Nails by Jenny Meek, Classy Nails by Jenny, Fletcher, Okla.

OK. So — this whole feathers-in-the-hair thing, right? Like that wasn't already a fad back in the early ’80s ... and the ’70s ... and the ’60s. But I don't remember it in the ’90s so I guess we skipped a generation and now it's totally new again. That's cool. I dig 'em.

What I don't dig is being expected to do them.

I do nails. NAAAAAIIIIIILLLLLSSSS. It's a diphthong — let's enjoy it together: NAY-AAAALS. See? Diphthongs are fun.

Now, where are we putting these feathers? In HAIR. It's also a diphthong: HAY-ERRRR.

I don't do hair.

Yeah, I'm a capitalist. It's difficult for me to resist the temptation to cash in on the feather trend. It appears that I don't need a cosmetology license to do them in California so, technically, I could go down to the local fly-fishing shop and invest in a bunch of turkey feathers and make a mint.

But I'm not going to. No matter what at least one certain industry trade magazine suggests in their recent issue.

Back when the whole rockstar toe craze hit fast and hard (summer of '03 and '04 around here), hundreds (possibly thousands) of hairstylists who hadn't done a set of any sort of nails since their first week of beauty school went out and bought all the "stuff they needed" to do rockstar toes. They were all convinced that they were going to rake in the big bucks by doing sets of glitter toenails while their clients' color processed — after all, it's so easy and they could make like $50-$65 in 20 MINUTES! And, since a cosmetology license means they are legally "qualified" to do nails as well, and doing gels is "so easy," why not make all that extra money?

You know how many of those hairstylists I know who are still doing rockstar toes? Maybe one.

But the greater issue there was that the nail industry was abuzz with derision about these stylists who were stepping outside of their field of expertise to make a buck at the expense of a nail tech somewhere else who actually had experience and knowledge of doing gel nails, just because they legally could.

What's the difference if we start trying to horn in on another industry's fad?

Just because you can, doesn't always mean you should. But I'm more than willing to put feathers in your nails!