The Bachmann – A Hairdo in the Making?
Republican presidential candidate Michele Bachmann has made headlines in the media for lots of reasons — her victory in the Iowa straw poll, her joke that Hurricane Irene was God’s warning to Washington about federal spending, to name a few – but now it’s her hairstyle that’s causing a buzz.
The Cristophe salon in downtown Washington, D.C. — made famous for cutting the Clintons’ hair when they were in the White House — says some of its customers are requesting the Bachmann ‘do.
“People come in with pictures of haircuts they want. Sometimes ripped out of magazines but now, with the new generation, on iPhones and iPads. And yes, we see her popping up quite a bit,” Philippe Depeyrot, the East Coast artistic director for the Cristophe Salons, told ABC News.
“Her cut is long, but not too long. A fair amount of layers, but not overwhelming,” Depeyrot noted. “It’s not hard to reproduce after you leave the shop and are styling it at home. It is something you can dress up or dress down, for both worlds, the professional world and the weekend.”
It’s not just in the nation’s capital that women want the Bachmann look. Stylists in New York and Los Angeles told the New York Daily News that more and more people are asking them for it, too. Angelo David, who has a salon on East 43 rd Street in Manhattan, told the paper that he’s seen a spike in customers requesting the Bachmann look, a cut and style that he estimated to cost around $150 to $300.
However, that pales in comparison to what Bachmann spent on hair and makeup in the weeks after she launched her campaign: a whopping $4,700, according to her campaign finance filings. The Minnesota congresswoman’s stylist Tamara Robertson told the Daily News that she was “told not to talk about it.”
Overall, it is hard to tell if Bachmann’s hairstyle is really in demand. Six salons in various locations around the country, including Stillwater, Minn., said they could not remember being asked by customers for the look.
Heather Case, a hair stylist at Paabo salon in Bethesda, Md., a suburb of Washington, said her salon hadn’t heard about the Bachmann ‘do.
“I haven’t heard this at all,” Case said. “No one has remotely mentioned her name and haircut to me or the other girls here. Not saying it’s not happening, but we haven’t seen it here.”
Heather Grayson of Gorgeous Hair Salon in Key West, Fla., said she would not have trouble copying the style that she described as “soccer mom-ish.”
“It’s not trendy. It’s not too conservative, but there’s diversity in it because there’s a lot she can do with it,” Grayson said.
If the Bachmann becomes all the rage, maybe the candidate herself will divulge some of her style details in her new memoir set to be released this fall. The book will be released by Sentinel, a division of Penguin Group, on Nov. 21.
Then again, maybe not. After all, style is a slippery slope for politicians. While they need to make sure they look good for all their time in the glare of the national media spotlight, they run the risk of seeming out of touch with voters if they are plowing too much money into their appearance. Look no further than the last presidential election when John Edwards was widely criticized for shelling out $400 on haircuts.
“Bachmannia” has caused quite a stir in recent months. Will her increasingly popular hairdo generate even more buzz for a candidate who already boasts a big Iowa win and a passionate base of voters? Stay tuned …
ABC News’ Sarah Parnass ( @wordsofsarah ) contributed to this report.