good morning everyone!

What a fun article in the NYT! Way to go, Laurie--

I like how they identified you as a writer first, graphic designer second!

so how much time did it take to achieve such glorious locks?

It took me about an hour of solid hair-work to get that look. I was cursed with stick-straight hair and grew up in the land of humidity. But I persevered. Oh yes I did.

The New York Times?!! Please don't forget us little people now that you have hit the "big times"!

Very cool and very funny as always, CAP....

OMG! Could you be any more adorable?

When I think of leopard prints, I think of the character Laverne that Cher played on her comedy special back in the '70's. Cat eye-glasses and dangle earrings.........cracking gum and calling people "babycakes" hanging out in THEE most coolest place

THE LAUNDROMAT!!!

Fun article. You think you are a goof ball, but you come off so well in interviews, and that is why we all love you and pretend you are an actual close personal friend of ours. "Oh, yes, my friend Laurie just wrote a book".

Can you buy clip on bangs liek clip on other hair?

Oh, how cool! And you were the lead-in and the close! What great publicity, too! Congrats!

you are a babe.
A babe with high maintenence hair, but still a babe!

I too had the stick-straight hair and the high humidity (Houston), but I wasn't as persevering as you--I went with Asian Girl Bangs. I wanted hair like yours, though!

Now I'll go read your interview--congratulations, you're a star!

You are SO famous--and adorable.

Read it! You are fab!

I had the same Laverne-Cher mental image over the leopard print outfits !! Remember those earrings ?!? LMAO

Love the photo. A cutie then and a cutie now. I remember using tons of RAVE back then. A can a week. Or more. Really. It's a wonder my lungs are still functioning after the hairspray fog each morning. Daddy still kids me about it. (1986 graduate, so I was smack in the middle of the "Big Hair 80's" craze.

Way to work that old-style media, girl! Good NYT article, and they did finally get in a mention of the book at the end, spelling it right and everything. But, in the ForeWord article, they say it's a novel. Does this mean the book is NOT TRUE, or are they fools who don't know the difference between fiction and non-fiction?

Confession: I totally cut my own bangs after seeing Notes From a Scandal.

It is a novel ... that happens to be true. Names were changed to protect the people who had those names! LOL

Laurie,

THE NEW YORK TIMES?????? That's it, girl. You are famous!!! Could you BE more adorable in the article?? I am so unbelievably proud of you!! Woo hoooooo!!

I'm going out to buy it right now. Literally.

I love you, sweetie! I'm just so happy for all the attention you're getting that you are so deserving of. I can't wait for my book to come. It's my Harry Potter!

Wow! Your PR person is awesome sporting you in the NYT. I have a thought---you live in LA--there's go to be someone there that can weave some bangs onto the front of your hair so you can try the look temporarily...

Lord have mercy. I never had hair like that, but I swear, my sister had the exact same 'do. We all used to call her Rooster Comb Head.

I'm going to go read your article now.

Super-hot hair, lady! With all the 80s fashion that's so back in style, it's surprising this hair hasn't come back with it. Surprising and sad, really.

Congratulations on the NYT -- I'm headed over there right now to check it out. You rock!

I have always hated having bangs. Hated. I wanted to grow them out again from the moment after my first haircut at age 7 (necessitated by a dreaded school-wide bout of headlice - up to then I was known for having very long hair). After that, Mom insisted that I keep my hair mid-short and trimmed. She had very few nagging points, but that was one. She also thought bangs were "cute." I suffered through years of "feathering" and "layering" but drew the line at a perm.

First thing I did when I moved away to college? Stopped getting haircuts beyond removing the split ends and let it all grow to the same long length, except for that one unfortunate setback sophomore year after a particularly stressful week, where I said, "Do something different, but whatever you do, DO NOT give me bangs, I'm trying to let them grow in." And then I had to take off my glasses, without which I'm blind, and when I put them back on, I not only had bangs, they were short ones. KILL.

