Shear-nanigans

I don't always watch Project Runway right away because my esteemed colleague Sarah has it covered and we have to do a kind of TV triage for maximum efficiency. But last night I did, and as Sarah mentioned in her excellent post on it, I emailed her last night so that I was on the record with my conspiracy theory: Bradon's client did not actually cut her hair.

Let's review the evidence. Here's Bradon moments after meeting his client, Jen.

Screens: Lifetime

As Bradon notes, Jen is already pretty attractive (understatement), and in terms of improving her look via makeover, he will not be able to take her so far. Agreed!

Here's Jen in her consultation with L'Oreal's consulting hairstylist, who observes that although she is a natural blonde, "I think we really need to bump that up, and go blonde. Let's commit."

Here's Bradon getting his first look at Jen's alleged new look. We're supposed to think his expression is excitement at how great she looks -- and maybe it is. Or maybe he's reacting to the fact that instead of a haircut, his client got a wig.

At this point in the episode, here's what makes me suspect a wig.

1. This hair is not blonder than Jen's was before, as the stylist stated was his intention. In fact, it's less blonde.
2. The texture of this hair looks totally different from Jen's old hair: it appears coarser and thicker.
3. For having supposedly just been coloured and cut by a famous stylist, it sure looks dull!

A few angles from the runway segment:

The last of these is the most incriminating one, in my view. Look how it flips out in the back. When's the last time you saw a pixie cut that did that rather than lying flat against the back of the neck? Most pixie cuts I see nowadays aren't just cut short but clippered down underneath the longest layer. But there's also the fact that no angle on Jen's new hair lets us see her hairline; apparently at no point did she tuck either side behind an ear; and it looks exactly the same every time we see her, even under studio lights and after countless fidget-inducing hours.

So why wouldn't Jen get her hair cut? Duh: because she has great hair to begin with, as everyone on the show can't stop saying. Why would she front like she wants a makeover and enter the contest? Duh: because she wants to get a custom outfit designed for her on Project Runway, as we all do! But producers couldn't just let her walk the runway looking the same except in a new dress. Enter the wig.

But look: all this is just conjecture. Maybe I'm wrong! Maybe Jen really did get a terrible dye job and choppy haircut from L'Oreal's consulting hairstylist, and because it didn't look bad enough, coated it with about six layers of tinted dry shampoo.

But maybe I'm right, and Wig Cop just closed another case.