A flair for creative hair
Arlington Hts. shop owner crafts custom-made wigs
Daily Herald - April 16, 2007
A slight breeze gently blew her hair into her face as Ginny Powell parked her car in front of Hair for You in Arlington Heights.
When she took a seat in the newly opened salon, she removed the hair that was really a wig.
Recent chemotherapy to halt ovarian cancer had caused hair loss, but the Arlington Heights woman was quite comfortable, even in front of strangers, trying on a couple of new wigs.
Just as openly she talked about being in Stage 4, and her odds of beating the cancer.
"I have a 17 percent chance of living past the next 18 months," she said.
She's not letting the numbers stand in her way. Between treatments, she holds her job in the field of relocation services and has been pursuing a master's degree in special education from National-Louis University.
She's had to take some time off from school, she admits, because after her chemo, pain and nausea take their toll.
"I get chemo every 21 days for six to eight hours," she said. "I take 19 different drugs to control them, but I will not let the cancer control me.
"I'm in control by doing things like selecting a new wig."
Shop owner Linda DiFronzo measured Ginny's head.
"This color brings out her eyes," she observed, assessing where she would cut the blond-streaked ash brown hairpiece from the nape of the neck to the crown in the back.
DiFronzo, who builds wigs that are custom fit to each client, says she starts by cutting a wig apart and sewing it to the size and shape of their scalp.
Then she styles it in a way that complements the shape of the person's face.
"I customize each wig for the individual," DiFronzo explained. "Everyone's head shape is different. So are their ears. All that is more obvious with no hair."
She quickly removed the extra material, made a set of bangs for a sleep cap, and sewed the wig back together while her client was still in the chair. Finishing the process with a few swipes of a special curling iron that doesn't fry the synthetic hair, she was finally satisfied.
She also touched up the wig Ginny had worn into the store. Laughing, she deduced that Ginny had bent over to take something from the oven - the bangs were slightly singed.
DiFronzo's unique approach to fitting wigs was developed and refined while she was living in Florida, before moving back to the Chicago area, where she grew up and graduated from Mather High School. She and her husband live in Lake Zurich.
"It's a very complex process," she said. "It took me five years to learn it and one year of doing it on my own to feel confident cutting these wigs apart and sewing them together with special nylon thread."
The average tab for a mono-filament wig, which DiFronzo describes as a "fishing line-type fiber" is about $280. That includes everything. Some insurance companies will cover the cost, under cranial prostheses - or durable goods - like crutches, she says.
Other wigs range in price from $99-$1,400.
Through the American Cancer Society's Look Good Feel Better program, DiFronzo also helps patients with makeup. She recently raised $1,000 for the family of Megan Theis, an area youngster whose family is six digits in debt, because uncovered treatments costs have topped more than $270,000.
Arlington Hts. shop owner crafts custom-made wigs
Daily Herald - April 16, 2007
|
When she took a seat in the newly opened salon, she removed the hair that was really a wig.
Recent chemotherapy to halt ovarian cancer had caused hair loss, but the Arlington Heights woman was quite comfortable, even in front of strangers, trying on a couple of new wigs.
Just as openly she talked about being in Stage 4, and her odds of beating the cancer.
"I have a 17 percent chance of living past the next 18 months," she said.
She's not letting the numbers stand in her way. Between treatments, she holds her job in the field of relocation services and has been pursuing a master's degree in special education from National-Louis University.
She's had to take some time off from school, she admits, because after her chemo, pain and nausea take their toll.
"I get chemo every 21 days for six to eight hours," she said. "I take 19 different drugs to control them, but I will not let the cancer control me.
"I'm in control by doing things like selecting a new wig."
Shop owner Linda DiFronzo measured Ginny's head.
"This color brings out her eyes," she observed, assessing where she would cut the blond-streaked ash brown hairpiece from the nape of the neck to the crown in the back.
DiFronzo, who builds wigs that are custom fit to each client, says she starts by cutting a wig apart and sewing it to the size and shape of their scalp.
Then she styles it in a way that complements the shape of the person's face.
"I customize each wig for the individual," DiFronzo explained. "Everyone's head shape is different. So are their ears. All that is more obvious with no hair."
She quickly removed the extra material, made a set of bangs for a sleep cap, and sewed the wig back together while her client was still in the chair. Finishing the process with a few swipes of a special curling iron that doesn't fry the synthetic hair, she was finally satisfied.
She also touched up the wig Ginny had worn into the store. Laughing, she deduced that Ginny had bent over to take something from the oven - the bangs were slightly singed.
DiFronzo's unique approach to fitting wigs was developed and refined while she was living in Florida, before moving back to the Chicago area, where she grew up and graduated from Mather High School. She and her husband live in Lake Zurich.
"It's a very complex process," she said. "It took me five years to learn it and one year of doing it on my own to feel confident cutting these wigs apart and sewing them together with special nylon thread."
The average tab for a mono-filament wig, which DiFronzo describes as a "fishing line-type fiber" is about $280. That includes everything. Some insurance companies will cover the cost, under cranial prostheses - or durable goods - like crutches, she says.
Other wigs range in price from $99-$1,400.
Through the American Cancer Society's Look Good Feel Better program, DiFronzo also helps patients with makeup. She recently raised $1,000 for the family of Megan Theis, an area youngster whose family is six digits in debt, because uncovered treatments costs have topped more than $270,000.
