Is Going Blond Dumb?

Anna Wintour, the indomitable seen/unseen editor-in-chief of Vogue, has been spotted everywhere in her signature dark sunglasses and dark brown pageboy helmet. 

Until relatively recently, that is. Truthfully, she is the last person I would ever have expected to go blond. Although she has lightened up in other ways too; for example, allowing filming for the documentary, "The September Issue" to go behind closed doors.

Then I remembered my Aunt Nancy. And my Aunt Sherry! Both abundant brunettes; but come to think of it, at holiday gatherings over the last decade, they've gone blonder and blonder. Until there's no trace left of brunette. Actually, my Aunt Nancy is now wholly white.

Is this the inevitable trajectory for dark-haired women?

Dianne Wiest, Annette Bening, ans Jobeth Williams have all lightened up. Even Patricia Clarkson, the elegant actress from the "The Green Mile" — her beautiful long red hair has also been blond of late. Maybe it's inevitable in general.

I asked Louise O'Connor from the OC61 Salon on Manhattan's Upper East Side if going blond is a smart choice for women as they get older (and grayer). She responded:

"Not everyone should go blond, but as women age, a hair color a few shades lighter than their original one tends to be a little more complementary," she explained. "As hair starts to get grayer, lighter shades help prevent growth at the roots from looking too harsh. If your original shade is very dark, rather than going too light, a few strategically placed highlights can have the same effect."

OK. I called my Aunt Sherry. "Oh," she sighed, "it just looks too harsh with the wrinkles to have dark, dark hair." She went on to explain that since she mostly colored her hair herself, it was exhausting to have to do it so often.

"And economic slavery if you go to a salon," my friend Frances said emphatically. Plus, she added, "if the wind blows, you have no idea what's going on in the back of your head!"

My friend Amanda, who turned 50 last year, said it was a process, literally. "I started to go gray when I was 25!" she said. "So I tried all kind of colors. But I got sick and tired, and lazy." Her hairdresser suggested blond because then her roots would look dark, instead of the gray roots that showed with her auburn hue. "But I didn't look good as a blond." Now she's gray all the way. 

So perhaps, as more and more gray comes in, blond may be a smart way to go even if it's only an interim color. "It's just easier; it blends in better, and you don't have to color as often," Sherry said. "And the guy at the computer store is nicer to me," she giggled. "Still, I miss my dark hair."