I’m in a more dyspeptic mood than usual today, so when this came across my news feed I almost went into Cole SMASH mode:
Hillary Clinton’s entourage — four big black cars plus her top aide Huma Abedin — was spotted outside Bergdorf Goodman on Wednesday morning waiting as the presidential hopeful got her $600 haircut.
According to one witness, “Hillary’s entourage was blocking traffic early this morning, and waiting as Hillary got her hair done before heading up to do an event at the Apollo Theater in Harlem.”
Clinton gets her hair done at the John Barrett Salon by John Barrett personally, who we previously reported charges $600 for a haircut, plus an extra $600 for color.
It’s not clear how much Clinton pays for a private audience with Barrett, and her reps didn’t respond to requests for comment. But usually, the store closes off a private entrance and elevator bank for her arrival.
They’re quite literally recycling anti-Clinton stories right now:
It may have been the most expensive haircut in history.
Two of Los Angeles International Airport’s four runways were shut down for nearly an hour on Tuesday, some incoming flights were delayed and Air Force One sat on the tarmac with engines running — all so that President Clinton’s Beverly Hills hairstylist, Chistophe, could come aboard and give Mr. Clinton a high-price trim before he took off for Washington.
Questions about Mr. Clinton’s runway razor cut dominated the White House news briefing today, with the communications director, George Stephanopoulos, scrambling to explain why the populist President tied up one of the country’s busiest airports to have his hair trimmed.
The author of that second piece on Bill Clinton- none other than Tom Friedman.
The simple fact of the matter is that no matter where the President or those under secret service protection go, it fucks things up. Blaming the protected for snarling traffic is just a lazy hit piece. She could have had her fucking hair cut there by me after a bottle of bathtub gin for the price of six bucks and a pokemon card and it would have fucked up traffic. It’s just how it is.
I hate our media.
JMG
How does one determine if traffic in midtown Manhattan is extra-snarled? Does it go backwards?
Trentrunner
MSM always feminizes Dems re the hair/appearance: Bill Clinton’s expensive haircut, Gore color consultants, John Edwards = “I Feel Pretty” Breck Girl, now Hillary’s hair.
I guaranf*ckingtee that Donald Trump spends FAR more time and money on whatever that is on his head than even Hillary does…but nothing in the media about THAT, is there?
BottyGuy
The sub head should have read: Mentally unhinged Americans with too many guns caused traffic snarl in Manhattan yesterday.
MattF
Friedman, in particular, has been left behind since… oh, I guess sometime in 2004. He’s been in deep conversation with his armpit for the past few years and is now barely coherent. On a good day.
StellaB
Yeah, well Bernie cuts his own hair!
Gian
I bet Jerry Brown doesn’t have haircut problems :)
BGinCHI
@StellaB: Bernie’s hair cuts itself.
The good news, Cole, is that if this is all the MSM and GOP have to carp about, they ain’t got shit.
Mnemosyne
@Trentrunner:
I’ll be interested to see if that backfires on conservatives the same way that actually having a Black president backfired on all of the “n-lover” smears they would throw onto white Democrats. Somehow, that dog whistle turned into an actual, Trump-sounding whistle once those smears were applied to an actual Black man.
Hoodie
@Trentrunner: At least her hair looks good. If he’s paying $600 for that look, he’s not the negotiator he claims to be. Seeing how so many think it is important how she looks, they have a hell of nerve complaining when she seeks out the best to make her look good. More power to her if she can find someone she trusts.
Mnemosyne
@StellaB:
With a Flowbee, if I’m not mistaken.
;-)
Julie
Actually, it will be interesting to see how this lands. Because we ladies are expected to spend a lot of time and money on our appearance. I used to regularly drop $300 on a cut and color when I lived back East — and that was 15 years ago and I’m not someone who’s on TV all the time…
The people who hate her are going to hate her, but for everyone else (especially women) this seems like a big ‘eh, whatever.’
SP
And it was all bullshit, just like the rest on the Clinton “scandals” and Gore campaign stories.
JCJ
@StellaB:
Well, As Stephen Colbert said, he certainly combs his hair with a balloon.
Mnemosyne
@Julie:
Yep, it’s the sexist bind that most women are familiar with: we’re expected to spend thousands of dollars each year for haircuts, makeup, skin care, gym memberships, clothes, etc and then be shamed for being so “frivolous.” I am very happy to be married to a man who genuinely doesn’t like me in makeup (I only wear it for special occasions) and yet I do spend $200 a pop on my hair and buy $50 face wash.
Mike Nilsen
$600 is pretty economical for a politician/celebrity cut these days
Jeffro
Which Pokemon card, John? My 10-year-old wants to know
Julie
@Mnemosyne: Totally hear you. It’s part of the “Lady Tax” we have to pay for being female. That said, I do choose to do a lot of those things, because I genuinely like working out and expensive shoes. :) Luckily, these days I’ve found someone fantastic who does my cut/highlights for less than $100 (including tip!) — which is frankly amazing.
My husband doesn’t care whether I wear make-up and in the environment I work in it’s definitely optional — but I choose to wear it because I like it and think it’s fun.
Miss Bianca
@Mnemosyne:
You just reminded me – I was wondering, “who was I planning to email today?” Duh, it was the guy who does my waxing! Gotta be nice and smooth when I get up to lobby for my public lands plank at the Democratic delegate meeting next month! You never know who might be watching and discounting my words because they’re so distracted by my eyebrows!
(modest amount of snark involved)
Brachiator
@Trentrunner:
Trump flies his personal helicopter or airplane back home to have his hair done. Or something like that.
When Obama comes to town for a speech or fundraiser, the local radio conservative talk show snots go ballistic about Obama’s “arrogance” and how dare he inconvenience real white Americans with his blackness. Some racist dopes actually go so far as to suggest that Obama should just stay in the White House for his entire term because otherwise they have to think about his being their president, an idea too horrible to contemplate.
In any event, the Clinton hair thing is a non story which I am forgetting about already.
WarMunchkin
Man, I remember when this was a John Edwards story. Or really any other Democratic politician. And it’s always specifically haircut. Nobody ever gave a shit about shaving. Just hair on the head.
So weird.
OzarkHillbilly
SSDC- Same Shit Different Clinton
goblue72
Its not about the traffic – its about the $1200 for a fucking haircut and dye job. Its the kind of “own goal”, out of touch, too much of her life spent inside a bubble of privilege shit that rubs regular folks the wrong way.
There’s a reason that shots of Sanders flying coach took off as a hashtag on Twitter – the idea of dropping $1200 on a haircut is insulting to folks – especially the under-45’s – who can’t even scrape enough together for a downpayment on a starter home, let alone figure out how they are ever going to afford college for their kids.
Michelle Obama – despite a taste for trendy boutique designers like Isabel Toledo, Jason Wu and Thakoon – won over middle American Oprah-mainlining housewives by visibly buying shit off the rack at J Crew. And the President – who probably knows exactly who Grant Achatz, Charlier Trotter and Carrie Nahabedian are, seems to make a point of regularly running out for lunch at some DC area take-out joint.
Hoodie
@Mike Nilsen: And Donald Trump probably has many multiples of that invested in custom suits, shirts and gaudy cufflinks. The crap female pols have to put up is unbelievable. What I don’t get is why you would want your president to show up in cloth coat and a ‘do from Supercuts. The Obamas can get away with simple stuff because they’re both tall and thin and relatively young, kind of like a supermodel can wear a burlap bag and look good. Most folks need to go a little further, and I think Hillary looks pretty damn good for a 68-year old who’s in the middle of a grueling campaign. Bernie seems pretty healthy, too. They both look better than that bloated orange windbag Trump.
Gin & Tonic
Bergdorf’s is at the corner of fucking 5th Av and 57th St – the only time you *don’t* have traffic problems there is at 5:00 am on a Sunday.
OzarkHillbilly
@JCJ: I read that as “combs his hair with a babboon”. I just might be right.
MattF
@Gin & Tonic: Hmm. Right by Trump Tower.
Gin & Tonic
@goblue72: Not that I’d expect a rational answer, but what would you prefer she do with her hair?
Gin & Tonic
@OzarkHillbilly: So, see, I wasn’t the only one the other day who thought “baboon ass” was misspelled.
a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)
@Miss Bianca: Hey how was the party? We were Bundyless at the end of the day, which is generally a very good thing.
Gin & Tonic
@MattF: If you had a good arm and a nice projectile, you could stand in front of Bergdorf’s and hit Trump Tower with said projectile. Not that I’d ever recommend that, of course.
OzarkHillbilly
@Gin & Tonic: I spell it R-e-p-u-b-l-i-c-a-n.
chopper
@StellaB:
naw, it’s just that every day a revolution happens and the top 1% of his hair disappears.
