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Judith Weldon's transformation began four years before she ever noticed the ad for the Indianapolis Woman Dream Makeover contest, with a poem her sister sent her called "The Purple Hat."

The poem described a woman who looks in a mirror and sees herself at the different stages of her life. "At the end of the poem, she dons a purple hat and it is kind of a ritual to say that she's free to be herself," Weldon recalls.

The poem made Weldon realize she had forgotten what that was like - to simply be herself. Though she loved her job as a clinical study assistant at the Indiana University School of Dentistry's Oral Health Research Institute, there were other activities she had lost track of through the years. "I had been so tied up being a daughter and a wife and mother and employee. I just forgot about the dreams I had as a young woman," she says.

So at the age of 58, Weldon began putting pen to paper. By her 60th birthday, her first novella, coauthored with her daughter Cheryl Bennett and titled Auria's Guardian, was published and listed for sale on all the top online booksellers, including Amazon.

One of those dreams was to be a writer, Weldon says.

"To write the book made me feel so good inside," Weldon says. "I felt younger than I did when I was in my 30s."

When she looked in the mirror, however, Weldon didn't appear the way she felt. The bags under her eyes, the lines at the corners of her mouth and her sagging jaw line all made her look old and tired, she says. And a small space between her teeth that she could not afford to have corrected made her self-conscious about her smile.

When she picked up a copy of Indianapolis Woman one Friday night and saw the ad for the Dream Makeover contest, she immediately knew she wanted to enter. She enlisted her daughter's help to e-mail a photo of herself along with her contest entry. "I thought the odds were against me, but I just decided to go for it," Weldon says.

In the essay accompanying her entry, she explained her reasons for wanting a makeover. "You can call me a late bloomer because my mind and heart are younger today than 30 years ago. But I have to look hard for that young girl when I gaze in the mirror," Weldon wrote. "I want to look as good on the outside as I feel on the inside."

Upon learning she was a semifinalist in the contest, she immediately told her friends, family and coworkers. "Everyone was very excited for me. I had a lot of hope when I left that day that I would be chosen."

That excitement only grew when Weldon discovered she was a finalist. She formulated a strategy for the final round. "I decided that I was not going to burden myself with winning a contest," Weldon says. "I was just going to do the best I could on my speech."

For good measure, she also donned a purple hat. It was a symbol that she had become the woman in the poem, Weldon says. Win or lose, she was free to be herself.

Weldon won, and her husband, Calvin, credited the hat. "He said 'I knew you were going to win because you wore your purple hat,'" Weldon recalls with a laugh. As Weldon's chauffeur to all the many appointments necessary to complete the makeover, Calvin now jokes that he is going to dye his hair just to keep up with her.

Over several months, Weldon underwent cosmetic surgery, cosmetic dental work, a wardrobe overhaul and a hair and makeup makeover courtesy of Indianapolis Woman's Dream Team, a group of local professionals who had agreed to donate their services for the Dream Makeover contest. She also received consultations with a nutritionist, a membership to the fitness facility Curves and a yearlong membership and daytrip from Ambassadair Travel Club.

Judith Weldon reacts to the
news that she has won
the Dream Makeover contest

She considers the hair and makeup sessions at Blades Hair Design Studio a highlight of her experience. "I love the girls at Blades," Weldon says. "They are the best. I've had more bad hair days than good hair days, but not anymore."

Shopping for a new wardrobe at Parisian was also exciting. "Have you ever gone into an exclusive store and tried on clothes and never looked at a price tag?" Weldon asks. "I never had, and it was wonderful. The clothes are just great. My daughter says I look like I am 35."

Since undergoing cosmetic surgery, Weldon has lost 20 pounds. She'll begin a workout routine at Curves; in the meantime, she has started walking on a treadmill at home for 30 minutes a day.

Weldon hasn't decided where she will go on her daytrip, but she knows how good she will look. "I don't look like a movie star, I look like me," she says. "I look 20 years younger and the transformation is just beginning.

"The makeover has been one of the most positive experiences of my life," she says. "Because of it I gained the courage to retire on Aug. 1. I loved my job and the people I worked with, but I know it is time for me to concentrate on my writing and do other things."

Weldon has not yet found the right words to thank the Dream Team members. "I don't know how you tell these people how grateful you are. I feel an obligation to them. They did their best for me and now I have to do my part too," she says.

A Team Effort
The professionals behind our Dream Team

Last December, a consummate group of professionals came together to form what Indianapolis Woman called the Dream Team. Its mission was to offer one lucky reader the Dream Makeover of her life. Each member of the team agreed to provide his or her services free of charge to the winner.

