Jessica normally has great, understated hair that frames her pretty face perfectly. So it is rather strange that she has had her hairdresser come up with a monstrosity that appears to reference most of Australia’s best known landmarks.
Jessica Berkeley (17) is a popular, well-adjusted and pretty year 12 student. She also has a fantastic, vibrant head of hair that is usually the envy of every girl in her year at school.
Tonight is the high point of a really tough year of stress and study. Her Year 12 formal. And for reasons best known to Jessica, she appears to have requested her hairdresser to take the absolute piss.
We tracked down her hairdresser, Sylvain Gare (28) to try to get to the bottom of the unmitigated disaster that is currently perched on Jessica’s head.
"Oh yes when she walked into the salon I was intimidated. Her hair looked so perfect. Like she belonged on an advertisement for shampoo or something like that. Whenever hair looks that good I am worried that I will not be able to do anything as nice as her current style. So I was relieved when she said it was for her formal. Everyone in the industry knows that when they say it's their formal, that means they actually want us to do something so totally stupid and over the top that they will look terrible. And they never get upset because it's like some sort of hair disaster competition or something. So I just do weird experimental shit. It's really fun."
Sylvain explained that when these otherwise beautiful girls come in for a haircut for their formal, it gives him a freedom that he could never have imagined.
"I mean look at Jessica's hair. I decided to base it on the Eiffel Tower, and then halfway through I changed my mind and went for an Australiana theme. I have included obscure references to Ned Kelly and all of Australia's landmarks. But not with any real plan. It's just chaos. And see there? That's a kangaroo. Just popping his head out to say hello. When else can you get away with this? It's so great. It's like horrific art."
Jessica's mum Prue was sitting behind them as Sylvain had the time of his life perpetrating unspeakable hair-crimes on her beautiful daughter's person. However, she was philosophical about what was going down.
"Yes obviously her hair looks like shit. It's literally the least pretty she has ever looked. But this is a rite of passage. When I was her age, for my formal, my hair got ruined too. It's part of the process. I used to have a really full, luscious head of hair too. I think Jessica got it from me. But my hairdresser flattened it down completely against my skull with superglue or something, except for two massive ringlets. It was so bad. Probably as bad as what is happening right now to Jessica. But it's what you do. And you don't realise how bad it is until at least 5 years later when you look at photos."
Perhaps Prue is right. Right now, Jessica thinks her hair looks really fancy and ornate. She is genuinely stoked and can't wait to show it off at the formal to all her friends with equally silly hair. So if it makes her happy, and she can laugh about it down the track, then perhaps this is a victimless crime.
Sylvain agrees. He would be devastated if this was taken from him.