Mandarama
Clinton’s hair looks fantastic, and I got a big kick out of her encouraging Jimmy Fallon to touch it and see that it is real: “Well, not the color, but the hair itself is,” she said. When Clinton used to have her more natural hair, pundits called her frumpy. If I were her I would toss those beautiful highlights and shoot them the middle finger.
Plus, I’m not important and I’m not on TV or photographed or scrutinized, and I pay quite a bit for a cut and color–ain’t about to be embarrassed about it, neither.
liberal
IMHO this is the best parody of the Mustache of Understanding: “The Datsun and the Shoe Tree”
chopper
@Gin & Tonic:
supercuts! and then people would bitch and moan about how she looks like hell.
liberal
@goblue72: Nah. Who would ever think that Obama is a more natural politician than HRC?
Alex.S
It’s sadly amusing. All the non-Trump candidates are having normal political stories written. Simple stuff like “How will you win” or nonsense stuff like “How they ate pizza”.
And then WTF?!TRUMP!? happens and there’s a sad realization that he really is the Republican frontrunner. And he recently spent a day arguing that his campaign manager was saving him from a reporter armed with a pen.
liberal
@Hoodie:
Hmm…but do we really know what he looks like without it?
Keith P.
Recycling the same story from 2008 (Edwards) and 1992 (B. Clinton). Only thing that changes is they jack up the dollar amount by a couple hundred bucks each time. Obama was spared for somewhat obvious reasons. Came from the same (old) playbook as “unnamed lawmaker says 147 agents on the case.”
liberal
@MattF:
LOL. He’s always been a blithering fool, since way before 2004. It’s not clear to me which is a greater crime…thinking he’s some kind of intellectual, or that Newt Gingrich is.
chopper
i don’t think many men understand how much work it is to make a woman of her age’s hair look really good. it’s easy when you have a 25-year old’s head of hair. at 70 or so it becomes more difficult and expensive, unless you happen to be blessed with really good genes.
men don’t have to worry about this as bernie can attest.
liberal
@Trentrunner: Complete agree, but I’m also interested in the other side: how they make right-wingers seem more genuine.
Like the entire “you could have a beer with Bush” thing…he always came across as an insincere creep to me.
Hoodie
@liberal: True, but why pick that? He might look better with a quality toupee or go the Telly Savalas route, with a lollipop and fedora.
schrodinger's cat
@Gin & Tonic: I am sure he would scoff like our media denizens who were not above making fun of her butterfly clips and scrunchies when she was SoS.
chopper
@Alex.S:
meanwhile, between the spray tan, makeup and rube-goldberg combover trump spends at least 3 hours a day just trying to look like that.
eemom
@JMG:
I lol’d. Also, good point.
piratedan
@OzarkHillbilly: perhaps they meant, had their hair combed by a baboon…. ymmv
Hoodie
@chopper: Some men have to worry about it, just depends on what you’ve got going for you. Some balding guys go for the shaved head because the Bernie style would make them look like the boss from Dilbert. Bernie looks cute with his snowy white bedhead.
Elie
@goblue72:
I can assure you, being a black woman with similar hair appearance to Michelle, that she spends and has spent mucho money on the hair thing. I spend a couple of hundred per month and I know she has someone doing her more frequently and comes to the House… so that is that. Its so easy to resent anyone who spends a lot of money — whether they can afford it or not, right? I can also assure you that if Bernie is President, he will get top of the line grooming and tailoring. They will clean up his ears and his nose hairs too. His wife will get her hair done (and I will say, she could use some assistance in this area) and her wardrobe upgraded to befit a representative of our country to the world.
(PS — do not bother to come after me for my bourgeois tastes, I do not care what you think. A President and his/her spouse should look top notch — )
Major Major Major Major
Forget it, Jake. It’s Page Six.
redshirt
@Hoodie: I thought that was the Bozo the Clown look.
Keith P.
@Elie: I found “Good Hair” to be an utterly fascinating documentary. I had zero clue how much time and money go into straightening and weaves, not to mention that hands and water are off-limits.
JPL
Breaking news.. Trump is leaving a meeting the Priebus. It would be ironic, if the RNC no longer supported him because of his statement about abortion. Alienating minorities and females are okay, but honestly stating that if a law is broken, there should be punishment.
pat
I love Hillary’s hair. I don’t care how much it cost, she looks great. And as more than one here has mentioned, how much does Trump actually pay for that…. thing on his head and who does it for him every day?
Elie
@chopper:
Ach — but the men have the ear hair and nose hair thing. Can get pretty unattractive if left completely alone.
Weaselone
@goblue72:
If Bernie were a woman and spent the same amount of effort, time and money on appearance as currently, she would have had to drop out of the race two days after Webb.
And stop with the BS of pretending that Hillary doesn’t eat at regular places. There was a whole two week period where her going unremarked at a Chipotle was big news.
goblue72
@WarMunchkin: John Edwards turned out to be a slime-bucket and fraud so the haircut stuff was entirely deserved.
Bill
@goblue72: Please tell us what amount of money is acceptable for Secretary Clinton to spend on her hair?
jl
@Elie:
” I can also assure you that if Bernie is President, he will get top of the line grooming and tailoring. They will clean up his ears and his nose hairs too. ”
BernieSlander! You must retract!
Would be hopeless anyway, a walking example of government waste. Should spend the money on Jane, his wife, instead.
Brachiator
@Mnemosyne:
Be fair. In Los Angeles, both men and women in a certain segment of society spend money on preening, and there are mutual expectations that men and women are supposed to look hot, work out, blah blah blah, etc.
Elie
@Keith P.:
You got it, man. I have been trying to rethink my strategy a bit — not only to save money but just to get to a different stage in my life. But yep, and now with the weaves and all, Lordy — those are thousands of dollars! And let me tell you, plenty of white women get those weaves as well. Got thin hair? If you got the dough, you can remake your whole head. Does anyone here think Beyoncé’s hair is all hers? Or JLo’s? Its theirs in that they paid for it…
PS — Stylists who do a lot of weaves and extensions have high risk for hand injury from the braiding etc that is at the root (so to speak) of these weaves — at least the longer lasting weaves which have a braided base and then are sewn in (yes, sewn) More temporary weaves are glued in.
Major Major Major Major
@Keith P.: Yeah, that was really eye-opening for me. Perhaps an odd term to use for a movie about haircuts, but it just wasn’t something I’d ever thought about much.
trollhattan
@Keith P.:
I really enjoyed it too, not only quite entertaining and educational, but showcased Chris Rock’s film-making skills. I hope he does a lot more.
All that hair imported from India–who knew?
Miss Bianca
@a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q):
Excellent. I drank just enough to be merry, not enough to be a menace 2 society on my way home thru’ the canyon. Got to boast of the circumstances of my tumbles and be roasted royally for ’em. And our newest staffer has a horse up for adoption I may get to ride on Saturday – yay! But he’s an Andalusian/Tennessee Walker cross, which sounds a little weird for a hunter if you ask me, so we’ll see…
“Bundyless a good thing?” this from you? (swoons with shock).
jl
@Elie: I don’t understand the straightening stuff. I know a lot of African-American women who can do lots of things without straightening and I think it looks great and sexy. But maybe that is just me.
Edit: maybe it is that SF Bay Area is less into straightening than other places, and they have developed skillful means for hairdo without it?
Jim, Foolish Literalist
Hillary-hate is a funny thing. I can’t remember which blogger it was, but the other day I saw a post by a guy who said that the Clinton campaign was making it hard for him to support her because of something written by another blogger, unaffiliated with her campaign, that included the author saying something like “I don’t really like Hillary Clinton…”
Miss Bianca
@Keith P.: @Elie:
Reminds me, I gotta put “Good Hair” on my documentary list…
ETA: For some reason, this whole hair thread is just making me crack up.
steverinoCT
Re: BHO’s haircut. I spent a good 45 minutes at my barber watching him trim, razor-cut, snip, fine-tune, razor some more–down to a hair-by-hair level it seemed– a close-cut afro as the President sports, and I came in while it was already well along. Gets it done every two weeks, they told me. Whereas I have had the same basic style since HS (save boot camp), 10 minutes and done for another month or so, $17 cut, $3 tip. And then I jam on a baseball cap.
trollhattan
O/T Lauren Jackson has retired from basketball, due to borked knees. Loved watching her play for…crikey, two decades. Olympics, WNBA (go, Seattle!), she did it all.
Major Major Major Major
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: God, what was that guy’s name, anyway? Maybe he had fat fingers and the entire post was one big typo.
Elie
@jl:
Variety is the spice of life, right? The thing that is great is that you have a lot of ways to look good. The straightening chemicals are strong, but it hurts quite a bit to get braids which pull your hair tight at the scalp. Some women lose hair becoming bald in spots from the tension of the braids. There really is no easy way to look stylish because all of it requires attention and upkeep. A woman’s natural requires daily upkeep to keep it puffed out and without lint in it (yes lint). Dreds require less day to day but eventually you have to retwist it. Keeping it clean and groomed is similar to effort for afros.
