News Of The World

In a recent, highly publicized incident, Fashion Police raided a compound in northern Michigan, where three wigs were found stuffed into a dresser drawer.

Sources say at least two wigs had been in the drawer for months, and none had ever been washed. Fashion Police reports state that they had a "moldy" odor about them. Officials say they also seized photos of the wigs' owner, "wearing a wig that apparently had been pulled directly from the drawer, and plopped onto her head."

"We've been seeing this for years," said one officer who declined to give her name. "It's not getting any better out there. For the love of God! Can't they buy a pick?" she said as she broke down in tears.

Captain Barbara Ellis has been heading up the FPD's Flying Squad since its inception, 3 years ago. She says most of the t-girls they arrest don't mean any harm. "They think it's okay to sufficate a wig in a plastic bag, stuffed somewhere in their luggage. Then they get mad at the poor thing when it doesn't look right when they put it on." "I blame our educational system," said Ellis.

But the Director of the National TG Hair Care Institute says the fault lies elsewhere. "If we only had more money," Haley Fabors said, "we could go out, and work with these offenders, one on one, sometimes before the problem takes root." The Institute's budget for education and outreach programs fell from $100 in 2000, to just $7.35 for the current fiscal year. That's put a damper on Fabors' work. "We could show them proper care and feeding for their wigs. Prevention is the key. Once a wig has been abused, it's too late."

Fabors says studies show that when a tranny is not taught proper wig care while they are young, they are more likely to enter a cycle of abuse and neglect that will follow them for the rest of their lives. "It starts with high expectations," she said. "They see a beautiful wig in a catalog, and order it, expecting it to look perfect right out of the box. They put it on, are disappointed with the results, and they blame the wig. They throw it into a bag or a closet, and don't try to fix the problem. They don't try to make work out the kinks."

Fabors says every relationship is unique, "but unless the tranny realizes it's a relationship of give and take, it's bound to fail." She says too often trannies give up on a wig too soon, and throw it back in the box, and search for a new, better wig. Fabors likens this to a search for the Holy Grail. "They spend thousands of dollars, looking for a wig that looks great out of the box, and takes care of itself. That's something that doesn't exist."

In the meantime, Fashion Police are left to clean up the mess. In 2002 alone, they confiscated 1,476 abused, overteased, and neglected wigs. But there is help. A number of TG support groups have created volunteer rescue organizations. These wig shelters respond when FPD officials alert them to a problem. Volunteers take the abused wigs in, and care for them as best they can. There are only 4 groups that actively try to help.

Samantha Spears' group, "Hair Today, Hair Tomorrow", is based in Colorado. Their shelter in Westminster was the closest available, when 2 wigs had to be flown in from Indiana. FPD officers confiscated two badly abused wigs from a crossdresser outside of Terra Haute, Indiana. "We try to do what we can for the wigs," said Samantha Spears. "We wash them, condition them, and try to do what we can, but sometimes it's too late. The most serious damage has already been done." Her group had to put down the pair of brunette Frederick's of Hollywood "Yvettes". "T-girls often go for the biggest hair available to them," said Spears, "And they don't come any bigger than the Yvette. It's a lot of long, curly hair. We didn't have enough shampoo and conditioner available to save them. It's tragic, really," she said.

These shelters are receive no government support, and get by only on donations from their local members. Spears admits she gets frustrated. "Sometimes I wish people would either start caring, or start growing their real hair out, and not take it out on the wigs."

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