Feathers- are they off the golden goose or something?

I had someone last weekend ask about hair feathers and hair tinsel last weekend. Apparently this stuff is all the rage. Two moms were discussing it in my line. one girl had hers done at the mall for $15 and the other had gone to a salon and paid $30. I thought, even at $15 that's a pretty good markup for one feather and a metal clamp... So I have been looking around. Geez Louise! $8 for one feather? wth? That can't be right, can it? What do you all know about these psycadelic roosters and why their feathers are so darned expensive.

Anglers (fly fishermen) are actually pretty ticked about this trend because the market for feathers has shot through the roof. It's pure economics...supply and demand.

D.

A friend of mine does this, although she has her own birds that she gets the beautiful feathers from.

Ewww ewww ewww feathers terrify me!!!!

oh no! I love feathers! I think feathers are always expensive..the big ones always are at least 3 euro a piece on the market around carnavalseason..and the small ones I buy in bags of 25 together for maybe 5 euro...but in some stores I pay 7 euro for a big feather..

Well, if you buy them by the pound, they are susbstantially cheaper. Zucker Feathers is a major wholesaler in the states. I get most of mine from Rainbow Feathers in las vegas though. Independantly owned, a bit hard to get ahold of, but good prices and GREAT quality. But, you can;t buy 5 or 10.... you have to buy by the yard or pound.

Ok, so is there any difference between feathers labled "feather hair extensions" and the fancy feathers you would buy in the craft store (or, you know, any other pretty feather)? Are they treated any special way?

(Oh- and boo-hoo for the fishermen. (not) they'll pay hundreds of dollars on a rod&reel but can't spring for a chicken feather? come on!)

Sophie.... you crack me up

The ones you braid into hair are a lot cheaper than the clips. You can buy them wholesale for pretty cheap: $.50 or so a piece if you buy 200, or $1.00 and change if you buy 20. The ones with clips are $4.00 or so. I can't post a link yet, but you can google "wholesale hair feathers".

I was thinking about offering these, too, since they take like two minutes to put in. But I was wondering about whether or not you would need a braiding/hair weaving license -- or if anyone would ask

Weren't feathers all the rage back in the 80's . I remember begging my mom for them after seeing a boy george and cuture jam video! DId I just date myself I'm pretty sure she got them from a dollar store. Not sure if they would have them there now or not! Sorry Im' not much help!
PS Sophie you are hysterical

I once paid $5 for ONE peacock feather.

And there is no reason why you can't use those feather you buy in big bags at the dollar store.

Some feathers are really expensive because they are saddleback feathers and they have to kill the bird to collect them.
Most don't have to kill the bird and collect them free range but the saddleback feathers continues to grow for the life of the bird - so they let the bird live a wonderfull life so they have the best feathers - then they kill it.
There are some VERY good companies who refuse to sell any feathers that they have to kill the bird for.... I would be using these companies.
Daniel Lazaris (sp?) posted a letter on FB from a suppliers of the feathers as he got attacked for using them in the first place - to show they weren't harming the chooks.

Does anyone have a picture of this? Do you just clip a feather in someone's hair and charge them $15? Or do you stick it in while braiding a section of hair? What kind of bird do the feathera come from? Never seen this.

Thanks!

When I started raising chicken for eggs and meat a fly fisherman friend told me about the feathers and that one saddle or cape (neck feathers) could be sold for upwards of $100 for a regular one, not specialty.

I did some research and there are only a few that breed these bird in the industry and they are very protective of their genetics. One man has 4 buildings each a football field long, nothing is allowed to leave the farm alive, workers can not visit others with fowl, and movement of eggs require 2 signatures. The birds live in cages with conveyor belts running under with food they do a lot to protect their feathers. He kills his birds for the feathers that is what they are breed for.

Check etsy.com for feathers from farms that collect their feathers.

I have a horrid rooster right now that has the most gorgeous golden cape, my next door neighbor's granddaughters try to find them all the time.

We sell a weird range of feathers at the park so I did a little exploration on my own. I didn't like the long thin unnatural looking ones so I headed to Michael's to buy a few fancy picks for a wreath, the clusters of leaves, objects ect. They sell a beautiful assortment of feather picks so I picked up 2 at $2.99 a peice each with coordinated colors of about 10-15 feathers in lengths and sizes. Since we already had the metal crimping beads at the park I clipped a few different sizes in one clump in my hair. It lasted for 2 weeks. It would've lasted longer but I had crimped it on a spot on my scalp that wasn't as thick and strong as up behind the ear or three inches back on the hairline. I know you have to have a license for hair wrapping but nothing has been said about the feather crimping. It is interesting to see what the new rage will be. We just got in a few new packages of synthetic hair made to look like the brightly colored striped feathers. I actually like them more as they have lasted longer and feel more natural. There is a whole undiscovered world of what girls will put in their hair; being the first to find it and market it is key

My dad is a fly fisherman, owns a store and is a guide. He was miffed why teen girls were suddenly flocking (hah!) into his store to purchase all his feathers. I had feather extensions put in at the Big Raindrop conference recently. They were secured via a silicone-coated bead that clamps against the feather and a few strands of hair using a plier-like device to do the clamping. The silicone protects the hair until you clamp the bead in the opposite direction and it releases. It makes more sense to watch the process....see below

Here's the how-to YouTube link from Kandee Johnson:
https://youtu.be/fQoEv__ovAk

Thanks, Julie! Now I see what everyone is talking about

-Julie

Thank you for that video link...I had absolutely no idea what everyone was talking about and just couldn't picture it!