Looking good takes effort. White women who just roll out of bed and run don’t look good without effort.
Redshift
I live in the DC area. Sometimes friends/acquaintances in other cities tell me their stories about how a presidential visit snarled traffic. I find them adorable.
Origuy
RIP Ronnie Corbett. Fans of British comedy will know him as one of “The Two Ronnies”. Four Candles sketch.
? Martin
When women are no longer judged solely by their looks, then I’ll consider criticizing the cost of a haircut. But not before. I pay $25 including tip, but as the most average white male in America, I can get away with that.
And if we want to look at Clinton through the free market lens, like other candidates for president, she is a $1B+ brand. To raise a billion dollars in a year, you need to haul in $1900 a minute. $600 for a haircut (20 seconds of fundraising) is the smallest dollar figure anyone in politics ought to be criticizing.
Keith P.
@Origuy: His scene in Extras was hee-larious.
trollhattan
@jl:
My theory, having lived long enough for every imaginable hairstyle come and go, is that women most want a hairdo that fits their facial structure and that’s not always an easy thing to accomplish. Sometimes, the style that looks best is also one that takes a ton of maintenance. (Coming from a sometimes portrait photographer.)
My mom had the uncanny ability to sleep on her back all night, hair in a hairnet, and arise the next morning with everything Exactly In Place. As a toss-turn-retoss-repeat sleeper I have not the foggiest idea how she did this, but that weekly trip to the hairdresser was hardwired into her schedule once we money-sucking kids were out of the house and she could afford it. She honored the investment by making sure it stayed put the time between visits.
gvg
I might have gotten upset if this wasn’t such a rerun. we just have to tell the younger kids how dumb it is.
I am kind of anticipating some really nasty personal attacks on Hillary this time because she will be facing Trump plus the whole GOP electorate seems to have forgotten their manners. So I am thinking she will help us all by paying whatever to be as good as can be. I am positive Trump is going to go there.
there is a whole subset of GOP voters that have been attacking Hillary’s appearance for years as if that had any relevance to policy. They act like it proves something important that she doesn’t look young and hot according to them. What it shows is who they are, not who she it. Still I am not looking forward to that. In fact I am prepissed about it and for Michelle and Chelsea and Amy Carter. I wonder if Hillary can find an opportunity to SAY that…it shows what you are when you say things like that and doesn’t reflect on me at all, duffous.
Hoodie
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: I was never much of a Hillary fan but, the more stupid criticisms of her I read, the more I like her, or at least respect her. She must have the epidermis of an elephant with all the crap she takes.
Emma
@goblue72: Any woman knows how expensive it is to do “basic maintenance,” especially in a large city. When I lived in Long Island in the 1990s I went to my local salon and still dropped $100 plus tip for a plain cut every six weeks on the dot. I can also assure you that Michelle Obama doesn’t do her hair at the local cut’and’curl. This is just another try at an old smear.
(added) and if she went to Bergdorfs, please. The sidewalk snarls alone should require police presence 24/7
laura
@Gian: Jerry Brown had an eyebrow problem. It’s slightly less frequent as of late. But dang, my Governor can go Andy Rooney pretty quick.
Iowa Old Lady
I don’t wear makeup or color my hair and my cut is cheap, but I still say whoever does Clinton’s hair and makeup deserves a huge tip. She looks great, and for her, it matters. The Rs are already talking about her a frumpy granny.
Just One More Canuck
@Origuy: It’s good night from me and it’s good night from him
Elie
@trollhattan:
True Dat…. My and my mother’s hair appointments are/were hardwired just as you say. Mom was a sleeper like yours. Not so me — bed head is gruesome sometimes when I wake up and take a look in the mirror!
Robert Sneddon
During the last primary season in 2012 when Newt was still a contendaaaa! there was a report from one of his outdoor events where he was accompanied by his latest wife as podium arm-candy. She had helmet-hair Arai would have rated 5-stars in a crash-test, teased and locked down to perfection. One of the accompanying pictures of the rally showed a mobile beauty salon in the background, a Greyhound-bus-sized vehicle with tinted wondows for her exclusive use. That cost a lot more than 1200 bucks for the day-hire including the half-dozen stylists, colour specialists, nail techs, makeup team etc. required to make Gingrich’s sister-wife look Republican under the lights.
Hoodie
@? Martin: In other words, a haircut for someone like Clinton is a business expense, not a personal statement.
PhoenixRising
@goblue72:
John Edwards talked about poverty when no one else in the Democratic primary would…but since he was cheating on his dying wife, he is indeed a slime. (I’m glad not to be married to him.) But in what way does that make his substantive contribution to moving the party left, where I wanted it to be all along, a fraud? Or justify the GOP firehose of hate about trivial things no one cares about turning on him…just as he was raising those issues?
Your ball. See what you can do with it.
Bob In Portland
This horseshit will continue. Tom Friedman can’t help himself.
Peale
@Bill: Two bits. Jeebus, pseudo socialists really don’t quite understand that their form of “leveling” rubs people the wrong way. I’m sure Bernie will set up the official haircut oversight board to determine what the proper charge will be. Or maybe he’ll force high end salon to offer scholarships to the underprivileged. I don’t think Hillary is the only one who can be charged with being “tone deaf”.
goblue72
@Elie: Well in that case I don’t give a shit what you think either. So we’re square.
goblue72
@Bill: @Bill: $300.
jl
@Elie: I see a lot of kinky-looking hair that is tied up into topknots or side pony-tails, often with the ends tinted a little. I think it looks cute and sexy. Then there is natural looking hair that is tied back tightly but explodes into a kind of cotton-tail bunny thing.
But then I might just be ignorant. I’ve been assuming all they have to do is grow their hair a little long and tie it up. Might be more to that than I thought.
? Martin
California is almost certain now to implement a $15/hr minimum wage. Bill passed the Assembly, governor has already signed on.
Goes to $10.50 in Jan 2017, $11 in 2018 and $1 each year until 2022. Businesses with 25 or fewer employees trail by one year. If the wage increase appears to be driving unemployment up, the Governor can delay its implementation. It will cost the state $3-$4B in tax revenue mostly due to raising the pay of in-home healthcare workers which are directly paid by the state in many cases and currently make pretty close to minimum wage. That is expected to outstrip the higher tax receipts from higher consumption and income taxes. I’d be surprised if the state didn’t come out ahead at the end of the day – I think the secondary effects of this will prove to be a net win for the state.
goblue72
@PhoenixRising: Talk is cheap. His record before his “Two Americas” bullshit involved not making that a center of his political identity. And his work as soon as he washed out of the race involved him quickly abandoning it.
He is currently back to personal injury litigation.
So yes, he was completely full of shit and it was wholly apparent at the time, outside a segment of the Netroots that fell for this schtick.
Just One More Canuck
@goblue72: Why is $300 acceptable but $600 isn’t?
Elie
@jl:
There are people with gifted hair — curly or kinky but long and thick — you can do a lot with that hair. It is especially beautiful when you are young and have the thickest hair you are going to have. Not everyone gets hair that they can just plait or pull back and go. Coloring can make some black hair break off. Again — people can have appearance gifts just like anything else but not everyone can do everything. Some of us have to work a little harder at it!
Mingobat f/k/a Karen in GA
@goblue72:
Speaking as someone who can’t afford $1,200 for a cut and color, I have no problem with her spending this much. If I were in the public eye and I could afford it, I’d be spending that kind of money on my hair every month. Not out of vanity — I just wouldn’t feel like dealing with all the shit I’d have to hear from people if I didn’t.
As others here have noted, women have some pretty stupid, shallow expectations foisted on them. Complaining that a woman can afford to do a good job of meeting them is pretty silly, IMHO.
ETA: $300? For a cut and color that will look good on the campaign trail and on TV? No.
Gin & Tonic
@Just One More Canuck: Because goblue says so. Duh.
? Martin
Man, the USWNT lawsuit just trashes any defense against pay equity.
and
chopper
@Bill:
whatever hillary spends on it minus a dollar.
Iowa Old Lady
@Mingobat f/k/a Karen in GA: Also anyone who thinks Nancy Pelosi’s jawline looks that way naturally is deluded. As a woman in the public eye, she’s not supposed to have jowls.
CONGRATULATIONS!
This is the biggest bunch of worthless shit I have ever read in my life. Yeah, you know what?
