The most stunning revelation to come out of the 0. J. Simpson trial last week may have been prosecutor Marcia Clark's new hairstyle. When Marcia marched into court last Tuesday, her hair had gone straight -a dramatic departure from the curls she'd sported in varying lengths since the case's inception. There were no objections. "I think it looks lovely," says fellow L.A. lawyer and Clark pal Leslie Abramson, who herself spent a lot of time on camera defending Erik Menendez. "She looks a lot better," agrees New York hairdresser Kenneth, who's lopped the locks of Jackie 0 and Marilyn Monroe. "That type of curly hair is mallish, tacky and common." The press dug the new 'do as well: when Clark arrived in court, reporters clapped. "Get a life," she chuckled.
Perhaps those who obsess over haircuts ought to do just that. But when Hillary Clinton reinvents her coif more often than her husband reinvents government, and Clark's hair makes headlines, trendsurfers are bound to ask, "What does it all mean?" Joni Johnston, a Dallas psychologist who specializes in women's issues, says a new style "is a confidence boost. Or a declaration that it's a 'new me'." New York psychoanalyst and author Jessica Benjamin says makeovers are "a visible show of femininity" to disarm men threatened by powerful women. Allen Edwards, whose scissorhands made Farrah Fawcett a mane attraction and who gave Marcia the $150 restyling, sees it more simply. "She wanted a new look and she got it. It was a positive thing at the end of a hard week something everyone needs once in a while." Maybe Clark should have told those reporters to "get a haircut."
