Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1179836
62 • THE ARTISAN FALL 2019 hair of the strand thickness Stacey chose to prep it for permanent waving. Lastly, he colored the textured supply of nearly 95,000 loose strands of hair to be ready for ven- tilating. Sideburns to accompany this look were attached as one piece to the wig with a slightly tighter hair tex- ture then the wig to match facial hair. His process, from beginning to completion, took Justin a month before it was ready for Stacey to treat the hair, cut the lace, and masterfully put clipper hands on it for the shape and look to come to life. The 'early' version of Dolemite was a separate look that needed to be created. When Rudy started developing his stage character, he decided to add wigs to his cosplay. In the beginning, his wigs were of lesser quality due to Rudy's social and financial state. Early Rudy wigs looked a bit goofy and wiggy. Stacey designed a non-custom lace-fronted human hair wig by cutting it into its unique shape, treating, coloring & styling it; taking care to have it appear to be cheaper and synthetic. The style was reminiscent of the old sponge-rolled hair that was then loosely combed out into an Afro shape. Sideburns were attached separately, made by Justin in a kinkier facial hair texture. By the time Dolemite was well set as Rudy's alter ego and familiar within the black community, Rudy by now had enough finances to afford a quality-looking wig. This Dolemite wig was a custom-made piece by Justin per Stacey's direction. Like Rudy's regular look, the wig took a month to construct before being ready for Stacey to transform into the revised Dolemite Is My Name look that was inspired by the original Dolemite movie. Sideburns to accompany this look were attached as one piece to the wig with a different hair texture then the wig. The sideburn texture was what Stacey would imagine his facial hair to be and consistently matched the texture of all Rudy's facial hair no matter what wig he wore, while lengths & shapes changed slightly depending on the year. At the end of Dolemite Is My Name, Rudy's dream comes true with the completion and premiere of his first movie—which turned out to be a historic piece of his moviemaking career. For that event, Rudy wears a nicely