1. Presidential candidates disrupt things.
2. Women’s haircuts/coloring costs a lot. Leave it to a bunch of male assholes to make it an issue.
3. Women get (figuratively) raped on hair care. My wife spends in a month what I used to spend in a year, and we don’t have a lot to spend. And she doesn’t have a choice, because otherwise people see an unkempt skank who is disgusting and not worthy of being allowed out in public, and treat her accordingly. Whereas I can go a week without taking a bath or shaving and so long as I remember to slap on some deodorant, I keep my nice cushy managerial desk job. Two weeks without shaving and I get compliments on the “rugged” look. Try that as a woman. They’ll be lolzing about making dreadlocks out of your leg hair.
This is literally recycled bullshit and I’m amazed any media outlet would have the balls to put it out there. Fucking disgusting.
@goblue72: Wow. You actually went there. Like abortion, what a woman spends on haircare is her business and nobody elses. You have the unmitigated gall to actually tell a woman how much money is acceptable to spend on her appearance? Jesus on a stick, go join the Taliban, you’re 90% of the way there.
You’re not helping your chosen candidate, not one little bit.
? Martin
@Hoodie:
And a really cheap business expense. Nobody would bat an eye at any other $1B brand spending that kind of money. Anyone complaining about Beyonce’s spending on personal care? Sure as shit Trump is spending that kind of money.
trollhattan
This is my child’s glorious mop. She, of course, now wants it straight. Because, teenager. So a kind family friend who’s a Super Secret curly-head brought over her super-duper curling iron and spend an hour with the offspring, teaching how to straighten the stuff. This is how we came to own a $160 hair gizmo and how my kid decided leaving it curly suits her schedule just fine (what with teevee and computer games to tend to).
Bill
@Just One More Canuck:
My question exactly. Especially in a city as expensive as NYC.
For someone in the media spotlight as much as Secretary Clinton, paying a premium for this service seems like a no brainer to me. I really don’t understand the criticism. And if she didn’t invest in how she looks she would undoubtedly get criticism for that too.
a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)
@Elie: One of my dearest friends (AA) has spent far more keeping her hair straight than I(white) ever did when I colored mine. Once I could have a steely gray, I ditched the color and just get good cuts. I’ve never seen my friend wear her hair natural – we’re just in the wrong age cohort. Some of my friends who are slightly older than we are wear wigs. But one of my few friends my age or older without straightened hair rocks gray locks. That are nearly to her waist, so her hair has been natural for a long time.
And arthritis. Pulling those braids is really hard on their joints. They in fact probably don’t get paid enough for those kinds of risks.
? Martin
@Brachiator:
That’s the key qualifier. I can’t think of a single situation where the segment for men is larger than for women. Brad Pitt can get away with the mountain man look, but Jolie cannot. Case in point. And again. Women in lower social status have expectations similar to men in much higher status.
There are countless articles about Marissa Mayer’s appearance. I’ve never seen a single reference to Tim Cook’s appearance. It carries over to every social segment I can think of.
JPL
@trollhattan: I love that. You’ll have to let your daughter know, that in the late sixties, some people might have used an iron. A real iron. The second time, that I had my hair on the ironing board and my sister burnt my neck, I said no more. I didn’t have curly hair, just wavy.
Iowa Old Lady
There’s been a controversy in Iowa over licensing requirements for hairdressers who just want to do braiding. At the moment, they’re required to take the full beauty college course, but there have been argument to change that. I haven’t heard how that came out.
scav
@Gin & Tonic: Where would we be without goblue’s precise specifications on allowable limits on haircare expenditure and liberal thought?
Mnemosyne
@goblue72:
Oh, sweetie. I think you need to get out more if you think $300 is sufficient for a woman over 50 to get her hair done.
Suzanne
I have spent more than $600 on my hair at one time. Women do shit like that. I bet—and I hope—she spends lotsa money on her clothes, too. Patriarchy leads us to things like this. News at 11.
In truly sad news, Zaha Hadid died. RIP.
a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)
@Miss Bianca: I might be in recovery. Or just confused, which is probably more likely, the way my week’s gone.
quite candidly just sounds odd, and for a hunter? Oy vey. Though as I’m sure you know, American Saddlebreds are pretty decent jumpers, despite their ung*dly (for show hack classes) moving. So, perhaps the Walkers have a similar ability. Happy riding, and please do report on what the flat work is like – I’ve ridden both, and can’t imagine how the combination would move.
Villago Delenda Est
My nym.
Again and again.
trollhattan
@a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q):
Coincidentally that’s why we never see older dental hygienists–it’s really, really hard on the hands and arms and back. Every much-loved hygienist I’ve has had to retire after hitting her 40s. Come to think of it, my endodontist friend has a lot of repetitive-motion problems, too.
Mnemosyne
@Elie:
Okay, I know the whole topic of hair is a little rude, but I’m asking for my niece. Are locks (I think that’s what they’re called) any harder on the hair/scalp than braids? My niece’s mom (who’s white like me) gets her braids or straightens her hair, but I’ve heard that locks are better for the hair and last longer, plus I think they look really nice. She’s only 10, so it’s too early for things like dreads.
Just One More Canuck
@Gin & Tonic: It must be hard work to be that pure, and yet so unappreciated
Gin & Tonic
Since it’s a short segue from hair to head, there’s still time (if you really hurry) to get to Grandview, Manitoba before 7:00 pm tomorrow for the 17th annual headcheese competition. I bet you can’t get a $600 haircut there, though.
I apologize for the short notice.
? Martin
Another consideration to the cost – for people like Clinton, you’re paying a massive premium for both discretion and disruption to the business. You are paying to make sure that your stylist isn’t the subject of some supermarket rag interview, and you are paying for the lost revenue while the stylist shuts down their business for a single customer.
My wife works with celebrities all the time, as do some friends of ours. We have a huge number of pro athletes where I live. My electrician was telling me about what he has to go through to install a new entertainment system at a pro athlete’s house including signing NDAs and other legal contracts to not take and publish photos, recount what is mentioned inside the house, etc. One day when he was working on a house, just starting a project he overheard the homeowner get notified on the phone that he had been traded to another team. That wouldn’t hit the news for a few days. He couldn’t mention that information to anyone.
I promise you that what I pay my electrician per hour is a scant fraction of what he earns from these guys for the same basic job and the premium has a lot to do with the extra hassle and obligations that fall on them. I can be scheduled around 3 other jobs, but they can’t. They’re paying for him to be idle. They’re paying for his lawyers. They’re paying for him to deal with the paparazzi that he’ll inevitably run into. Its how this works.
Mingobat f/k/a Karen in GA
@Mnemosyne: I wonder if goblue is a young college freshman, maybe a sophomore at the oldest. I don’t feel like actual life experience informs much of what he says here.
? Martin
@Gin & Tonic:
I bet everything I own that if you went in offering $600 for a haircut, you’d have no problem finding someone to do it.
raven
Good Hair
“Chris Rock, a man with two daughters, asks about good hair, as defined by Black Americans, mostly Black women. He visits Bronner Brothers’ annual hair convention in Atlanta. He tells us about sodium hydroxide, a toxin used to relax hair. He looks at weaves, and he travels to India where tonsure ceremonies produce much of the hair sold in America. A weave is expensive: he asks who makes the money.”
raven
Good Hair
Villago Delenda Est
@? Martin: THIS. THIS. THIS.
? Martin
@Suzanne:
Get married? Yes, women frequently get married.
$600 haircut against the backdrop of a $25K wedding and $4K in wedding photos is perfectly reasonable for a pretty broad swath of the country.
raven
Chris Rock, a man with two daughters, asks about good hair, as defined by Black Americans, mostly Black women. He visits Bronner Brothers’ annual hair convention in Atlanta.
trollhattan
@JPL:
Ouch! Well, you lost treasured skin but gained a family tale for the ages. :-) In sum, I think it’s okay we didn’t all grow up having every move video-taped.
Amaranthine RBG
Is the “media” lazy? Yes.
But If you don’t see why there are a hundred million people in this country who would be disgusted that someone would spend $600 on a haircut, then you are seriously out of touch.
Elie
@Mnemosyne:
I definitely think that locks are easier on the scalp than braids. You can see that with your eyes as the braids put a lot of tension on the scalp. Of course, as the hair grows out, the tension lessens, but then they look less neat. There are also nice little twists that are pretty. The hair is partitioned into small square sections of a couple of inches square and the hair is twisted into a pretty knot at the center of each section. It looks less stressful to the scalp and is really pretty. White women can do this and Rooney Mara had a sophisticated version of the look at the Academy Awards
Mnemosyne
@Mingobat f/k/a Karen in GA:
He claims to be a few years younger than me, and I’m 46. I’m not sure I believe it.
Though, to be fair, a lot of this stuff is invisible even to well-meaning men. My husband probably has no idea I spend $200 a pop on my hair, or that I spend $150 combined on face cleanser, moisturizer, and sunscreen. If it’s vain for me to not want a painful rosacea flare-up, then I guess I’m vain.
