Confessions of a hair model, the day I cut my hair as a hair model to pay my rent

This article I wrote for Backstage.com just came out, I hope you enjoy it.
It is based on the day I cut my hair as a hair model to pay my rent.

Confessions of a Hair Model
July 02, 2008
By Isobella Jade



As bunches of my hair fell to the floor, I took a deep breath.

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The ad on Craigslist read, "Looking for hair model for an in-house presentation at a West Village salon. Must be willing to have hair cut — $100."

Taking the job would bring me a hundred dollars closer to paying this month's rent, keeping me in my tiny one-bedroom apartment in New York City. So I tried to picture my hair shorter.

As a child I never had a haircut at a professional salon. The only device I had known for a haircut was my mother's clippers, her plump hands getting stuck and entangled within the knots of my long hair during my monthly haircut in the bathroom.

I thought back to a photographer once telling me, "You should cut your hair. It would make you look taller. You could show off your nice neckline."

Then I reflected on the last audition I went to, and how none of the girls in line had short hair.

Survival and my dreams to work as a full-time model met in front of me at a cross road. I knew that in a business based on appearance, hair length can help you or risk your chances from booking the job.

I kept this in mind when I walked into the boutique salon on East 13th Street. A little bell rang as I opened the door.

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