When is it time to quit with long hair?

[CharlottesComplicatedWeb]

So, I think I look like this...


But actually have a feeling I look more like this...

How will I know when it’s time to go for a sensible/appropriate cut for a 57yr old woman?

[Bobbi73]

A few years ago my long hair started to get all frizzy and straggley. I decided to have a graduated bob that was really short at the back and long at the front. It looked great but was such hard work, if I didn't blow dry /straighten etc. every day, it didn't look good and I couldn't just shove it into a ponytail to get it out of the way. Obviously didn't get it cut during lock down and now it is shoulder length again and I much prefer it.
My very glam MIL has a fantastic silver bob that really suits her but I can't be bothered with the faffing about. Maybe when I retire 😀

[Gilead]

61, long brown hair with grey streaks. Not cutting it, I loathe it short.

[AmICrazyorWhat2]

I don’t agree that having long hair as you get older is a “feminist act.” Surely women in the 1920’s viewed cutting their hair into those flapper bobs as a form of female emancipation, after centuries of being expected to have long hair?

Having your hair in whatever style you personally like is true feminism, isn’t it?

[Choccylips]

I remember my childhood days so many very old Grannies of friends with buns and long plaits wrapped around their heads. I don't know when the age restriction came in but I certainly wont be adhering to it. My son told me that he and his friends had been discussing in the pub why did so many old ladies cut their hair so short and make themselves look so masculine, so you see young men actually notice.

[CharlottesComplicatedWeb]

@Coffeepot72i agree. I think that my hair spends so much time “up” that I may as well have it cut but then... not really. On the occasions it’s down, I quite like that.

I’d dispute your hairdresser always knowing best. I once went with her suggestion and she thinned my hair out so much it looked like I’d been very ill and needed to have it all removed. It grew back but I then found another hairdresser.

[Coffeepot72]

@LoveBeingAMum555 - I also have an underactive thyroid, it's been that way since my 20s. I initially had some minor changes to my hair, but once the doctor got me on the right dose of thyroxine, my hair (and the rest of me) soon returned to normal.

Since the Nicola Sturgeon incident, my hair has grown quite fast, thankfully, and I can almost tie it back, and it will go into a half up/half down style quite easily. I just feel more feminine when I have a decent amount of hair. Also, there's a world of difference between having long hair tied up/back and a short cut. Even with the former, it still looks like you've got hair!

[Sweetener12]

There is no rule saying you should cut your hair off once you hit some particular age. In fact, it always depends on your face and while the haircut may look nice at the pictures of other people, it may not suit you as well as it suits others. Longish hair are easier to look after and they do not require that much of everyday attention i.e. styling, cutting, etc. But I'd make the decision with the hairdresser, because the professional can see what will be good on you almost right away. Same goes for the hair color, I remember choosing mine via re-coloring my hair in Photodiva but I still had to give this idea up when the hairdresser said the color I wanted wouldn't really suit me and it will depend on the light So go for whatever is better for you, no matter whether it's a "time to quit with long hair".

[RonaldMcDonald]

Having longer hair as we age is a feminist act - or so my hairdresser has told me 🤷🏼‍♀️

[LoveBeingAMum555]

@Coffeepot72 that made me laugh because I could have written your post myself. As soon as I was diagnosed with an under active thyroid two years ago my long hair went straggly and thin, and I chopped it into a pixie. It was still very thin though so I had to brave it flat to my head or put loads of product on it to make it look funky. My hairdresser started to edge me into a Nicola Sturgeon do which was awful. I also started to want to look more feminine.

Post lockdown I am growing it and this time I will find a style that works for me. I think it's all about getting the right style and cut that matters, whatever your age. Personally i don't think there are many styles that are automatically frumpy or mumsy, I think it depends on how it is cut, coloured and styled.

[Shelby30]

Never I will have mine forever 😂 well we will see.

[CharlottesComplicatedWeb]

@StCharlotte that’s interesting.

@thisstooshallpass... photo maybe?

