You know how metro-sexual topics wiz around Kottu like Bumble Bees on crack? We had those deep posts about man-bags, then those touchy discussions on toilet paper etiquette, and who knows what else i may have missed.
Well, this post is about hairbands for men.
My hair is generally unruly though its straight. I wish it fell done straight like it does for these japanese kids, but all it does is cover my eyes and sit a top my head like a mop. That’s the reason why i keep it close cropped most of the time (that and the fact that i like to see my forehead). My hair is so stubborn that it takes enormous quantities of gel to tame it, and in the end I look like a wannabe Italian mobster. But I have really wanted to let my hair down (to steal a phrase) and this seems to be the perfect opportunity with nothing important coming up in the next few months where I have to look polished. But there still remains the problem of taming my not-to-long-but-still-shaggy hair for the time being.
It was then that the Lady Janusis suggested something that went against the grain of my testosterone infused feelings. She told me to wear a hairband. It’s also called an Alice Band here, which did nothing to allay my fears. Traditionally in Sri Lanka, its your mothers and your sisters and aunts that wear hairbands. Your dads and uncles stick to sideburns and moustaches. But she insisted that I try it out, and at one of our friends places we nicked a fairly masculine (as far as is possible) looking hairband and I tried it out.
Ooh! it felt so good to have my hair out of my eyes. The band pushed all my hair to the back of my head making me look much neater, and making things far more comfortable for me. I am still not quite sure about it, but I have been wearing it for 3 days. Some girls told me it looks cute (hopefully in a manly way), some giggled at me behind my back, and my female cousin called me gay. I did some googling and found that quite a lot of men wear hairbands now since its so useful. Beckham does it of course, and so does Abhishek Bachchan.
I suppose in the interest of fashion and comfort the hairband for men is in. As long as the hairband is neutral looking and functional I could probably carry it off. It will probably take some getting used to, especially with some giggling going on behind my back, but I think i will stick it through for a while. Unless a bunch of women break out laughing in a public place, but that will be whole new blog post.
