Another hair question: How old is too old for long hair?

[jaysonsmom]

In YOUR opinion, at what age should a woman give up her long locks? 40, 50, 60?

Preface: I hate getting my hair done, and making small talk at salons, I picture myself turning gray and leaving my hair as is, like these lovely pics I found...does this look okay?

 

[Scarlett1]

I think long grey hair is fabulous But that woman's hair turned a beautiful silver near white grey which is beautiful, but some greys mightn't be as nice iykwim

 

[movie zombie]

I am 65 with long hair.
I have no intentions of having one of those short old woman hairstyles.
long hair is low maintenance and I think very attractive on older women.
it helps that I live in an area where i'm not alone in that idea and I see other women even older than myself keeping it long.
additionally, I love it when a young 30 year old comes up and tells me they love my hair.
those pictures are further motivation to keep my hair long!
I hope it motivates you to let yours grow!
those are very attractive women with great hair!

 

[Aoife]

I think it all depends on the hair, as well as how it's going grey. There are usually some transitional stages, and some of those can look either drab or unexpected. Before it turned a lovely silvery white, my mother's hair went from dark blonde, to dishwater, to an odd, yellowish grey, to spun silver. My MIL, who was originally a strawberry blonde, went through a cute pale pink stage before turning an amazing pure white. As you can see in the photo you posted, with long hair, all those color stages may stay visible, so the hair at the roots has gone white, but the ends might be a less attractive color--or pale pink, like my MIL!

 

[JewelFreak]

You'd still have to go to salons. Gray hair needs attention to be an attractive gray & has to look very healthy. If it's dry-ish, ends uneven or split, yucky. When we're younger we can get away with a no-particular-shape long hairdo, but I think with gray, it needs to have some trimming & shaping. Easy to look a little hag-like if it's not glowing with the care it gets. Look at the woman in your pic -- her hair has obviously been given much TLC.

I always wanted to be an old lady with a bun, like my grandmother had. She looked wonderful, especially after her hair turned all white, even at 100 years old. Too much trouble to dry mine without its natural frizz, so I cut it in my 30s.

--- Laurie

 

[AGBF]

I always wanted to be an old lady with a bun, like my grandmother had. She looked wonderful, especially after her hair turned all white, even at 100 years old. Too much trouble to dry mine without its natural frizz, so I cut it in my 30s.

My grandmother, who lived into her 90's, always had long hair as well. I remember her telling me that a woman's hair was her crowning glory. She used to let it down and brush it at night, which I used to love to watch as a child. During the day she wore it up, all around her head, tucked into a band. It looked like a wreath of hair. It was a very proper, elegant hairdo for a woman of her years.

Deb

 

[monarch64]

I've always had long hair and don't plan to cut it at any certain age. My mom is 70 and her hair is a gorgeous mix of white and steel gray, and it's shoulder-length now but she's had it longer. She keeps it in a loose updo most of the time, though.

I mean, what are you supposed to do? Cut your hair when you're 50 and start getting perms or "sets" every week?

I loved you, Estelle, but this hair ain't for me:

 

[jaysonsmom]

I posed this question because my mom has been harassing me about my long hair a lot lately, especially since I turned 40 a few months ago. I think that is when she started wearing the grandma perm.....I always show her pictures of demi Moore or Jane Seymour to show her women these days do not conform to what her generation did.

 

[monarch64]

I think 40 is WAY too young to have to cut your hair! I am only 36...age 40 seems so far away still, but I guess it's closer than I think. I just can't see myself making such a drastic change 4 years from now, and for what? To appease society? To look more like a "mom?"

And don't tell Dancing Fire, but I'll probably still wear shorts and bikinis after I'm 40, too! OMG!

 

[momhappy]

Lots of women give up long hair somewhere along the way. I found that many of my "mom" friends gave up their long hair for more sensible, practical, easy-to-care for hair. I am in my 40's (and a mom of young kids) and I refuse to give up my long hair. Never say never, but I can't imagine a time (or an age) when I think it's appropriate to cut all my hair off. I think that as long as hair is healthy and looks good, then there is no age limit on length. I plan to keep my long locks well into old age

 

[momhappy]

I think 40 is WAY too young to have to cut your hair! I am only 36...age 40 seems so far away still, but I guess it's closer than I think. I just can't see myself making such a drastic change 4 years from now, and for what? To appease society? To look more like a "mom?"

And don't tell Dancing Fire, but I'll probably still wear shorts and bikinis after I'm 40, too! OMG!

I hate to toot my own horn, but I'm in my 40's and still rock a bikini. I just can't do the one-piece and the bikini still looks good, so I'm getting as much mileage out of it as I can....

 

[jaysonsmom]

I'm right there with you monarch and momhappy! Don't want to chop of my hair, nor give up bikinis and shorts.