[thisstooshallpass]

I had my long strawberry blonde hair chopped into a bob and highlighted 20 years ago. It got shorter and blonder until I had a very close crop. I've grown it a bit over the last 10 years but it's still very short and very blonde (white)

[StCharlotte]

I've alternated between short crops and long hair (it grows like a bastard). Last time I chopped it was my mid 40s when I realised:

(a) my group of friends and I all had a long-layered identicut; and

(b) it doesn't actually suit me anyway.

I've kept it short for the last decade. I used to wear it up a lot and liked trying different looks but there's not a single picture where I think I wish I still had that long hair...

It certainly wasn't age-related because the same thing happened when I was mid-teens. And mid-20s. And mid-30s...

[CharlottesComplicatedWeb]

@Astrabees that sounds lovely. More importantly, you’re happy with it.

[Astrabees]

For the last year prior to lockdown I'd been asking my hairdresser not to cut off too much as I wanted to grow it a bit, if it was growing it was very slowly. i think she was struggling to get the balance between the length and the fact I had a full fringe to look right.
I left all hair , including fringe totally untouched until I went back last weekend. I now have hair 3 below my shoulders, subtle highlights and a long fringe that is very soft at the front, with just a few wispy bits cut so I can see properly. hairdresser agreed with my colleagues that it does look nice a bit longer. I'm 64 and will certainly keep it like this for the forseeable future. My hair is quite thick and springy so putting it up or fastening it back doesn't really work. I have invested in a Babyliss Big Hair to try to get a good finish, working well so far.

[eaglejulesk]

If your hair is still as lovely then I don't see a problem. At the end of the day, it's your hair so have it the length you want, your age has nothing to do with it.

[CharlottesComplicatedWeb]

@eaglejulesk It’s much longer now. Bra strap. That’s the dilemma.

[KnitFastDieWarm]

My granny had waist length, snow white hair at 90. She usually wore it in in a bun but would sometimes let us grandkids brush and plait it, which was a real treat for us as six and seven year old girls 😆 Long hair or pixie cut, screw ‘appropriate’ and wear it how you like!

[eaglejulesk]

Forgot to say OP, I love your bob and you have lovely hair. Incidentally, I'm in NZ and short hair seems to be more common here, especially as people get older, but there are also a few young women with funky short cuts.

[eaglejulesk]

I do think though that long hair needs to be healthy hair whatever your age, even little girls with thin straggly long hair makes me want to take the scissors to it.

Oh yes, my fingers itch for the scissors when I see little girls with thin straggly long hair - a cut (not necessarily short) would thicken it up and it would look so much better.

[bibbitybobbitycats]

OP, your longer hair looks lovely. Mine is much scruffier!

[bibbitybobbitycats]

My hair has got a lot longer due to lockdown and I'm keeping it. I will never cut it any shorter than collar bone length again. I love putting it up in a big bun. I have some grey but not too much and I don't dye it and never will. I'm well over 50!

[frugalkitty]

After reading this thread this morning I picked up a hair mask and have deep treated my hair this evening! Mid 40s, thick shoulder length hair with a wave. I can look ok with short hair but it's such a faff, and takes an awful lot of styling to look good (and then I keep touching it). However, my hair is thick and I get really hot in the summer so I'm much happier with hair that's long enough to put up. I'd like it longer really, and can't see myself chopping it off again any time soon. I do think though that long hair needs to be healthy hair whatever your age, even little girls with thin straggly long hair makes me want to take the scissors to it.

[AmICrazyorWhat2]

@WinnieLo

I'm mystified by your assertion that short cuts are prevalent in the US...I'm 46 and live in the Eastern US. My friends range in age from early-40's to mid-50's and nearly all of them have shoulder-length or longer hair. I can only think of three people, myself included, who have short hair! I know some older ladies who've had shorter cuts, but also others with waist-length hair.

Perhaps it's more common in other areas, but not on the East Coast. And I don't know anyone who voluntarily wears beige.

[eaglejulesk]

I wouldn't say there is an age limit for long hair, but it can drag your face down - straight curtains of hair are not universally flattering. Long hair is not automatically glamorous IMO.

Exactly this! You need to have the right type of hair and face for long, or short, hair and wearing it in a way which really doesn't suit you just because you want to look like everyone else is plainly silly - especially as you don't look like others simply because you have the same hair style, it's about much more than that.