Should You Go Bald?

Imagine, no more scrambling to cover your roots. No more salon trips or bad hair days. Some gorgeous examples of beautiful bald women here.

My friend Melly was wailing about her ever-thinning hair and worn out from trying artful ways to cover it. She'd just read about Miss Delaware Kayla Martell, a Miss America finalist, who sports scant hair on her beautiful head due to alopecia areata. 

According to WomenFitness.com," Alopecia in women may be attributed to three factors: aging, hormones, and genetics."

But in Ms. Martell's case, the autoimmune skin disease caused her hair loss as a child.

The article, by David Moye, mentioned designer Patrick Mohr's recent fashion show featuring "bald" models.

Although Mohr's use of chrome-dome cuties was a baldfaced publicity stunt if there ever was one, both bits of baldness suggest a trend, according to fashion experts like Toni Love, a Los Angeles-based cosmetologist and certified barber.

"Yes, going bald is the latest fashion trend," Love told AOL News, adding that celebrities like Rhianna, Demi Moore and Solange Knowles have all been seen with shaved scalps. "They are either shaving the complete head or one side of the head, as we have seen with Jada Pinkett-Smith …"

I called Michael Todd, hairdresser extraordinaire at J. Sisters Salon in NYC. Is this really a trend, I asked him?

"I've had a number of clients make that crossover to bald and proud!" he said. "Some clients do it for health reasons," he explained. There's even been cases where women have supported their friends' losing their hair to chemo (think Smith Jared and Samantha in Sex and the City), and liked it so much they kept it."

"It's more carefree," Todd says, "and a kind of anti-vanity thing." It definitely makes a statement, he goes on to explain.

I remember a television interview with Sigourney Weaver after Alien 3, where she noted the reaction of people on the street to her shorn state, as a sort of anthropological study: "Oooh, a bald person," she whispered, eyes widening.

But really, men have gotten the sexy sanction for going cue-ball for decades now. Todd points to Yul Brynner as the genesis of the trend, then "Kojak," through to Bruce Willis, Ed Harris, Patrick Stewart...

It looks younger and more vibrant, he says, "more of a choice than that old-man nest that starts to horseshoe around the head."

So why can't women with thinning hair do the same? "If a woman's hair doesn't look good, it can ruin her whole day," notes Todd, "and some women don't want to wear wigs."

He cites one of his bald clients, " a 'yoga lady', 49-ish, very health conscious"  who's "really beautiful, gorgeous eyes."

She likes being the center of attention, he says. She does all sorts of fun things with her baldness, with scarves; she has these cute jeweled head bands." He says she wanted people to look at her first, not her hair.

He emphasizes accessories: Lots of chunky jewelry and big earrings. "You're taking away the focal point and redirecting it." And you can wear stronger, bolder makeup — the focus is on the face.

A great-shaped head helps. Weaver, Demi Moore (in GI Jane) and Sinead O'Connor illustrate this.

You also still need a hairdresser! For eyes in the back of your head, laughs Todd. But seriously, to use the shaver properly and create a nice line.

Moye wrote:

If baldness isn't back, it's at least "making headway," according to John Capps III, who runs BALD USA, a pro-baldness organization headquartered in Morehead City, N.C. — no joke."

Related stories: 7 Sexiet Bald Men;6 Signs It's Time to Shave Your Head & How to Do It