Intelligencer

Shock Treatments

How three of the city’s signature haircuts get that way.

By Amy Larocca

Could it be possible that The Apprentice owes its high ratings not to the high-stakes drama, or the desperate competition, but to the fact that America was allowed to ponder, for one solid hour a week, Donald Trump’s follicularly challenged bangs? In an attempt to better understand his hairstyle, we asked him, and two other iconically coiffed New Yorkers, what it takes to get a signature hairdo in this town.

The Donald

(Photo: Globe Photos)

DONALD TRUMP
The look: More complicated than an ear-to-ear comb-over, the fuzzy orange nimbus defies gravity with bangs that actually surf upward.
Explanation: “I like it. Nobody else does, but I do.”
Who’s responsible? “My girlfriend cuts it for me. Not because she agrees with me, but because she listens to me. She says, ‘Whatever makes you happy.’ ”

Patricia Field

(Photo: Globe Photos)

PATRICIA FIELD
The look: The cut is relatively tame, but the color’s iconic. The effect is of an extra on The Jetsons.
Explanation: “My hair started to gray in my thirties, so I went yellow, pink, chartreuse. Then I dyed it red. I could look in the mirror and see gray, or see a beautiful red. I put on turquoise . . . gorgeous!
Who’s responsible? “Karlo Ortiz, at Field’s salon in Hotel Venus on West Broadway.” He says: “It’s a color you have to be.”

Judy Peabody

(Photo: Globe Photos)

JUDY PEABODY
The look: Cinched with two symmetrical combs, it’s classic preppy but less mobile.
Explanation: “I think about other things besides my hair.”
Who’s responsible? Bob Fairbanks. He says, “When I first started doing Mrs. Peabody, her hair was just set and brushed, and from there we went to something very, very full and very formal, and then as her life got increasingly busy, we had to simplify. It’s dressy casual. The color is silver fox.”