;-)
Ella in New Mexico
When I became a nurse a few years ago, one of the best things about it was that I now had a little more pocket change to indulge myself with fun stuff. I’m not a spendthrift, but I like a manicure and pedicure now and then, and my highlights with a trim by the awesome self-made, single mom stylist I visit is well worth the $100 I pay her, just for the fact that she makes me laugh and chat about stupid stuff for awhile.
All nurses will tell you the same–take care of yourself or you’ll burn out. Shopping, hair, massages, wine nights out with the girls, and decent vacations are a reward for the truly grueling physical and emotional work we both love and want to continue to do. It restores us and takes us to a place where things are not so serious for a little while.
I really think that as a 68 year-old woman in politics, who has survived and accomplished as splendidly as she has, who has to put up with the demands, expectations and restrictions of her life and the complete double standards applied to her as a woman, she deserves a God-damned $1200 hair job.
So as much as people want to bash her, I say “Fucking-A, do it your way” to Hilz.
Hoodie
@? Martin: And a helluva a lot more people will see HRC with that haircut than will ever be at a wedding (with the possible exception of the most recent royal wedding, and you can imagine how much that hair cut was). This must be check your gender biases day, what with the discussion of the USWNT case and HRC’s hair cut.
Villago Delenda Est
@Amaranthine RBG: Does the media report on Donald Trump’s haircuts with pricetags featured? How about Rafael Cruz? Did they follow Nancy Reagan, or Barbara Bush around and report on their hair stylings with pricetags?
No, they focus in on the Clintons, and it’s out of pure spite. Fucking Arkansas hicks should have stayed in Arkansas.
Miss Bianca
@a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q):
I can’t imagine it either, it boggles me. Makes me wonder if this was some sort of accidental breeding! I may have to ride this guy just for the experience!
Ah, Saddlebreds…a good one is great out in the field. Our huntsman (who is leaving us, alas, for literal and figurative greener pastures in Virginia) said he had one on his grand-dad’s farm that was butt-ugly – a mare with a huge head and a little skinny neck and a rump so big you could lay it as a table for eight – but that she was a dynamite jumper and a terrific hunter. So you just never know.
a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)
@trollhattan: I’m not at all surprised about dental hygienists and early retirement, And for braiders, they have to pull the hair really tightly to sew it.
You can also tell your daughter than once upon a time frozen juice came in paper cans with a pretty wide diameter. Girls with wavy hair used them as rollers.
WereBear
Like it or not, a bad haircut is going to ruin a woman’s chances to be elected to any office, much less President. Remember how ridiculous Dukakis looked in that tank? Gone in one second.
This goes for men, too, but they have lower expectations to deal with.
It’s a rare woman who doesn’t have to wrestle with her hair. Starting in their teens at least, they have to figure out what works for them, what they will put up with, and what they can afford. And every decade after that the whole thing gets re-evaluated, in terms of fashion, face changes, and new products and gadgets.
Once the gray starts appearing, it’s another whole new ball game: full color or highlights? Can you do it yourself? Do you have the skills? Does your gray need the salon? And how fast do the roots start showing?
If you are expected to show any kind of professional appearance, it’s something you have to do.
Mnemosyne
@Elie:
Thanks! My niece likes the way her hair looks braided but says it hurts, so I’m trying to talk her mom into trying locks. They’re really popular out here in LA and I think they look beautiful.
I really like that more “ethnic” hairstyles are gaining popularity. I still remember a college roommate whose hairdresser did her hair in soft curls with the front flat. It looked so gorgeous on her, but she was uncomfortable with it and went back to straight hair as soon as she could because she thought it looked “too ethnic.” That was my first experience realizing that a Black woman could have a beautiful, flattering hairstyle that was just too psychologically uncomfortable.
(For time reference, this was a couple of years before the LA riots, so right around 1990.)
Villago Delenda Est
Please take my comment at 131 out of the stupid spam filter. Thank you.
Elie
@Amaranthine RBG:
And THAT is the heart of this issue — resentment of people who have money to spend on things you think should be inexpensive. Its jealousy and resentment because there are, ahem, rich people. Hillary is rich. She can afford to do things many of us cannot do. She is the symbol for some, of THOSE people who we do not like because they have a lot of money. We assume that because they have a lot of money, they got it by nefarious means, right? She spoke beffore evil WALL STREET and so must be EVIL. On the other hand, we have clean, innocent, wise, Bernie, who still has his nose hairs and whose wife hasn’t been near a beauty parlor in years. THEY are cool and righteous and the MODEL for how we all SHOULD BE, right?
Miss Bianca
@Ella in New Mexico:
Heh. Indeed.
@WereBear:
Yup, if I had the money, the one absolute vanity I would allow myself is to let my stylist color my hair, rather than do it myself. Maybe someday I’ll just shave it all down to the scalp and let it grow out grey (Dad was all but silver by the time he was my age), but I’m afraid I’m still my mother’s girl when it comes to my hair color. ; )
? Martin
Specific details in our case, as its illustrative, my wife works with an estate appraiser. Her job is to go into the homes of people you all know, inventory everything of value, take photos of everything of value, and document it. This almost always happens against the context of a wedding, a divorce, an imminent demise. Just the fact that they are in the house is a clue that something might be up. It’s a running joke in my house that when so-and-so has arranged for an appraisal that we casually joke ‘I guess that marriage is over’ and 80% of the time that’s the case within 6 months. We have the People magazine headlines way the fuck before anyone else. Think of how much money we could make selling that information.
You want to know what is engraved on the inside of some celebrity’s wedding ring? That’s probably in a database in my house. You want the inventory of some starlets jewelry collection? I got that. Photos of all of it too, and replacement costs. Wondering what’s hanging over someone’s bed. I could tell you. And I mean everyone. You’d be hard pressed naming a celebrity that I don’t have this information on. My wife has been doing this for decades.
She is not well paid due to her technical skills. She’s paid to keep her mouth shut, to make sure this information stays private.
Cacti
@Elie:
Whatever one’s personal opinions of the Clintons, Hillary came from a middle class background, Bill from a poor one. They’re filthy rich now, but worked their tails off to get where they are. The Clintons are strivers who made their way up the ladder, not scions who were born into it like Dubya, Romney, or Trump.
Castigating people who succeeded on their own brains and talent just seems un-American, even if you dislike them on a personal level.
Major Major Major Major
@? Martin:
Sounds like they might want to start paying you.
:D
? Martin
@Amaranthine RBG:
A lot of the same people that spend $50,000 on a Ford F-150 and will happily gloat about their truck. They’re only disgusted because they’re looking for a reason to be disgusted.
Iowa Old Lady
I go back and forth in reacting to the existence of things like very expensive haircuts. They certainly reflect economic inequality. OTOH, objecting to them often has echoes of “clean your plate because there are starving children in Africa.” What good does it do for a rich person to spend less?
Brachiator
@? Martin: RE: both men and women in a certain segment of society
Life is more complicated, and more fun. In Southern California, the standard is set by actors and actresses, who have to look good for their profession, and by athletes and models.
So, you have (old school term) metrosexual males who groom and preen, because otherwise women will kick them to the curb. Guys and women work out at the gym, and there is a class dynamic at work here. The goal is to be rich enough, or at least have enough stashed that you can spend time at the gym. Cause if you are poor you are either working your ass off or looking for a job.
The ads in the upscale magazines and the free weeklies feature cosmetic surgery pitched to men as well as women.
Yeah, women are dipped more deeply in this, but it affects poseur men to a significant degree as well.
Yeah, this is very true, although I’ve heard people note that they were happy that Cook was not a fat slob like Steve Ballmer.
eemom
@Elie:
I’m a white woman with very kinky hair that I’ve hated all my life. Back in the early aughts I worked with an AA woman who came in one day with braids, and I was like, that’s IT! THAT is what I need. So for a couple of years after that I got my hair braided at a place called African Hair Center operated by some nice ladies from Senegal (West Africa, they said) who spoke French. Cost $180 a pop plus tip and took 6-7 hours.
Indeed, however, the strain started causing my hair to fall out after a while, so I stopped doing it.
Amaranthine RBG
@Elie: You’re confusing disgust with envy (or jealousy in your usage.)
Emma
@Amaranthine RBG: In my experience, what lays at the bottom of this is envy, not disgust. As perfectly personified in the song “Money for Nothing.”
Elie
@Cacti:
Some people get rich or are rich. Most of us are not and some are poor even as we work hard. I expect the rich to do their share, pay appropriate taxes and not be criminals but I find it a waste of time and very counterproductive to go to social war with people who have money just because. Also, not being rich does not convey sainthood to a politician just because.
Bex
@goblue72: Actually he probably knows who Charlie Trotter was. Charlie died a few years ago, too young. RIP.
Villago Delenda Est
@Cacti: On the other hand, granting deity status to idiots who fell out of the right uterus seems to be what Americans want to do, in total defiance to what Jefferson imagined, which is why he wanted estate taxes.
scav
@Iowa Old Lady: The ketchup bottle at Hearst Castle is as much an affectation as any medieval salt cellar.
