By Joel H. Cohen
NEW YORK — Shleppy Sheitels, a boutique that sells deliberately unattractive wigs, is expanding westward, to San Diego and other, still-to-be-determined locations.
The idea of offering wigs that are unappealing, explained owner and founder Yetta Flutsky, is in keeping with the original purpose of the mandate for women’s head coverings.
“No pun intended” she commented at the time the boutique opened in Brooklyn, NY, some four years ago, “but we’re getting back to the roots — the roots of the tradition for married Jewish women to wear a sheitel. And that’s to walk modestly before the Almighty, and to avoid attracting the attention of men other than their husband.”
By contrast, she said, “most sheitels sold today (at outlandish prices) are so glamorous, they’re much more beautiful than the wearer’s actual hair, making women exceptionally attractive to post-puberty males.”
The wigs Mrs. Flutsky sells are “quite off-putting,” she said proudly. Available in a variety of mousy colors, popular styles include Stringy, Straggly, Semi-Perm, Shiksa-bob, Split Ends, Wind Swept, Rain Soaked, the Tidal Wave, A Shanda, and the classic Bad Hair Day.
For West Coast clientele, she plans to add some special models relating to media: among them the Curly Temple, the Braid-y Bunch, the Little Orphan Annie, the Meryl Streak, the Spike Lee, the Mick Jagged, the Marge Simpson, and, for the scientific-minded, the Albert(a) Einstein.
For political followers, she’ll be introducing the Quill-ary and the Trump Clump.
But Mrs. Flutsky predicts that the model favored by sticklers for tradition will continue to be her top-seller: Look What the Cat Dragged In.
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San Diego Jewish World reminds readers who are new to this column that it is all in fun, and nothing above should be taken seriously. Cohen is a freelance writer based in New York, whose articles also appear in other publications. Comments intended for publication in the space below MUST be accompanied by the letter writer’s first and last name and by his/ her city and state of residence (city and country for those outside the United States.)