Hair styling hits a purple patch as kooky becomes cool


Ready to throwback to the 50s: Kiara Mazzon preps for the dye rinse. Photo: Janie Barrett


It is all about pastels, possums! In what is chalked up as a throwback to the 1950s, purple hair has re-entered the zeitgeist with more gusto than the twist at a sock hop.


Ian Norman, a hair stylist with 30 years in the industry, says the colour once maligned as a bit kooky or alternative is now 'totally acceptable' in both the fashion world and on the streets.


The look echoes the 'blue rinse' sometimes favoured by those seeking to resist nature's greyward march, and has been famously sported by Australia's foremost cultural attache, Dame Edna Everage.



Transformation: Ms Mazzon goes through the process of getting her hair dyed. Photo: Janie Barrett


At his Paddington studio, Norman & Brown, Mr Norman will perform about 10 pink or purple colourings a week for women aged in their 20s to their 50s.


'The type of client who wants it is not what you would expect,' he says. Managers and chief executives are among the salon's clientele, with the look now considered respectable and professional. 'Politicians should get it - they'd get more votes, I reckon.'


The trend has been percolating for the past five years, Mr Norman says, and has been helped along by celebrities such as Kelly Osbourne and Nicole Richie, whose violet locks graced the cover of last week's OK! magazine.



Lavender tresses: Ms Mazzon shows off her new purple look. Photo: Janie Barrett


However, the era of imitating magazine pin-ups might be over. Model Kiara Mazzon, 23, says she first saw the trend emerge on social media sites such as Tumblr, whose users tend to be more experimental than conventional celebrities.


'It starts with the cool kids and then it becomes all mainstream,' Ms Mazzon says. 'No one bats an eyelid.'


Ms Mazzon is something of a hairstyle chameleon and changes colours every few months, but says she always receives a lot of compliments on the pastel purple.


'Everyone loves it,' she says. 'I love pairing it with purple lipstick ... It even looks good with just mascara and black eyeliner. It makes a big statement with very small effort.'


Though the trend was once associated with older women, Mr Norman says they now eschew the blue rinse in favour of hair extensions and blonde dye.


'The older folk want to be blonder and longer,' he says. 'They're trying to be younger.'


Pastel purple, he says, skipped a generation. Having boomed in the 1920s and 1950s, it is now making its return alongside other soft colours and finger waves.


The standard toner will last three to six weeks and is more suitable for those with lighter hair, but anyone can receive the treatment after being bleached. For those who fear they might be behind the times, do not fret. This trend could easily last another 10 to 20 years, Mr Norman says.



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