Hamill hair. A memoir.
Last weekend at Type-A Parent Blogging Conference, I sat in on a terrific roundtable discussion with midlife bloggers. During the course of conversation, we learned of a party that evening AstraZeneca was sponsoring to kick off Get America Moving to combat osteoarthritis.
Then someone said their spokesperson Dorothy Hamill would be there.
That’s all I heard for the next 30 minutes.
While all these fabulous midlife women discussed the empowering of 40-plus bloggers and how dare companies place age limits on who is eligible for a sponsored content, I thought of nothing but white ice skates, a pink dress and a hair cut.
For those of you born after the mid-seventies and let me play time capsule.
In 1976, I was 14 years old. Information outlets were the newspaper, the three networks and the local PBS channel which came in fairly well when the wind was blowing from the southeast at a steady 6 mph.
No internet. No smart phones. Computers where things with flashing lights and whirling discs that took up entire walls in James Bond movies.
Not that the Olympics aren’t a big deal now but back then a typical school night offered suffering through a bit of homework and a rerun of What’s Happening.
So that winter when they were broadcast on ABC, the entire world and I tuned into Innsbruck and watched a young pretty skater glide over the ice to her first gold medal.
Hamill captivated everyone from Jim McKay (Google him.), to Rocky Balboa (Who also had a very good 1976. Google him.), to a certain 14 year old hovering over a 12-inch color television tucked away in her Central Florida bedroom.
After seeing her standing on the top platform, 99.99 percent of women between the ages of five and 105 got the haircut bearing her name.
I had never worn my hair short but my father — who loved short hair — encouraged me. Why not? Dorothy was glamorous, fresh faced and beautiful. And every one loved her.
See. Who wouldn’t want to look like this?
Well, I got the cut, or a severe interpretation of one. One that had my hair jutting at a perfect right angle out the back of my head.
I got home and went back to my bathroom, stared in the medicine cabinet mirror and sobbed.
Runny red nose, swollen eyes the size of watermelons kind of sob.
I wanted movie idol, ice skater scintillating good looks and instead I appeared more of a baby bald eagle emerging from its shell.
It was not how I had imagined. No shaking my lovely locks as I skated down the halls of my junior high.
No. Just me. Only worse.
Just me with no hair and freakishly exposed neck.
Eventually, my Dorothy cut grew and my memory waned — that is until last weekend at the Westin in Atlanta when I had a chance to say what I’d been waiting to say to her for 36 years.
“Thanks to you, I spent six months of my life wearing a Farrah Fawcett wig from Spencers bobby pinned to my head.”
No, of course not.
I gushed. I told her how beautiful she was then. How lovely she is now.
I told her about me and the little 12-inch color television set sitting on my blue desk in my blue bedroom with blue shag carpet.
No sometimes it’s just enough to have the 14-year-old buried deep inside come bursting through — and remind her 50-year-old self that some people just aren’t made for short hair. EVER.
Come on. Be honest. Did you (or your mother) have the cut?
You mentioned on Facebook how Dorothy Hamill thought she knew you from somewhere, and no wonder: you look so pretty and glamorous. I’m sure you could be her neighbor.
I didn’t get my hair cut short until I was 18 years old, and my mother openly wept, so there was no way in 1976 was I getting the Hamill.
Oh Erica. It is shocking to see oneself so different. I was traumatized. And she did wave at me across the room — then when I got enough courage to talk to her — she looked at me and asked if we knew each other. Too funny. I felt so goofy but it was fun.
I did not get the Hamill haircut, nor did my mother, but who could forget it? She was America’s sweetheart and looking at that picture, she still looks just as cute and perky as ever.
I did WANT Bruce Jenner’s hair when he was an Olympian. It was flippy hair that bounced when he ran.
I do NOT want Bruce Jenner’s hair as it is now…..
I love the way that you are elegantly crouching down in that picture so that you don’t tower over her. Your hair suits you.
Tall women cannot do the Hamill it makes you freakishly taller… ask me how I know…ahem ( I too am 50). I lost about 7 inches of hair that day… what a nightmare… I hated Dorothy for a long time after that (not really, just my hairdresser.)
Bill. I do remember Bruce’s hair too. He was the summer Olympics 1976? He was sooooo handsome. I’d be gushing over him, like Dorothy. But it is a pity what he’s done (or some surgeon) to his looks. And I thought about that crouching down when I was doing it. But been doing it in pictures since grade school.
Oh. Zoe. I so enjoyed this comment. To make matters worse. My dad loved it so much, he made me go down to Olan Mills and have my portrait taken. It hung in TV room forever. Ugh.
So awesome that you got to meet her! I (shhh) was born after 1976, but I LOVE short hair. In fact, I just got mine chopped. I went full pixie from locks that just before hit the middle of my back. But, I agree with Erica, you are super hot just the way you are.
Thank you Kristin — and I love short hair too. It looks spectacular on young and older women. Maybe even me one day. Just going to do it gradually. 🙂
OK, I love this post and I’m so jealous that you MET Dorothy! I love you b/c you are my age and I remember that all SO vividly. Sometimes I feel like I’m an “old” blogger. And it’s true. But I love it when other people are just as dated as I am (no insult, it’s a sisterhood!).
I want to see Bill in a Dorothy. While doing a Hamill-Camel. C’mon Bill!
