Allison Williams Just Made a Valid Point About the Attention You Get As a Blond
By Rachel Jacoby Zoldan. Photos: Getty Images.
"Are you having more fun now?" If you've ever dyed your hair blond or had a friend who has (so, likely), you've heard this (old, kinda ridiculous) question asked. (Fun fact: the line is from a 1950s hair dye ad.) I as fellow fair-haired woman sure have. So when a newly minted blond Allison Williams was posed that same question on The Late Late Show With James Corden Tuesday night, she did the same song and dance many of us know too well: she talked about the fair amount of maintenance blond hair requires (spoiler: she's not here for it) and how people's perceptions of her have changed as a blond versus a brunette.
"I am exhausted," she told Corden and fellow guest, actor Darren Criss. "For all of you who have dyed hair, you are heroes. This is exhausting—who knew? There’s so much maintenance! It’s a whole thing."
She continued: "People keep asking me [if I'm having more fun] and I finally realized that they’re asking it because they’re hoping I’m more fun now. That’s definitely why. Even my friends and family are like, ‘Are you having more fun? Is this going to be a more enjoyable relationship for us? Are you also more fun?’ And the answer is no.”
You can watch the whole thing go down in the clip here..
As a fellow blond, I gotta say, her short appearance with Corden left me with lots of feelings. Because my hair has never been as dark as Williams' was (my base is a light brunette or a super-dark dirty blond, depending on who you ask), I haven't needed to spend as much time maintaining color the way those with darker hair do. To go as light as Williams or me, you usually will need a double process—a full head of color to lighten, and then strategic highlights to add depth and dimension. However, because of my light base, I just highlight—and I don't think of it as exhausting or heroic.
Rather, every six weeks, I get to go chat with my fellow blond and colorist Ashley, look at Instagrams of her adorable pup, and basically chill the heck out in a pretty comfortable chair for an hour or two. I find the experience pretty blissful, but in fairness, I do have it easier than most other bottles blonds in terms of the process.
But what Williams did make an extremely valid point about was the attention—warranted or otherwise—that blond hair generally attracts. While I do have a "light base," make no mistake about it—between the years of 19 and 25 I was a full-on brunette. However, once I had my quarter-life crisis (kidding, kind of), I wanted to make a change that would make me feel sophisticated and fresh on the inside, polished on the outside. So I went back to my roots—blond. And I loved it—for me. But the increased amount of eyeballs on me during my commute? Yeah, I noticed it.
"I walk into a room and before people are disappointed by the marriage and the fact that [my hair] isn’t attached to Sienna Miller or something, they’re like ‘Oh a blond person with boobs!' And not even barely! It’s so instant," she said.
What's more, Williams was quick to point out that “boys are just aware of a blond head of hair in the room. I’m positive. I’ve walked this planet as a brunette with total anonymity. And now I walk into a party and people are like, gasp.'"
In the seven years since that I've been a religiously regular blond, I've also gone progressively lighter with my color. I feel at my absolute best when my hair is blond. But what I didn't expect was the practically direct correlation between the lighter my hair color and the amount of men that looked at me. Especially living in New York City, where god knows how many hundreds of faces I pass in a day, I did know, though, that my icy blond gets me extra stares. I can't help but think that's not entirely fair, because when it comes down to it, I color my hair for me and myself only.
So while Allison may think it's exhausting, it's great she's talking about it for the plenty of others who feel this way. The point is easy to dismiss, but it's totally valid.
This story originally appeared on Glamour.
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