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Style and beauty

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Original poster

How old is too old for long hair?

48 replies

DizzieSiddal · 22/07/2012 10:36

....or do those 'rules' not apply anymore?! I'm 40 later this year and my hair is just past shoulder length, and I rather fancy going the whole hog and growing it to my waist. I always used to have loooong hair but motherhood/lack of time meant that for the past 15ish years variations on a bob have been the order of the day. Now I've got more me time and am having a bit of a mid life crisis I think I'd quite like to be all flowy and billowy again. But should I fear the dreaded spaniel ears/gravity highlighting effects of long hair?

OP posts:

ChunkyPickle · 22/07/2012 10:44

I reckon that age doesn't matter, but the hair does.

If it's tatty and straggely at the ends it'll look bad long (or longer) whatever your age, if it's a mane of beautifully kept hair it doesn't matter at all.

FWIW my ex-MIL (well, ex-Dp's mum, but you know what I mean) had beautiful long silver hair that was normally in a plait, but looked amazing when down, and my current MIL also had gorgeous thick, long hair which she finally decided to cut because she'd had a lifetime of washing and drying it and wanted a break. It looked beautiful long, it looks lovely short - I really don't think those rules apply.

PuppyMonkey · 22/07/2012 10:45

If it suits you long, have it long. If it suits you short, have it short. Them's the only rules.

AlpinePony · 22/07/2012 10:47

I agree it's about the condition. Remember that model who's in her 80's (does she model for M&S?). She has a beautiful thick white mane. Otoh my 45 yo friend has horrible split-ended rat's tails down to her waist.

My hair is thin and fine and didn't look nice long when I was 15!

trixymalixy · 22/07/2012 11:58

I am hoping to be one of those sprightly ladies in their 80s with long silver hair done up in intricate up dos. Will need to get practising as I can't do intricate up dos at the moment!!

MrsSeanBean · 22/07/2012 13:31

I think 'up-dos' look especially lovely on older ladies. For 'up-dos', you need long(er) hair. :)

maytheoddsbeeverinyourfavour · 22/07/2012 13:37

I agree it's not about age

My grandmother is 95 and has long silver hair, it is gorgeous, she always looks well turned out unlike me

noddyholder · 22/07/2012 13:41

I am nearly 47 and have long hair. It isn't grey at all and is still thick and shiny. I am never cutting and hope to be like that model Cindy Joseph who is 60 and still has long wavy grey hair. I think it looks beautiful if you look after it. My mum is of the everyone over 35 should cut their hair like natasha kaplinski which I hate but she is always telling me and my sister that long hair is for teenagers her

wonkylegs · 22/07/2012 13:46

Agree its all about condition of the hair. If it's in good condition and it suits you go for it. I'm hoping mine will remain as it is as I am not a big fan of short hair but if mine starts looking straggly it'll be off.

jazzchickens · 22/07/2012 13:47

I am 50 and my hair is just past my shoulders. I do go to the hairdressers every 5 weeks for a colour and trim though - so it's never going to get to my waist.

I think the cut is important. Long hair with layers - particularly framing the face - is much more flattering than hair that is all one length.

noddyholder · 22/07/2012 13:47

About every 3 months I put it in a high ponytail and cut about 2 inches of ends off to stop the straggly look.

MrsSeanBean · 22/07/2012 13:58

noddyholder - do you always cut your own hair like that?

Do you find the high ponytail gives a slight layered effect? Would love to be 'self sufficient' with hair trims, but I'm worried about getting it disastrously wrong!

solidgoldbrass · 22/07/2012 14:01

I'm 47 with long hair, I decided to let it grow again when I was 44 after about 7 years of having it short (and mostly cutting it myself even then). Mine is quite nice, I whack off the ends when they get too straggly, and though I sometimes find it a bit of a nuisance (eg in very hot weather, or when DS brings home fucking nits and gives them to me again) I certainly wouldn't cut it off because of what a load of mundanes said about what women should do with their appearance.

Thumbwitch · 22/07/2012 14:04

Dead is too old for long hair and that's it.

Can't be doing with the whole concept of age-related hair-dos - wear it how you like and how it suits you.

Years and years ago, older women had their hair long forever - only the young ones had it cut short - it's just another fashion "thing".

dexter73 · 22/07/2012 14:21

'Dead is too old for long hair'

Brilliant !!

Jux · 22/07/2012 14:34

When I was young there was a woman in our choir who had her hair in a long ponytail down nearly to her waist. She was between 50 and 60. Her hair was grey, straggly and dry. Her daughters both had long beautiful hair, so I assumed she herself had had lovely hair when young and hadn't updated her self-image. I too had long beautiful hair, but I vowed that I would never turn into 'an old lady who still thought she had lovely hair' and arbitrarily picked an age at which it would be cut off - 30.

