Dread update, 1 week in
The dreads are starting to tighten up and lose some of the overall poofiness. At the same time, I'm coming to terms with the fact that messiness is just part of this hairstyle. I think you can fight messiness in dreads the same way you can fight germs touching children. It's possible, but one quickly learns that the easier route is the route of acceptance.
less side-show Bob, still not ready for the main show.
I'm getting more comfortable wearing them down (even out of the house!), but it's still not my favorite look. Mostly I wear them up in a wrap and I'm rather captivated by how darling that looks. You can see the end of yesterday's post for some shots. You may not think it looks darling, but you know that's how taste works. It's subjective.
I've also found that since the front hasn't dreaded up yet I can pull it back in a ponytail and it looks just like regular curly mess.
early morning mess
Which is nice for just walking the dog first thing in the morning. I was wearing them down the other day and a neighbor gawked at me like I was giving birth on her front lawn. I don't mean anything bad about her, she was just very surprised by the new look. Probably she was rethinking our relationship: "The young lady with the babies... I've talked to her before... could it be she's NOT a Republican???"
So that's where they are after a week. The initial shock is gone and I'm pretty glad I did it. I like the overall look, if not how much I should be maintaining them. As clearly evidenced by the second photo. I should add, they do look more segmented on top after I roll them out for a half hour, but I can't be bothered to do that first thing in the morning. I didn't get dreads so I could wake up and style my hair.