It took years to finally grow htem in properly, but at least I was able to do it while in my early 20s, before I had totally outgrown the barrett and headband look. Never again. They look "cute" on some people. I decided before I could read that "cute", when used in reference to me, was a four-letter word.

Ok, I read the article. Loved it! You were very charming and funny.

HOWEVER, I am NOT getting bangs no matter how stylish they become. I have had very bad bang experiences in my life, one of which involved a drunken college roommate with lefty scissors.

Great article, you writer AND THEN graphic designer!!

I just had my bangs trimmed yesterday and I'm 47 - no one is too old for bangs, baby, but they are the devil, you either want them and then hate them, or have them and then want them grown out.

Who else but Miss Laurie could turn Bangs into an interesting article?

You Rock On and On!

I just Bang!

Brilliant article! I could only get into the Times by shooting a celebrity.

I gave up on bangs years ago, and now wear the whole mess in a ponytail or bun, with one lonely pin/barrette to keep things in order. What can I say? I'm a child of the 60s. Actually the 50s, if you want to be technical about it, but I grew up in the 60s.

Remember those tortoiseshell-plastic-covered pins, like overgrown bobby pins, that every drugstore in America used to carry? Apparently they no longer exist; what do exist are all kinds of sparkly-rhinestony mutant ones. At my advanced age (do the math, I'm not doing it for you) I don't do sparkly. Pleeeez, hair-foufou manufacturers, if you're reading this, bring back the plain ones!

OK. I'm back having read the article, and one thing is perfectly evident: you've got The Bangs Solution right here in your curling-iron aqua-net styling. Duh! Shocking that they didn't address that. Shocking!

I hope some day someone will describe me as a thoroughly modern, well-functioning 36-years old. Ideally next year. (At least then the age will be right.)
I had gorgeous bangs when I was .... 5. And I do have the photos to prove it!
And I had dimples.

What a fun article. I was slightly nervous that you had a bad moment and got bangs, and it was a "regret" piece. Phew!

OMG! That article was adorable!! I absolutely loved it!!! You rock Laurie! I can't wait till your book comes out!! I've bought it!!!
They are right though! Bangs = cute husband stealers! My about to be X is now with an 18 yr old bang girl. I LMAO when I read this article! Thanks hun!! You are on your way to the top!!!

Oh my -- I think you are definitely uber cool, now that you've been quoted in the Times -- Fashion & Style section, no less! I'm glad they mentioned your book!

Congrats on the publicity and the fantastic quotes in the article!

I must say, however, as someone who can ONLY have bangs and can't ever have anything else (I've tried, believe me), what's the big deal? I mean, really, a cry for help from over-30's who want to recapture their youth? Having more sex? Is that what people think? I'm definitely not getting that vibe! And also, my bangs are wash and go.

I did, however, once trim my bangs with a cuticle scissors. :)

Is it true? Can you really get "eyebrown acne" from bangs??? Is there honestly a regime around caring for them??? I've been doing it all wrong I guess! But then I have never had eyebrow acne. Nice article, I am so glad you were the opening and closing remarks.

You remind me of the young actress that played Sabrina the Teenage Witch.

YOU ARE IN THE NEW YORK TIMES!!!! And it is such a cute article. Very cool!

Cute article. Ok so I had hair just like that and I grew up in the north. LOL Man the ozone layer that I killed.

Laurie, I have always, always envied girls like you, with straightish hair that can be banged and feathered and held in place, that falls gracefully instead of sticking out all over. I never really wanted the high wall of bangs in high school (just as well, my curls would never, ever have stood up like that) but I desperately wanted that soft feathered look at the sides. Never going to happen. I do think your current hairstyle would look totally cute with bangs, though. Mind you, I'm the sort of 35 year old woman who walks down the street in barrettes (the bright plastic Goody ones shaped like bows and butterflies, of course) so maybe my opinion should be disregarded.

Anyway. I do have a serious question for you. Do you think that I should get bangs? (I know. I'm serious, though).

