What in the world has gotten into the French?
Two of the country’s top male players have dyed their hair, going from brown to quite blond. Sacre bleu! Or should I say, sacre jaune!
Of course, I can’t criticize anyone for dyeing their hair. I’ve been dyeing so long I don’t even remember what my hair used to look like. But it’s just not something we see very much on the tennis tour, particularly among the men.
Benoit Paire started the trend at the French Open, bleaching his hair while leaving his hipster beard au naturel.
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Clearly there’s nothing natural looking about his new ‘do. But “natural looking” doesn’t seem to be a style goal anymore, at least among the younger set. Only the olds like me place any value on hiding our artifice.
The elegant Richard Gasquet quickly followed his compatriot’s lead, dyeing his own locks a startling blond. Here’s the screenshot from his Instagram account:
Well, maybe the blond’s not that startling. It’s just that I’m used to seeing him like this:
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Looking at his Instagram picture with fresh eyes, he actually looks pretty normal as a blond. Granted, that’s not the highest praise, but it’s not a criticism, either.
I’ll be going to France in a few weeks to get to the bottom of this curious trend. (Actually, I’m going for my nephew’s baptism, but I’ll be keeping my eyes peeled for les hommes blonds.)
In the meantime, we get to vote on these new looks. (Come to think of it, I have a couple of French players on my team. Depending on how we vote, maybe they’ll surprise me in the coming weeks…)
Richard Gasquet! No, just no! Here is what I bet happened. Richard accompanied Benoit to the salon. After Benoit finished his dye job, there was some left over and he convinced Richard he should dye his hair, too. Peer pressure is not a good look on grown men.
Lol–yes, Benoit must have had a hand in this. But I think Richard came to his senses later. More recent photos show him back to normal. But the Swedish(?) doubles player Kontinen dyed his hair as well. I thought of including him–he looks very cyborgish–but he didn’t fit the French theme I had going on.
For that last poll question, I think we need Photoshopped pictures of both Rafa and Roger.
I am in Paris now, BTW. Have not noticed a blond wave, but now that you’ve alerted me, I will probably start seeing dye jobs “partout.”
Yes! How awesome would that be if I knew how to photoshop Roger and Rafa into blonds?! Maybe someone else can do it and send it to me. I would definitely dedicate a post to that.
Maybe all the newly blond Frenchmen are over here for the US Open?
Keep scouting for me, and enjoy your trip!