Why do most women over 55 have short hair?

[HeadFairy]

Are we not allowed to have long hair when we're older? Is there some rule that says you must have a short perm? Just seen a troop of older women coming in to the office and not one of them had hair longer than a couple of inches.

i have v. long hair and i haven't ever seen an older woman ( demi moore and famous people apart) who have nice long hair

it gets long grey - no...worse - it gets a horrid tobacco grey .

therefore after having long hair all my life when i get to 50 i have decided i am going to have a rather sharp bob.

i see stunning older ladies on the train with grey bobesq cuts

was only just pondering this the other day

there are loads of older women with the spikey hair look remnant of the 80's-such a harsh look I think

Pagwatch's theory is right though, there is a lady across the road from me who has a sleek silver inverted bob and from th back you'd assume she was youngish but from the front it is scary -definitely makes her look older

My hairdresser says hair gets coarse and wild as it gets grey. I would guess a short cut controls this better. So far my grey hair is all straight - I am hoping for a stylish silver bob in due course [in your dream emoticon]

I aspire to this

Hmmm, actually come to think about it, I am 42 and have noticed that over the past couple of years that my hair is getting more coarse and wiry. Maybe I will have my hair shorter in around 10 years. It seems quite logical to me. I don't think I can be persuaded by a blue rinse though.

yes bodycolder it would be ok ifyou could wake up and your hair was like this in my case my hair is about that length and style but i have to get it coloured very regularly so i would need to get it chopped off and it would take years to grow again i couldnt do it i dont think

i've met that model in real life (if it's the same one as body linked) and she does look absolutely fab - has great cheekbones too which probably helps

Long grey hair looks mad.
Lomg hair symbolises youth, health, fertility - on an old woman looks like you've got too many cats and will crumble to dust when the dawn arrives.

I want to look like Helen Mirren in that link.
I have always had quite short choppy hair, but it is now more like Ms Mirren. However my face does not

I thought it was for a few reasons -
post menopause, our hair length actually shortens naturally - hence long hair being a signal for fertility. The hair falls out before it gets very long - hair is quite expensive biologically - it's made from keratin, a protein, which uses a lot of energy and resources to make.

Also post and menopausal symptoms of night sweats can mean that you can really get absolutely drenched at night - so short hair is easier to wash and go. Long hair requires a lot more styling time.

Thirdly the texture of grey hair can be very different to long young hair, so it just looks wispy and straggly / frizzy long - which is not a good look.

Also, I think by the time you get to 50 plus, you want to experiment with colour and cut and have the purple hair you always wanted, but were afraid to get in case you alienated the other mummies at the school gate!

I have got too many cats so will suit me perfectly(also have the cheekbones)

I think it's the BFB effect. BFB being Better from Behind. My mum - who is absolutely nutty btw - always says that there's nothing worse than seeing a woman with lovely long hair then when she turns round, she's about 100. Having said that, I always take what my mum says with a huge dose of salt. Only advice she ever gave me EVER was "boobies or legs darling, never both". Seriously, I had to find my way in life with that advice

Bambino BFB must be the 1661 effect - 16 from behind and 61 from the front?
I think your mum's advice was pretty good actually! especially when you see the Daily Mail...

I think the latest "advice" is no longer than top of shoulders as it drags your face down.

I am 50+ and my hair is similar to Mirrens. It all depends on your features and hair texture.

Zazen, having now seen the Joan Collins fan club thread, I'm now wondering if she's my long lost aunt

I am only 42 and already my hair is longer than everyone else's my age. It's streaked thru with silver but I could never face the faff of regularly dying it. I am kind of curious how long it will take to go silver.

When you're older you can't be faffed with the maintenance of long hair, especially if you think long grey hair is completely unacceptable. I mostly wear mine up in a bunch.

Yet another ageist thread on Style and Beauty. How about the awful hairstyles seen on young women - straightened within an inch of its life, the 'Croydon facelift' for starters. Not that I am in the least bit defensive with 50 not too far ahead . For what it is worth my hair is shoulder length and dark and hasn't changed in texture or thickness AFAIK

It's because women's hair changes as they age and becomes coarser and more brittle as it greys. So it is much harder to style.

It is not ageism but a sad fact of ageing that means that short hair is more appropriate and easier to manage as women age.

I think older women (over 60) went through the war when longer hair was frowned on (Veronica Lake of the lon sweep of hair had to tie hers up as an example to working women). Long hair was dangerous in munitions factories etc. They think that short hair looked great when they were young and think it does now. I think a lot of them lose their sense of themselves as sensual/sexual creatures at that age too. The trouble is there are some evil hairdressers about. The brutalist layered haircut suits no-one. I do believe that a little length in the hair is softer and more feminine. It makes you look less male as your face hardens as you age. On QVC there is that woman (name?) Was an athlete then TV presenter-she used to have a very short very spiked dark hair cut. This made her look like a convict. She has grown it out into a layered bob style and slightly lightened and she looks fab and ten years younger. I don't think it's short hair that's the issue but it needs to be slightly longer to be feminine and soften the face. Long staight hair is dicey on older women too. Witchy. How many tmes have you looked at the back of someone and thought they were in their 20s because of hair and had to stifle a scream when they've turned round and are 93? Shoulder length, layered and softened down colour is best I think.

You can think of lots of older women with longer hair that suits them. Joanna Lumley (although the condition is awful), Dawn French, Jennifer Saunders, the singer married once to Andrew Lloyd Webber (long dark wavy hair). Two women comedians on TV can't remember names-one may be a Jenny. My hair is shoulder length and dark at 48 and I've no intention of ever going grey or short. I'd look like something from Prisoner Cell Block H. Long is always lovely just not too long.

I must be working in the wrong place. All the 50 plus women dye to within an inch of their lives, sport a mix of shoulder lenght bobs, long hair and spiky, tres chic pixie cuts - and look fab!

It's the NHS btw!

Someone mentioned earlier aabout there being nothing worse than someone with LOVELY long hair and then turning round and looking about 100. So bloody what. I can understand if the hair is in bad condition but if it is LOVELY then why oh why cut off one of your best assets just because of an old face? I really cannot understand this way of thinking. We all age and if your hair is your last best remaining asset then I say hang onto it as long as possible. If it offends someone because you look 'better from behind' then so be it - thats their problem. I hate all this hair ageism crap.

lol at hair ageism

It's the long silky bit htat drags the features down so it doesn't suit-like some styles don't suit some face shapes