Victoria Gotti is nearly as well known for her cascading blonde hair as she is for her family name."My father always loved long hair," she says of the late John Gotti, who died in prison in 2002.
In case you're somehow not familiar with the Gotti name, here's a brief history: John Gotti -- a.k.a. The Teflon Don or The Dapper Don -- was convicted in 1992 on racketeering charges and sentenced to life in prison.
As the purported boss of the Gambino crime family, John's power shifted to his son, John Jr., who pleaded guilty in 1999 to his own racketeering charges. Victoria's ex-husband, Carmine Agnello, was also sentenced to a 9-year sentence for racketeering and tax fraud.
Regardless of what has gone on in the Gotti household, Victoria has always been extremely close to her father. She has called him her best friend and "the most dynamic, charismatic man" she has ever known. So it stands to reason that her decision to keep her hair long stemmed from her desire to please him.
"I've always had long hair. Then as a teenager, I let my friends cut my hair short with a D.A. in the back. It was essentially a man's hair cut. I cried afterward and when I got home, I thought my father was going to pass out. I never had the urge to cut it again."
Victoria Gotti grew up in Brooklyn as the second of two girls and three boys born to John and her mother, also named Victoria. At first, John was said to have been disappointed that the young Victoria was a girl. But all that "evaporated when he saw my black hair and green eyes. He called me his mini-Elizabeth Taylor," she wrote in a tribute to her father in the New York Daily News.
"I have very curly, thick, ethnic Italian hair," she says. To create the straight blonde look she loves, Victoria relies on Louis Licari in Manhattan and the Ambiance salon on Long Island. At home, Victoria swears by Pantene products to keep her nearly 30-inch-long mane in top shape.
"I'm a die-hard Pantene person," she says. "Their conditioner is the best product out there."
Victoria's other hair secrets include shampooing every other day ("I think it looks nicer and better on the second day"), deep conditioning once a week, and donning a satin scarf at night.
"I literally tie my hair in a knot with the satin scarf and it smoothes my hair as I sleep," she says.
As she gets older, Victoria says she doesn't believe in the old adage that women "of a certain age" should crop their hair.
"Long hair makes a woman look sophisticated," she says, "while shorter hair makes her look older. Why put yourself in the category of being an 'older woman' by cutting your hair? Perhaps it's because women don't have the patience or the time it takes to care for longer hair."
If anyone is pressed for time these days, it's Victoria. She writes a column for Star Magazine, has been named editor of Red Carpet Magazine, has written a book on women and heart disease, and finished four novels. As if that's not enough, she stars in her own reality show, Growing Up Gotti, with sons Carmine, Frank and John.
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