Ooooh, NYT! BIG TIME! Congrats on the quotes.

I've had bangs most my life, and when I haven't had them, I've been unhappy. When I buzz cut my hair just before I lost it all to chemo, I saw why bangs were one of the few things that work on me -- 2/3 of my hair growth is heading for my forehead. My head WANTS bangs. And the cowlick in the front doesn't help. I never thought bangs were sexy; I always thought they were very 6th grade.

For the last several years (well, before losing all my hair) I wanted Asian Girl bangs (thanks, Anna-Liza, for the term!) and kept getting Betty Page bangs from my hipper-than-me stylist. I was always disappointed, yet I knew better than to grow it out, because it would be all in front of my eyes and I'd forever look like a dork.

For others with bangs, is it as weird for you to read about all the fuss over bangs, or is this just evidence of my cluelessness? Mon dieu, I never worked one tenth as hard on my bangs as what those stylists suggest! Of course, that might explain my hairstyling issues:

http://www.alixnorth.com/hairstyling-cautionary-tale

AWESOME! I thought the cool place in the whole durn LA area was right there in Encino Adjacent...

Bravo for being in NYT...as writer and graphic designer and your first book title is in there and everything. Gee, I'm so proud to 'know' you.

I'm laughing at the bangs: I took my barrett out in the corporate bathroom mirror this morning; my bangs almost grown out but have the 'escaped dueling cowlicks but flopping at the end look' going. arghghg. And, of course, I am considering cutting them again...when will I learn!

You rock!

I too have bang envy. But then I remember I hate having hair on my face for any reason and would probably last about 3 minutes before I was breaking out the headbands to keep it off my face.

I had an elaborately constructed confection of bangs, too, kept them for years--I was convinced they balanced the rest of my fluffy, curly hair--and finally had the courage to change the whole 'do into something more natural. Old hair habits die hard.

Oh my goodness, the NYT! Haven't you been mentioned in the WSJ, too? You are quite the media maven! Congratulations, and I can't wait to get the book.

Great, now I want bangs.

I knew you were going to be in the New York Times, but I always figured it was going to be because of your writing, not your hair!

Whew! Thank you SO much. I'd been considering bangs myself. The NYT article was like an intervention for me. "Hi, I'm Tamara, and I used to have bangs..."

Great article! I also grew up in the era of satellite-dish bangs so I don't think I can bring myself to ever get bangs again. Maybe the long wispy bang-wannabes, but that's about it.

girlus aquanettus is the funniest thing I have EVER read!!

I'm proud to say that I finally shed my lifelong bangs just last year! I always thought my forehead was too high to go without. But I finally realized my forehead is fine!

Bang (sort of) Problems:
When I was in the 5th grade I decided my forehead was too low - so naturally I shaved (yes shaved) the front of my hair back about 1/2 an inch from my forehead. Surprisingly this turned out to be a bad idea.

Great article!!

I am still suffering from PTBS - Post Traumatic Bang Syndrome. My mom used to cut my bangs for me. I have a natural wave in my hair. She always cut them way too short and crooked. Every school picture of me involves stairstep bangs about four inches too short. Buckets of tears were shed every few months over badly cut bangs. When I was old enough to make my own decisions I moved to the side part and have never looked back I still cry over my hair but not as often.

DON'T GET BANGS!

I did the cute short-short one's in September 2006. I've been growing them out ever since and they're only down to my lips now.

Hated the way they made my round face look even rounder.

Wow! The New York Times! You're famouser than ever. Could you autograph my blog?

OMG, I am so impressed. You are everywhere. Both of those articles are fun. I admire a sense of humor more than just about anything. And 2 careers - you are so talented. And yes I pretend to know you too. Keep it up glamour girl.
Your cyber friend.

