Answer Angel: Frizzy hair?
Dear Answer Angel Ellen: I thought I had heard of everything and yet … the latest runway look, I read, is hair that's "deliberately unbrushed, unkempt, frizzy."
Really? Am I supposed to believe this and appear in public looking like I just rolled out of bed? Is this for real? Has the whole world gone upside down?
--Lola T.
Dear Lola: I too read that story in the New York Times and asked myself, "Is this a real hairstyle?"
Like my sisters and sister-in-law, I have unruly, curly hair - which gives new meaning to "frizzy." It is a frequent topic of our group texts. Their reaction when I texted them the story? Each cited a different quote from the story that they couldn't believe was legit.
Deb replied, "‘depression hair' LOL. As they said in the story, ‘finally, something attainable'!!!"
Joan wrote back on the group text, "Don't know about you all, but I'm ‘oozing confidence' because ‘I truly don't care'" now how my hair looks.
Claire wrote, "Finally, I can revel in my ‘wild tangled mane' now that hellish hair is a fashion must."
Here's my advice to reader Lola who posed the question in the first place: Yes, the story accurately reports that tangled, matted, frizzy rats nest hair styles did show up on runways and on some women at the recent Met Ball. However, it's utterly ridiculous for the rest of us. Don't go there!
Dear Answer Angel Ellen: This is not a burning question, but why do some zippers zip and unzip in two directions? I just got a mid-knee down coat on sale and it can be unzipped from both the top or the bottom or both at the same time.
--Stephen C.
Dear Stephen: Thanks for the question, Stephen, because I now know a lot more about zippers. What your coat has is a two-way separating zipper. This enables you to unzip from the bottom while the top part of the coat stays cozily zipped, or vice versa. So you can unzip from the bottom for comfort (or, say, while driving) or to reach in your pants pocket without unzipping the whole coat.
Your kind of zipper has two "sliders" the hardware that goes up and down when you yank the "pull." Both sliders have to be in the down position, however, to separate the two sides of your coat.
You didn't ask but … there are two kinds of zippers, closed and open. If the two sides of the zipper cannot be completely separated, in most cases it's a closed-end one-way zipper, such as the fly on a pair of pants or the zipper on the back or side of a dress.
There are other fascinating zipper facts but those are the basics. You do not need to know more and easily can get by knowing even less.
Angelic Readers
Readers were eager to share their cleaning tips with Charles M. who asked if he could wash his linen shirts even though the tag says "dry clean only." I said many of these can be washed but then you have to iron them because linen wrinkles badly in the washing process. Not so writes Barbara S.: "I almost never iron my linen pieces and I wear them a lot. After regular washing, put them in the dryer for five minutes to soften the wrinkles. Take them out and flick them several times like you do a dishtowel or a sheet. Then lay them flat or hang flat on the back of a chair (I use my porch chairs) or on a clothes rack. They come out great!"
Katherine G.'s method: "My solution to the wrinkles in a linen shirt is to spray it wet in the shower to eliminate the wrinkles and then let it dry naturally on a hanger right there in the shower stall with the water off."
Gerry R. writes: "I have a better idea than washing linen garments. I Recommend using: Dryel At-Home Dry Cleaner Kit (6-pack). You add the sheet to your dryer; set for 20 minutes on medium. The garment comes out perfect. I have been using this product for years. I home clean my coats, bed spreads, almost anything you would take to the cleaners. I don't use them on men's suits. It costs about $11 a box at most grocery stores, Walmart, Target or you can order on Amazon."
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This story was originally published June 30, 2026 at 3:03 AM.