Thread: Blondes or Brunettes -- who makes more money?

I have been a bottle blond since I was 20, but about a year ago died my hair very dark brown. Since then, I have noticed that I am getting more gigs, but fewer tips. I am guessing that I look more "authentic" as a brunette -- therefore getting more gigs - but that men prefer me as a blond --thus more tips. Has anyone else done the hair color transfer? Care to discuss my thesis?

Interesting topic...I never changed my hair to be in on this...but will be fun to see the posts! I do... ok... as a blonde! LOL

I went from natural blonde to dark brunette/black. I get great compliments from the dance scene, but during the day "what did you do to you hair?"

well, red heads of course

Well, I don't have specific data for you, but I can tell you for sure, I'd get fewer gigs AND fewer tips as a blond--I make a TERRIBLE looking blond!..l;,..l;,..l;,..l;,..l;,

(Flip side...I've known a few blond dancers who would look utterly ridiculous as brunettes. For some of us, skin tone, eye color, and facial structure seriously enter into the mix.)

But speaking as a brunette...I seem to do fine both directions.

Heh,the best dancers in our group are lighthaired Swedish and Finnish girls-
I´m the old darkhaired one...

Have no idea of who makes the most tips-
most bellydancers here rather get paid decent and do a show than go around and collect tips for 20 minutes.
I´ll ask around and see if anyone who changed their hair color noted any change;D

I dyed my hair black once and with my pale Scottish/Irish skin tone and bright green eyes, people liked it so much I've thought about going back to it!

I've always been brunette, so I can't judge!

Making money in BD certainly is a fluke-y thing, dependent on a number of outside factors....I'd probably cite hair color as the least influential variable in whether or not you're shimmying aboard the Gravy Train. Working in a thriving community with fair rates and ample performance venues is probably far more of an asset in the grander scheme of bellynomics! Besides....Fathiem, Shareen El-Safy, Sabah, Dondi and our very own First Lady of the Platinum Locks, TanyaLV are all madly successful blondes. Case in point.

But I do know that being blonde feels like an entirely different experience than dancing as a brunette. I went for bright beachy streaks on golden blonde one summer, actually looked pretty good, but I felt like I had to work twice as hard to prove myself to audiences and to prospective clients. Some people were downright rude to me, one actually fired me for somebody more "authentic."

About three months later, I went back to my dark chestnut color without an issue. It was back to the usual "Are you Lebanese? How do you dance so well? You MUST have some Middle Eastern blood!" Yadda yadda.

I won't expand much on my feelings toward the hair color bias, but it was definitely noticeable. In the long run, it only cost me one gig - and I'd go blonde again in a heartbeat if that's something I really wanted to do. I personally prefer the striking look of my dark hair, lightly tanned skin and turquoise blue eyes! But man....I feel for the blonde discrimination thing.

My natural colour is dark blond, but when I was a child I was funny- darker skin+ blond hair+ grey ayes. I had to change my colour because of my ex- boss. She said that I will have no performance in bellydance as a blond. I changed and it was a big chock, nobody was able to identifi me for one year:) and my mumy cried one day.now, after 5 years, I feel great in black hair and in Czech Republic lots of people prefer dancer with black hair for performance. I think it is stupid idea, but for them it is more ,,arabic". Some girls are crayzy, because when they want perform, they coloured their hair into black, buy costume and don´t think about their level of bellydance...

I have been a blond, a brunette and a redhead (just about every shade of red!).
I've been red exclusively for the last 15 years, so haven't done belly dance with other colors- BUT I can tell you there was a noticeable difference in the KIND of attention I got as a blond vs as a redhead or brunette. I wasn't comfortable with it- as it was the loud vocal kind of attention that felt more objectifying. People DO treat you differently with different hair colors- and imagine that would carry over into the dance as well, "authenticity" issues aside.

whomever markets themselves the best... makes the most money. Im sorry to say.

Originally Posted by Amber_moon

whomever markets themselves the best... makes the most money. Im sorry to say.