Two weeks before my 30th, therefore saw me in a posh salon in Knightsbridge with my waist-length hair arguing with everyone in there that no, I didn't want it cut in phases, yes, I was sure, yes I wanted it all off NOW. Eventually they did it. I have never looked back, and realized immediately it was gone how much I had hated it!

20-odd years on, I still have short hair, and still love it. What's more, I still have no grey (not that that's a consequence, of course, but it might still have looked nice long- but I don't care.)

Are you sure you want it long?

noddyholder · 22/07/2012 15:40

Yes I always do. Haven't been to hairdressers since ds was born and he is 18! Mine has a few shorter layers at the front but is wavy and looks v like the photo of the woman I linked apart from colour.If you twist the ponytail the straggly ends become obvious

Drippingwithdiamonds · 22/07/2012 15:42

It's not an age thing, but more to do with face shape, height, condition of hair.

Waist length hair looks, IMO, silly on anyone who's short to medium- from the back their body is " half hair". IYSWIM.

Also, it takes a huge effort to keep hair that length in great condition without getting split ends.

Personally- and this is just me- I can't see the attractiveness of hair any longer than shoulder length- or down to back bra fastening at the most.

If it's really long, either it has a curtain-effect on your face, or it's pushed over the shoulders, making it look shoulder length anyway.

If you have nice hair that's great- but there is no benefit in having it a foot longer IMHO. It tends to look quite childlike and not flattering in any way- again, only IMO.

noddyholder · 22/07/2012 15:43

I don't agree I find short hair very harsh unless you are exceptionally pretty. I look terrible even with shoulder length mine is to my bra strap. Its not child like though I hope

Thumbwitch · 22/07/2012 15:49

Noddy, I agree with you - my MIL had her hair cut very short for several years, and it didn't suit her at all. In the last couple of years, she's taken to having it a bit longer and it looks so much better on her! It's still only chin length, but much better than the (almost) short back and sides she used to have.

Solo · 22/07/2012 15:56

I had a friend that had long, bottle blond hair; she was late 40's. She was wolf whistled at from behind and when the young men that had done this went past her in their XR3i, they kinda said 'ugh!' Well, within a week, her hair was short and she went grey naturally.
Sorry, I was just reminded of my own thoughts after my friends experience: Long hair isn't always good on an older woman. That said, I think it depends on your face, how well you've aged and whether your personality can carry it off.
I'm a bit because my hair doesn't grow long anymore.

GnocchiNineDoors · 22/07/2012 15:57

As long as it looks in good condition and you feel happy with it, then whatever age the wearer wants it is fine by me.

Original poster

DizzieSiddal · 22/07/2012 16:01

Noddyholder and MrsSeanBean, I cut my own hair... A hairdresser friend of mine showed me how years ago and (apart from for a few years in my mid-20s when I had a sharp, Louise Brookes bob) I've always done it myself. If you Google/look on YouTube for 'Feye's method' - that's the technique I use, pretty much. S'easy :)
Jux, you know, I really think I do want it long - every time I cut it I mourn the lost inches. And if I hate it, I can always do what you did :)
Oh I would LOVE to be one of those old ladies with the flowing silver locks one day - I've been entirely grey since I was about 30 but dyed it (used to be mid-brown, but it's been light auburn for a while now). Last year I set myself a challenge of laying off the dye and growing in the grey - I lasted 10 months before I caved. The silver was lovely - so silky and shimmery. But the dyed ends went nasty orangey brown and I looked so much older. I'm going to do it for real in about 10 years - until then, I'm staying ginger, but I've kept a wide flash of silver which looks lovely.

OP posts:

SilkStalkings · 22/07/2012 16:02

It's nothing to do with age, it's all about style. If you are just going to stick it in a ponytail or leave it all one length then chances are the rest of your style will be equally slapdash or stuck in a rut. If you are going to have a vintage pin-up fringe and wear a bit of make up, nice shoes, and never wear fleece then I say yes, go for it at any age.

Original poster

DizzieSiddal · 22/07/2012 16:07

Oh and yes, what is with that Natasha Kaplinsky hair for 'women of a certain age'?! Especially when it has those little highlighty bits on the end... My ex MiL had that. The mobile hairdresser would to to her house once a month to do her 'tips'.... Niiice

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Original poster

DizzieSiddal · 22/07/2012 16:08

go to, even :)

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