Hair Apparent
Continued Trom page 9 house and find all her Barbies had shaved heads. Or I'd hang them from the ceiling or take the heads off, take their arms off." McAfees interest in body parts didn't stop at dismembered dolls. She studied Mortuary Sciences at the University of the District of Columbia and worked as an autopsy specialist during four years in the Army. She decided to go into the wig business when she needed a way to work at home while caring for her two youngest children. Wearing wigs and hairpieces was something she'd always enjoyed. The idea of selling them herself occurred to her when a friend died of cancer. "When she was going through it she got a wig in Burlington that cost her $500," McAfee remembers. "It looked awful." She promised her friend she'd find a way to help people who needed wigs acquire them affordably. At Great Lengths, nothing costs more than $90. "I want to give people a break," she says. "I can't believe how they're being gouged." McAfee avoids human hair because it's so pricey — at least three times the cost of synthetics — and because phony hair is so much easier to care for. "Synthetic hair doesn't fade like human hair does," she points out. "It bounces back every time. And the curl is preset. Unless you buy a curly human-hair wig, you've got to curl it, style it, blow-dry it. It's just too much maintenance. Why would you even bother?"
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McAfee carries wigs by Rene of Paris and Henry Margu, companies she describes as "top of the line" manufacturers. She also offers Troika wigs that retail at around $35 and Ebony wigs for clients of color. Before deciding which lines to sell, McAfee "test-drove" several makes. She was then working as a waitress and wore a different wig to work every day. "I'd run around and shake it and wash it, and the ones that fell apart I decided I wouldn't represent," she reports.
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Though she can talk, well, ringlets around anyone on the topic of wig wear and tear, McAfee is particularly passionate when she reflects on how her business touches her clients' lives. "I see many people from many walks of life here where you can tell there's abuse," she confides. "For an hour and a half, you can make someone feel wonderful about themselves. If they feel good about themselves, then everything else will fall in place." It's not unusual for McAfee to get a call from someone who's still sitting in the doctor's office. "The woman will say, 'I've just been diagnosed with cancer. I know that I'm going to need a wig. Can I just come and see you?"' McAfee says. "And I'll say, 'Oh, come in, sit down, have some tea, we'll talk, blow your nose.' They go home with some catalogues and, maybe six to eight weeks later, after they've been through their experiences, they can give me a call." People tend to tell their life stories to the person they buy their wigs from, McAfee has discovered.