I'm with Amy. The coolest place to be is in the kiddie pool out back of Purl's house (Cabernet optional). Yay Laurie!

i had bangs for years, and will probably go back to them. they suit me pretty well.

that was a cute article- but i have to admit, the last comment? totally made me think of the stitchy mc yarnpants luncheon. :D

Hey Laurie! First time caller, long time listener...

Here's the thing. I've almost always had bangs, and looking back to the time that I grew my hair out, I looked really, really awful. This is because my forehead is a MILE LONG. I am not kidding. I could have made a few bucks by renting out my forehead as a BILLBOARD. So, like Alix up there, I have never understood the big deal, because I just look like a big ole dumbass without them. Seriously, I'm not trying to be all hip, I swear!

So see, you're one of the lucky ones, because you can go both ways! (I didn't mean that to be as pervy as it sounds...) Whatever you decide, you're still gonna be gorgeous, darlin. :)

LOL. Great article-even better quotes.

i love how youre so nonchalant about being the the new york times! id be carrying it around with me, waving it in ppl's faces lol

Great article...you don't sound crazy at all and I think you'd look cute in bangs. Those of us with curly hair...not so much.

You are such a hot shot! And a cutie patootie too!

This begs the mention of one of my favorite They Might Be Giants Songs...Bangs.

Bangs
Above your eyes your hair hangs
Blow my mind, your royal flyness
I dig your bangs
Bangs
To drape across your forehead
To swing concordant angles
As you incline your head...

etc. Lyrics here if you're interested:
http://tmbw.net/wiki/Lyrics:Bangs_(TMBG_Unlimited)

Search youtube for TMBG and Bangs for some lipsync videos.

Congratulations Laurie for the NYT mention.

Is obsessing about bangs a generational thing? I go back and forth with them, but never get crazy about them. I'd rather get crazy about other things...

How exciting to be in the New York Times and not be scandal-ridden or too serious for your own good.
I think that you already achieved a level of fabulousness that bangs alone could not provide.
I mean, the entire fashion and style section article begins with your emboldened name!
Break out the bubbly, my innernet friend is famous for like the 5th time this year...and it's only July.

NYT????? OMG! You ROCK!

Seriously too - what a fascinating article! I had no idea there was so much "baggage" attached to having bangs? Only a style for under 30s? "Cute husband-stealers?" Do what???

Every woman in my office has long, straight hair either parted in the middle, or swept straight back, no bangs. I have no idea what to do with mine, so I have been growing it out, and with the humidity turning it into a ball of frizz, it usually winds up in a pony tail at the end of the day. I look awful with it pulled straight back but I'd look hideous with bangs - chipmunk cheeks, check! - so I have no idea what to do. I am afraid my hair guy may be mad at me for staying away so long.

Man I was a kid in the 80's BUT my mom would transfer her desire for puff bangs onto her defensless child...I totally rocked the puff bang, crimped side pony all through elementary school...I was a totall looker. I think I have a friend that still has his Crimping Iron from 82

omg, i totally had that hairdo in MY senior photo!

That looks so much like my senior picture that it actually scares me a little bit. My mam still has that thing hanging in her hallway. I had on way less tasteful jewelry than you did, but the hair--it's almost the exact same.

It's funny... I've spent the last several months resisting the urge to trim my bangs, letting them grow out instead. And *now* they are oh-so-stylish suddenly? Eh. I'm sticking to my guns. After all, by the time these are grown out, perhaps the bangs will be less fashionable again. In the meantime, I am a 36 year old woman wearing many scarves and headbands and things tied in my hair.

Wow, great article. I tried cutting my bangs myself and ended up at the hairdressers for triage. He had to cut them really short to even them out and I learned my lesson. Ugh. Cool that they mentioned your book in the article!! Now, you're more Google-able than ever.

Aunt Purl, you are *awesome*! And speaking of the 80's I am currently being inflicted with Bon Jovi's "She's A Little Runaway". Bright Havens!