Oh Stacie — that was what was soooo great. At this midlife tribe group, I met so many fascinating bloggers from 40 — 60 ish. We are a quiet army. That is just beginning to be heard.
I think with just a few months more growth, Bill could fashion a Dorothy or maybe even a Bruce.
I never had the Dorothy Hamil cut (I have naturally curly hair, and for so many reasons, a cut like that would never, ever work!) I was too young in 76 to follow the Olympics, but I’ve heard of Dorothy throughout the years. I always thought she was beautiful and graceful. How cool you actually got to meet her!
Never had a Dorothy Hamill haircut, neither did mom. I did have the hots for Dorothy. Does that count?
I actually had a Hamill cut and looked pretty good in it. Then I switched to a less expensive stylist who didn’t know how to cut it, and the shape gradually disappeared. 🙁 Love the photo … you both look wonderful. It’s nice to see that Dorothy has aged well.
That was such a relief to me Linda — that she looked great. But she looked great for her age. Very natural.
I think we all had some sort of crush on Dorothy, Joe. Unfortunately, the hair was not as flattering on some of us.
I agree Jana. It was a lot of fun.
Jamie.. I’m sure you didn’t look like a baby bald eagle but you made me laugh as usual.. you’re just so corney.. silly.. hysterical.. and I love to read your blogs..
now we gotta get you on VIDEO…t hat’s where the real magic is!!! 🙂
Well, I agree Mary — that video is another medium that adds to social media and blogging savvy. I sat in on a vlogging seminar at the conference last weekend. Maybe it is time to try showing my goofiness on video every now and then.
Two more reasons I wish I could’ve been at Type A: to meet you an Dorothy Hamill. Yes, I had the cut. It’s true. I had hair down to the small of my back which I wore in Laura Ingalls braids. Then after much consideration, I made the switch from Laura to Dorothy. Like you, my hair jutted out (naturally curly/frizzy, not straight and silky) and I sobbed inconsolably. So cool that you got your picture taken with her. You’re gorgeous!
Oh I wish you had been there Linda. I wasn’t rooming with anyone and only knew a few bloggers who were going. EVERYONE was so nice. I was the goon and walked up to the BIG bloggers and introduced myself and said how much I enjoyed reading their posts. I went out to dinner and ran at 6 a.m. with complete strangers and came back with people I genuinely liked and look forward to following. We’ll meet one of these days. I know it. (And the whole Dorothy thing was so exciting. Even more exciting that when Bon Jovi popped up to our nosebleed seats to sing a song ~ five rows in front of me. And that was pretty darn fab.)
Dorothy won the gold before I was born (not long before, but still) and I didn’t grow hair until I was 2. I somehow still managed to find myself with a terrible DH style haircut when I was 5. I’m still mad at my mother for that haircut.
my cousin always had short hair. And she didn’t like it. Or she didn’t like being mistaken for a boy. Even in her Brownie uniform.
What a great post! I was -3 in 1976, but I still feel like I saw her in the Olympics because of all the wonderful video clips and pictures. If you find a picture of you and the haircut, take a picture with your iPhone and please post!
There was a school picture of me with that cut. It’s burned in my mind. I so wish I could have put my finger on it. Mom just moved up here. Maybe I can ask her if she has one somewhere.
I really enjoyed this story. At first I thought, “Bleh, a conference recap,” but I love how that was just the spring board.
what a beautiful picture!! I had something called the bubble which was probably suppose to be like Dorothy as interpreted by the 60 year old woman who cut my hair in her front porch beauty shop in upstate NY in 1976.
Thanks Robbie. And it sounds like the same cut. Though mine was more of a triangle than a bubble.
You are totally adorable. There’s nothing like meeting an idol!
Aww I know the feeling of a haircut gone wrong, I can only imagine! I am a short hair girl through-and-through though, although when I was in grade… 3? my mom gave me a bowl haircut that made me look like a boy, because it was all the rage, and I was so upset. I banned her from cutting my hair shortly thereafter.
Thank goodness guys don’t have to worry that much about our hair. The only thing most of us are really worried about it is keeping it. Several years ago I figured I could cut my own hair and have it look as good as when barbers cut it. This is not a condemnation of barbers but speaks to the nature of my hair. I don’t use a mirror just clip until it feels right. All the money I save by home barbering goes into a special account I call my Rogaine account. Hope I never have to spend it.
This is amazing. I was too young for the Dorothy Hamill, but I DID get a Brady-cum-Rachel-esque shag in the early nineties. NOT pretty….
I almost got a shag the first time around –‘the Florence Henderson one. But mom wouldn’t let me
Go and Google Joanna Lumley as Purdey in The New Avengers. I did THAT. And you, you are gorgeous to this day xxx
This is so awesome. We all wanted that damn short n’ sassy hair. I have super-thick slightly wavy and coarse hair and if I can find my 6th grade photo I’ll post it. Loved meeting you in person this weekend. The blogger who couldn’t remember that Hamill was a skater shall remain nameless; let’s just say her name rhymes with “Tichelle.”
OMG she still has the same hairstyle! And yes, I remember her … and yep, I had the cut. I was younger,like 8 or 9 so my experience wasnt filled with teenage angst. I have straight and thick hair so this gave me a different look. I actually loved looking like her 🙂
Totally and completely had the Hamill Haircut. Totally and completely failed at it, too.
I actually think I have a very, very funny story with Joanna Lumley. I’ll get back to you.
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