide one, but in her defense, she
only had 140 characters.
SHE'S EXPRESSING HER
INNER SELF: Here we get a little more philosophical. Some have
speculated that, since Mrs. Obama is starting a second term and won't
have to endure any more campaigns, she's finally free to express herself
exactly as she wants - and feels. "Haircuts do express how people are
feeling," says Wells. "You get that sense of her feeling liberated -
more comfortable, and less worried about what everyone else is thinking.
She's showing her own sense of style and own sense of energy."
Stuart,
of the Robert Stuart Salon, has a similar thought. "I think now she's
maybe feeling less threatened, and can express herself more. Really she
just seems more comfortable."
IT'S SOMETHING
TO EVERYONE: If you'd wandered around the National Mall on Inauguration
Day, and spoke to women especially, you'd have found a lot of Michelle
Obama fans. No surprise there. But many of these women were also fond of
the bangs, and for various reasons.
Sheila
Garrison, an educator from Maryland, called the hairstyle "different,"
but all the attention paid to it brought home to her and her friend,
fellow teacher Patricia Cooper, that Mrs. Obama "represents women in a
beautiful way," in Cooper's words. "You look at her and you are proud to
be a woman. She commands respect." Garrison, 58, also appreciated how
Mrs. Obama, a fellow tall woman, "carries herself really well."
Mattece
Mason, 34, of Tulsa, Okla., adores the cut - when asked about, it she
and her family members - well, the females - screamed, "Oh my God, we
love it!" But the enthusiasm of her daughters was meaningful to Mason
for a reason other than fashion. "My daughter Aubrianna, who's 14, said
to me today: `I want bangs now,'" Mason said. "That made me feel great
because my girls have such a role model. A first lady they can emulate."
(Mason also mentioned she thought Secretary of State Hillary Rodham
Clinton looked great in those eyeglasses she's been sporting lately.)
And
Roslyn Snow, of Newport Beach, Calif., had another reason for loving
the new Obama look. "I think she looks like Jane Fonda back in the old
days," said Snow, 76. "Remember?"
A SIGN OF
SOMETHING BIGGER?: Many have wondered whether Mrs. Obama has plans to
forge a new role in the second term, taking on different issues. Wells,
the fashion editor, gets that feeling, though she makes clear it's all
speculation. "You sense it with the strong statement she is making with
her appearance," Wells says. "Before, her look was sort of retrograde:
the hair, the A-line dresses. The emphasis was on `lady.' Now, it seems,
the emphasis is on `first lady.'"
A POLITICAL
STATEMENT?: Josh, Clarkson's stylist, likes to see a broader message in
the haircut choice. "Think about President Obama's statement in his
speech about gay people as equals. It was so forward-looking. Mrs. Obama
was saying something similar, I'd like to think. She was putting
America into the position of a forward-thinking country."
Or not. "Of course," adds Josh, "she could just have been bored with her hair the old way."
Copyright 2013 by The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