Oh honey, we ALL had big hair in the eighties. It wasn't just a southern thing. But I do think that you southern gals cornered the market on it. :)

Bangs can also point out that your hair is thinning in front a smidge. It's like that guy who shaved his head for years, and then started letting it grow in, only to discover he had a bald spot. I cut bangs now, and the thinning in front suddenly gets REALLY obvious. It was tragic.

I had no idea that my bangs were man-stealers! I added a big 'ol faux ponytail (wigs.com rocks!) and now I look like Veronica from Archie! Watch your menfolk, ladies!

Seriously, Laurie, no bangs! No bangs! But I do secretly covet your aerodynamic '80s bangs. If only I didn't have such skinny hair! ;)

D

I just read that NY Times article, and was delighted to see one of my fav bloggers quoted. And I was happy to come back here to post a congratulatory comment, only to be welcomed by a totally rad photo.

You are just too fabulous. NYT!?!

Oh, and I had the same hairdo in the late 80's - only I had a curly perm to go with the bangs!!!

I'm one of those people who look atrocious without bangs. Even when I was growing out my short hair to shoulder length, I kept my bangs. (The whole hair-growing-out experience was to please a man. Go figure.)

I wouldn't worry to much about the ozone damage. My only styling product is water, so I'm certain I averaged out your carbon footprint.

Laurie, I rather thought that chipmunk cheeks were the perfect match with bangs.

Oh my, I've been reading your posts for awhile now- thoroughly enjoying them mind you- and only now discover that we share the same last night! Which means we're totally not related, but still! *laughs*

Just had to say. And I think you sounded great in the article. It is a serious decision that every woman must make.

You are freakin' famous! Not just blog, or book, but the NY TIMES!!! How cool are you?

Personally, I am thrilled that headbands came back into style this year. Not that a little thing like style has ever played much into my decisions... but it's made life as my bangs grow out WAY easy!

And, I highly recommend getting lost in the fantasy world of Harry Potter one of these days!

Great article in the NYT - Laurie Perry, author and graphic designer... wheeeeeeee!!!!!! You have arrived!

But you'll have to tell Aahron off about the chipmunk cheeks remark - you do NOT have chipmunk cheeks. You have prominent cheek bones like many great beauties.

LAURIE PERRY is a thoroughly modern, well-functioning 36-year-old....

That must be your evil twin cause we know the truth here.....hehe

WTG Laurie. Remember us after you sign that movie deal....;)

Interesting fact about bangs: apparently in the South, there is a Secret Code. I did not know the code, and ended up with a mullet. I kid you not.

I lived in Atlanta for a year (work moved me there - I moved myself back). One day I went into the neighborhood Supercuts and asked for bangs. The stylist asked "Do you want light bangs, or heavy bangs?"

Now I have very thick hair, so light bangs - I'm picturing those little wispy things - would look totally wrong. Naturally, I ask for "heavy." Not realizing that "heavy bangs" mean "they start at a point halfway back your head." What we in the civilized world would call a mullet.

I ran straight to a "real" salon the next day, in tears, and begged the stylist person to fix it fix it, omfg please fix it. She did, I ended up with short hair, but it looked great, and I tipped her like 80%.

I read the NYT article online this morning, and the name didn't click until the mention of your book, then I bounced in my chair, went back to the beginning of the article, and reread it.

I have gorgeous loose corkscrew curls that only require a little "curly hair" gel to do their thing frizz-free. Lucky me...but I never have the option for straight hair (a blowout lasts until one molecule of moisture from forehead or sky gets near the hair). And I never know what to do with the front. My usual style, when I'm not rockin' the outfit-coordinated headband or claw clip (pulling the front back Veronica-Hamel-circa-Hill-Street-Blues style) is a simple side part. Boring. But curly.

Love the pic and the article!

You are HAWT! And famous :)

ha! so cute you with the big hair there. (by the way, there are women around here who still wear their hair like that.)

and who knew i was so cutting edge with my big fringe of bangs that i of course cut myself. i won't jump out of a plane or ride on the back of joe's scooter, but i'll cut my own bangs.

