By Alli Myers

From yoga pants and moccasins to crackle nail polish and skinny jeans, guys with their names tattooed on their backs to girls strutting the “top-of-the-head” bun, we’ve all seen trends go just as quickly as they came. A trend that has made its mark on an immense number of girls everywhere is the feather hair extension fad. Just one glance around MSU’s campus will show you a multitude of colors and styles, adding flair at a small price supplied by many salons right here in the East Lansing area.

According to People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), the roosters that are plucked to create hair accessories are kept in small, stacked cages for about 30 weeks in loud, dirty barns. The roosters are bred and genetically enhanced to produce unusually long, luxurious feathers known as “grizzly saddle” feathers.

Photo taken by Jenna Chabot

These are the long, skinny black and white striped feathers that come from the back of the rooster. They are then killed and skinned, sometimes actually plucked for their feathers while they are still alive. This process kills them eventually, but it is a very slow and painful death for them.

The PETA Files, a website supplying information about animal cruelty and other campaigns PETA is a part of, describes these conditions, quoting the owner of Whiting Farms, a rooster farm in Delta, Colorado, who said, “We’re sentencing each rooster to a solitary cage for the last six months, with nothing to look at or listen to other than lots of other confined roosters.”

Grizzly saddle feathers are quickly increasing in demand, some of them selling for hundreds of dollars. Salons have been well known for hitting up local bait shops in order to get their hands on these. This angers serious fishermen going for the “good bait,” who use them to tie their fly on to the line. The feathers catch the attention of various types of fish, depending on whether you use a bright feather or a natural colored one. Right alongside the annoyance of the fly fishers is the even greater outrage it causes amongst animal activist groups.

Grand River Bait and Tackle is right off MSU’s campus located at 526 E. Grand River. The first thing Joe Mull had to say about the feather fad was, “Every time someone calls or comes in here asking about saddle feathers, I know they’re asking for hair. I haven’t been able to restock in awhile because there’s a shortage right now; all the birds are dead.”

Mull also said that he used to sell a pack of ten feathers for five or six dollars, and now sells them at six dollars or more each. The shop is currently out of saddle feathers because of the amount of salons coming in and buying out the stock.

“I get a lot of very unhappy fly fishermen coming in the store trying to buy them,” Mull said. “We’re always sold out of them these days. The majority of people that come in asking for them are hair stylists because one good feather can last a fisherman a couple years.”

PETA takes a stand against feather extensions. Strong supporter and a representative for the organization Ryan Huling said, “PETA is opposed to the use of feathers in the fashion industry because of the cruelty of animals involved. We strongly encourage people to choose alternative forms of these feathers, ones that do not harm animals in any way.”

Huling, even with his strong distaste for where the extensions come from, did not try to discourage the trend as a whole. He said that he thinks it’s a fun trend, and there is nothing wrong with synthetic feathers.

Huling does take issue with the fact that it can be difficult to tell the difference between a real feather and a synthetic one.

“This concept is kind of like faux fur,” he said. “PETA always promotes alternatives that are free of all forms of animal cruelty.”

He said that if you don’t want to give the impression that you are wearing real rooster feathers, wear something that clearly does not come from an animal. He laughed and said, “Like pink fur. You get the fluffy look of fur, but that clearly didn’t come from any animal.” [I GOT RID OF THEM -BK]

“I like the feather trend,” said marketing freshman Kelly Munzenberger, who got a feather extension over the summer.  “I think it’s a good way to do something different to your hair without dying it.” Munzenberger was surprised to learn that thousands of roosters are actually killed every year in order to supply the long, luxurious feathers that are used to make the extensions.

“I didn’t even know that some of the feathers were made from roosters,” she said.

Salon Meridian is one salon on the list of many that supply the feathers. Employee Carleana Delacruz said they sell between 30 and 40 feathers per month on average. Delacruz said she was shocked to learn about the mistreatment and slaughter of birds that takes place in order to make the extensions.

“I know that the feathers we use most often are real,” she said. “They are made from the same proteins as human hair, which is why we are able to style them, but I had absolutely no idea that the roosters were killed.”

She explained that clients have asked for alternative synthetic feathers stating, “The only difference in the synthetic feathers is that you cannot style them, but they look the same as the natural ones”.

Spanish sophomore Kaitlyn West also sports a feather, but hers is an authentic saddle feather. West said that she really doesn’t know much about where the feathers come from or how they’re made, real or synthetic.

“I would have gotten synthetic feathers if I had known they were available. I am such an animal lover, and I would have never intentionally gotten real feathers knowing now that it harms and kills the roosters. I think the trend is dying down. It was fashionable, but it definitely isn’t worth the cost of hurting harmless and helpless animals.”

According to MTV Style, Ke$ha is a big follower of the feather trend. This pop star, however, is an even bigger supporter of the synthetic options. She made a point of telling her fans about online sites that sell synthetic feathers making sure to emphasize that she is not involved in the killing of roosters just to add pizazz to her hair.

Any trend has its ups and downs and ins and outs whether short or long lived. Feathers may be the hot item right now, but who knows what will be “in” tomorrow. The trend, in a way, can be compared to choosing a vegetarian lifestyle. If someone is against ending an animal’s life to benefit themself, they simply avoid it. If you are against harming and killing roosters to add a feather extension to your hair, ask for synthetic ones at your salon or search around for an awesome one online.

