Runway looks require more magic than just the right fit. It takes a collaboration of hair, makeup and accessories complete an ensemble.

Day-to-day we may not have the luxury of a styling team, but runway collections show us the power and enchantment of striving for perfection. 

It's one thing to change your dress, it's another to change your persona. If you're dressed for play, why does your hair still say 9-to-5. If you're dressed for a ball, why does your hair say weekend errands.

It's doesn't always work, but, yes, you do get credit for effort.

On the runway of Badgley Mischka and their sportier Mark and James fall 2012 collections, the hair stole the show. 

There's something about a blond with an explosive Afro that holds your attention. The hair design envisioned by Peter Gray for Moroccanoil was a massive shock of tightly coiled and teased tresses. It was one of those hair styles that seemed to defy the laws of gravity and physics.

But it was hard not to greet the runway looks with bemused smiles. However, it was perhaps too much for the the outfits they accompanied.

The collection was overdone -- too many details, too many layers and too much shine. Adding the hair was overload paired with outfits too unbalanced.

On the bright side, it gave the audience something to focus on. On the down side, it was easier to overlook the visual cacophony below it.   

On the opposite end of the specturm, Carmen Marc Valvo's hair by Ted Gibson was a wet, glittery ballerina-esque bun. Backstage, Gibson noted that the bun placement is key -- too low is aging, too high is awkward. 

He aimed for optimal placement, of course, which was a little higher than ear high. And then he "wet" the hair with half a bottle of his Fix It hair gel accented with silver sparkle. (Yep, half a bottle -- roughly eight ounces.)

The gel dries to a glossy finish and the sparkles varied from prominent on blonds to mimicking highlights on a red head and less intense but flirty on brunettes. It was a great compliment to Valvo's collection inspired by the easy sophistication of Lauren Bacall -- not distracting, not underdone, just right. 

At Marc Jacobs, the hair was clever, but the audience would never have known. It was hidden under grand furry pimpilicious hats by Stephen Jones. These were hats that only a madhatter could fully appreciate, but they were not outsized in complement to Jacobs couture line. 

His always highly-anticipated showing was full of volume gone wild. It was hard not to think of the queen's court in Alice in Wonderland. It was, perhaps, the only place those exaggerated proportions would be at home.

But once deflated to fit a modern world on this side of the looking glass, the hats and ensembles would merit envy on the person with the personality to pull them off. 

And you might think, the hair would be an afterthought, a throw-away considering that it's unseen, but, no. The Redken creative consultant, known only as Guido, who created the look, had this to say in a release:

"Fashion shows are almost always a bit like a dream, and at Marc Jacobs today we're certainly creating a character. She's a little Tim Burton-esque, innocently dark. Since all the models are wearing these amazing, huge hats ... we needed a style that fit the character and complimented the hats. We also created a 'veil' of hair lightly covering the front of the models' face, so it moves with them as they walk down the runway."

Take a look at the entire Marc Jacobs collection.  

And if you just more, watch the Marc by Marc Jacobs runway presentation here.

Finally, the hair at Diesel was another worthy of merit for glamming up a ponytail with a tomboy in the spotlight composition.