And we can say we read your musings back in the day. When your fabulousness was only known by a small in-the-know crowd.

I am a tiny amount over 30 (12 years or so...) and I have bangs. I am squirming a bit now. Am I so unhip or too past it? I go to a very hip salon and they always tell me I need bangs (narrow forehead.) Does the picture improve if I say I wear them slightly sideswept?

OMG I am PAST IT!!!!

Laurie, You opened the article. Touch you!! You ARE famous. Did you read what that stylist said?

“If someone comes to me and wants a full bang for the first time,” said Steve Berg, a stylist at Robert G Salon in the West Village,
“there are automatically some questions I’m going to ask, like,

‘Did you break up with someone?’

Or, ‘Are you on your period?’

Excuse me but isn't that just a little bit rude?

p.s. sorry to be so self-obssessed. You were totally cute in the article.

Ummm...I'm more than a tiny amount over 30 (try 14 years) and I have bangs. My forehead requires it, or it will mutiny. I listen to whatever my forehead says.

I have feathered bangs after wearing long straight hair for years.

Oh, and it's never longer than my collar now, either.

Some of us old ladies just gave up giving a damn and just want it easy to take care of now.

I'm so glad I'm past the hair thing.

You girls have fun now! LOL!
.

Great article! The caption under the picture reminds me of a running joke at my high school (I graduated in '92):
Q: How do you start a girl fight in the hallway?
A: Drop a coupon for Aqua Net on the floor.

I'm too old for bangs but if I weren't that article would certainly dissuade me. Sounds like way too much work.

NYT! Fun. Impressive.

Congrats on that NYT article!

Oh my! I remember that hair. I will also state that I steadfastly refused to follow that hair trend. OK, perhaps I ought to clarify that my hair refused to follow that trend--too curly/frizzy and I was too lazy to fight it. (Still am.)

Thank you SO much for the giggle, and the warning. I was thinking dire thoughts of chopping my hair

(due to the stress of last year's divorce which was how I started reading your blog anyway, I lost a BUNCH of hair, and had to cut it.. )

Now, it is all in the in-between-stage of long, and shoulder-length.

I will refrain from cutting bangs... I will I will I will.

And OH! The article!

Laurie, this article and the one you cited yesterday... you are just so adorable and funny that you for sure have even MORE great things in store for you.

And to think we knew you when!

[couldn't be prouder if you were my own dawter!]
.

How cool are you to be in the NYT and not have to be a serial killer or Page 6 slut? Good work chica!

I confess the whole bangs thing confuses me. Of course, I'm a guy. There are about five "acceptable" hairstyles I'm allowed before people begin talking about age appropriate this or compensation for that. Even in the article, some woman is going off about how someone with bangs is either a husband-devourer or a pity case. From Cathy to Cthulu with one pass of the scissors.

I support your bang curiosity! Either way, you'll look great.

Next time you're tempted, Google photos of Mamie Eisenhower. She's the most famous bang disaster in history.

It's an important issue!!

Now, let's get you into the New York Times Book Review, shall we? BTW, adorable photo!

How funny, I read the article BEFORE I visited your site and did not make the connection, I'm sorry! But what a surprise it was to find out it was you. Having cow-licks and wavy hair give me a huge case of bang envy. I'm so excited and happy for you.

Bangs are nice, especially if you have a big foe-head.

...you don't, but I do!

We used to call those a 5-head LOL

Ok, did anyone get a little pit in their stomach at the thought that Purl may get so famous one day (soon!) that she'll up and leave us? K, just me then...

And I've always had bangs. It's a safety thing like my glasses - a layer blocking me from the world.

[Girlus Aquanettus] is hilarious! My personal poison was RAVE hairspray. It came in tornado-strength hold, I think.

And I was reading the article, actually considering bangs, until I read the chipmunk cheeks part. I have those. Plus, when I have bangs, I look like Sally Field in "Gidget."