I think whoever markets themselves the best get the most inquiries without a doubt.
No amount of marketing helps however if you have a knowledgeable audience and the dancer is a whole lot better at marketing than she is a dancing.
There are other variables (people skills for example), but generally this sort of dancer will not get asked back as often as a girl with no marketing but who is great (of course that girls challenge is how to get out there so they DO see her).

Stick with the brunette hair! I can't tell you how many gigs I've lost because the client is looking for "someone who looks like Princess Jasmine". It seems so silly to hire someone based upon their hair color, but it does happen. I find that the "we don't want a blond dancer" request usually comes from Arab (usually female) clients.

when i started, my natural hair color is ash blonde......very 'meh' color.............in NY in the 80's, they liked the 'ethnic' look, i went coppery red and got alot more favorable responses, but i don't think it's the 'ethnic' thing as much as the red suited my pale skin/green eyed coloring better than the blonde did (i did do dark brown/black wigs once, looked ok, but a little extreme)..........i haven't seen my natural hair color in 23 years :D, lol

I hope the following text book Ive written isnt so convoluted and hard to read that my point is totally lost. Also, I hope nobody takes offense to what Im going to say either, as I mean no disrespect or anything to the following people/groups/shows mentioned:

I would say that good marketing usually wins. Simply because marketing yourself correctly, can change the expectation of the potential client to desire what you are... and not advertise what they are looking for, or what they thought you were. Ive seen this happen SO many times its not even funny. Not just in BD either. I used to work at one of the largest Ad agencies in the nation, and we were ALWAYS coming up with ways to change the expectation of the consumer, to fit the product. Because the ad agency cannot change the product to fit the consumer.

Its like if you are trying to market castor oil to a group of teenagers. Most teenagers don't have any use for what they might see as a laxitive product for geezers. But if you change their expectation of what the product does, or is used for, (for instance pointing out the great cosmetic benefits of Castor oil, when applied topically to the hair) you throw out a huge colorful campaign showing teenage girls with shiny long hair chatting with cute guys at a locker... suddenly castor oil sales go up, and teenagers are the ones buying it.

Same thing goes with bellydance. Instead of changing yourself into the buxom curvy brunette that is dark and swarthy, you call yourself the Blonde Bellydancer from next door... and as long as you are still visually pleasing enough, you can call yourself a "non traditional artist" and still rake in the cash. Ive seen this happen so many times its not funny.

I mean look at the BDSS... I love their show whole heartedly, and can never seem to get enough of them, but truthfully, nothing any of them are doing up there on that stage is good old fashioned traditional Egyptian style belly dancing. They get away with it, and are so successful at it, because they have marketed themselves to the point that you are not expecting to see that. There are plenty of American dancers doing much more strictly traditional style dancing, (and who I would personally consider to be better dancers as well) who are not, and will never be as famous as say, Jillina. Simply because they just dont market themselves as aggressively.

I dont know, I just personally think that with a thing as small as hair color, a tad bit of marketing and salesmanship can counter whatever "ill effects" the GP (or even the BD population) might attribute to being a blonde.

also just adding, that all in all, with something as small as hair color... whatever makes YOU personally look and feel good... is the color you should stick with. In the end, its about YOU looking good. If you look better with blonde/red/brown/raven hair... then rock it. Make sure you look good. Keep your dancing skill well conditioned and never stale. Be confident. And thats the key.

I'm going to go out on a limb here and say two things and neither are backed by eveidence, so, take them as you may.

I think the hair color would NOT make a difference unless MAYBE you're in a high population ethnic area that would WANT a brunette or black haired person.
Two, if someone judges your dance by your hair color alone or refuses to see you dance b/c of hair color, that is their loss and not yours.

Originally Posted by Amber_moon

I would say that good marketing usually wins. Simply because marketing yourself correctly, can change the expectation of the potential client to desire what you are... and not advertise what they are looking for, or what they thought you were. Ive seen this happen SO many times its not even funny. Not just in BD either. I used to work at one of the largest Ad agencies in the nation, and we were ALWAYS coming up with ways to change the expectation of the consumer, to fit the product. Because the ad agency cannot change the product to fit the consumer.

