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Message in a bottle: why do so many Texas women want to be blond? Once upon a time, I was dyeing to know.

Article Excerpt
For many Texas women, there are three basic stages of hair color: original (natural childhood hue), blond (official state preference), and eventual (late-in-life silver). Some lucky ladies experience a natural overlap between numbers one and two; the rest of us can lighten up, thanks to the wonders of chemistry. As a lifelong Texan who has now experienced the entire hair spectrum, I have come to believe that blondness is even more Texan than Big Hair. It's a pretty complicated topic, so let's examine it with a fine-tooth comb. [paragraph] I began life as a brunette, but in my early thirties--twenty years ago now--I started going gray. And not with any dramatic streaks, a la Cruella DeVil. No, it was merely an overall creeping blahness. (My older sister still has lovely dark-brown hair. Itchbay.) For years I referred to myself as "prematurely gray," until one of my young sons--who happened to be studying prefixes and suffixes in English class--asked if I really needed the "pre." That did it; I could have dyed on the spot. I didn't dare try a do-it-yourself kit lest I emerge with locks the color and texture of beef jerky. Luckily, I was blessed with the friendship of a talented stylist, Lisa Gilliam, who transformed my fading tresses into a marvelous ombre of light brown, titian, and gold. Her fee was well worth it, because so many women...

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