Now that I think I have gained a good insight to what I think hair extensions mean, their origin and where they have come from in society- I thought it would be a good idea to formulate some initial ideas to explore what I am thinking of right now.

The first idea I had was ‘Celebrities’ which was one that immediately came to mind when I got the project. I wanted to explore how they use extensions to follow trends very carelessly, they do not think about where the hair comes from. I wanted some element of shock factor; whether that be the . length, colour or style. This look would have to be perfected and seamless so that it really does look effortlessly pristine, like celebrities do. I had the idea of taking these set of photos on me; almost to enforce the idea of ‘selfies’ because I want to portray this section as very self obsessed, self indulgent and glutinous. 

INITIAL 1

I then thought about how I could make this idea more interesting and layered. I . thought about the opposing side; of ‘botched’ celebrity hair or celeb bad hair days.

…CONTINUED

I looked back and thought about some of the biggest names of the moment; falling in the eyes of the public and visualising their mental struggle with their hair. The most iconic celeb for this would probably be Britney Spears when she suffered a mental breakdown and shaved her head- this being months after a series of awful paparazzi images of her “birds nest” on her head. I think that this is a really conceptual way to twist the idea on itself; however it may be very hard to capture and not just look like a bad photoshoot.

INITIAL 2

The second initial idea was Catwalk hair. I thought that there were some similarities between this idea of the first; as the most ‘on trend’ hair is likely to be seen on both celebs and models. I think the same idea about ‘shocking’ people with the length, style or colour ect would be even more present in this category. I think some of the most intricate work I have seen has come from the runway. I thought about how creative and imaginative I could be with this; it would be one of the most fun ideas out of all the initial ones. Researching into more about hair on the runway; I saw how much backlash the Marc Jacobs SS17 ‘pastel dread lock’ hair was getting. Labelled as cultural appropriation; I knew that to make this task interesting I would have to also do something controversial. I wouldn’t want to go this far at all; and would not want to offend people- but I feel as though for the hair to not just blend into the background, it would have to be something quite different and unseen.

INITIAL 3

My last idea would be to focus in on drag culture. This is the main thing I thought of when I was given the object. Being a fan of RuPauls Drag Race means I have seen many transitions from male to female; the wig always going on last and completely changing the identity of the queen. This would by far be the most interesting and fun paths to go down. From the research I have undertaken I could take the best things from my favourite past queens; and ideas and concepts based around hair to create my perception on what I think hair extensions and weaves mean to modern day drag queens. 

I think people often really look past the hair in drag and more think about the make up, gluing down the brows, tucking and stuffing the ‘body’. People always want controversy and shock factor; but often it’s one of

the most basic parts of the look that can be the most sickening or interesting.