J'S TATTOOS

Jessica "J" Vosper is my haircutter. She has some great tattoos: a pair of scissors on her neck and a peacock across her back and shoulders.

J works at a hair salon called Dop Dop, which was the name of a popular children's shampoo in France in the fifties and sixties. The space which houses Dop Dop was "originally a tap dance studio where the likes of Cab Calloway and Gregory Hines let loose." I stumbled across the place one day while exploring SoHo with my blogger buddy Petra, and soon after booked an appointment there.

J is the kind of person who I find myself sharing my "crazy" ideas with. This is probably because she has a great imagination and has an open, accepting quality about her. Last time I went to get my hair cut, I said "Next time I come in, we can do something for spring - a bird's nest updo complete with malted speckled eggs and flowers. Wait a sec - maybe we can do something for Passover - like a seder plate perched on the updo. Lamb shank, parsley, everything." I was thinking about the massive wigs they assemble for the long-running San Fran show Beach Blanket Babylon (which, incidentally, Project Runway finalist Chris March used to design for).

Anyhow, back to J. She was raised, in part, in a farm environment. Which means that she is incredibly hard-working and also has the mind of an artist. I told J that a lot of women I know who were raised on farms are artists. We speculated about reasons why. Maybe it's because of the sense of open space and time that lets you connect to your imagination. Maybe it comes from having a relationship with nature, with the land. J and I agreed that this topic would make an interesting research project.

J shared one of her "crazy" (read: amazing) dreams, which is to create a fashion/hair show based on the solar system. She's been hatching this dream with her colleague, Josie. I love this idea. Go for it, J!