AAAHHHHH, I can't believe you're in the NY Times! I mean, I understand your from LA via the South and all, but up here that beats being mentioned in the Bible. God! Now I want bangs. The only thing keeping me from doing it is the "Orion's belt of acne" cause that would totally be me.

Fabulous article!

I used so much Aqua Net Extra Super Hold I'm lucky I'm not permanently embalmed in it. Red can! One can a week! A WHOLE CAN!!!!! The madness!

That black dress and pearl thing ensemble is definitely a southern thing. My cousin moved to Georgia and had the exact same senior picture.

O.M.G.! I was just sitting here reading the NY Times and it mentioned your book. I immediately thought, "Is that *my* Crazy Aunt Purl? The one with the blog?"

Oh how cool. You have made it, dahling!

So, your former bangs were SO famous that even NYTimes writers know about them? Wowza. Seriously, how did they know?

I am 58 and have had bangs for 25ish years, having been denied them in my youth. Had no idea they meant I was sexy and dangerous to other women's husbands. Land sakes alive. ;)

you know all this stuff started with a choice we made back in the late 70's and then the 80's....will i do the dorothy hamill, or the farah fawcett? i started with the dorothy hamill and let it eventually grow out into the layered 80's long/updo thingie too. for me this was achieved only with a perm. never quite got the "look" though. sadly i had no stylist posse available. and also sadly no image stylist to tell me the HUGE shoulderpads did NOT make my ass look any smaller. it just made my neck look shorter. btw hair will grow out, no matter what you do to it. if you want to try something new, then just do it and stop obsessing...unless its pleasureable for you? hee,hee,hee...

Well . . . I got bangs when I was eighteen and then suddenly I got sooooo many compliments and magically, guys became interested in me. Bangs are powerful, you know. I still have them to this day. I am now nineteen.

That hair in that year (1989) wasn't just restricted to Southern USA. We had it too in Central Queensland Australia. I know I definitely tried it in 1989 - 16 years old and finishing grade 12. Like Laurie I also have blonde straight long hair. My graduation photo is soooo much like that one.

WOW! The NYT, pretty impressive ;) I'm very honored to be in the 'so hot I can steal your husband' category since I had bangs cut in last haircut LOL.... here I thought I was being a rebel and it turns out I'm 'in'! WAHOO!!! I guess getting sick of looking at my forehead puts me ahead of the curve

Did you get ever so bit of a fluttery feeling in your stomach when you realized you'd be in the NYT? You are becoming a literary "It" girl!!

On an aside, I am 1) currently growing out bangs with the SLOWEST GROWING HAIR EVER, we hates them, precious...and 2) Followed up your article with the one on Junie B Jones who I started reading when I worked at B&N and can't wait to start reading to my kids. Those books are absolutely hysterical. Occasionally, I laugh so hard I cry. Or pee. That funny. Love me my Junie B. If people are so worried about grammar, they should never let their kids watch interviews on the news, for pete's sake.

Congrats Laurie! SO proud of you!

The article cracked me up!

And the pouf? UGH...me and almost every girl in my high school had it too. Fourtunately I started growing them out about the end of 10th grade and by senior year all trace of them was gone!

The NYT - MAJOR publicity score! Congrats!

Me - I have the opposite of board straight hair. My bangs in grade school actually flipped up in the front. The rest of my hair that I wanted to flip up? It curled, corkscrewed, frizzed and did everything BUT flip up. Just the bangs. I was the only little blonde girl in town that could actually manage a full on Afro if I wanted. I learned early on - bangs are not for moi.

It's so true. Every so often, I consider going back to my Betty Paige bangs!

My sister had those bangs. Hers were courtesy of White Rain, but they stood firm even in a gale.

I had those bangs in 1989. My personal favourite hairspray was called Stiff Stuff, and it came in huge 18 inch tall cans. Killed my share of ozone with ya babe. And let me join in the chorus of congratulations for your debut in the NYT - you're making it in new york!!

