The newest crowning glory

[Times photos: James Borchuck]

By JEANNE MALMGREN, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times
published August 12, 2002

The Nancy is a mane attraction hereabouts, as one local broadcaster's new 'do puts her ahead of the fashion wave - as others follow.

ST. PETERSBURG -- When it comes to hair, women are lemmings.

They see a style they like; they want it on their own heads. Pick up the phone, call the hairdresser. Pure instinct at work.

And that, basically, is how "The Nancy" was born.

It's a casually shaggy 'do. Sort of breezy, flippant and -- dare we say it? -- cute. Not unlike the woman who launched this minicraze.

Tampa Bay's only crossover media personality, Nancy Alexander, 40, does radio and television. Her straight blond hair has to withstand a 10-hour workday.

"First, I wear headphones for four hours," she says. "Then I have to look good on TV later, when it's about a jillion degrees outside. So I end up looking like Tom Petty. Which may be fine for Tom Petty, but it doesn't work for me."

When Alexander popped up on billboards in Tampa and St. Petersburg recently, she looked decidedly un-Pettylike. She had new layers in her hair. New highlights.

Immediately, switchboards lit up at both WMTX-FM 100.7, where Alexander co-hosts a weekday morning show, and Fox 13 News, where she cavorts nightly in a feature segment called "Out There."

All the callers wanted to know the same thing: "Where does Nancy get her hair done?"

The answer: J.Con Salon and Spa on Fourth Street N in St. Petersburg.

You do that voodoo: That would be Nicholette Stephens, left, the stylist at J.Con Salon, who created the look for Nancy Alexander and prepares to work the same magic on client Shere Schiller, seated.

The creator of "The Nancy" is Nicholette Stephens, 25, who has done Alexander's hair for several years. Model-tall and soft-spoken, with the lilting accent of her native Bahamas, Stephens describes the cut she first gave Alexander two months ago.

"We were looking for something textured, with more lift in the crown. Nancy's hair is pretty straight and fine. So I gave her shorter layers at the crown, longer layers toward the front."

Then she added brownish highlights that were actually darker than Alexander's natural color.

"I love it!" Alexander crowed. "I owe Nicholette a kidney!" (Surely she'd settle for a nice tip.)

Stephens now has a steady clientele asking for The Nancy, at least one a week, she said. It works best on women with long, fine hair. The cost: $38, including blow dry. (Color is extra.)

"I like the way it's long, but it's got the wispiness at the bottom," said Tia Overstreet, 43.

She first got The Nancy in May, after calling the radio station to ask about Alexander's haircut. She's now a regular, driving all the way from New Tampa to get it. When her best friend visited from South Carolina and saw Overstreet's hair, she had to have The Nancy, too.

A brief telephone survey of Tampa hair salons found none that had had requests for Alexander's haircut. But Lou Michaels Spa at the Hilton in downtown St. Petersburg had.

"We've had some calls, people who saw the billboard and are asking for it," said co-owner Olimpia Calandra. "We're also introducing a shorter version."

One afternoon last week Alexander stopped by J.Con to pick up hair spray and gel. Stephens recommends Bumble & Bumble, a pricey line of hair products from a fashionable New York City salon. And like any smart woman, Alexander knows enough to obey her hairdresser. Even if a can of "Does It All" spray costs $18.

When Alexander walked in the door of the salon and saw Shere Schiller, her mouth fell open.

"You have my hair!" she said to Schiller, who wore denim capris, a leopard-print top -- and The Nancy. Stephens stood nearby, grinning. Another satisfied client, fresh out of the chair.

Nancy, meet The Nancy: Nancy Alexander, local radio and television personality, left, has a shock of recognition when she sees her haircut on Shere Schiller’s head at J.Con Salon in St. Petersburg, where the cut originated.

Schiller, 51, of Tampa, hadn't seen the billboard. She knew Alexander's hair only from her television appearances. And she wanted it.

Now the two Nancys eyed each other.

"God, you look good," Alexander said.

"So do you," Schiller said.

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