Cacti
@? Martin:
Or a bass boat, which starts at $11,000 on the low end, plus another $2,000 for the trailer to tow it.
Mingobat f/k/a Karen in GA
@Iowa Old Lady:
I’m fine with them myself. I don’t mind rich people having expensive things to spend their money on, even if it’s stuff most of us could never afford.
It’s like cars — some people have Lamborghinis, and some people have Civics. To me it’s okay if there are bells and whistles that some people can afford and others can’t — but only if everyone has what they need.
(Can you tell I live in an area with no public transportation?)
Mnemosyne
@? Martin:
Yes, but paying $50K for a pickup truck is a properly MANLY expense, unlike the frivolous, girly expense of getting one’s hair done.
Full disclosure: before our wedding, I bought my now-husband a gift certificate to a men’s hair salon in Pasadena so he wouldn’t show up with his usual SuperCuts ‘do. It worked, and he’s been going there ever since. I iz shallow, I know.
Elie
@Amaranthine RBG:
Please explain “disgust”… That I associate with repulsion of something beyond the pale. Having someone be abused or mistreated is disgusting. Having your hair done at a high end salon, if you can afford it and because of the nature of your role, does not fit disgust. Why does wealth mean revulsion to you?
? Martin
@Major Major Major Major: Well, hopefully I’ve proven my loyalty to my wife. :)
Almost all of her clients are documented under pseudonyms, and I help her with some technical problems that she has and see what’s in there, but otherwise I don’t pry. I don’t have much fascination with celebrities. She shares the really interesting stuff, though. We had to be a lot more careful once the kids got old enough to be able to start recounting things. I’m pretty sure the kids couldn’t recount a single specific name – at least that’s our goal.
Elie
@eemom:
Do you do any of the other ethnic looks? I have been moving towards much shorter hair and less chemistry. It still needs to be shaped frequently to look top notch.
Amaranthine RBG
Yes, and everyone who thinks that Donald Trump is a tasteless boor for all of his gold plated faucets on his jet are just envious, amirite people?
Some of you need to get your fucking heads examined, after you pop them out of your arse that is.
Elie
@Mnemosyne:
I’m sorry, it aint shallow to look gooooooood ! :-) A good haircut and appearance is just part of feeling good about yourself in my book!
Iowa Old Lady
@Mingobat f/k/a Karen in GA: I’m mostly fine with it too. Just once in a while I roll my eyes.
Not at Clinton’s haircut though. In the world we live in, that’s not a silly thing.
Aimai
@WereBear: Both clintons but especially bill were ruthlessly attacked for being frumpy, trailor trash, fat bubbas during the first years they were in the whitehose. Republican attacks went seamlessly from attacks on high dpending elitists to “look at these classless rubes who dont know how to dress/walk/excercise or speak to the servsnts. This was reprised of course for obama and michelle. It is michelle who was attacked by rush limbaugh for her taste in food, appearance, affican american womans body–they called her marie Antoinette and basicslly reprised sll the recinstruction era anti freedman tropes. Both hrc and bill clinton steadily imprived their clothing style and taste over the eight years in office. Michelle and ibama were pretty much carefully pitch perfect from the get go. I think because they anticipated the scrutiny.
Elie
@Amaranthine RBG:
He is tasteless but if he were a nice guy, no one would care and might just view his taste as a curiosity rather than a reflection of something else. Do you equate Hillary’s hair to Trump’s gold plated faucets? If so, it more likely reflects what you think of her rather than that her haircut costs x.
Amaranthine RBG
@Elie: Take Clinton out of the equation. Imagine any one of the many tasteless excesses committed by Donald Trump.
Are you jealous of him? Or is he a tacky arriviste whose excessed disgust you?
Brachiator
@CONGRATULATIONS!:
Great line!
And very true.
Mnemosyne
@Amaranthine RBG:
You seem to be missing the point that us women are trying to get across to you that $1200 for a cut and color is actually not that crazy for NYC.
I also find it interesting that you compare Hillary’s hair to Trump’s faucets and not his godawful fake spray tan. Even when we’re specifically discussing the ways women are judged by their appearance when men are not, you compare Hillary’s appearance to an inanimate object and not to Trump’s appearance.
Amaranthine RBG
@Elie: Unlike quite a few people who comment hereabouts, I am not all about rooting for my hometeam.
Clinton’s decision that there is nothing wrong with spending $600 (or maybe $1,200) on a haircut is sad commentary on her values, regardless of whatever political views I share with her.
Cacti
@Amaranthine RBG:
Does a world exist, or will it exist in the near future, where Hillary Clinton or any female candidate could pay as little attention to their appearance as Bernie Sanders or Donald Trump?
If not, doesn’t kvetching about the cost of a professional woman’s haircut strike you as more than a trifle sexist?
Using Trump as a proxy for Clinton doesn’t work, because it assumes the same set of standards for men and women. Even for men and women who are famous public figures. Such a thing does not exist.
smith
Actually, it’s good to see the rich spending their money on services, however high priced. It keeps their money circulating, which is good for the rest of us, especially compared to when they just sock it away or spend it on expensive baubles that generate relatively few jobs.
Mnemosyne
@Amaranthine RBG:
Again, I find it interesting that you compare Hillary’s hairstyle and public image to an inanimate object purchased by Trump and not Trump’s own hairstyle and public image. You might want to reflect for a minute about why that was your comparison.
Elie
@Amaranthine RBG:
Frankly, when I register my disgust about Trump, the last thing that ocurrs to me is his taste in faucets or clothing, etc. Its just about HIM and how gross HE is — HIS character and values. THAT is what I think about. That is what is horrid about him…
Amaranthine RBG
@Cacti: If it helps you out, I found the idea that John Edwards or Bill Clinton or whoever it was that spent similar amounts his his haircut was pretty offensive, too.
WereBear
My African American friends explained how they don’t get cut any slack on appearance. (Well, they don’t get cut any slack at all.)
When I first discussed this, I flashed back to a ’60’s era television show, where a young black couple who had just bought a house agonized over how often they would have to cut the grass and trim the shrubs.
Lest they be tormented.
Mnemosyne
@Cacti:
To be fair, I’m sure that Trump spends a LOT of time and money on his appearance. It’s just that the results are terrifying.
Elie
@Amaranthine RBG:
Oh please!
Nevermind —
Amaranthine RBG
@Elie: Agreed, his profligacy and tastelessness are small beer compared to his political views.
Cacti
@Amaranthine RBG:
Again, comparing men to women in this context doesn’t work.
I’ll simplify it for you. Would Hillary Clinton be taken seriously as a candidate if she didn’t style her hair, and wore the same rumpled suit to every public appearance, like Bernie Sanders does?
If not, why not?
It ain’t a gender neutral world, chief.
Hoodie
@Amaranthine RBG: Only if it helps you out; congratulations on your even-handed pettiness.
Mingobat f/k/a Karen in GA
@Elie: Yeah, there’s been a whole thread of comments from women (and some men) clearly explaining why $1,200 on a cut and color isn’t the insane extravagance some people think it is, and pointing out the often ridiculous standards women are held to. At this point anyone still beating that “OMG she’s so wrong” drum is simply refusing to listen. Says a lot about that person’s “values.”
Amaranthine RBG
@Cacti: Congratulations on realizing that the world is not gender neutral and many thanks for sharing that insight with us all.
Mnemosyne
@Cacti:
I’m still trying to figure out the logic of comparing Hillary’s hair to The Donald’s airplane faucets and not to The Donald’s hair. It’s not even comparing two fruits — it’s like apples to rocks.
Amaranthine RBG
@Mingobat f/k/a Karen in GA: If you believe that $1,200 on a cut an color isn’t an insane extravigance, I can’t do much to help you either.
Cacti
@Amaranthine RBG:
Maybe you can keep that in mind when future facile comparisons pop in to your head.
Glad to set you straight, little Bernfeeler.
Have you figured out why universal healthcare and single payer aren’t interchangeable terms yet, or is that still a work in progress?
redshirt
@Amaranthine RBG: The Berniebro in action, folks. Behold.
Mnemosyne
@Amaranthine RBG:
So, because the world is not gender neutral, Hillary’s hair is as useless as an expensive faucet?
Mnemosyne
@Amaranthine RBG:
If you have no idea how much a cut and color costs in NYC — especially given Hillary’s security needs — we can’t help you, either. You sound like an old man who’s shocked that he can’t pay $200 for a Cadillac anymore.
J R in WV
@goblue72:
First thing you do is jump into something that is totally not your business with both feet – SPLASH!
How much do movie stars pay for hair work? How much do the live TV stars pay for hair/makeup? I don’t know for a fact, but I’m betting thousands of dollars a week, or more.
