Fragments of red color the town of Boone year-round. From the rusty terracotta bricks of academic buildings to the fallen crimson leaves of autumn, there is always color for the eyes to linger on. In the cold of winter, red stands out even more, seen especially in the brightly dyed hair of freshman digital journalism major Jordyn Edwards.
For Edwards, fashion doesn’t have to stop at clothing. It can be extended to the varying colors she’s dyed her hair, all done in her bathroom, music blaring as she transforms her hair. Edwards has been dying her hair for four years, focusing on bright, vibrant colors that reflect her inner self.
“It’s a really big form of self-expression for myself,” Edwards said. “It draws attention a little bit but it also shows how I feel on the inside. I feel like not everyone is born exactly how they are on the inside and, like, you should be able to express yourself however you want.”
According to the North Carolina Museum of Art, humans can see red better than any other color. Due to this, it’s been known to represent passionate topics, such as the pink-hued colors of Valentine’s love and the dark red colors of blood, showing the virtuality of life and death.
“I think that red really embodies how I am as a person,” Edwards said. “I feel like I’m very intense, but not necessarily in a bad or an angry way, more of just an intriguing way.”
Edwards encouraged people who can dye their hair an exciting color to do so. She claimed “it’s just hair, it always grows back.”
On the rare false-spring days of Boone winter, freshman psychology major Allie Penn can be found playing hacky sack on Sanford Mall, her red hair shining in the sunlight.
“I’m naturally ginger, so I’ve kind of always had different hair,” Penn said. “For a while I didn’t like it and I wanted to change it a lot, but then I was like, wait, I can just enhance it. So I started dyeing it red until it got redder and redder and redder and here we are.”
Penn has been dyeing her hair since she was 13 and said the dyed-hair community has always been welcoming and inclusive.
“It kind of feels like a little community of people with fun colored and cut hair,” Penn said. “I love just giving out compliments and getting compliments from good people.”
Across campus, wandering the halls of Wey Hall, sophomore studio art major Maverick Heath can be seen weaving in and out of studios, her bright red hair flying in the AC-controlled wind. Heath has been dying her hair since the eighth grade, when one simple reason influenced her decision to start.
“In middle school, that’s whenever every baby gay starts dying their hair,” Heath said. “My mom let me dye it for a few years, let me do a few different things and she’s said, ‘Okay, you got to go back to normal hair now.’ I was like, ‘All right.’ So, going back to college, having more free will, I just decided to color it more.”
Over the years, Heath has tried several different hair dyes and styles, but says there’s something about red she can’t stray away from.
“I think a lot of colors do look good on me, but I don’t think any color looks the same on me as red does,” Heath said. “I just feel like I radiate the best version of myself that I want to be cause I feel the best.”