Remember my trip to the Ideal Home Show? Well, aside from enjoying an interiors show and coveting lots of things I couldn't afford, the visit had an ulterior motive - to see MuskehoundFinn (aka Brenda) strut her stuff on stage, representing us baldies! Well, we couldn't let her pass us by without a Real Life Hairloss interview for you, our lovely followers! Here goes...
Brenda lost her hair nearly 16 years ago, at the tender age of 14. She admits that initially, her alopecia got her down and she spent the first three years as a recluse. Speaking of her school life Brenda says "Six months into having Alopecia social services agreed to let me be home schooled; apart from the bullying, mentally I just froze. I could not absorb anything going on. I did not realise at the time, but I think I was in shock, so I just shut down as a type of coping mechanism. Around 17, I started to slowly get my bearings mentally again, but the anxiety was still prominent for years, so socially in all aspects I struggled to interact as I would always be thinking "Do I look alright?"."
For Brenda, the opportunity to participate in Katie Piper's "Confidence: The Secret" catwalk was a daunting prospect, but one she knew she must embrace. It wasn't what she expected though and what started as a chance to represent fellow alopecians, ended with life-changing decisions and new found confidence. To understand the transformation, we asked Brenda how she would describe herself before participating in the show, and in her own words she said "I was pretty much bumbling along, especially when it came to my body confidence. I had hit the stage of being "just comfortable" so I did not think a mental change would come at any point; I thought I had hit the stage where I have a confidence that makes life liveable, despite not fully embracing it." Yet, despite being far from her personal expectations, she came off stage at the end a different person to the one who started. Brenda explains "After the second show it really hit me how I am now truly confident in myself; I no longer feel this need to 'compete' in a realm where there is an expectation of the basics of how we should look, from body weight to hair. I had accepted my alopecia in a positive way [before the show], but I now see alopecia as something I can work with more. I did not fully realise how cool the bald look can be until I did the show, so I do want to be rocking the look on nights out, which I never had the urge to do until now."
That's not all, her new found confidence actually stimulated her to make a life-changing decision, quitting her job as a costume character performer, seeing her in the roles of lovable kids characters like Peppa Pig. Talking of this radical decision she says "That job matched the person I was - not confident enough to show my whole self - rather than the person I am now."
Speaking of the show, we asked Brenda the best and worst bits of being involved. For her, the best was without a doubt the people; she says "I was not expecting it but it was the other women (including Katie) who I had the privilege of doing the show with. It was the first time I was in a group setting & my "body difference" was not "different". It was just a part of me. We all had different visible differences but were there with the same goal." The worst bit though was definitely her hatred of heels and her fear of falling flat on her face. Laughingly she told us "I have to say it was wearing heels! - I don't "do" heels! The original shoes I had for the show, I was walking like an injured penguin in - the point of the show is about body confidence so luckily the stylist Lucas Armitage agreed I could wear the one pair of heels I personally own which are 2 inch nude peep toes, but even then I was nervous in them."
On stage at the end, each lady was asked to state their own positive affirmation in line with Katie's use of them for motivation and confidence. Brenda's was "We were born to be real, not to be perfect" and I have to say we agree!
Well done Brenda for putting yourself out there and for helping to educate people and raise awareness of Alopecia!
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| Brenda on stage at the Katie Piper diversity catwalk |
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| Braving the swimsuit section! Rather you than me! |
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| Rocking an Easter Theme - as a self-styled easter 'egg' |
Victoria x
www.prettybald.co.uk
Twitter: @PrettyBald
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