Juicy Couture hosted a dinner last night to celebrate its partnership with Erin Fetherston, the brand’s new creative consultant and guest designer. But before partygoers could dig into their molten chocolate cake, one very important issue had to be addressed: How does Fetherston get her bangs to look so damn perfect? Rulers and shelf levels? Some sort of frontal toupee? The question was clearly distracting the fellow fringed ladies in attendance, so Fetherston clinked her glass and gave an inspired speech on bang maintenance.
“This is the story of how I first came to acquire perfect bangs. I lived in Paris for a long time, and I was introduced to a magnificent hairdresser — an Australian man whose name was David Mallett. He said “If we’re going to have a relationship you’re going to need to come here every week. You’re representing my work.” He’s not a diva, he was just scared. So I would come by once a week. He would wash, blowdry, get it really straight, and then he would have me stand up against the wall. It was very intense. He would literally snip hair by hair by hair. And then he would sit down, blow it, have me stand up. It would be this dance going on and on. Sometimes he would get it in one shot, other times it would be bad. It was like sex. Like, “Do you think it looks straight?” “I don’t know, do you?”
When Fetherston moved to New York, her fairy bangmother was no longer there to look after her, so she decided to take the scissors into her own hands.
“To me, it depends on what kind of hair you have, but the secret is don’t use the brush too much. If you have a blowdryer, you need to get a nozzle on it that comes to a very thin, razor sharp slit. The smaller the slit the better. Your head has a curve. Here at the curve is where things can go wonky with the bangs. Just take the hairdryer and shoot that air super hot, not even using a brush. The power of the air and the heat through that razor slit just pushes them down. Within two minutes you can get them straight. Don’t use a round brush. Then you just have to have a steady hand. I start between my eyebrow and my eyelash.”
Good to know! And while Fetherston’s shellacked bangs look like they could weather any storm, they’re apparently not immune to the elements. “Wind is not your friend. Carry a comb and hairspray.” Ah, perfectly styled designers — just like us!
