ABSTRACT
Once you start seeing the sections of the hairstyle, planning your attack should become easier. A way to refer to the method of breaking a style down into parts is by calling it the “Mr. Potato Head” theory of wig styling. Just as that toy has facial pieces that can be reconfi gured in hundreds of ways to create many faces, the elements of styling (waves, curls, braids, smooth hair, rolls, and clusters) can arranged in ways to create an infi nite number of styles. Look at the picture you are trying to recreate. What is the front doing-is it curly, Marcel-waved, or slicked back? Are the sides pinned off the face or rolled into sausage curls? Is the back hanging in loose curls? Are there braids wrapped around the crown of the head? Make sure you understand your hairstyle before you do any styling. Try to understand where all of the hair is coming from and going to. If the picture you are working from is a historical reference, consider what pieces of hair may have been the person’s own hair and what pieces may have been added on for fashion. You may have to add other hairpieces to your wig in order to achieve the desired look. Also, in many reference pictures, it is impossible to see what is going on in the back. You can do research to determine what the style would likely look like. This can also be a place for creativity-you can decide
should look!
