'Grey's Anatomy' Proves that Hair Really Matters

I've already posted about last night's episode of 'Grey's' (S8, Ep13: "If/Then"), so I won't bore you with the details here.

What I want to talk about instead is hair styles. Namely, how crazy it is that simply changing characters' hair styles immediately changes their whole personae.

For instance, I loved Callie's new hair-do, but it certainly made her look way more suburban mom:

Meredith's lack of volume showed how deflated she was with her mother ordering her around:

Bailey's hair-style was a little juvenile, and didn't fit with the harder personality she has in current reality. In alt-reality, where she was under Meredith's mother's thumb, it was perfect:

Cristina's harsh bangs also suited her alt-reality persona, where she was considered unapproachable, and slightly evil:

Hair styles aside, the rest of the costuming was also very well done:

Meredith's day-clothes were almost exclusively pink, signifying how she is still very much a little girl who is controlled by her mother. Her pink watch, and shiny black shoes, reminded me of a suburban child, while her cardigan and button-down screamed preppy: 

 Alex was also screaming preppy with his belt, polo-shirt, and glasses. If they were trying to make Justin Chambers less attractive, they succeeded. If they were trying to make him match Meredith? Yep, that happened too. I think it was particularly well-done because he looked a little over the top, like a boy playing dress up. Considering the fact that he was faking his affection for Meredith (presumably, in part, to please her mother) this outfit makes sense.

Finally, I have to touch on those hideous scrubs. I worked in a hospital for two years, so I know what normal scrubs look like. And no, they don't look like the ones that normally appear on 'Grey's Anatomy'; those are clearly tailored for each specific actor. Still, these ones are especially ugly. And different scrubs for the men and women? That would never fly at any hospital I've ever worked at. Also, why do them at all if you clearly need to outfit Sarah Drew (Kepner) in the normal scrubs due to her real-life (hidden on the show) pregnancy? This is the one costuming decision I don't understand.

photos from givememyremote.com

Tina Fey/Liz Lemon's Hair

Since apparently I'm on a roll (hair-wise), I've also been thinking about the evolution of Tina Fey's hair. Actually, no, let me rephrase: I've been thinking about the evolution of Liz Lemon's hair (Fey's character on '30 Rock').

Fey's hairstyle has also gone through some pretty major changes (if you need confirmation of this, just check out her first appearance on Weekend Update on 'SNL'), but that's an issue for another day.

Liz Lemon's hair in the pilot episode

By the 3rd episode of Season 1 someone decided to style her hair

By Season 2 they were placing far more effort into her hair than Liz Lemon ever would

By Season 3 someone was going a little crazy with a curling iron

By Season 5 the curls were far far less

Liz Lemon's hair = major evolution. I would say that this evolution is about character development ("Liz is becoming more comfortable in her career/life and her own personality is shining through, as evidenced by her suddenly luxurious locks!"), but I think it's more likely that the network told their hair stylists that Liz needed to be more attractive so that people would "like looking at her more" or something. Ugh. I would argue with them on this point, except that I think in many ways they are right. Americans are not used to watching 'normal looking' people on television (and by that I mean people who look like us). British television is much more grounded in reality, their ordinary characters look like ordinary people, and even their scenes are less strategically lit, and the footage is less edited (more on that next time). And every time I try to get my friends to watch a British television show with me they scoff at the 'ugly people'.

The Hair Trend

Has anyone else noticed the new trend among 'hot' women'* on television?

They all have long, wavy hair. And it's rarely natural.

Case in point:


1. Sasha Alexander (Maura Isles), 'Rizzoli & Isles'


2. Angie Harmon (Jane Rizzoli), 'Rizzoli & Isles'
3. Zooey Deschanel (Jess), 'New Girl'

*I'm not contesting the fact that they are hot, but rather the fact that 'hot' is the main descriptive word we use to explain who we're talking about, which I find a little sad.