You are talking about a person running in a race to become the most powerful person in the world. A self-made woman seeking to set a record by being the first woman to get that job. This isn’t your local TV anchor woman, who probably pays serious money to keep her hair and makeup done to the station owner’s specifications. This is a former Senator and Secretary of State of the United States.
I’m 65, on retirement now. I did pretty well in my work life, and we’re comfortable now. I probably have spent about $200 on hair cuts in the past 25 years. I don’t shave, I have a full beard, which is mostly white. I trim it with normal hand-powered tools every 2 or 3 months.
If I had been a woman, I would have had to spend lots of money on my hair. I do not begrudge Hillary Clnton a single cent of what she spends to look good and feel good doing what she has chosen to do.
You need to see a therapist to learn why you care about irrelevant details from other people’s lives. And then work to fix that psychological issue you have.
Cacti
@Mnemosyne:
Even expensive faucets aren’t useless. Somebody has to manufacture the garish trappings that people like Trump love so much. Somebody else has to sell them.
Jobs get created in the process. Basic Keynesian economics. People spending money on goods and services is a good thing. Recession happens when aggregate demand drops.
raven
@J R in WV: Dude’s a fucking moron, not much else to say.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
How many of those virtuous, doughty, salt-of-the-earth types would pass around photos of Hillary Clinton looking old or dowdy?
Weaselone
@Amaranthine RBG:
Let me put it this way. Hillary is competing for the job of President. For a 68 year old woman this requires having an immaculate appearance. That means spending 600 or 1200 on a hair styling session is a requirement, not a useless extravagance. If she looked like Bernie she would not be kicking his old disheveled ass right now.
Mnemosyne
@J R in WV:
I can pretty much guarantee you that none of the women on Fox News are going to take up this cry, because none of them want to answer the question of how much they spend on their own hair. It ain’t much less, and it’s probably even more.
Cacti
@Weaselone:
It definitely wouldn’t be taken as evidence of what a loveable old curmudgeon she is.
a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)
@raven: There you go again with the short, succinct, and insightful statements.
Miss Bianca
@Amaranthine RBG:
Oh, good heavens. Moral Outrage Over The Way of the World for Women, taken out on its Liberal Enablers and Apologists. How about saving that energy for smashing the patriarchy, so that HRC and all of us can go round unshaven, uncombed, uncoiffed, and un-designer-clad if we so choose, and no one will say boo about it?
Or perhaps more to the point: If you’re that disgusted with us for continuing to point out the tiresome facts of life, what are you doing here?
Oh, never mind. Evil Willow sez, “Bored Now.”
Chyron HR
@Amaranthine RBG:
Show us a single post you’ve ever made here that didn’t boil down to “I hate everyone but Bernie”.
gwangung
@Amaranthine RBG: I think you’re being a twit. Not to mention ignorant as all get out.
And I think the folks around here aren’t the ones who need to do a recto-cranial inversion.
gwangung
No, it’s a sad commentary on your lack of intelligence and your lack of reading comprehension.
When women around here are spending $200-300 themselves for a cut, it’s just shows that you can’t even READ THE GODDAM COMMENTS YOU IDIOT.
Iowa Old Lady
In a small voice I say I usually spend about $30 on my haircut. Iowa is cheap living.
Baud
@Miss Bianca:
Until you said “eyebrows,” I was wondering what the hell type of meeting these Democratic delegates were running.
Robert Sneddon
I sometimes wonder how much President Obama spent on dental work just for the perfect smile he’s rocked since before he became a senator. He wasn’t getting elected without it, probably.
Brachiator
@Weaselone:
Just for kicks, I dipped into the Internets and found this little item from 2013:
Of course, after making sure that her hair is perfect, Merkel crushes lesser nations, keeps the EU in line, and rescues a few hundred thousand fleeing refugees.
? Martin
@WereBear:
People really should give this a read.
Clinton doesn’t live outside of this world, just in a different part of it. That $600 haircut broadcasts something, as does the $50K F-150. They are broadcast to different audiences, however. Of course the truck owners are incredulous – $600 haircuts don’t carry any status in their world. The $50K pickup truck doesn’t carry any in Clinton’s world, though. This willful inability to empathize with the community other people live in is pretty much why this country is fucked up. Democrats are not quite as guilty as most Republicans on this, but we’re collectively not all that great either. Witness any number of discussions here on religion, firearms, and Florida. I’m as guilty of it as anyone else. Not proud of that.
gwangung
Underscored and bolded.
Docg
Everyone has the right to spend their bribes however they wish.
Brachiator
@redshirt: Did you ever see “Batman v Superman?”
(A more compelling question than how much Clinton spends on her hair)
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@Docg: Zing!
redshirt
@Brachiator: Not yet, but maybe tomorrow. How about you? I’ve heard all the terrible reviews.
geg6
@goblue72:
You have got to be kidding me. The kids on my campus, of all economic backgrounds pay more for tattoos and purses and electronics than Clinton does for a cut, style and color. I don’t color my hair, but it costs me a good $80 a pop for the super short cut I have and which takes my stylist less than 15-20 minutes to do. Six hundred, at a NY styling guru, is cheap. And no way can a woman get away with looking like a homeless person, the way Bernie does. You’re full of shit. As usual.
Roger Moore
@Brachiator:
And there was plenty of discussion of Steve Jobs’s wardrobe.
Baud
Her entourage was 4 cars and a human?
By “entourage,” do they mean the Secret Service?
Juju
@Amaranthine RBG: I’ve always thought that it was such a shame that Trump had so much money and very little taste. He seems to be a person who equates expense with taste, which is not always the case. Also, his fake tan makes me laugh almost as much as that thing on his head some people believe is hair or a dead animal.
dogwood
I’m old enough to remember what Hillary faced as First Lady when it came to her hair. She was constantly berated for having too many hairstyles. it was a sign of her disingenuous, or her duplicity , or whatever they wanted to say. It was always pretty obvious to me from looking at pictures of her before she hit the national spotlight that she wasn’t much interested in hair, makeup or fashion. It was also clear to me that she and I share the same problem when it comes to hair – it grows too damn fast. I can’t maintain a manageable hairstyle without a cut every three weeks, and by week three it’s starting to get difficult to work with.
gene108
Bill’s 1993 $400 haircut did not shut down air traffic at LAX. It was a rumor started by right-wing media that spread like wildfire throughout the rest of the media, and in the pre-
internetworldwide web days there was no quick way to deduce how long the delays were, so it became accepted as truth.Media Matters Link
Roger Moore
@Iowa Old Lady:
It depends on what they’re spending it on. Spending it on stuff like expensive haircuts is actually good for the economy because it puts more money in the hands of people who are going to spend it. Spending their money on status items like Manhattan real estate or French Impressionist paintings just sends money to some other rich person.
Villago Delenda Est
@gene108: One of the many reasons why the head of The Moustache of Understanding would look much better on a pike than on his shoulders.
Betty Cracker
@trollhattan: Wow, that kid has gorgeous hair! Mine would too if she wouldn’t shave half of it off and dye the remainder odd colors. Le sigh.
gene108
Cole does realize the article he linked to about Hillary blocking traffic is from the Murdoch owned New York Post?
The New York Post ain’t known for getting the facts right, especially when attacking Democrats.
smith
@Betty Cracker: Mine did that, too. Let me assure you that this too shall pass. And I actually liked my daughter’s hair green. She has green eyes, and the whole effect was that of a rather hip mermaid.
dogwood
@? Martin:
None of us should be proud of it.
Julie
@Juju: Ivanka, otoh, has impeccable taste, so go figure. (I am wearing a pair of her shoes as we speak.)
Aleta
This article lacks context … What do the writer, the style editors, the general managers at the paper spend on hair?
Roger Moore
@Amaranthine RBG:
To steal from a line about Gingrich, Trump is a vulgar person’s idea of what a classy person is like. I’ve seen what a good combination of money and taste can create, and it doesn’t look like what Trump does.
FWIW, a neighborhood within easy walking distance of mine is undergoing a radical transformation as money from China comes in. It was always an area for the 1%- the lots are much bigger than adjacent neighborhoods- but the houses there were sized for the much less rich 1% of the 1950s. Now they’re being torn down and replaced with mansions, most of which are being sold to very wealthy Chinese businessmen for high 7 figure prices. I don’t think they’re awful and tasteless because they’re expensive and I’m jealous. I think some of them are awful and tasteless because they’re awful and tasteless, and others are rather nice and the kind of place I’d want to buy if I had enough money to afford them and the need for a 8 bedroom house.
hitchhiker
@Amaranthine RBG:
you seem nice.
Frankensteinbeck
@Amaranthine RBG:
A) Trump’s gold faucets are not a big target of disgust around here. Nobody much cares.