Same thing goes with bellydance. Instead of changing yourself into the buxom curvy brunette that is dark and swarthy, you call yourself the Blonde Bellydancer from next door... and as long as you are still visually pleasing enough, you can call yourself a "non traditional artist" and still rake in the cash. Ive seen this happen so many times its not funny.

Novel very well taken, from one marketing professional to another. *golf claps*

Sad, but pretty true. A chichi Paris Hilton-esque doggie designer clothing boutique contacted the classic rock radio station I work for. Our demo is men between 25-54, who find things like man boobs funny. Of course, knowing my dumb luck, my boss handed me this oddball client and expected me to work a miracle. Yeah, right.

Instead of writing a spot that extols the luxury lifestyle experience for dogs (which would get lost on our listeners as they drove to the bar with the mechanical bull down the street), I had The Wigmaster, our Friday personality who is known for his "damn the man!" rantings and ravings, narrate a Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous-style spot as the character "Percival Poodle." And it worked. Loyal listeners felt like they were in on a joke, and dropped by the store to pick up a new collar or some organic food for their dogs.

Similarly, I do believe that a BDer can create a market for herself, or tap into markets that didn't previously exist - and cash in, big time. This isn't necessarily about masking poor technique or being pretentious, but about creating a brand and an image that gets noticed, retained and acted upon. This is a formula that's also helped me, being 4'11", 92 lbs., and a blue-eyed, non-exotic brunette. I couldn't compete at the Turkish restaurants that only hired brown-eyed, black-haired, curvy girls - but positioning myself as a high-fashion, high-end, dynamite little rock star (with cultural savvy and great technique, to boot) has helped my cause astronomically and, yes, created demand where none previously existed.

So yeah - at the end of the day, I still think technique and personality unequivocally trump marketing. But I also don't understand exactly why BDers have such an odd, love-hate relationship with marketing, either. As long as the product lives up to the hype, you're golden...in my not-so-humble opinion, that is.

Originally Posted by SamiraShuruk

I have been a blond, a brunette and a redhead (just about every shade of red!).
I've been red exclusively for the last 15 years, so haven't done belly dance with other colors- BUT I can tell you there was a noticeable difference in the KIND of attention I got as a blond vs as a redhead or brunette. I wasn't comfortable with it- as it was the loud vocal kind of attention that felt more objectifying. People DO treat you differently with different hair colors- and imagine that would carry over into the dance as well, "authenticity" issues aside.

I've had the same experience. I just recently went back to being a redhead. I don't think my haircolor affected my income but one never knows.

However, ME men love blondes. The blonde dancers in my area generally do very well. And there have been many of them. And they do get a lot of male attention. I've literally been knocked aside before by a group of men trying to talk to my blond dancer friend. It's very annoying!

And it's not only the hair, it's the length. Several years ago, a friend of mine and I debated this very issue. She had mid length dark ashy blond hair. She refused to believe me when I told her that dancers with long blond hair get more attention. So on a dare, she bought a platinum blond wig and wore it to a gig. She called me from the club fuming. She couldn't believe how the men were swarming over her. She was ready to yank her wig off and throw it at them.

I can remember in particular a few years ago watching a blond dancer at her very first live performance. It was at a place I used to work at and I was sitting at a table with the old regulars. They were clapping and shouting and throwing money. I was stunned. The girl couldn't dance! Finally I couldn't take it anymore and I asked them if they really thought she was a good dancer. They laughed! They all agreed she couldn't dance, but...she was young, pretty and blond! Who cared! Grrrr.

Originally Posted by norma

However, ME men love blondes. The blonde dancers in my area generally do very well. And there have been many of them. And they do get a lot of male attention. I've literally been knocked aside before by a group of men trying to talk to my blond dancer friend. It's very annoying!

Annoying, yes, but it clearly goes to show that everybody's definition of exotic is so different.

Indian audiences always seem to be intrigued by my blue eyes....I didn't put two and two together until my boyfriend and I were watching Bride and Prejudice and he said, "Look, Aishwarya Rai has blue eyes, light skin and dark hair just like you!"

