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Written by Donovan Henderson
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Wednesday, 17 May 2006 |
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Page 1 of 4 For eight years, Elwood Trammel Jr. didn’t cut his hair.
It was long, but he wasn’t a hippie. No, Trammel was a man of the times back then.
“I had the biggest afro in Virginia,” he says with a giant smile, arms outstretched to indicate how far his frizzled locks extended. With his platform shoes, he cut quite a figure in his day.
“I decided to cut it, and I wish I hadn’t done that,” Trammel says.
The 51-year-old who lives in Fort Collins no longer has his Dr. J-do, but he keeps his hair in cornrows — tightly braided “rows” that run from front to back. His wife does his braids “real tight,” which he leaves in for a week to a week and a half at a time. He wears a cap at night to keep the woven coif intact.
Like the clothes we wear, the car we drive and the music we listen to, our hair says something about us. Exactly what — well, that’s up for interpretation.
Hair Reason No. 1: Style
For most, even if hair isn’t an obsession, it comes close. We spend a lot of time and money on our hair. 
And it’s not just girls. Guys are guilty, too.
In the world of the rich and famous, think Don King, Donald Trump or Conan O’Brein. All are recognizable by their coiffers. Also, consider all the products on the market that claim to help guys will receding hairlines. The company that actually comes up with the cure for baldness will make a mint.
In our search for out-of-the-ordinary hairstyles in northern Colorado, it was the men who stood out.
Nate Messer is a 20-year-old bartender in Fort Collins who colors his hair. When we caught up to him, it was an aqua blue.
“As a bartender, I have to kind of mix it up and give it some personality. ... If you have something unique, people tend to tip more.”
Reason No. 2: Dinero
 Then there’s David Janes, another 20-year-old from Fort Collins, whose hairstyle doesn’t necessarily have a name. It’s similar to what Tommy Lee, drummer for Motley Crüe, had in the 1990s. The sides are shaved short, with the mohawk middle left long, and it’s pulled back into a pony tail.
“It kind of expresses who I am, a little bit. It’s not the same as everyone else. You don’t see this hairstyle very often,” Janes said. “It feels comfortable for me.”
Reason No. 3: Comfort
Colleen Brooks, a 27-year-old hair stylist at Capelli’s Salon and Spa in Fort Collins, said the most unusual hair request she runs into is a mohawk.
“Usually, it’s a high school kid,” she said. 
Most of the time the parents are OK with the blade-like do, but every now and then a kid will come into the salon without permission from their parents.
“That’s hard for us,” Brooks said.
One of those high school kids who opts for the mohawk is Chris Cook. He’s a 16-year-old from Fort Collins who has been wearing his hair in the statement-making style for about six months.
“I just wanted to represent punk,” Cook said. “I just like it.”
The mohawk, although usually attributed to the Mahican and Mohawk indian tribes, was actually brought to life by the Hurons, according to Wikipedia.org. In times of war, members would pluck out their hair except for a strip down the middle.
Cook uses a spray to get his hair to stand at attention, and it only takes him about 20 minutes to do the full do.
Reason No. 4: Lifestyle
With more than 100,000 hair follicles on the human scalp, the possibilities for self-expression through a coiffure are endless.
Clearly, most people keep within the mainstream with their choice of styles, and there are subtle ways within the “norm” to make an expression.
It’s not unusual for people, women especially, to add highlights to their hair. Brooks said that another look right now is “chunking” or color blocking. This technique is when a stylist applies color to section of hair freely, creating chunky looking highlights.
Of course, giving hair some pizzazz is not just a young person’s game. You’ve seen older ladies with hair that has a blue or pink tint. Those ladies also have peers who want style, but don’t want all the hassle.
So they buy wigs.
Pat Talley, owner of Life Of The Party in Fort Collins, sells a slew of outrageous wigs you’d wear to a party — anything from a mullet to an Oompa Loompa wig. She also sells legit wigs to seniors.
“We have older ladies who just like to look different,” so they buy a number of different wigs, Talley said.
“They just don’t want to deal with their hair.”
Reason No. 5: It’s easy
And there’s the lesson. Whether it’s to stand out in the crowd, to express unity with other people of like mind, or just because it’s hassle-free, you should be as comfortable with your hair as you are in your skin.
Reason No. 6: Because you like it
NEXTnc reporter Erin Frustaci contributed to this story.
Thinking of trying the bald look, click here.
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|  | "Humankind cannot gain anything without first giving something in return. To obtain, something of equal value must be lost. That is Alchemy's first law of Equivalent Exchange. In those days, we really believed that to be the world's one, and only truth." | |
|  | We're not that bright, even though in our own little world, we're geniuses. We like 80s hair bands and one-hit wonders, but among us we have respectable tastes, too. Metallica, Iron Maiden, U2. Pursuit of all things trivial is a lifestyle, not just a game. We like some sports, love other sports, and can find something to say about anything. We watch TV and movies and we've read a book or two, even a few classics (Yes, Classic Comics count!)
We call it insight, you call it what you will. | |
|  | Felix Wong is an outdoor enthusiast living in Fort Collins. A mechanical engineer by day, he is especially passionate about bicycling, running, and backpacking. | |
|  | Hola Amigos! I'm Sandra. I like to believe that people are 70 percent good and 30 percent dumb. I'm stickin to that story. Reading this blog might make you want to be good, but probably just dumb. | |
|  | Donovan Henderson is editor of NEXTnc. | |
|  | Here at Nextnc we have some characters. Get a sneak peak behind the curtain and find out what amusing antics our staffers get themselves into on a weekly basis. | |
|  | What is up FoCo?
I am a recent college graduate of Minnesota State University Moorhead. After recieving my B.A. in English and Mass Communications this past August I moved down to Colorado.
I enjoy long walks on the beach, candlelight dinners, and heavy metal. My hobbies include reading and writing, music, movies, and getting drunk. Some of my favorite contemporary authors include Bret Easton Ellis, Chuck Palahniuk, and Kurt Vonnegut. My top movies are anything directed by Kubrick. I enjoy listening to anything that rocks.
Right now I am just trying to get to know Colorado and FoCo better. Mostly in order to find the best drink specials on each day that ends in Y. So if you know where I can get a cheap drunk on, let me know!
--Drew | |
|  | Life's little morsels of inspiration, observation and encouragement seen through the eyes of the Nextnc reporter.
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|  | Ms. Giles currently lives in Colorado where she stars in her own private reality show. She writes aphoristic accounts of her life, taken completely out of context, and embellished with characters and situations disguised to resemble something close to interesting. | |
|  | over and out | |
| | My name is Michelle Turley and I'm 28 years old. I live in Severance with my hubbie, Brandon. We have 2 dogs and a cat. We enjoy camping, four-wheeling, and just being in the mountains. I like to cook, clean (go figure), flea market, and play poker. I have so much to say about poker... | |
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