The memory is so clear. I was about 8 years old and had decided to be very fashion-forward and cut my hair into the shape of a bowl. Imagine a bowl made out of blond hair flipped upside down, and you'd have me.

One day, I went bowling with my cousins and stepped up to the counter to ask for shoes. I told the clerk my size, and she turned around and handed me the biggest pair of bowling shoes my young eyes had ever seen.

"I said size three," I told her.

"Yeah," she said. "Size three boys."

I'd like to tell you I had an empowering moment of clarity about the power of gender roles in our society, but I really just felt like crap.

"I'm a girl," I said. She looked horrified and gave me the right shoes.

In that same bowling alley, a music video played on the televisions. It was Wilson Phillips. Chynna Phillips, clad in the most stylish high-waisted denim and brown leather vest, sitting atop a mountain, then preening in a black dress on the sandy shore, blond hair in the shape of an upside-down bowl. "I know that there is pain," she said, "but you hold on for one more day."

Flash forward 20 years (and a few more regrettable hair choices) later. I had the chance to interview Chynna last week, and she was so sweet and interesting. She squeezed me into a busy day, so I didn't have a ton of time with her. I spared her my entire sob story and just said, "I had your haircut." She laughed.

"Do you hear that a lot?" I asked.

"You would think I would hear that a lot. I don't. I think a lot of women were terrified to cut their hair that short."

Yeah. I know why.

Read the full interview with Chynna Phillips right here. She performs with Wilson Phillips at the Capitol Theatre tonight, so if you go, tell her thanks on behalf of all women with regrettable hair.

And now... Hold On!

Deal Diva Stephanie

Photo: Courtesy of Ruth Eckerd Hall, and video screen grab. Chynna has ditched the bowl cut for a longer look these days.