Lost a bunch of hair tonight... sigh...

[school of fish]

It could have been worse, I suppose...

So, I'm a bellydancer - that's my profession. Tonight I was doing a gig and my hair got tangled up in my costume - right near the beginning of my 30min set. I tried to free the strands while performing but realized in the moment it wasn't going to happen, so I just kept on dancing and went on with the show. When you're paid to perform the show must go on!

When I was done and back in the changeroom I realized I actually couldn't get out of my costume, my hair was so wound up in the bra fringe. It took me a full 20 minutes to extricate myself and my snarled hair from that bra. I was as gentle as I could possibly be, trying to free one strand at a time, but it would have taken hours to unravel every strand that way. I was forced to stretch and break strands in order to free others, and although I did eventually separate myself from my costume without the help of scissors, there's a LOT of my hair left wound up in my costume and on the floor of the changeroom!

I fingercombed it into relative tidyness and once I got home I carefully detangled it - combing it out wasn't too bad given the circumstances. It's up in a bun now for sleep.

I'll have to assess in the morning how bad the damage is. The parts that got tangled are at the front, and were already shorter and wispier compared to the rest of the length. I may have to chop them into a chunky layer if it's damaged enough that it's going to be a tangle-hazard... I need to sleep on it before I decide anything.

It certainly could have been worse, but I wish it hadn't happened at all, haha!!

[MINAKO]

Not gonna lie i actually laughed a bit reading your story but admire your professionalism. Don't worry about it, it's probably less hair missing than it looked like and pretty unnoticable since it ripped off instead of being cut. I had similar accident with chewing gum and felt really bad about it but once i tried to find the damaged section again i couldn't even see anything. Also won't make any difference to circumference unless it was an entire hand ful that came out.

[lapushka]

Oh gosh, that sucks! Baby it well, and you'll recover. Is it out of your hem at the bottom or did it get tangled mid-shaft (even worse).

[Mademoiselle]

Omg I hope it is little damage that did to your hair!

[school of fish]

Thanks guys

MINAKO I have to admit - I wasn't exactly laughing but even as I was standing there madly (but gently) pulling at strands, desperately trying to save my hair (in timely fashion so I didn't have to spend the next 3 hours in that stuffy changeroom), I did see the humour in my plight. As my fingers worked on the snarl, my mind was working out how to leave that venue gracefully with my bra velcroed to my hair...

lapushka it 's more at the ends than higher up - sort of on the canopy section at the front/sides - but unfortunately those ends were already shorter than my hemline from previous damage, so they're even shorter and more susceptible to further damage now. When I have blended layers (either by design or by damage) my hair is considerably weaker than when it's all one length.

I conditioned it well and am now waiting for it to dry - then I'll see how bad it really is. It probably did look like a lot more than it actually was, although with hair as fine as mine I feel I can't afford to lose any, haha!

[school of fish]

Omg I hope it is little damage that did to your hair!

Thanks, I hope so too! It's at least behaving okay as I've combed it out both dry and damp. Now that I've conditioned it I'll have to see once it's dry if it looks weird enough to need cutting in another chunky layer at the front section where it happened...

[Silverbrumby]

First off I'm so sorry. I've had multiple things go wrong as a belly dancer over the years. Retired now I hope you can afford to retire that costume or sell it and replace it with something more hair friendly. Also have you considered wearing head hands to keep hair back when performing? I've never had hair as long as yours but I'm wondering if that could help.

My former troop was Awyah. If you look under Katarina Burda on your tube with troop name you'll see some videos. Lot's of long haired gals in the troop.

https://youtu.be/7zkSaF9Ua2c

[school of fish]

First off I'm so sorry. I've had multiple things go wrong as a belly dancer over the years. Retired now I hope you can afford to retire that costume or sell it and replace it with something more hair friendly. Also have you considered wearing head hands to keep hair back when performing? I've never had hair as long as yours but I'm wondering if that could help.

My former troop was Awyah. If you look under Katarina Burda on your tube with troop name you'll see some videos. Lot's of long haired gals in the troop.

https://youtu.be/7zkSaF9Ua2c

Nice to meet a fellow bellydancer!! I'll have a look at your troupe on YT later today

A headband would be a good idea but my hair is so slippy I can't keep one on without major pinning (which brings on damage) and it's not a good look for me anyway I also use my hair in my dance a fair bit and dance khaleeji fairly often, so I am resigned to a certain amount of attrition just due to the job.

I had taken an extended maternity these past 2 years (which has been great for the hair-growing ) and had been wondering if it was time to retire, but as I'm dipping back in things are looking good for more performance so I may be at it a while yet. If that's the case I'd better develop some new hair-saving strategies while I'm working!

[Complexity]

Ouch. So sorry that happened to you, sof. Hopefully it won't be too bad once it dries. Maybe try half ups? That way you could kind of get it out of the way, but still use it.

[littlestarface]

Oh that sounds painful, I wouldve just cut it then pull *rubs head* pulling sounds so ouchy.