The magazine received more than 700 entries and over a period of months, the contestants were judged through a series of steps. Twenty-five semifinalists were invited to a daylong session on April 29, where they met most of the members of the Dream Team. The makeover process was explained to them, including the time commitment required and an overview of the medical and aesthetic procedures, recovery time and health issues. Each contestant was examined by cosmetic dentist Dr. George E. Kirtley and cosmetic surgeon Dr. Janet K. Turkle of Turkle & Associates.

Kirtley and Turkle chose eight finalists, who then underwent lab work and a health screening by Dr. Erin Snyder. All of the women successfully passed that step and were invited to the finalists' luncheon on May 7.

Each woman made a two-minute presentation to the Indianapolis Woman panel of celebrity judges. WIBC radio personality Terri Stacey, WTHR-13 news anchor Anne Marie Tiernon and modeling and talent agency owner Helen Wells cast their votes and selected Judith Weldon as the winner.

Cosmetic Surgery

Facial, breast and body cosmetic surgeon Dr. Janet K. Turkle of Turkle & Associates performed extensive facial cosmetic surgery on Weldon. When they met, Weldon told Turkle she did not like the way her eyes and jaw line looked. She also thought her chin needed help.

"Judith told me she was ready to retire and start a new life. She complained that she looked tired and sad all the time. She wanted less fat under her jaw and the bags under her eyes removed. She said she didn't think she looked the way she felt," Turkle says. "That's a common feeling among those who seek cosmetic surgery."

To help Weldon achieve her goals, Turkle opened up Weldon's eyes with a brow lift. She also performed an upper and lower blepharoplasty, or eyelid surgery, to remove the extra skin and fatty tissue around Weldon's eyes, and a facelift to tighten up the muscles in the neck and take away the laxity in her jowl area.

"Judith has a very high forehead so we didn't want to elevate her hairline. That makes it difficult to hide her scar in her hairline," Turkle says. "Because of that we used an incision that involves cutting away some of the forehead skin. That approach tends to heal pretty well."

Weldon spent the night at the Women's Physician's Surgery Center after her surgery on May 16 before going home. Turkle says she looked good at her first post-operation visit, noting that it takes patients several months to fully heal. During that time, she says, "There is still some swelling. There will be a gradual relaxation of the tissues... scars will continue to lighten and fade." By the end of three months, the patient looks a lot different, she adds. Turkle says the surgery represents a nice new beginning for Weldon. "She was ready to embark in new directions," she says.

Dentistry

Accredited cosmetic dentist Dr. George E. Kirtley, DDS, gave Weldon a new smile. Her initial consultation involved a comprehensive evaluation, which included taking photographs of her teeth, smile and face. "Judith had practiced good dental care but her existing dental work was defective and her teeth worn and discolored," Kirtley says. "She also had an excessive display of gum tissue and existing spaces between her teeth which she wanted to have closed."

Following the initial evaluation, Kirtley had Weldon return for a second appointment to review the photos as well as a computer- generated image of her future smile for her approval. "Proper smile design requires the consideration of the patient's entire face," he says. "In other words, teeth that fit the patient.

"Color change is the easiest thing to accomplish," Kirtley continues. "It is designing the shape and characterization of the veneers or restorations and surrounding gum tissue that gives us a smile that is in harmony with the patient's face - a smile that is specific to them. This provides the ultimate aesthetic result. The computer-generated image allowed Judith to preview the changes we proposed."

Weldon returned for subsequent appointments to contour her gum tissue and to prepare her teeth for restoration. "We elevated her gum tissue to create more length on her teeth to better improve the length and width proportions," Kirtley says. "We then prepared her teeth for her veneers by removing a limited amount of tooth structure from the front of her teeth. The goal is always to be as minimally invasive as we can be, and the use of porcelain laminate veneers allows this to be possible."

Kirtley designed temporary restorations that allowed Weldon to function and to look great while the permanent porcelain veneers were being fabricated at a laboratory. During her final appointment about two weeks later, Weldon's temporaries were removed and the new veneers and bridgework placed. The result? A gorgeous and natural smile specifically designed to fit Weldon!

Nutrition

Bonnie Terrell Ross, MS, RD, CD, of Designs for Health of Indiana met with Weldon twice for one-on-one nutrition sessions. Ross says the initial consultation involved obtaining a health history and discussing food intolerances and preferences, medications and dietary management. Weldon expressed a desire to lose weight. "We talked about her short-term goal of weight loss but also preventative health. ... I stressed the value of fiber, fruit and vegetables," Ross says.

