Hi, I'm Dad, And I'll Be Your Stylist Today

Sun Herald

Sunday March 19, 2006

By HANNAH EDWARDS

MEET the dads who are becoming dab hands with hairbrush and glitter spray.

Eager to learn how to style their daughters' hair to prevent tears and tantrums before school, some doting fathers are attending Dad & Daughter workshops at a northern beaches salon.

The 90-minute styling sessions coach dads on the finer points of the ponytail, the stricter ballet bun, plaits, and a special party do that features curls, a complicated zig-zag parting and a compulsory swirl of glitter spray.

Some dads might be heavyweights in the boardroom but the thought of fixing their daughter's hair is enough to send them into a nervous sweat, said Susie Sumner, owner of Avalon salon Junior Hairfashion.

She said the popularity of the monthly $55 workshops reflected a changing society, where an increasing divorce rate had resulted in a high number of "weekend dads" who had never before been required to get their children ready for school or a party.

And the importance of having a perfect plait or glossy swinging ponytail should not be underestimated.

"It can be stressful, and the girls get upset because dad can't do their hair like mummy used to," Ms Sumner said.

Palm Beach dad Robert Wallace attended a session with his daughter Isabella, 7. "I tended to just put Isabella's hair up in a ponytail and by the end of the day it looked pretty bad," the antique dealer said. "At the class I learnt to do all sort of things like plaits, buns, ballet styles, and right at the end we did a full-on party look.

"She goes off to school a little bit more smiley if her hair is at least not the same each day. She's asking me to do the party one again, but it's not quite suitable for school."

Ms Sumner said the majority of adults at her workshops were single dads through divorce or separation, "who have got the kids on the weekend - which is when they are going to ballet and parties".

Hair-taming tips

? Dampen hair before combing.

? Hair spray on hands, run through hair, helps tame locks.

? Glitter spray looks fabulous.

? Practise holding hair elastics on fingers (not teeth) before attempting styles.

Source: Junior Hairfashion's Susie Sumner

© 2006 Sun Herald

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