By Jennifer Litz
Editor
May 19, 2008

The city of Las Vegas has roughly half a million people, and hundreds at its annual Viva Las Vegas Rockabilly Weekender. But that didn’t stop San Angelo hairstylist “Texas” Tara Hart from being plucked among the thousands by a Revlon representative.

“The modeling was actually a fluke,” says Hart, who rents a spot at Changes the Salon in the Cactus Hotel. But you may have also seen her in the portfolio of many a pin-up photographers, or in promo materials for an old school diner in Atlanta, Georgia.

“My husband and I do an event in Vegas every year—‘Viva Las Vegas,’ it’s a rockabilly weekender they have, usually Easter weekend,” Hart says. “It’s a big huge festival where bands play, and there are a lot of vendors that come, and a big car show. It’s gotten to be a huge deal, with people from Japan, Germany, Italy, etc. that are into that culture.

“The last year we went, 2005, they had some photographer scout there taking pictures of girls. They were scouts for Revlon with a line of hair care products for men called American Crew. They took my photo and got my info, and said they’d give me a call back if their employers were interested.”

Hart quickly forgot about the prospect after she got home. But a week later, the model’s slim figure and alabaster skin proved perfect for the pin-up medium. She was hired to do the American Crew photo shoot for a rockabilly magazine.

“They put me up in California, and we shot the next day,” Hart says. “I got to meet some of the bigger-name pinup models at the shoot, and a lot of those people had a MySpace at the time. And I was like, ‘What the hell is this?’ So I checked it out, posted a couple of pictures . . .” That got her more attention, including that of Gayla Partridge of 666 Photography in Austin. At the time, Hart says, Partridge was just starting her company; now she’s done hundreds of shots and prints.

Partridge’s vision of Hart is as varied as it is arresting. Her pictures of Hart feature the model perched on a Tiki bongo chair, clad in a chartreuse bodice, with long, flaming red hair; Hart splayed on a bed, Madonna style, with short white waves and a similarly colored dress; Hart seductively straddling a red and yellow hot rod, clad in short black bangs and skin-tight leopard print capris.

Partridge says Hart is easy to work with—no light comment about a model who has the potential to be, um, opinionated, being a hairstylist and makeup artist herself.

“With 666photography, I have had the pleasure of photographing hundreds of models and non-models, and of all of them, Tara is still one of my all time favorites!” Partridge says. “She is always professional, and is the gal I call when I need a model who isn't going to look at me funny when I tell her I want to turn her into a carnival ‘Frog Lady.’ She has made more than just photographs; she makes them art. She is also one of the kindest gals around and one terrific model/mom!”

Hart has also worked with famed pin-up photographer Shannon Brooke out of California; she recently shot a series of “martini glass pictures” for a California based photographer, Chris Gomez. “He does martini girl shots,” she says. “He takes photos and puts you in a martini glass with Photoshop. I don’t know if he’s going to do a book or calendar, or what.”

But though her modeling is glitzy and glamorous, Hart’s real passion is her salon. She’s been doing hair since she was young. “I used to cut off and dye my Barbies’ hair,” she says. “Then it progressed to my friends’ hair.” She dabbled with color in high school, starting with her very blond friend who wanted to go “reddish brown purpley.” One box of color wasn’t enough; after retrieving that second box from the store, however, both girls declared the change a success. Hart went to beauty school in San Angelo right out of high school and finished it up in Killeen.

True to her high school experimentation phase, Hart says she’s still the go-to girl for people who want to dye their hair pink or purple and actually have it look good.

“I have a lot of color clients,” she says. “I do everything from funky to wearable highlights. But I started doing extensions late last year. I like to see women who have fine, short hair transformed into women with long, luxurious hair after a few hours.”

Hart is the only hairstylist in San Angelo to offer Paris Hilton’s glamorous “Dream Catchers” extensions, with “no damaging gules, waxes, weaves, or heat,” according to the promos.

“I am also known for recreating retro style hair and makeup,” she says. “I get requests to do that style for weddings or proms.”

That’ll come in handy when her own three kids—two girls and one boy—enter high school.

Which brings us to two more surprises:

That body after three children.

And her daughters’ career aspirations. You may think model, right?

“Actually, the older girl wants to be a photographer,” Hart says.