 

[Smith1942]

Lots of women give up long hair somewhere along the way. I found that many of my "mom" friends gave up their long hair for more sensible, practical, easy-to-care for hair. I am in my 40's (and a mom of young kids) and I refuse to give up my long hair. Never say never, but I can't imagine a time (or an age) when I think it's appropriate to cut all my hair off. I think that as long as hair is healthy and looks good, then there is no age limit on length. I plan to keep my long locks well into old age

Absolutely. I will never give up my long hair. I turn 39 in a few weeks and it's longer than it's ever been, past the middle of my back. If it begins to look dreadful when I'm 60 or something, I'll simply wear a gorgeous long wig. They look so real these days. For me, that would be a better option than having short hair, which not only looks absolutely awful on me (I've tried it) long hair is a part of my identity. It's never been long enough for me - has taken decades to grow. My husband loves my hair this long, too.

The received wisdom of the older generation is that there is a time to cut off your hair because it doesn't suit you after 40 - or whatever arbitrary age they put on it. But it can work the other way, too. I think my long hair can make me look younger - I've been asked for ID three times in the past year when ordering wine in a restaurant.

My sister has amazing hair - thick, naturally strawberry gold, like the colour of 24-carat metal. It was almost waist-length just before her husband proposed, then since getting married and having children she's had ear-length mum-hair ever since. So sad - her hair was truly like thick, silky spun gold. Mine isn't as good as hers, alas. But it's still OK. Anyway, I don't care how crap it gets with old age - I'm never having short hair, whether I have to employ wigs or extensions or both!

 

[ForteKitty]

My mom is 57 and she still wears her hair exactly like you. She also has the Rogue thing going (x-men), with one solid silver streak in the front, so it's extra cool looking.

 

[Circe]

But if I cut my hair now, how will I emulate Beatrix Ost in the fullness of my years?

P.S. - Partially inspired by Ost, I am currently dying my hair blue, despite the little voice saying that I'm "too old." Of course, I have less sack than she, as I'm only doing the last few inches. But, hey, I have to start somewhere if in thirty or forty years I'm planning to be the *awesome* kind of blue-haired old lady!

P.P.S. - Advanced Style is what introduced me to her, and a lot of other incredibly stylish women of an age mass media mysteriously ignores; as much as I like my students, no, I do not want to spend my life trying (and failing) to look like they do,or, somehow worse, like I did when I was their age, fifteen years ago. Trying and inevitably failing to recapture past glory is magnitudes worse than aging gracefully, though that's a weird phrase: for a lot of people, it seems to mean accepting a kind of granola naturalism that expects women to be sexless once they can't reproduce. No more fussing over your appearance! No more fun! Any fun you have is incidental to the fun you'll provide for others, apparently. Strikes me as being a lot like the definition of sex that ends with masculine emission: it implies that women are the means to an end for other people as opposed to having any agency of their own. Thanks, but no thanks - I'm keeping my hair and my lipstick and my tall boots and my short skirts, my steaks and my (electronic) smokes and my red wine and my chocolate, and I plan to bite anybody who implies otherwise. Even if I have to gum them.

 

[monarch64]

Circe, I follow Advanced Style as well! Love that blog!

 

[Dancing Fire]

I think 40 is WAY too young to have to cut your hair! I am only 36...age 40 seems so far away still, but I guess it's closer than I think. I just can't see myself making such a drastic change 4 years from now, and for what? To appease society? To look more like a "mom?"

And don't tell Dancing Fire, but I'll probably still wear shorts and bikinis after I'm 40, too! OMG!

I hate to toot my own horn, but I'm in my 40's and still rock a bikini. I just can't do the one-piece and the bikini still looks good, so I'm getting as much mileage out of it as I can....

Pics please!...

 

[jaysonsmom]

Double post

 

[jaysonsmom]

My mom is 57 and she still wears her hair exactly like you. She also has the Rogue thing going (x-men), with one solid silver streak in the front, so it's extra cool looking.

Your mom's hair sounds really cool, I have found a couple grays that I have plucked out, but they are not coming out in the front which would be chic....they were found behind my ears in the neck area....

And funny thing is, my mom is not that much older at 62, but she aged herself with the perming and cutting.

 

[kenny]

Every person should do whatever they want.
Screw everyone else.
Tell them to mind their own business.

 

[smitcompton]

Hi,

Long hair on older women is more popular today than when I was young. Yes, there was always an aunt or grandmother who had the bun, but never wore her long hair in public. You were deemed not modern then if you had long hair past 30, or you would be likened to a 57 yr old woman with a cigarette and beer in hand sitting in front of a mobile home .

I like long hair on any woman regardless of age . I would like to see some with colored streaks, as I think its attractive, alittle blue, alittle red, its fun to do. Here comes my BUT. I do not like the straight hippy hair on women over 40. Ponytails are good, anything but that hippy look. I liked it when people were real hippies, but now I think its very unstylish and looks dated.

Let the long hair flow, color it up in any color and have fun with it.

 

[ruby59]

I am in my mid 50s and still have long hair. My hair was long my entire life, so why should I change it. But long hair is not totally care free. You do need to get regular trims to keep it looking good. And now that I am in menopause, I get oil treatments as hair tends to dry out as you get older. I color mine, but use semi permanent color as it is less harsh.

