Community Corner
Feather Fad Finds Fenton, High Ridge Salons
Colorful feathers used as hair additions are keeping salon stylists busy.
"Do you have feathers?"
That's an oft-asked question by callers to local hair salons as women line up for the latest hairstyle trend.
And the answer is: "Yes."
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"It's the most insane rage I've ever seen in all my years in the business," said Nicole Hogan, proprietor of , 794 Gravois Bluffs Blvd., Fenton. "It has really gone crazy. We can hardly keep the feathers in stock."
The "feathers in your hair craze" apparently started with Steven Tyler during his recent stint as a judge on American Idol. He received plenty of air time and the feathers in his hair grabbed the attention of women everywhere.
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"I have never seen anything like this," said David Gillick, co-owner of blu.
Hogan said the popularity of feathers is so high that a local Bass Pro fishing and hunting store was out of the feathers it sells to people who make their own fishing lures. Since it doesn't cater to fly-tying fishermen, , 1 Gravois Rd., Fenton, doesn't carry feathers. But owner Denis Dennis says he's noticed the feathers in the hair of his customers.
The hair extensions (mostly rooster feathers, Hogan says) are attached to a person's natural hair and can be washed, curled or "flat-ironed" just like regular hair. And the feather attachments come in any imaginable color. "There are 15 shades of blue alone," Hogan said.
The feather craze isn't limited to blu. Shannon McBroom, owner of , 2916 High Ridge Blvd., High Ridge, says feathers are just the latest trend.
"Everyone wants them and likes them and wants them in their hair," McBroom said. "It's a big fad right now from grade school to high school."
Colorful feathers have replaced, to some extent, the craze for the much longer and flashier "bling strings" that still are popular, McBroom said. The bling strings basically are like Christmas tree tinsel.
Erica Klebolt, co-owner of , 1671 S. Old Hwy 141, Fenton, says the feathers trend is definitely generating phone calls. She said the whole process takes 10 minutes in her salon.
"The longest part is picking out the feathers that you want," she said.
Klebolt said most women who want the feathers are in their late teens and early 20s, but said she one of her stylists had added feather to a woman customer in her late 70s, not for a special occasion, but "just because she liked them," Klebolt said.
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