Really Neat : ‘Action Cuts’ That Resist Tousling and Jostling Are the New Styles for Kids
AT 6 MONTHS OLD, England’s wee Princess Beatrice, daughter of the Duke and Duchess of York, may be a bit too young to influence hair fashions, but her dapper little cousins, Prince William and Prince Harry, are already trend-setters. Their very traditional cuts have replaced last year’s spiky-tyke styles as the look for kids in 1989. Instead of trying to look like wild-haired rock stars, many boys ages 4 to 12 are now getting cuts that are long in back, tapered only slightly at the nape and fairly long on top. The look is designed to keep the hair neat even when tousled. These “action cuts,” as hairdresser Edward Jimenez calls them, fall right into place no matter how many tricks the kids do on their bikes. “It’s not a military school look,” says Jimenez, whose Sunset Boulevard salon caters to adults and children. “The length in back keeps it from looking too severe.”
For girls, action-worthy styles, such as English bowl cuts and classic ponytails, pigtails and French braids, are all the rage. As Sherman Oaks children’s stylist Pam Pepper explains: “Kids still don’t want to look different from other kids--no matter what their parents think. But the kids all say they want to look cool at the same time.”
Easy care is a high priority for the elementary school set. “Low- to no-maintenance” is how Tina Cassaday, a Beverly Hills children’s hairdresser, describes the trend. Cassaday not only makes house calls to snip the tresses of Michael Landon and his kids, but she also does her son Justin’s entire second-grade class at Beverly Vista school.
Landon’s 4-year-old daughter, Jennifer, “always worries that her bangs are too long,” Cassaday says. Jennifer isn’t alone. Most children dislike it when their hair gets in their eyes. “Bangs should never be long enough to be blinding,” Jimenez says. “That’s the No. 1 complaint from kids. Their mothers think long fringe is cute, but it drives the kids crazy.” This year’s favorite fringe is eyebrow-length in front, tapering longer at the temples,similar to the way that child actress Sarah Doroff wore her bangs in “Three Fugitives.”
Last year, kids were asking for vibrant colors in their hair, but those requests have dwindled. Now the only call for color is from young actors and actresses who need highlights or a change of shade for a role. At her salon, Peppermints, Pepper says she prefers not to apply chemical treatments, such as hair color or perms, to children under 10. “The hair hasn’t developed completely until then, so I can’t guarantee successful results. Besides, it’s just not healthy for young hair.”
Jimenez adds that he has observed children as young as 5 years old with artificial highlights. “That’s not the child’s desire. That’s the parent fulfilling some need,” he says.
Chemicals destroy the outer layers of the hair, making it weak and brittle, Cassaday says. If color is required, she chooses vegetable-based dyes that won’t damage the hair shaft.
Chances are good that the young heirs to the British throne have not realized their impact on today’s trends, but, as Cassaday says, “there just aren’t that many children today who influence styles.”
