As Mrs. Palin became a public figure, Mrs. Steele said, she gave more thought to her image. "She's very involved in her look and how she's perceived," Mrs. Steele said. "We would talk a lot about how if she looked too pretty or too sexy, people wouldn't listen to her. How important it was for people to see her as an intelligent, smart woman. It was comical when her hair was down, how big a difference that would make, especially when she was running for governor."

Around 2000, the mayor called, needing rescue from a bad color job. Back then, Mrs. Steele recalled, Ms. Palin often wore her hair loose. "She'd just say, 'Whatever is quick and easy, let's just roll up our sleeves and get this going.'" Eventually, Mrs. Steele suggested that Ms. Palin put up her hair because “Sarah wanted to look more professional and ready to work and not come across as high maintenance and fussy.”

The updo had another benefit. "Sarah's short," Mrs. Steele said, and wanted to look taller in front of cameras. When Mrs. Steele heard that Ms. Palin was running for governor, Mrs. Steele called her: "Let's get you all picked up for campaigning!" The two experimented with full bangs, side-swept bangs, clips, curls, twists and blond streaks. "We just kept polishing her look," Mrs. Steele said. “We would try more warm, red and coppery highlights or more of a contrast with pale highlights, not to be severe but just more striking."