THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, August 5, 1995 TAG: 9508050265
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B2 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY KERRY DOUGHERTY, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: Medium: 76 lines
Let's just say Dorothy Kalingking was having a bad hair day.
Make that a bad hair month. Better yet, a bad hair summer.
In June she lost her job as a first-grade teacher at Rosemont Elementary School. The teacher she replaced last year had decided to come back after having a baby.
Then Kalingking split with her boyfriend.
A month-long trip to Florida helped a bit. But a new 'do is what she was in the mood for on Wednesday.
``Do it,'' she says, settling into the barber's chair. ``Quick, before I change my mind.''
Kalingking, 24, is one of a handful of adventurous, penny-pinching souls responding to a newspaper ad asking for models for ``progressive hairstyles.'' Although she'd always had long or chin-length hair, Kalingking was game for whatever the stylist had in mind.
Good thing, too. The haircuts are free. But the stylists get to pick the hairdos.
``It's a chance for our stylists to cut loose,'' says George Kirkpatrick, owner of Hair Is George in Loehmann's Plaza.
Kirkpatrick, who sports a blond ponytail and Buddy Holly glasses, says he runs this promotion about once a year.
The women who respond tend to be good sports, he says.
``Most of our clients don't want to change their regular styles,'' he says. ``With models, the stylists get to try all these techniques they learn in school and at shows.''
Before attacking Kalingking's hair with shears, stylist Theresa Torralva pulls out a book, flipping through the pictures of scary hair styles.
``Do you watch `General Hospital?' '' Kalingking asks nervously. ``Is it something like Alicia's new 'do?''
Torralva isn't sure.
``It's a longer version of a short haircut,'' she explains. ``If that makes any sense.''
In the chair next to Kalingking sits a very uneasy Jeannette Williams, a Norfolk Navy wife with a 2-year-old son. Enticed by the offer of a free haircut, she came in with long, boring strawberry-blonde hair. She leaves with a cascade of strawberry-blonde curls, layered all the way down the back.
``I really love it,'' she whispers. ``I think my husband will too.''
As she snips, clips and eyeballs Kalingking's diminishing head of hair, Torralva smiles.
``The average customer wouldn't let me do this,'' she says, steadily transforming Kalingking's blunt pageboy into a wispy, soft shag.
When she finishes cutting, Torralva whips out the gels. Pretty soon Kalingking has a head full of spiky wet-looking locks.
``This is the kind of style that you can wear naturally to a job interview or slick it down and look really hot on a Saturday night,'' Torralva says, nodding approvingly at her creation. ``Dorothy's got such a pretty face and this just frames her nicely.''
Finally Torralva thrusts a big mirror in Kalingking's hands and spins her around in the chair.
``I like it, I like it,'' Kalingking says with relief, turning her head left and right. ``I was feeling kind of iffy when I came in here but you talked me through it and I think it's really different.
``A new me.'' ILLUSTRATION: Color photos by Beth Bergman, Staff
Enticed by the offer of a free haircut, Jeannette Williams gets
restyled by Martha McCullough at Hair Is George in Loehmann's Plaza
in Virginia Beach.
Before attacking Dorothy Kalingking's hair with shears, stylist
Theresa Torralva pulled out a book of scary styles.
by CNB