After the initial consultation, Ross prepared a 22-page personalized nutrition plan for Weldon that involves evenly spreading out starches, fruits, vegetables, fats and protein throughout the day. She suggested Weldon eat three small meals per day, plus two to three small snacks. "I want her to have regular meals and snacks and to divide her calories and nutrition," Ross says. "She should not go long stretches without eating."

Ross recommended daily exercise to help Weldon increase her metabolism. She suggested that Weldon walk briskly for 30 minutes each day, avoid processed and high-sugar foods and prepare fresh foods from scratch.

"It's all about Judith's long-term health," Ross says. "There is tremendous value in the use of fiber, fruits, vegetables and healthy fats to cancer prevention and cardiovascular health."

Fitness

Weldon also won a one-year membership from Curves, an all-female fitness and workout facility with several Indianapolis-area locations owned by Sue Hargett. The Curves program involves a 30-minute workout three times a week that includes warm-ups, aerobic exercise, strength training, cool-down exercises and stretching. Weldon's membership allows her to undertake a fitness program that is fun and doable.

Wardrobe

Parisian Circle Centre outfitted Weldon with a new wardrobe that includes career, weekend and formal wear. Lora Guernsey worked with Weldon to select the wardrobe. "I didn't want her to look drab so we avoided dark browns," Guernsey says. "For her evening outfit, we chose a black scarf/poncho over a black camisole and a layered chiffon pant. We combined that with a vintage brooch on a chain."

Weldon's work outfit is a caramel-colored two-piece suit with a fitted waist blazer and an animal-print top for fun. "This will take her from fall to spring," Guernsey says.

For her casual outfit, Weldon and Guernsey chose a classic denim jacket, rust-colored pants and a vintage-look screen-printed T-shirt adorned with lace and beads. "She said that is not something she would ever buy but she loves it," Guernsey says.

Hairstyling

Like many women in their 60s and beyond, Weldon has very thin, fine hair, making hair extensions a natural solution.

Becky Smith, a certified Great Lengths hair technician at Blades Hair Design Studio, put in extra-fine extensions on the top, sides and crown of Weldon's head. "Because she has extremely fine hair, we had to use very fine extensions in order to be able to anchor them to her existing hair," Smith explains. Made of 100 percent human hair, the extensions can be colored, cut and permed just like Weldon's natural hair.

Despite never before having considered hair extensions, Weldon loves the look. "She just radiates and has a permanent smile on her face," Smith says.

Weldon's hair was restyled, cut and colored by hair designer and color specialist Missy Cardenas of Blades. "The back of Judith's hair is very curly, but the top is bone-straight so we had two different hair textures to work with," she says.

Cardenas colored Weldon's hair to take away the gray and give her natural color a lift. She used Matrix's all-over color with ash and dark blondes, then applied caramel blonde and ash blonde highlights and lowlights.

She then cut Weldon's hair by taking length off the bottom, stack-cutting the perimeter to create volume and cutting the interior with lots of layers. She used chipping shears to create fullness and textured the ends to soften the style.

Cardenas used Aquage Uplighting Foam and Hot Volume Foam with a medium round brush to add more fullness. She finished the look with Aquage Spray Shine.

Weldon is thrilled with her new hairstyle. "She said she has never looked this pretty in her 62 years," Cardenas says.

Makeup

Licensed aesthetician and makeup artist Angela Barber of Blades did Weldon's makeup. "First I shaped her eyebrows to give her more expression. Then I tinted her brows with a medium brown that is one-and-one-half shades darker than her hair," Barber says. Because Weldon's scars from surgery have not yet completely faded, Barber used an ivory concealer on her forehead, around her ears and under her chin.

Barber applied Tracco SPF-8 See Thru Tinted Moisturizing Foundation. "I used a Medium Duo Foundation Powder to set the foundation and concealer and then applied Ombre Tiro Heat Afterglow Blush."

For Weldon's eyes, Barber chose a reflective eye color NIN/PALE and then used matte colors ficelle and stone for contouring. She used espresso eyeliner and moon shade to smudge the lines. On Weldon's eyebrows she used a bit of color and a brow shaper.

Barber applied black eyelashes called Scanties to Weldon's eyelids and then curled them and applied Grand Kiss Me mascara. On Weldon's lips, Barber used a rosewood pencil to line and fill and then applied Honesty Crème lip color and a clear gloss.

Travel

Ambassadair donated a one-year membership and daytrip for two to the location of Weldon's choice. She has not yet chosen her trip but is looking forward to going someplace she has never been for fun and relaxation.