Wind in My Hair

L’Academie blouse (c/o REVOLVE) (similar)
Levi’s jeans
Zara sunglasses (similar)
Bamboo handbag (similar)
Zara sandals (similar)
Elizabeth Lyn Jewelry necklace (c/o)
Keltie Leanne Designs ring (c/o) (similar)
Old Navy earrings (c/o Ivanhoe Cambridge)
Location: The Bay Downtown – Winnipeg, Manitoba

There is something decidedly glamorous about the idea of having the wind in one’s hair. It conjures images of Old Hollywood starlets riding in Cadillac convertibles towards the summer sunset, their silk scarves flying behind them. The reality of having the wind in one’s hair, well… let me tell you about it from personal experience.

As a Vancouver fashion blogger, the rain was my biggest meteorological obstacle. We had to hope for sunny days to fall on weekends, and sometimes schedule shoots between downpours. My hair was often a flat, frizzy mess as a result of the humidity. We got the shots, but they often didn’t meet my exacting standards. When we packed our bags for Winnipeg, I was relieved to be moving to a dryer climate. The cold would be a challenge, to be sure. But one we could manage easily enough by taking photos indoors.

I didn’t consider the wind because, somehow, I didn’t remember it. Maybe I was simply so used to it growing up that I stopped thinking about it entirely – I don’t really know. What I do know is that as soon as we took our first set of photos, I remembered. I remembered how I hated rolling my car window down as a kid. And how many of our summer vacation pictures featured me with my hair standing straight up behind me. Winnipeg is on the prairies, and the wind blows easily, not to mention harshly, across flat land. Tall buildings create wind tunnels that unintentionally channel, and thus strengthen, the power of that wind.

It really doesn’t matter what I do – unless I have my hair tied back, it is in my face most of the time. (On bad days, even hair elastics can’t help.) Half of the photos we take feature me sporting a face full of hair, with at least one hand up making a futile effort to catch some of it and pull it back. It’s something we mostly laugh about. Life is short, and taking perfect outfit photos isn’t all that serious. We always manage in the end. Sometimes, my wild, windblown hair even looks good.

Still, in case that description didn’t make it obvious, the wind blowing through one’s hair is, in reality, not glamorous at all. While my hair stands on end and I choke on strands invading my mouth, waiting for a moment of slower gusting when we can get a shot, I find myself wondering how many takes it took to get those old Hollywood sunset scenes just right. Maybe they look so good because there wasn’t any wind at all, just a gentle breeze blowing from the studio fan…