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Gail O’Grady – An Evolution of Beauty & Hairstyles
Gail O’Grady may not be a name you recognize, but her face is one you probably seen before, and one
you aren’t likely to forget anytime soon. She is best known as a television actress, having performed in shows like “NYPD Blue” (for
which she was nominated for three Emmy awards), “American Dreams”, “Hidden Palms” and “Boston Legal”, as well as countless TV movies.
She has become a face nearly everyone recognizes and was named one of People Magazine’s 50 Most Beautiful People (1996).
In recent years, Gail’s hair has gone through an evolution – from long, to short, to long again,
through a variety of styles. Let’s take a look at one of televisions true beauties.
January 2003:
Here we see Gail with her honey-blonde hair in a long razor cut with soft romantic curls. Her face
is a cross between the classic oval ideal and a heart-shape and can easily support most styles, which gives her true versatility in
her look. However, hairstyles with fringe (bangs) are generally going to be preferred. Taking this look as a starting point, let’s see
where she goes with her styling and looks.
February 2003
Only a month later, we see Gail with a slightly shorter cut. It’s still a razor cut, and is
layered, but this time, the hair is styled to fall in straight chunks for lots of texture to the look. The honeyed-gold of her blonde
color is tempered with paler highlighting in platinum shades. The hairstyle is a more youthful, trendy look, and in spite of being
forty (in this photo) she manages to pull it off, because the style truly suits her.
March 2003
Advance one more month and we see Gail with her long-layered cut styled in loose curls for a
freestyle look. There is less fringe in this style, which when combined with the long direct lines on the sides of the style creates
the appearance of an elongated face. I would have suggested that she opt for more sweeping curves, rather than the curls, and would
have made a more prominent design of the fringe to balance the forehead and shorten the face.
August 2003
Jump ahead five months to a new cut of similar length. The lightness of the blonde is toning back
down, but is still a soft shade. The cut is a softly-textured razor cut, with even layering, blown-out straight with a round brush to
turn out the ends of the hair. Light application of pomade or other wax-based product gives the hair a little textured look and
malleability.
One thing that becomes readily apparent in these two photos, however, is the difference a fringe
makes in the look created. On the left, we see the exact same style with the fringe styled to fall over the forehead, while the
right-side photos show the fringe pushed out of the way and off the face. You can see how the lack of a fringe leaves the forehead
looking too prominent, while the bangs styled properly over the face not only heightens the intensity of the eyes, but it adds a
sultry quality, too.
July 2004
A year has passed and it’s apparently time for a big change. The long layers are gone and the look
now is a top-heavy pixie cut with razor texture. This shorter hair style slims Gail’s face and really makes her eyes the center of attention
with the razor-cut bangs and playful messiness. This is a great easy-care cut, but it should be noted that this short haircut needs to be styled
as opposed to simply being “wash and go” in order to avoid looking either too severe, or unkempt. On the plus side, the shorter hair
means that styling becomes much easier than with the longer hair previously worn.
January 2005
Another six months pass and we see Gail sticking with the shorter look, but obviously beginning to
miss the versatility length offers. The textured layers of this short style feature shorter lengths on the sides, with added length at
the top, fringe and back of the head. Razor texturing to create a choppy effect adds movement and playfulness to the style. The look
is probably best achieved with a blow dryer an round brush, using a light styling mousse and a touch of wax-based product to give
some definition to the finished hairstyle.
October 2005
Apparently the passage of another nine months has rid Gail of the desire for a short and sassy
look. We can look at the corners of the fringe area around her face and see the level of growth she’s managed in letting her hair get
long again. The rest of the long flowing locks come courtesy of hair extensions (unless she’s made a deal with the devil) since nine
months’ passage of time could only account for 5 or 6 inches of length at most.
Obviously, the extensions are very high quality and blend seamlessly with Miss O’Grady’s natural
hair. As is common in styles with extensions (particularly when the extensions are added to create length) the cut is multi-layered
and has lots of movement As you can see, the top and crown areas have more bulk (likely due to the extensions) and the thickness of
the hair tapers as you move along the length of the hair.
Once more the danger with the styling is the need to keep fringe to balance the forehead and the
need to maintain the outward curve of the hair ends in order to keep from creating too strong a vertical line which can exaggerate
the length of the face.
September 2006
Nearly a year later, we see that Miss O’Grady has had ample time to restore her hair to sufficient
length for a lovely up-style. The paler blonde tones have been subdued into warmer golden hues and the soft, subtle sweep of the style
features added volume at the top of the head with the hair wrapped into a loose French twist.
Given the amount of volume and the silhouette, I would estimate that we have come full circle in the
cycle of long versus short hair for Gail. I expect that to take her hair down we would see a length and cut similar to the one she had
back in early 2003.
Try Gail O'Grady's hairstyles and the hairstyles of many other celebrities on a picture of yourself
with hairstyles simulation software!
Photographs: PR Photos
©CelebrityHairstylesNews.com
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