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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To think women can look stunning with short hair?

189 replies

malificent7 · 06/09/2020 21:33

Was watching Cliffhanger last night and the heroine had short haor and was just stunning. Likewise Demi Moore and Princess Di suit the look.
I do like my long hair and dont have the guts for a pixie cut as I have slight jowls. Following on from my. " all the girls now have big eyebrows" thread, I'm now observing that hardly any young girls have short hair! This has been done before and I'm prob just jealous of the long locks....but what was once a cool statement is no longer a thing. Why?

OP posts:
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11
Jennygentle · 06/09/2020 21:38

It’s just fashion. I had short hair when young, slim and cheekbone-y and I looked fabulous Grin. That was late 80s.
Longer hair is much more forgiving and versatile, generally speaking, so I’m not surprised it’s more popular.

MrsFezziwig · 06/09/2020 21:41

YANBU (but I have short hair so obviously I would say that, wouldn’t I?).

Londonborncatty · 06/09/2020 21:42

Absolutely love short hair but you have to have the right face!

SweetPetrichor · 06/09/2020 21:43

I’m in favour off short hair on women...I shaved mine to buzz cut length a year ago and haven’t looked back. I think it shows confidence. For me, it was purely cause I hated dealing with hair and going to the hairdresser...I just shave it once a week myself now and that’s it. Too short to even need a brush or products!

MrsFezziwig · 06/09/2020 21:46

Given the current climate, though, although I’m not a fan of anything longer than shoulder length hair on middle aged women, I have to say that short hair is completely unsuited to a global pandemic (especially short hair which is layered and coloured). The day the hairdressers reopened, I was there faster than a rat up a drainpipe.

NiceGerbil · 06/09/2020 21:47

Of course they can! I mean. Just obviously.

Although apparently 1 in 3 reading this thread think it's impossible for any woman or girl in the world to look stunning/ beautiful etc with short hair. Which is mad. There are however many billion of us on the planet. In some areas short hair on women is the norm. There have been supermodels with shaved heads...

Anordinarymum · 06/09/2020 21:49

Short hair is very unforgiving unless you look like Kris Kardashian and that costs loads :)

whiteroseredrose · 06/09/2020 21:49

A woman with a dainty slim face can look great with a pixie cut.

Short hair with volume can also look great.

But often it is not flattering even on very pretty women (thinking Penny from Big Bang Theory and Lucy from Not Going Out).

I had a short cut in the 1980s and looked like a bloke. I over compensated with make up until it grew out.

JustCallMeGriffin · 06/09/2020 21:51

YANBU but maintaining short hair is a pain in the arse. I had short hair in my early 20s and if it wasn't carefully maintained and styled I resembled a hedge dweller!

I'd love to go short again and DD1 one is itching to try it but I just can't afford the regular haircuts that come with it sadly.

whiteroseredrose · 06/09/2020 21:52

Sweetpetrichor surely long hair is easier. You shave every week. I used to have my hair cut once or twice a year.

SnugglySnerd · 06/09/2020 21:54

I used to have short hair and I loved it but it needed washing and styling daily and a haircut every 6 weeks. When I had children I no longer had the time or the money for that level of maintenance so I've grown it out. At least I can just tie it up if I'm in a rush in the morning. Over lockdown it has reached boob-length and I love it!

Echobelly · 06/09/2020 21:56

Of course they can. I'm not stunning but I wore cropped hair for most of my life between the ages of 9-35 and it suited me. Right now (early 40s) I have long hair for the first time in my life, as I think cropped would look a bit severe, but the time will come for it again. I'm probably one of the few women in the world whose husband would prefer her to cut her hair short (it was cropped when we first met and for the first 10 years of our relationship) but he knows that's my choice.

DD chose to crop her hair aged 8 as well and it really suits her - she had asked when she was younger but I actually hesitated as, while I loved having short hair, it does put a lot on you and I wanted to be sure it was really her choice and not her wanting to copy me in some way. You have to cope with a lot of nonsense about how people see you, being mistaken for a boy constantly (not for much longer in her case, as she is already developing a more womanly shape than I ever had).

I'm sure short hair for girls was, from, say late 60s to 80s seen as smart and sensible (and presumably saving mums time on grooming) but somewhere in the 90s everything became about super long 'princess' hair for little girls and it is exceptionally rare to see short hair on girls under about 14. In fact women under 40 it is definitely rarer, though it was never that common even in 'my time'.

Supersimkin2 · 06/09/2020 21:58

It looks better the better-looking you are; trouble is, you have to be pretty good to start with. And not very tall or flat chested, really.

Bluntness100 · 06/09/2020 21:58

Well of course they can. They can also look stunning with long hair and mid length hair and everything in between.

What an odd post.

NiceGerbil · 06/09/2020 21:59

I'm really interested to hear from some of the voters who think it is impossible for any woman ever to look really good with short hair!

Stannisbaratheonsboxofmatches · 06/09/2020 22:00

Yes I think it looks lovely!

It does take maintenance though, with regular haircuts. Fine for men as their haircuts are cheaper but a women’s haircut every 6 weeks adds up!

It is all just fashion though I guess.

WinWinnieTheWay · 06/09/2020 22:01

In my opinion all men suit short hair better than two curtains hanging either side of their face. Is the same true for women, but we are conditioned to view long hair (no matter how unflattering) as feminine?

Toontown · 06/09/2020 22:02

I love having short hair, but then I don't mind if I don't look sterotypically female.

Tunnocks34 · 06/09/2020 22:02

Yep. I have waist length hair, and I’ve been looking at Bob pictures of Lucy Hale all night tempting myself to take the plunge. I know I won’t as my hair is extremity curly and frizzy and wouldn’t start nice in a short style.

Ninkanink · 06/09/2020 22:03

Of course they can.

LoriesGar · 06/09/2020 22:04

There’s lots of women who look absolutely stunning with short hair, and there’s lots of women who look awful. It can be difficult to find the right cut - long or short - that suits you. I don’t agree with women being to cut their hair short at a certain age - age shouldn’t define your haircut!

Bluntness100 · 06/09/2020 22:05

In my opinion all men suit short hair better than two curtains hanging either side of their face

Nonsense,, I give you viggo mortenson,,,

To think women can look stunning with short hair?
Pluckedpencil · 06/09/2020 22:06

Excellent observation @supersimkin. It's like slim people and nakedness. Short hair is like being naked; nowhere to hide, so if you're pretty, it really accentuates it. I'm looking at you in envy, Naga Munchetty.

FinnyStory · 06/09/2020 22:07

@whiteroseredrose

A woman with a dainty slim face can look great with a pixie cut.

Short hair with volume can also look great.

But often it is not flattering even on very pretty women (thinking Penny from Big Bang Theory and Lucy from Not Going Out).

I had a short cut in the 1980s and looked like a bloke. I over compensated with make up until it grew out.

Penny was lovely with short hair?
PenCreed · 06/09/2020 22:07

I’ve had a pixie cut for the last decade, albeit one softened by a fringe. I loved it and am only growing it out because I had to go 6 months without a haircut. Currently I have a very short bob, which is a pain in the arse because my hair is curly and very thick so it needs more daily maintenance than my pixie did. I’d forgotten that! I love properly short hair, although I’ve noticed a lot of hairdressers are a bit scared of it. Long hair is definitely their comfort zone.