Whether or not we mean to, we are constantly judging, stereotyping and labeling and then making assumptions based on fashion. These standards then play a part in defining who we are as individuals. “Stereotypes exist because there are people that would rather create labels and groups then get to know someone,” said apparel and textiles sophomore, Bennedy Kennedy. Not many of us choose to categorize people like this, and many of us would change it if we could, but it is an ongoing fact of human nature that has little hope of fading. “I don’t think it will ever go away, but it will get better,” said apparel and textile instructor Rebecca Schuiling. One of the many ways this stereotyping and categorization expresses itself today is in the fashion industry.

Certain brands of clothing are often associated with a specific cultural group and there are a number of reasons behind this. “You see repetition in the street and you start to notice certain categories of people wearing certain things over and over again,” said Schuiling. When people see this repetition in dress, it becomes an association. When one thing becomes associated with another, it often sticks and even gains prominence.

At this point, it’s possible for a brand to be strictly associated with a certain type of person, group of people or cultural group. Some groups desire this – they want to be noticed for something specific or have a desire to be viewed a certain way and use appearance as an outlet. They may wear certain brands because they’re high end and are associated with class. “No matter what neighborhood you live in or what race you are, a lot of the time it’s a status thing,” said mixed raced business owner Jeremy Scott. “People wear things to communicate to their peers. No matter what race [you are], people treat you differently for what you’re wearing. Its about respect.” Many feel when you wear something high end, you become high end yourself – you are what you…wear.

On the other hand, some people may not be going for attention at all and are even perhaps going in the complete opposite direction. “It’s painful for them,” said Schuiling. “They want to wear what’s acceptable to wear.” They may not want any association with labels and thus steer clear of them, but then the fashion industry sees this, places a label on this without-a-label way of life and it becomes another style in the world of fashion.

These people may not want to be stamped, but through the process of avoiding this, it’s possible they are actually attracting it. “Reverse adoption is where people are wearing things in the streets and designers take ideas from that,” said Schuiling. Take the grunge look for example – without a desire to belong to anything specific, people created a style of their own (now, the grunge look). This style became a look and the designers took notice of it. Once this happened, designers began to mimic the street style doing precisely what was trying to be avoided in the first place – the creation of a new label.

In all these different labels, groups, classes and categories like to use a term that is widely known and often used – individuality. The scary fact is that, in the fashion world, none of us is completely our own. “It’s almost funny when people think they’re creating their own styles,” said Schuiling. “Everything is done over and over again.” Designs are used and then recycled. Styles go through changes, but that doesn’t mean it’s the new product of sheer imagination – instead, the new and improved product of a past product. One thing comes from another and it continues. “But as long as you feel good in what you wear,” said Kennedy, “that’s what I’m going to see.”

Schuiling said that by nature, people want to have a sense of individualism while simultaneously being accepted by everyone. That’s where people go their separate ways. For some, even just a small sense of belonging will do, so there’s a smaller class of people that turn to sub-cultures. That way, they still maintain this strong feeling of individualism, but at the same time are being accepted by this group of people that they are able to relate to. For others, the feeling of being accepted may be more important and they have no desire to stand out.

It’s weird to try and imagine a world without all this labeling and stereotyping. “Everyone would have to create their own clothes to be entirely original,” said Schuiling. Not to mention the size of the roll the fashion industry plays on our economy. “It’s a fine line,” she said.

A company’s success is greatly affected by its target market. If a brand strictly markets to a specific group of people, they’re going to have a significantly smaller amount of people that will even consider their product. “Every brand markets and designs for certain people,” said Kennedy, “it’s a fact.” However, if a company has no limits, neither do its customers – they have that many more possible sales. “It might shy people away from buying a product if they don’t feel like they can be a part of that tribe,” said Schuiling. People aren’t going to buy a product if they don’t feel comfortable in it.

It’s a whole new ball game for the designers. “Good designers keep in mind all of their clientele,” said Kennedy. “You have to if you want to be successful.”

“If I’m a designer designing high-waisted poofy minis, there’s a target customer that I’m designing for,” said apparel and textiles junior Alissa Seymoure. They might create a line with no intention of a target clientele, but if a group of people adopt this designers look, that look can quickly become associated with that group of people. “Other people might get left out and it could hurt sales,” said Shuiling, “particularly if [the line is] tied to race, it might be uncomfortable or strange for a designer if it’s not what [he/she] intended.”

The upside of this grouping of people based on style and appearance is that most of the time it gives us a good idea of where we fit in. It would be wrong to make assumptions based strictly on appearance, but it sometimes is an aid on say…the first day of school. “You kind of know where you belong,” said Schuiling, “it’s almost a safety thing.” This is not to say (at all) that two people of two entirely different cultures, backgrounds or styles couldn’t become the best of friends. Simply stated, it just gives a little sense of comfort and belonging.

These specific categories of people associated with a certain style might be difficult to take in for someone who is more of an experimental dresser. Not that he or she has the desire to fit into every cultural group, just that he or she doesn’t feel that he or she really has anywhere that he or she belong. “It can be frustrating if you like to explore new styles,” said Shuiling.

It may seem to be dictated by the consumers, but there are a number of designers that create styles specifically for certain cultural groups. “Style should be able to be unique and show your personality,” said Seymoure, “but it shouldn’t affect how people treat you.”

Initially we all may want to believe that fashion is completely separate from who we are as people but the truth is, it is inevitably associated with exactly who we are.