I have gotten the same speech that no one over 12 should have long hair. I just ignore it. Long hair is my identity, so why should I have to change it?

I remember my grandmother and then my mom with the short teased hairdo, hairsprayed within an inch of its life. And at night they would roll toilet paper aroound it, clip it, and then put some kind of headcovering over it try and keep it from moving.

 

[steelmagnolia]

I'm nearly 43 and have attempted a few times to go shorter for simplicity due to motherhood. The reality is that I love long hair on myself and I've decided to keep it that way for as many years as I wish now. I have quite a bit of grey that I keep covered with coloring, and I always said that I wouldn't, because I envisioned having the long silver hair of the first photos. What I didn't account for was having my parent's good genes of youthful appearance and being fortunate enough to not look quite my age yet. While I do have the pretty silvers, it just doesn't "match" my face well as far as how old I appear. For now I change up my look with different colors and have fun, but keep the length almost to the small of my back. My long hair isn't truly low maintenance, but its not enough to deter me from keeping it that way.

 

[Rhea]

Like any hairstyle, it depends on how it looks. I look terrible with short hair, but the other day my DH told me he didn't think I'd go grey well. I think he might be right, my hair is frizzy and dry already and my skin is very pale. I'll figure it out when I get there.

My mother is in her mid 60's and wears her "light blonde" hair to between her shoulder blades.

 

[diamondringlover]

I think it all depends on the hair and how it is cut, if it looks good go for it, like Kenny said dont worry about other people if you like it wear it!!! I am 52 and I now where my hair shoulder length and it is currently blond with brown streaks...I love having my hair colored and I am fighting the gray every step of the way lol

 

[distracts]

I didn't know women were supposed to cut their hair off when they get older...

My mom is in her 60s and still has long hair. She covers some of the gray hair but not ALL of it - she gets dark brown lowlights basically to make it looks significantly less salt and pepper. She thinks it would look unnatural to cover all of it, but thinks she's still too young to go totally gray! She pretty much always wears it down. Once in a while she'll put it in a french braid if she's working outside or something.

Personally I have always found LONG hair to be much easier to maintain than short hair... with my long hair, if I am running late, I can slap it into a ponytail or let it air dry and it still looks reasonable. I can sleep on it and go out the next day without styling it and it looks great. With short hair (anything above the shoulders), I can do neither of those things... it MUST be washed and styled every day (and styling usually takes approximately 45 minutes) or I look like some sort of demented anime monster. I guess some people's hair types are amenable to short cuts, but while short cuts look cuter on me than long ones, I am just way too lazy to deal with them every day.

 

[ame]

I think medium-long hair looks best on 99.999999999999% of women. I personally think short hair is aging and unflattering on just about every human on earth, and have yet to see a single person that looks at all good with short hair. It, to me, can make even the most amazing looking face look bad. So rock on with your long hair.

Short hair---shorter than jaw length I guess. I've seen nice bobs that work great, esp when the front is long vs the back. But those are even few and far between.

 

[Smith1942]

Halle Berry is one of the few women I've seen who looks better with a short back and sides than with long hair, IMHO.

 

[kenny]

I personally think short hair is aging and unflattering on just about every human on earth, and have yet to see a single person that looks at all good with short hair. It, to me, can make even the most amazing looking face look bad.

I dont' know.
Audrey Hepburn looked pretty good as a U.S. Marine.

 

[Rosebloom]

But if I cut my hair now, how will I emulate Beatrix Ost in the fullness of my years?

P.S. - Partially inspired by Ost, I am currently dying my hair blue, despite the little voice saying that I'm "too old." Of course, I have less sack than she, as I'm only doing the last few inches. But, hey, I have to start somewhere if in thirty or forty years I'm planning to be the *awesome* kind of blue-haired old lady!

P.P.S. - Advanced Style is what introduced me to her, and a lot of other incredibly stylish women of an age mass media mysteriously ignores; as much as I like my students, no, I do not want to spend my life trying (and failing) to look like they do,or, somehow worse, like I did when I was their age, fifteen years ago. Trying and inevitably failing to recapture past glory is magnitudes worse than aging gracefully, though that's a weird phrase: for a lot of people, it seems to mean accepting a kind of granola naturalism that expects women to be sexless once they can't reproduce. No more fussing over your appearance! No more fun! Any fun you have is incidental to the fun you'll provide for others, apparently. Strikes me as being a lot like the definition of sex that ends with masculine emission: it implies that women are the means to an end for other people as opposed to having any agency of their own. Thanks, but no thanks - I'm keeping my hair and my lipstick and my tall boots and my short skirts, my steaks and my (electronic) smokes and my red wine and my chocolate, and I plan to bite anybody who implies otherwise. Even if I have to gum them.

I love Beatrix' look! Makes me look forward to getting old - I'm totally going to rock this look!