The Dorothy Do

When Olympic Skater Dorothy Hamill leaped and spun to her gold medal on the ice at Innsbruck, many female television viewers were as fascinated by her head as by her legs. What captivated the women was Hamill's perky hairdo, which flowed gracefully with every jump and then miraculously fell back into place. Ever since, hairdressers across the nation have been besieged with requests for the "Hamill Look" or the "Dorothy Do."

Uncluttered Coif. The authentic Hamill is a short cut with a thick thatch of bangs that flops over the brow, meets the cheekbones and brushes the top of the ears. In the back, the hair is shaped into a sharp, neat triangle. If it looks at all familiar, hairdressers say, it is because the basic style has been around for several years. It was not until Hamill's Olympian efforts, however, that the wedge gained the edge as one of the headiest coiffures in town.

Hamill's hair is styled by Suga, a Japanese hairdresser who works at Manhattan's Bergdorf Goodman and favors the cut because it bares the neck. "Japanese women are always covered up by the kimono, so that only the neck shows," he explains. "The Japanese think the neck is very sexy." Adds Stylist Eric Lintermans, owner of Linter-mans in Beverly Hills: "It lifts the face. The cut by the cheekbones can subtract years from a woman's face." Also, he notes, it can be styled in minutes with a blow dryer: "I think women are tired of having to fuss with their hair--of brushing and spraying and curling." To Fashion Designer Rudi Gernreich, the wedge is simply part of the new concept in dressing. Says he: "American women are beginning to be clean again, getting rid of the clutter." Some of the converts to the uncluttered coif: Dancer and Choreographer Twyla Tharp, Actresses Carol Burnett and Mackenzie Phillips, and Sheila Weidenfeld, Betty Ford's press secretary.

There are many variations on the new wedge. Stylists at the Paul McGregor shops in New York and Los Angeles have shaped the back of the cut into three inverted pyramids. The Jon Peters salon in Beverly Hills has added to the cry with hue. Says Owner Allen Edwards: "For fun, we like to apply iridescent color to the bottom of the wedge --aura colors like purple, reds and blues."

More and more women are taking the wedge pledge. Says Jan Richards, a housewife from Beverly Hills: "It's been my salvation. When a woman nears 50, she can't keep the long hair. This way, my hair looks neat, but I don't look like a schoolgirl." Mimi Meltzer, a housewife from Winnetka, Ill., won instant attention--from women and men--with her wedge. "Even the parking lot attendant tested the style after I had it cut," she says. "He asked me to shake my head to see how my hair looked afterwards."

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so viewer discretion is required.