Janice Rand's hairdo in HD

[SonicRanger]

It wasn't until I started watching TOS Remastered in HD that I realized Janice Rand seems to have always had a "basket weave" hairdo:

The Man Trap: http://tos.trekcore.com/hd/albums/1x01-2-hd/themantraphd367.jpg
Charlie X: http://tos.trekcore.com/hd/albums/1x02hd/charliexhd021.jpg
The Enemy Within: http://tos.trekcore.com/hd/albums/1x05hd/theenemywithinhd200.jpg
Miri: http://tos.trekcore.com/hd/albums/1x08hd/mirihd007.jpg

Before the HD episodes, I never really noticed that "basket weave" detail.

Then I realized that the various publicity photos of her had the same hairdo:

http://www.ridgenet.net/~curtdan/Excelsior/Rand5_Big.jpg
http://www.ridgenet.net/~curtdan/Excelsior/RandBio.jpg
http://imagecache2.allposters.com/images/pic/MMPH-E/254230~Grace-Lee-Whitney-Posters.jpg
http://www.topnews.in/files/Grace-Lee-Whitney.jpg

In fact, it seems we never saw Rand without that hairdo except for the early promo photos in which she wore a yellow shirt:

http://www.space-debris.com/st_whitney_trio.jpg

I'm sure this hairdo seemed very futuristic for the '60s and sufficiently complex that no '60s woman would ever want to weave her hair like that every day without some sort of future hairstyling technology. Nevertheless, Rand's hair had to get that way with plain old 1960s technology.

Does anyone know if this was simply a wig? It seems like it could very well be one. Anyone ever come across any interviews or tidbits of information about this "basket weave" hairstyle? Is her curly red hair in TSFS her natural hair? Did she have the same problem as Gates McFadden and simply have flat hair that did poorly under studio lights? Or did they simply want a hairdo that looked futuristic and complex?

 

[Therin of Andor]

Does anyone know if this was simply a wig? It seems like it could very well be one. Anyone ever come across any interviews or tidbits of information about this "basket weave" hairstyle?

Yes, it's a wig. She joked they "used to nail it on my head every morning".

In the 60s, almost every woman on television wore a wig. That way it could be styled when the actress wasn't even on the lot, saving a lot of money.

Rand's wig was souvenired from the Desilu lot within a few days of GLW's dismissal and has never been seen again.

Is her curly red hair in TSFS her natural hair?

GLW usually wore her hair long and blond through the 70s and 80s. I wouldn't call any of her styles "curly red". It was more blond/light brown in ST III. I met her in the early 80s several times and it was long, blond and wavy the first two times. She did have shorter, curlier hair for ST IV. The longer style she had in ST VI and "Flashback" pretty much matched the way she wore it in that era, such as at DeForest Kelley's star ceremony in December 1991.

Did she have the same problem... flat hair that did poorly under studio lights?

As I said, in the 60s, almost every woman on television wore a wig. (Watch the credits of almost any 60s TV show! Here in Australia, almost every show had "Wigs by Randall Worth" as a credit - early product placement!)

Or did they simply want a hairdo that looked futuristic and complex?

Yep! And looked impossible to be done by 60s methods.

 

[Ryan Thomas Riddle]

Rand's wig was souvenired from the Desilu lot within a few days of GLW's dismissal and has never been seen again.

Bob Justman had a helluv a time with the hair pieces on TOS didn't he? Rand's wig, one of Majel's wigs, one of Nichelle's, and one of Shatner's toupees. Seems there was a hair thief on the Desilu lot.

 

[Shatmandu]

I have several "converted into a Merkin" jokes running through my head right now.

Joe, plucked chicken

 

[Therin of Andor]

Bob Justman had a helluv a time with the hair pieces on TOS didn't he? Rand's wig, one of Majel's wigs, one of Nichelle's, and one of Shatner's toupees. Seems there was a hair thief on the Desilu lot.

Majel's wigs disappeared regularly. Rumour had it she'd borrow them between seasons for parties and "forget" to return them, then they had to get in another one for her next episode. She appears without a wig in her final episode, "Turnabout Intruder", because the wig for that season had already "gone walkabout" and she decided to go out of ST as a brunette, the way she'd begun (ie. Number One).

 

[Wingsley]

I always thought Rand's hair looked fake. Helluva shame, though.

Shocking to read that Uhura's hair was fake, too!!! That's a real punch in the gut...

 

[Forbin]

HD or no, I can't see how anyone could have missed the basketweave for 40 years!

 

[JustKate]

It looked totally fake, and just not because of the basket weave. I mean, the fibers were clearly artificial. My Barbie dolls had hair almost that natural-looking. But as Therin pointed out, this was pretty much the norm for 1960s TV - and movies, I think.

 

[Rackon]

It looked totally fake, and just not because of the basket weave. I mean, the fibers were clearly artificial. My Barbie dolls had hair almost that natural-looking. But as Therin pointed out, this was pretty much the norm for 1960s TV - and movies, I think.

I know I had dolls with more natural looking hair than Rand's That thing just screamed "WIG"!

One of the things that drive me nuts in westerns, period movies and - yes - "sf" shows is that the women's hair is so tied to the era of s show's production. I hate dated make-up too (pale pearly-blue eye shadow and light lipstick - yuk!!) Men's haricuts usually wear pretty well whatever the genre, and other aspects of the production design and costumes work together to establish the setting. Then WHAM!! there's the ladies' hair and make-up screaming "60s!" or "70s!" etc.

