Lori Ustico Never Gives Up

By Ruth Melville

It is a cliché to say that someone “lives her life for others,” but in the case of Canaan resident Lori Ustico, it is the simple truth.

Ustico owns Dignity with Style, a salon on Railroad Street in Canaan that specializes in providing wigs and accessories for women suffering from hair loss. Over the past twenty years, she has helped women feel better about themselves, whether they are suffering natural hair loss or undergoing medical treatment.

In June 1980 Ustico opened a hairdressing salon called Studio II in a small building on Railroad Street. One of her customers was undergoing chemotherapy and came by the salon one day to show Ustico her new wig. Although she politely complimented the woman, Ustico thought to herself that it was in fact a terrible wig—much darker and longer than the woman’s normal hair. Ustico wondered, “What could I do to help?”

Ustico had recently been diagnosed with fibromyalgia and was looking for something to do besides hairdressing that wouldn’t require her to spend so many hours on her feet. In New York City she trained with a woman from Milan, Italy, who taught her how to suggest a style, color and cut of a wig to compliment a woman’s features. Ustico opened Dignity with Style in 1996, on the second floor of her building, above the hair salon.

In redoing the space upstairs, which had originally been a boutique, Ustico worked to make it warm and welcoming. Decorated with lamps and comfortable couches, the studio is like a friend’s living room. Ustico wants her customer to feel at ease, and each client gets as much time as she needs to make her choices.

Ustico’s passion is to help “women feel good about themselves.” She works with each person to come up with a stylish, individual look. She carries a large variety of wigs and hairpieces in many colors and styles, and also provides a range of hats and turbans.

She went on to receive additional training, in Atlanta, Georgia, so that she could add breast prostheses and surgical bras to her services. Ustico is BOC (Board of Certification) and ABC (American Board for Certification) certified, and Dignity with Style is an accredited facility. She is also a provider for several insurance companies.

Although some people have said to her that they think what she does is depressing, she strongly disagrees. “My customers do me a favor. When they look happy, I’m happy.” She adds, “People who have trouble are tremendous to be around. They make you feel humble.” Ustico is particular about the products she carries and will only work with suppliers who share her high standards. Her bras and camisoles are designed to be attractive, not just medical, and come in pretty colors and lace.

But there is more to Lori Ustico’s story. In January 1999 her life took a devastating turn when her car slid on a patch of ice on Route 272 near Dennis Hill State Park and crashed into a tree. Fortuitously, another driver on the road alerted the emergency services, and Life Flight got her quickly to Hartford Hospital. After being in a coma for three weeks, Ustico had to relearn how to walk and talk. She lost the sight in one eye, the hearing in one ear and feeling in her face. After her release from the hospital, she spent a year and a half as an outpatient at Geer rehab.

By sheer force of will, she worked to recover from her injuries. She remembers overhearing medical professionals doubting her ability to recover, which only fueled her resolve to prove them wrong. “If I’d listened to what people said, I’d be sitting in Geer,” she says. She credits her memory of her mother’s strength, and her faith in God, with giving her the courage to keep fighting back.

“Everyone said, you’ll never do this, you’ll never do that, but I knew I would walk and talk and help people again.” After seven or eight months, little by little, she was able to get back to work.

Having cared for four family members who died of cancer, plus having worked as a nurses’ aide at Geer for several years, Ustico realized early in life, “I’m happiest when someone needs me.” Now, over fifteen years after the accident, Ustico is ready to take on a new challenge. She’s hoping to start a support group for people suffering from brain trauma, whether caused by stroke or injury. She’s spoken with Rev. Iain Highet of the Saint Joseph Church in Canaan and the Immaculate Conception Church in Norfolk about holding meetings at Saint Joseph’s or the church’s Bitterman Center.

Ustico says that if she were asked whether her glass is half-full or half-empty, she would reply, “My glass is overflowing. I’m here to help patients and their families learn ways of coping that might work for them, or at least make things easier. And most important, to tell them to never give up hope!”

Photo by Bruce Frisch.