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The second biggest mistake: cutting off all my hair to get in character for the adventure.
You see, Miami in themid-‘90swas a city on the verge of super-coolness.
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There were Cosmos and inside-out California rolls, Camel Special Lights to consume, and nightclubs to sneak into.
That’s why I ended up at the hair salon with a tatteredInStylemagazine cover and big Friday night plans.
Rachel Green was a beautiful, bubbly, 20-something New Yorker.
The writer wearing “the Rachel” at her senior prom in 1997.
I was an awkward, 17-year-old high school athlete.
The writer wearing “the Rachel” at her senior prom in 1997.
So I decided to try it on.
Thompson Michael
I sat in the salon chair with great anticipation as my practical, soccer-player lob was sliced and razored.
I watched the chunks float down to the floor.
Rachel Green’s self-assured coolness was mine for the taking.
But the truth is, it didn’t suit me.
Not the moxie, not the fake ID, and not the haircut.
That night on South Beach ended without much fanfare.
In the days that followed, I began to understand the gravity of my situation.
For me, “the Rachel” was anything but effortless.
It was not a wash-and-go style; it requireda blowoutwith a round brush to help define all those flicks.
But my hair was thick and the humidity in Miami was thicker, so even that wasn’t enough.
The shaggy layers poofed up in all the wrong places.
My most self-assured hairstyle?
To this day, it’s still how I wear my hair.
But trying on “the Rachel” was good for me.
“You could say it was ‘the Beri’ before it was ‘the Cameron.’
And it was ‘the Cameron’ before it was ‘the Rachel.’
The truth is, I didn’t invent the haircut for Rachel Green.
I gave a similar cut to Cameron Diaz.
And then I gave it to Jen.
Thats when Pandora’s box opened and everyone had to have ‘the Rachel.'”
“Do I have any regrets?
But I’m not a businessman, I’m a hairdresser.
And I had much more fun doing what I did.
“I still see ‘the Rachel’ on TV.
It looks amazing on the ladies of MSNBC Chris Jansing and Stephanie Ruhle.
I still give a version of the cut to some of my clients.
The styling and the vibe are different.
In 2021, that’s how you take ‘the Karen’ out of ‘the Rachel.'”