I've also had enough references in NuTrek to TOS sixties do's. Uhura's was great. Some of the silly topknots...not so much. The hair needs to match the nuiforms - sleek and simple.

 

[SonicRanger]

HD or no, I can't see how anyone could have missed the basketweave for 40 years!

I guess I was never really paying much attention to her hair

It looked totally fake, and just not because of the basket weave. I mean, the fibers were clearly artificial. My Barbie dolls had hair almost that natural-looking. But as Therin pointed out, this was pretty much the norm for 1960s TV - and movies, I think.

I think that's maybe another reason I didn't notice it and thought that it was just "60s TV" hair: if every show produced at the time had all the women in wigs, I'd probably chalk up any oddness to the styles and products used in 1960s TV productions to stand up to studio lights and such.

 

[JustKate]

Talk about your basic male-female difference: Even at the age of, like, 10, I'd look at Rand's hairstyle and even though it was a wig and I knew it was a wig, I'd wonder to myself, "How would that look...unwoven?"

Until a couple years ago, I had really long hair, and sometimes I'd braid part of it and pin it over the top of my head, like a headband made of my own hair. Even that took some finagling, and that's nothing compared to Janice's do.

I mean, think about it. Ignoring the insane amount of hair that would take, just imagine the different hair lengths you'd have to have in order to (1) get that stuff all woven and formed over whatever structure was underneath all that hair that helped it keep its shape, and yet (2) have all the ends come out even once it was woven. It would be a salon nightmare!

Meanwhile, Sonic, you were probably busy admiring her legs. Venus and Mars, I'm telling you...

 

[Hambone]

I always figured Rand (the character) just wore a wig. Why not? Have they surpassed the need for wigs in the 23rd century? That basket-weave hairdo is an engineer's nightmare. Ladies, can you imagine having to go through the process of "weaving" your hair like that every day?

Rand wears a wig.

 

[marylizz]

I've always found Rand's hair to be ridiculous. I can get over the dated hairstyles for the most part, but hers always looked absurdly fake.
Surprised to hear that Uhura's hair was a wig though. Her 'do looked great, especially in seasons 1 and 2.

 

[Braindeer]

I love Janice's hair! LOVE IT. I've often considered making myself a similar wig for costume purposes. I can't quite figure out how to do it though. The closest I can imagine is a plain blonde 60s bouffant wig, and then a fake plait woven through the front.

 

[Therin of Andor]

can you imagine having to go through the process of "weaving" your hair like that every day?

Didn't you see Jane Jetson ("The Jetsons") getting ready for her day? She had a machine that changed her hairstyles and applied her makeup.

And then, watch the Ilia Probe in ST:TMP, which materializes in a sonic shower. Kirk presses a button, and the naked probe is suddenly wearing a white robe and transparent slip-on shoes.

Rand probably has a fancy hair drier that also styles.

 

[The Boy Who Cried Worf]

Rand's wig was souvenired from the Desilu lot within a few days of GLW's dismissal and has never been seen again.

Bob Justman had a helluv a time with the hair pieces on TOS didn't he? Rand's wig, one of Majel's wigs, one of Nichelle's, and one of Shatner's toupees. Seems there was a hair thief on the Desilu lot.

How much you want to bet at least a few of those wigs were dispolied at least once?

 

[The Boy Who Cried Worf]

Talk about your basic male-female difference: Even at the age of, like, 10, I'd look at Rand's hairstyle and even though it was a wig and I knew it was a wig, I'd wonder to myself, "How would that look...unwoven?"

Until a couple years ago, I had really long hair, and sometimes I'd braid part of it and pin it over the top of my head, like a headband made of my own hair. Even that took some finagling, and that's nothing compared to Janice's do.

I mean, think about it. Ignoring the insane amount of hair that would take, just imagine the different hair lengths you'd have to have in order to (1) get that stuff all woven and formed over whatever structure was underneath all that hair that helped it keep its shape, and yet (2) have all the ends come out even once it was woven. It would be a salon nightmare!

Meanwhile, Sonic, you were probably busy admiring her legs. Venus and Mars, I'm telling you...

Well she did really want us to look at her legs so what could we do but comply? The staring at her rack part? Well that's just being a guy.

 

[Trekwatcher]

Beyond television, it was very fashionable for women to wear wigs in the 50's and 60's. A good friend of mine was a teenager in Texas in the 1960's and she mentioned that even high school girls wore wigs to affect a more sophisticated look.

 

[RobertMfromLI]

I've always found Rand's hair to be ridiculous. I can get over the dated hairstyles for the most part, but hers always looked absurdly fake.
Surprised to hear that Uhura's hair was a wig though. Her 'do looked great, especially in seasons 1 and 2.

I'd assumed it was real for various episodes. There were some where it was not done up very much at all.

BarBara Luna's growing "hair" in "Mirror Mirror" was one of my favorites.

 

[Cakes488]

HD or no, I can't see how anyone could have missed the basketweave for 40 years!

LOL yeah really. I think I could tell that it was a wig even on my black and white set. I think that it was supposed to be her "real" hair. Unfortunately that wig was the fakest thing they had on the show.