Whiting Farms

Well, this post is over a half a year later and wow, was I on to something.  In the time that's passed between my previous entry and now, I've grossed over $65,000 in feather sales.  I was right.  Hair extensions was a great business to go into.  I figured it out in a short amount of time and watched my sales go through the roof.  It was such a great business venture and my boyfriend and I have enough money to get back to Nicaragua and live comfortably for a very long time.  I'm going to share with you everything I know about hair feather extensions starting with the ultimate brand of feathers, Whiting.  Check out this website for the man who breeds the perfect feathers.  whitingfarms.com

Like I said in a previous post, you're looking for saddle hackle feathers.  Buying a full saddle will yield you the greatest profit.  I spent time in the beginning ordering Whiting 100's which, mistakingly I thought, would be 100 feathers.  They are actually packages of 18 feathers that tie about 100 flies.  Remember, we're just visitors in a fly-fishing world.  It takes some time to get to know their lingo.  The other thing you should know about is feather sizes.  The higher the number, the more width you have to the feather.  So, Whiting 100's come in sizes like 12, 14, 16, 18, and 20.  The higher the number, the wider the feather.  Wider feathers are more ideal for extensions.  So, a size 18 or 20 is good.  A size 12 is pretty skinny.

Here are some links for some good feather suppliers.

chifly.com

flyshack.com

Currently, most suppliers are out and you'll have to delve into the black market of ebay where old fisherman have come out of the closet and are selling their pelts for exorbitant amounts.  As the bell-curve of this trend goes up and down, so do the prices of feathers.  They are slowly coming back down which is good news for you.  Here are some fun pictures of a craft show I did this summer.  My favorite of course, the dog picture.

Behind the Research - Saddle Hackle Feathers

As I began to scour the internet for feather information, I found that indeed, the feathers are real and that they come from roosters.  Premium rooster feathers used to tie flies, in fact.  Delving into a world I knew nothing about, I was led to fly fishing forums discussing which feathers are the best for certain flies and which colors and combos attract certain fish.  I felt I was getting closer to the information I needed to start a small internet business but was still not certain which feathers were going to make good hair extensions.

And this is where the real madness began.  What I didn't know when I began to arbitrarily order feathers from sights like Cabela's and JS Fly Fishing, was that there are many different lengths, widths, grades, and brands of feathers and that not all of them were going to work for my venture.  I've spent a good amount of time getting it wrong.  This site is designed for the amateur to get it right the first time, as there isn't a whole lot of information about using fly feathers as hair extensions.

The first thing that you need to know is that people use "saddle hackle feathers" for extensions.  The key word in this description is "saddle."

This diagram would've saved me a great deal of time and energy had I found it before I began the feather ordering process.  Please note where the saddle of the bird is.  The longest feathers come from the wing. Many fly fishermen also use the cape to tie flies.  Full capes and full saddles are available for purchase on most websites.  They also come in halves and quarters.  Before knowing about saddles, I purchased a bunch of capes that had to be sent back.  Capes are not the way to go - not for hair extensions at least.  

Feathermania

A cocktail waitress walks into my bar one day and says, "Hey Mel, check these out."  Buried amongst the thickness of her brown locks were three thin colorful strands of feathers.  Her mom had ordered them on ebay for a little over a dollar a piece and had spent an afternoon adorning her children in a quickly emerging fashion trend.  The waitress and I spent some time formulating theories about whether or not the feathers were real, if they had been dyed and how long they could stay in your hair.  She then, proceeded to tell me that there was a girl at the North Shore Farmers Market who was charging ten dollars to put a single feather in people's hair.

DING!  DING!  DING!  My wheels began turning, instantly.  Ten dollars a feather????  I went home and began researching the method behind feathermania.  

Having about ten thousand dollars remaining on a mortgage in Nicaragua, I've been racking my brain for a way to make a quick buck, pay off the house and get back down to Central America so my boyfriend and I can live happily ever after.  Feathers?  Sure, I thought.  Why not.

Little did I know, how quickly this would become my own obsession.