B) What amusement and disdain there is, is not because the faucets are expensive. His bathroom isn’t tacky because it cost millions of dollars. It’s tacky because it’s ugly, and because the message inherent in the design is ‘Look how rich I am!’ rather than ‘This is one gorgeous bathroom.’ It’s desperate, which is pathetic. None of that applies to Hillary paying a lot of money for a good haircut.
C) For another comparison, Romney’s wealth wasn’t offensive. His having a car elevator wasn’t offensive. How he got his money was offensive. That he bitched and whined about how unfair property laws were to his mansion while spewing bile at the poor was offensive. We don’t hate rich people who don’t try to pull up the ladder after themselves.
D) The only people who care so far already hated Hillary, and a lot of people who already hated her don’t care. I’m not too worried about the optics.
Shana
@Robert Sneddon: I saw Calista in a restaurant a few years ago. The hair is, indeed, helmet-like. And she looks way more pinched in person.
Brachiator
@redshirt:
You might as well go see it and be unsullied by my review.
One thing I will say is that I thought that the cast was good (except for Lex Luthor’s characterization). Affleck is getting unfair criticism for his performance, which is actually pretty good.
Juju
@Julie: I didn’t realize one could just go borrow a pair of her shoes. It’s a good thing your both the same size. ?
redshirt
@Brachiator: Go ahead and give that review. I’d like to read it. I’m still going to the movie regardless, because I must, and I don’t care if I’m spoilered. But don’t you DARE spoil Civil War.
Juju
@Julie: I don’t know much about Ivanka. I didn’t even realize she had a shoe line. I’m a teacher. It’s all about being comfortable as far as I am concerned. Perhaps she’s more of her mother than her father.
Juju
@Juju: Oops. you’re. Stupid autocomplete.
redshirt
@Juju: What are your favorite style of shoe?
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@Amaranthine RBG: I bet you scored a bunch of votes for Bernie in this thread with your mad persuasive skills
Uncle Cosmo
@goblue72: You’re a waste of organic molecules, jughead. Pond scum could & would make more productive use of them. Please return them to the ambient environment ASAP.
Brachiator
@redshirt:
calibration. Before I get to Bats v Sup, here’s my view of Marvel:
In anticipation (or dread) of my seeing Batman v Superman, a few observations on Marvel
Marvel’s success is somewhat overhyped. The Marvel movies have been wildly inconsistent in terms of quality, but they have been reliable entertainments compared to most big budget stuff dumped on moviegoers. And Marvel needs to thank their lucky stars for Robert Downey Jr’s charisma, which made the first Iron Man movie a delight and helped draw viewers into the film series (contrast this with, for example, any of the Hulk movies).
Marvel villains, with exception of Loki, suck. One symptom of their suckiness: Marvel nerds never explain the villains in terms of anything that they do in the movies, but have to fall back on the overly baroque crap that they do in the comic books to explain why they are supposedly so badass.
DC’s best villains are as iconic as their superheroes. So, there really is no excuse for a crappy DC movie. And yet …
The best Marvel movies are the ones in which the directors have been allowed free rein to be creative, not the ones that hold tightly to Marvel Mastermind Kevin Feige’s multi-year plan, or the ones that slavishly recapitulate a narrative line from the comics.
Marvel should have done a standalone Loki movie to capitalize on Tom Hiddleston’s appeal. And there is no excuse for the long delay until they have a female driven movie. Sticking to their Phase 1, Phase 2, Phase whatever plan may trip them up in the future.
Deadpool still enlivens the Marvel Universe, even though it was a 20th Century Fox production. And Sweet Moses I can’t wait for a Spidey cameo in the upcoming Captain America film.
Brachiator
@redshirt: And here is Bats v Sups
Batman v Superman made me appreciate the underrated “Man of Steel.” A spoiler free but opinionated view. Shield your eyes if you don’t wanna know nuthin.
In Batman v Superman, Zack Snyder again demonstrates a very interesting visual imagination, and he and his screen writers come up with some provocative thematic elements. Unfortunately, Snyder is largely incompetent as a storyteller and director. There are three movies here: a Superman sequel, a Batman movie, and an incipient Justice League movie; and all of them are kinda sucky.
There was an running Internet meme about “Sad Batman,” based on an early photo from the movie. It’s worse. You got morose Batman, glum Bruce Wayne, and an emotionally constipated Superman. The Luthor character is annoying, more one-note moron than evil genius. On the other hand, some of the action scenes are quite striking, but often poorly lit and sloppy. Worse, the movie just feels like a number of set pieces strung together, instead of a coherent story which builds to anything. Emotionally weighty scenes, such as one involving Amy Adams in a bath tub, pops out of nowhere and is flat instead of hot.
Yes, Wonder Woman makes an appearance and the musical theme which announces her is quite marvelous, but she is largely wasted here. Snyder could have easily made a small switch in the actions of a couple of characters, giving Wonder Woman a slightly more prominent role in the battle which consumes the last part of the film. This might have affected the ending that Snyder wanted, but would have resulted in a superior film overall. Instead, there are just a bunch of missed opportunities as Snyder clumsily sets up the next film in what they hope will be a new franchise.
This is all unfortunate since the cast is really quite good (except for Lex Luthor), including glum Affleck. I note that some in the audience applauded at the end of the film. Unfortunately, they were not sharing their drugs.
In the end, it’s not that the film is bad. It’s all the missed opportunities. And the strain and unnecessary heavy lifting. Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman are an iconic trinity. It should not be that tough to come up with a film in which these characters soar.
Snyder also does something I particularly detest in a comic book movie. He pitches the movie to the comic nerds who want the movie to be just for them, and not a family film. It’s not sex or violence, but be warned if you bring little kiddies. There is a late plot development which they may find troubling.
Some may not remember but back in the day, some parents angrily walked their kids out of “Batman Returns” because kids reacted badly to the feral ugliness of the Penguin, and were alarmed by scenes that suggested that little children were being murdered. By the way, I thought that “Batman Returns” was great, but understand that scenes like this may come as a shock to kids and parents who think that if toys and games are part of the marketing, then the movie must be kid friendly.
ETA: Yeah, it’s a thread about Hillary’s hair. But come on, really? She’ ain’t doin’ nuthin’ wrong.
redshirt
@Brachiator: Fantastic review. Thanks! I agree that many parents mistake “comic book movie” with kid friendly material. Kids love it, to be sure, but CMB’s can be violent and disturbing. Not sure a 5 year old should watch Man of Steal.
That said, there should be 5 year old friendly Superman media. Everywhere if possible.
Brachiator
@redshirt:
Thank you. I know some people who love the film. But even Kevin Smith, in a recent Hollywood Babble on podcast had to step away from this mess.
Who knows, you might have a totally different experience with the film. Enjoy.
And Hillary’s hair is still OK.
Brachiator
BTW, anybody watch the Clinton and Sanders interviews on Maddow?
Juju
@redshirt: I tend to like Clark’s mules or mules from Duluth Trading Co. I also like Keds sneaker style mules, but those are getting harder and harder to find.
opiejeanne
@Brachiator: I did.
rikyrah
@? Martin:
That article was good -thanks
? Martin
@rikyrah: Yeah, I keep that handy. My kids actually send that to their friends.
I see this stuff all the time in hiring and I call out people over it. Once you point it out, almost everyone realizes they’ve been doing something wrong and correct for it, but if you say nothing, nothing changes.
Ruckus
Just got home from work to read this.
WTF. She gets shit for making money speaking, she gets shit for spending her money on her appearance. Some people are so full of shit, every time they open their mouths it spews out.
Second. Why do you people bother with goblue? Either he is a wanker, deluxe edition or is trolling. Neither of which is worth the time of day. Personally I’m going with wanker, deluxe edition.
J R in WV
@raven:
You were so much more succinct than I was, Congratulations!
TallPete
It’s the NEW YORK POST (page six site) Cole. Get a grip, man! Anyway it’s terrible optics for Clinton. Who the hell pays $600 for a haircut? Rich- out of touch elite politicians maybe? John Edwards got lambasted for a $400 haircut – $250 of which was to have the barber travel so he didn’t tie up traffic and get bad press in the tabloids.
Cleos
@Bill:
Anything up to $199.99 would not be adequate. We can’t have a President who doesn’t care about her appearance.
$200.00 and up — that’s out. Too out of touch and richesque.
Julie
@Juju: Ha ha. Fair point. I do love her shoe line, though.
Original Lee
Dammit, Cole, now I have an image of Hillary Clinton with a John’s Pet Palace cut in my brain. I won’t be able to go to sleep for hours.
Julie
@Juju: Her style is lovely and she has a beautiful family. I don’t know much about her personally (or politically), but I do know that she and Chelsea Clinton are friends (awkward?). I’ve been buying her shoes and following her on Instagram since long before the idea of ‘President Trump’ was something anyone took seriously.