Note how the cushions were chosen to match my hair.. |
With Bradley Wiggins' triumphant addition of another Olympic Gold to his medal tally, being the first Brit to win the Tour De France under his belt, and exceeding Sir Steve Redgrave's medal haul to become Britain's most decorated Olympian (an accolade he now shares with Chris Hoy since this was first published) I thought now would be a good time to extol the virtues of 'the redhead'.
Being born with bright orange hair I was adored and indulged by my Irish grandmother (what is it with elderly Irish ladies? They love a ginger-haired baby!), and called 'Goldilocks' by my mum who would brush my hair until it shone. Less charitably I was called 'ginger nut' at primary school. Childish but disappointingly still happens among adults - what gives?
The red wasn't destined to stay and I went from orange to ginger to strawberry blonde to whatever number it is on the colour chart that my hairdresser uses but I still get excited to see a redhead give their childhood bullies the equivalent of a big 'v-sign' by being successful.
Check out 'Wiggo' below. Not content with being superhuman, he's managing to rock sitting on a golden throne with his kit unzipped to the navel whilst giving a peace sign. Only the truly outstanding among us can carry that look off.
Mr Wiggins 'at rest' - photo courtesy of Grazia |
Aside from this titian titan here are some of my other favourites:
Daniel Craig - finally a Bond to give the girls a run for their money in the swimsuit department.
Karen Elson - born in Britain, massive in America, stunningly gorgeous model and super cool singer.
Nicole Kidman - smart enough to ditch TC early on
Josh Homme - Queens of the Stone Age frontman, amazing 'axe'-wielder, friend of Dave Grohl and very fine indeed...
Ronald Bilius Weasley - funny, magical and he gets the girl. In your face Potter!
Nicola Roberts of Girls Aloud - not content with being part of one of the biggest girl bands of all time; she got serious, became celebrated within broadsheets and high fashion magazines, and her public stance on the damage caused by sun beds helped pass the bill banning them from use by under-18s. Hats off to that woman.
On a more personal note I want to send big love to a few fine redheads that I know: Vicki who was building a successful online business before most of us had figured out text messaging, Laura of the band Fairfolk who has a voice as mellifluous as her hair is vibrant, Lucy who wore a Monroe-style wedding gown with more sophistication and class than a blonde ever could, Auntie Karen who was my first example of an 'independent woman', and my niece Leila who at the age of 4 is proving to be a talented actress already.
So here's to Bradley Wiggins - so cool that Paul Weller thinks he's cool. The man's a legend and he's ginger. Judging by all the spectators wearing ginger 'lamb chop' sideburns at the Olympics I can feel a trend towards people asking for red the next time they visit the salon - the future's orange.
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