Amish Hipster: Now that's a new one.

              Miriam Jones, a Los Angeles hair stylist and the owner of Refuge salon appears to be your average Echo Park hipster with her eclectic sense of style and ambitious attitude. You might never guess that she wasn't always so cosmopolitan in appearance or ways. You see, Jones was raised Amish in Pennsylvania's Dutch country. Her family lived the typical Amish lifestyle: no electricity, no modern technology, and all home grown food. She didn't even use buttons on her clothes. All this changed when her father lost his inheritance because of a disagreement between him and some Amish elders. Jones father realized that he had to get his 6 children out of the situation fast and so he bought and hid a car until he could pack up the family and escape the Amish lifestyle. Miriam was 15 years old at the time and had no knowledge of the outside world. She was beyond scared when her mother told her to put on a pair of jeans in the middle of the night before they escaped. Long story short, the family relocated to Missouri, never hearing from any of their relatives ever again. Miriam's life began to spiral downwards and she got pregnant at 17. She was "rescued" in way when a stylist asked to make her over at a mall. She loved the idea of beauty and style so much that she went on to go to beauty school and eventually moved to LA with her 4 year old daughter, ready to start a new life. Today she is happy, healthy, and enjoying her life and her work as a stylist at her salon.
             This was such an interesting story to read. I almost never hear about Amish people who have converted to a mainstream American lifestyle, because the Amish are such a isolated group of people. Miriam Jones was forced by her father to leave her culture, or the way of life that is passed on through generations. The Amish are one of the most polar opposite cultures in American society, or a group of people living in a defined are who are part of a common culture, and it was interesting to see how a family crisis changed Jones' lifestyle in such a significant way.

                                                    Miriam Jones in her salon in Echo Park

Post by Audrey Tuna       
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-holland-20120110,0,1921040.column?page=1