{"id":31180,"date":"2020-08-16T00:01:59","date_gmt":"2020-08-16T07:01:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/barbarafalconernewhall.com\/?p=31180"},"modified":"2020-08-16T00:01:59","modified_gmt":"2020-08-16T07:01:59","slug":"is-fluffy-the-new-black","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/server.stagingweb3.net\/barbarafalconernewhall\/is-fluffy-the-new-black\/","title":{"rendered":"Is Fluffy the New Black? Is Our Quarantine Hair Trying to Tell Us Something? Sheltering at Home Week 23"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Quarantine<\/a>
Is fluffy the new black? Is Rep. Katie Porter’s relaxed grooming style the look of the post-pandemic future? Katie Porter photo<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

August 16, 2020. Sheltering at Home Week 23<\/strong><\/p>\n

I’ve got quarantine hair. It’s growing and growing and getting fluffier and fluffier. So is Stephen Colbert’s. Ditto Katie Porter’s.<\/p>\n

Conan O’Brien’s quarantine hair has been taken over by runaway cowlicks.<\/p>\n

Which makes me wonder — what will we all be looking like when the coronavirus is tamed and we’re back to singing in church and crowding into bars?<\/p>\n

That Dressed-for-Success Look<\/strong><\/h5>\n

Will we women be digging around in our closets for sleek pantsuits and battle-ready boots? Will we be heading to the hairdresser for that flawless, dressed-for-success look of yore?<\/p>\n

I don’t think so. From now on, I think, the world and all the people in it will be going for — fluffy.<\/p>\n

Fluffy is the new black. Fluffy hair. Fluffy, loose-fitting shirts and jackets. Fluffy, loose-fitting lifestyles<\/em>. Fluffy boundaries between home and work and the greater world.<\/p>\n

That crazy, out-of-control quarantine hair we’ve been putting up with is one sign of things to come.<\/p>\n

\"Quarantine<\/a>
First lady Nancy Reagan in the 1980s — every hair in place for her White House portrait.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In the fluffy world to come, I’m thinking, it will be OK — for men, as well as for women — to tell the truth and admit to being a little late for work this morning or a little groggy this afternoon because the baby was awake all night and it was our turn to walk them.<\/p>\n

The Cat Is Out Of the Bag. And So Is the Dog and the Parakeet<\/strong><\/h5>\n

Thanks to all that video chatting and Zooming we’ve been doing, and thanks to the socially distanced news reports we’ve been taking in, the lines between home and work have been blurred — fluffed — forever. The secret is out. People have kids at home. The have dogs, chickens, parakeets, spouses.<\/p>\n

Your boss, your favorite late night talk show host, your congressperson<\/a>, your governor, and the TV pundit of your choice have been unmasked for the human beings they are — people with rows of corny family photos on their bookshelves and knickknacks of debatable sophistication. People with lives.<\/p>\n

Keeping a Lid on the Personal\u00a0 Stuff<\/strong><\/h5>\n

Not so long ago, people arrived at work, ready for work<\/em>, looking professional<\/em> and making like they hadn’t another responsibility in the world. Which they did, of course. They had another life. But there was a felt need to keep a lid on family worries and other extra-curriculars.<\/p>\n

\"Senator-Amy-Klobuchar<\/a>
Will Senator Amy Klobuchar drop the classic, crisp, dress-for-success look and go for fluffy? Official Portrait<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Not now. Not during the coronavirus shut-down that we’ve been putting up with and adapting to since March. To wit:<\/p>\n