Fruitful Shopping Weekend: Hair & Coat

This was a most fruitful shopping weekend - I managed to get my hair done on the major cheap, while also doing some significant research of great consequence, for you, my readers...(as well as for me, myself, and I).

Stop #1: My usual fantastic hair man, about whom you have read on these e-pages before (Helik at Dop Dop Salon), was unavailable to attend to my shouting roots. Yes, I may look like a natural blonde, and indeed I feel like one, but I have finally accepted the fact that it takes a lot of hard work to feel like a natural woman. So I was referred by a friend to Sam at Head Quarter Hair Colour Group on 2nd Ave. between 12th-13th Sts. Not only was it a successful outing (hair in photo was taken a mere hour afterwards), but it was CHEAP CHEAP CHEAPedity cheap cheap. Single process, eye brow tinting, cutting and blow out/styling for...$88. I will spell that out, in case you think it may be a typo: EIGHTY EIGHT DOLLARS. I was so thrilled that I tipped in excess of 20%.

So not only was it cheap and good, but it was one of those real "only in New York" experiences. Sam and all but one of the stylists and assistants are group of incredibly hip Japanese boys. Hair, clothes, tattoos - the whole nine. These guys are on point and it worked for me. Is Japanese the new black? Anyway, the salon is completely non descript and un-trendy - white Formica and fluorescent lighting. Quite horrible, in fact. But one way they keep a low overhead, I am sure.

And if that isn't enough, there was another "heeuuuhh?" scenario. There was one middle-aged female stylist in the back corner - I couldn't catch the accent exactly, but she may be Eastern European - and ALL of her clientele were "mature" white women, seemingly from Stuy Town...cruising solid into the East Village on their canes and walkers.

While my explanation may be completely edging on offensive and non-PC, I couldn't keep it to myself. Cheap+Hip Japanese+Old Ladies+white Formica+fluorescent lighting=New York just has to be the greatest place in the Western World.

Stop #2: I have written good and bad words about An Ren - at 315 East 9th Street - on this blog before. But ultimately, she has incredibly unique styles, fabrics and designs...and she did not disappoint me on that front this weekend either. I just can't get enough of her coats and jackets, and might be more inclined to buy them and her other wares - but I am a giant American with the shoulders and back of a swimmer. This seems to limit what I can fit into when it comes to the downtown indie designer set.

However! I managed to fit into the coat pictured here - and I love it. It is a bit more cash than I am interested in spending (about $325), but the material, colors and design is really like nothing I have ever seen. It could arguably be worn as a dress in a bit cooler weather.

Stay tuned for more shopping triumphs from the weekend...