Fair skin and light eyes are considered aristocratic and exotic in many parts of the world, just as we extol dark features for their otherworldly beauty here in the U.S.

I've rendered my final verdict and that is, do whatever you want with your hair. As long as you can throw down confidently onstage, they'll love you no matter what you look like. (And the stupid clients will always find a reason to *****, no matter how fair or dark you are).

I did read somewhere that Blondes supposedly have higher estrogen levels which makes them more attractive to men. They even found blonde wigs that the prositutes in ancient Pompeii used to attract customers.

I've had blonde friends who went brunette that reckoned they get treated more seriously by being a darker shade.

Originally Posted by HubicRuzz

I did read somewhere that Blondes supposedly have higher estrogen levels which makes them more attractive to men. They even found blonde wigs that the prositutes in ancient Pompeii used to attract customers.

I've had blonde friends who went brunette that reckoned they get treated more seriously by being a darker shade.

Hmmm. This must be why Helen of Troy was always depicted as a blonde.

I have had a restaurant owner make me wear a dark wig if I wanted to continue working in his establishment. Apparently, according to him, he was getting complaints from the GP about some of the belly dancers not having dark hair.

Originally Posted by stardancer

I have had a restaurant owner make me wear a dark wig if I wanted to continue working in his establishment. Apparently, according to him, he was getting complaints from the GP about some of the belly dancers not having dark hair.

Damn....with the national unemployment rate nearing 10% and everyone being broke and our nation being at war overseas for years, I'd say these GP folks must live a pretty sheltered life if their sole grievance is that the belly dancers at their favorite restaurant don't look like the ones they see in James Bond flicks.

I can't believe somebody would actually go out of their way to complain about this. Idiots.

Hmm, I never thought about this before; but it did make me think personally I've never even dated a blonde in my life. weird

Well, I was brown in my youth, what shade, who knows? Hey any color is good EXCEPT old lady no color, shhh... the G word! ANYTHING BUT THAT!
I color that away, anyone who has a natural color, whatever it is, should be happy not to have it all go away and turn the big G!
I'm just saying........c::

Originally Posted by JShane

Hmm, I never thought about this before; but it did make me think personally I've never even dated a blonde in my life. weird

My boyfriend flat-out refuses to date blondes. They really, really don't "do it" for him, I guess.

Odd how everybody has their preferences.

Originally Posted by Amber_moon

also just adding, that all in all, with something as small as hair color... whatever makes YOU personally look and feel good... is the color you should stick with. In the end, its about YOU looking good. If you look better with blonde/red/brown/raven hair... then rock it. Make sure you look good. Keep your dancing skill well conditioned and never stale. Be confident. And thats the key.

This I enthusiastically agree with. ..g.:
I see what you're saying about marketing and that makes sense. Maybe because I don't think I buy into it so much I just don't realize how much like sheep some people can be.

Originally Posted by SatinWorship19

Novel very well taken, from one marketing professional to another. *golf claps*
So yeah - at the end of the day, I still think technique and personality unequivocally trump marketing. But I also don't understand exactly why BDers have such an odd, love-hate relationship with marketing, either. As long as the product lives up to the hype, you're golden...in my not-so-humble opinion, that is.

This is so true.

....and your other post SatinWorship....about perspectives on exotic. I agree with that as well. "Exotic" is "different"- so I've been perceived as "exotic" by Arabs, Indians and Asians. While my perception of exotic is- well, pretty much the opposite of what I see most frequently.

"However, ME men love blondes. The blonde dancers in my area generally do very well. And there have been many of them. And they do get a lot of male attention. I've literally been knocked aside before by a group of men trying to talk to my blond dancer friend. It's very annoying!"

This is exactly what I am talking about! I get way more work as a brunette -- I usually have 2 or 3 shows every Friday and Saturday night and a few during the week; however, I really think that my tips have decreased. And yes, it may not be politically correct, but it IS nice to have Middle- Eastern men throw money at you -- particularly if they are Saudis.