Imagine my surprise to come home yesterday from the salon (where my daughter struggled the way only a teenager can about having bangs cut into her long, wavy hair), open the paper, and slowly realize that the person being used as an example was you! And I found this site by pure accident, through a knitting site. Well, congrats on your extra celebrity, and... I thought you wrote exceptionally well!

Way to get major media free advertising on your book! Best quote: “For some reason, it’s something women always decide to do when they’re drinking,” Ms. Solano said. LOL. No trauma like bangs. My mom started mine halfway back my head and used crookedly applied Scotch tape to "make a straight line." It was always too short on one side so she'd do it again and again and keep getting it wrong until it was six inches above my heavy eyebrows. Gawd. Never again!

I so know your doppelganger!! She doesn't much look like you in your current pics, but she could be the twin of the you in this pic. It's tripping me out, lol.

Congrats on the NYT mention--that's so awesome!

Wow, I had no idea there was that much going on behind bangs. I had bangs well into high school and always hated them because they never hung strait (read: perfect) and it irritated me to no end. My bangs were like the rest of my hair--unruly. It also didn't help that my mom usually cut my bangs so, more than once, they wound up uneven and I constantly looked like I was raising an eyebrow. I've since grown, thinned, and side-parted mine out and refuse to ever go back those solid bangs.

I HAVE to have bangs to cover the wrinkles in my forehead, I will not do Botox or surgery. They are ok, and so am I at 50 plus.

Bangs are evil.

And I want them.

I'm 44, and I've had bangs ever since my twenties, when my then-stylist looked at my forehead and cut them in. I have enough forehead for 2 people at least! So, the bangs stay. They've never been high maintenance, and I've been known to trim them myself. If you know how, it's easy.

I grew out my bangs for eight months, and then three weeks before my wedding chopped them back again. I think they give my face some "angles" and balance out the roundness of my cheeks.

Great article! NYT! Woo-hoo!

My Gourd. I have never in my life put that much thought into bangs. I'm 33 and have some, because my forehead is big, but I had no idea it made me seem immature and desperate.

Hmm. The purple stripes in my hair probably don't help. Oh well! :-D

Always funny.
Even in the New York Times!
How cool are you?

I just thought of something...
You're just like Carrie Bradshaw,
without the sex.

:o)

stick straight hair??? consider yourself lucky. veeeeery lucky. i grew up in baton rouge. and i have naturally curly hair. all i ever wanted was to look like farrah fawcet. but for 90% of the year, i could only pull of rosanna rosannadanna.

cute picture by the way. that's what i looked like when i LEFT for school on those august picture mornings. when i GOT there ... it was a different story, missy.

Laurie, I hope I don't offend you by saying this...but you are *really* absolutely adorably cute, LOL. I love everything you write on your blog--you always make me smile and laugh, even when I've had a totally rotten day.

I can't wait to get your book! Three cheers for Laurie! :)

Hello, you writer and graphic designer, you! I have had a bob haircut forever, and have convinced myself for just as long that the Louise Brooks bang-n-bob look would totally change my life and my fashion sense. Two years ago when I cut bangs myself (no alcohol involved), my husband said that I looked like I was ready for a PTA meeting. The dreaded curl-under-like-11th-grade look. Can't win.

hooray for the 80s look! from a grad of 1986 :o)

Well. it's about damn time that Rihana girl got some bangs... the chile has a fivehead. That's right. Not a forehead!

PS - cool article!

Laurie - good article. Not to sound sappy, but damn I am happy for you! I loove to read anything that you come up with. Honestly !

Coming out of anonymity so say wha? I've had bangs my entire life, like many others I HAVE to have them. I am crazy jealous of the other 95% of women who can show their foreheads and still be attractive.
Never heard anything about too young, man stealing, hipster cool anything before.

Well now that I'm here, great article and I love your blog!

You made the Times?!?! Honey, you have ARRIVED!!

I just want to do a call out to the class of '89... represent! (and that looks like so many pictures from my yearbook...)