JFF: Hair Length

I have short hair and love it! My husband cares about me, not my hair length. He really couldn't care less whether it's long (in fact, when I did grow it out once he later told me after I cut it he thought I looked better with shorter hair). If hair length was an issue for him, I can't see us being married. I'm definitely not into the caveman mentality.

I have very thick, unruly hair and when I wore it long in the 80s, it was perfect. Permed it and it was huge, which was in then. Now, at 41, I'd look silly with long poufy hair. (Not to mention, I don't have 30+ minutes just to blow it dry anymore) I'd rather have calmer, stylish shorter hair.

I think on What Not to Wear, they tend to cut hair shorter because most of the time, the women on that show have hair that's way too long, either for their face shapes or age. Long hair isn't always pretty. Having shorter hair is a liberating feeling, too, which I think helps with their whole process. I don't think short hair is right for everyone, though, but for the most part, they get it right on that show. Ted Gibson tends not to hack off as much as Nick did, so I'm not seeing it happen as much now.

My hair is long. Like Rapunzel long (well maybe not 'that' long) :) When I was younger, my mom always made me cut it short because she said long hair was ugly. I dont think ive cut it since I moved out of the house

I wear my hair super short and LOVE it... it's a good style for me and I like the fact that I can actually wash and go... or, IF I want add some gel. that too is an option.. It's actually more versatile than when I had long hair and in my opinion is much more stylish. When I had long hair, truth is.. I wore it in a pony tail much of the time.. so when I finally cut it, it was no big deal.. also, I got so many compliments, I have kept it short ever since..

Oh 8kidsdad, go complain about your wife somewhere else. You can't see how selfish it sounds for you to fuss about her giving her hair to cancer victims? Good grief. Maybe she doesn't really like your beard. You'd wear it whether she liked it or not.

ES, have the length of your hair how it best fits your face. That's what's important! My hair looks best medium length to long. My husband would never expect me to "groom" myself just for him. It makes HIM happy if I like what I look like! And wanting my hair to look like it needs to look to fit my face and my age makes me happy.

Dawn

My hair is short. Almost a military cut.

My wife's hair was long. I like long hair on a woman.

When my wife and I were engaged, we each told the other of our expectations. My wife wanted me to finish my degree and to make a living for her and our family so she could stay at home with our kids. I agreed to do that and have lived up to that all our married life.

I asked her to be a good mom and to grow her hair long and keep it that way. I have never changed my mind. I hate it when she cuts her hair short. She says she does it to give to one of the hair programs so cancer victims can have real-hair wigs. But the hair programs only request 10" of hair. She will give them 16" or more. That always makes me angry. And severly disappointed.

My wife's hair is medium to dark brown and mostly straight. I love the glimmer and shine of her hair under a full moon or in a softly lit room.

I know long hair is more bother, but am I worth it? I groom my self for her. I want her to groom herself for me.

ADDED: I know. If my answers don't agree with your preconcieved notions, it is a disturbing answer.
Some of you may have been reading my post from the (rabid?) feminist point of view. I have no problem with her donating her hair to help cancer victims. My problem is they ask for 10" and she gives them 16" or more. If she donated just 10" she would look nicer for me and could donate her hair more frequently (!!), thus helping more cancer victims.
AND, I asked my wife if I could grow my Beard to play Santa. If she had said "No", I wouldn't have grown my beard. If she came in tonight and told me she wanted me to be clean shaven, I'd ask her if she wanted me to shave it now or after I played Santa and I would do what ever she requested.
I didn't get married to ignore my wife's feelings and desires. "The chief cause of divorce is selfishness."

Good luck to you and yours.

Oh, 8kidsdad, how your answer disturbs me. But, I guess it works for you and yours.

To answer the question, I had long until my late 20s and now vary between short and medium. I think it suits me better and I was sick of either having it pulled back or having little baby hands yanking it constantly.

I was enjoying this post until I got to 8kidsdad's post. I have never heard of something so selfish in my life. My husband likes my hair when I wear it in a way that makes ME confident and feeling beautiful. I think I'll go give him a hug for his thoughtfulness!

E S, I wear my hair all lengths. I agree that What Not to Wear chops people's hair just for shock value. Sometimes it looks great and sometimes.......yeesh!

Edit* At 8kidsdad, My point of view isn't a rabid feminist one, but yours is very chauvanistic. Your wife's expectation of you ended when you retired, your expectation of her will be with her until her death. Her hair doesn't belong to you and shouldn't be an indicator of her love for you. If she chooses to get more than 10 inches taken off then you are being selfish for being angry at her. Will you discard your wife if she gets cancer and her hair falls out in the chemo process? Will you be disgusted because her hair isn't to your liking? Shame on you for calling us rabid feminists.
Physical beauty has the opportunity to fade, but true beauty comes from within.

I have had my hair past my butt and one time in college I even buzzed if off on a dare, think G.I Jane. As a hairstylist (especially in cosmetology school) it has been almost every length, style and color.

Right now, it is medium length, slightly choppy, kind of boring color giving my past. I fight with pixie cutting it and growing it out daily. I almost chopped it, but since I found out I was pregnant, and my face always swells horribly while pregnant. I think I will wait a while.

The only thing keeping me back from getting it colored frequently is our budget. I can do a lot of it at home but highlights can only look so good when doing it yourself.

As for Sara.. girl get your hair cut in a cute stylish, graduated bob! It will end that horrid shag feel and your hair will grow out attractive and full.

I have naturally curly hair and have kept it long most of my life. I have long bangs that I can tuck behind my ear and my hair has a couple long layers and goes to the middle of my back. The past 3 years I have been straightening it. My curls got weird after having babies. They used to be wonderful, perfect ringlets and now they are more kinky than anything. I wash it and blow-dry it at night and in the morning I either curl the ends with a 2" curling iron for some shape or I flat-iron it.
I wear it down for work most of the time, but typically throw it up in a pony-tail once I get home and I wear a lot of hats on the weekends.

My hair isn't super curly but it is curly, there are some great products out there that deal with the frizz. My hair is long. Ya know it grows faster than you think. Find someone with a straightener and shock yourself. It adds about six inches to my length. Of course I hate my hair straight mind you.

I agree that they always want to chop off people's hair in those shows. Any makeover show really. Strange, I think long hair is easier than short hair to style and stuff.

Mine is long, auburn/brown, fairly fine, and straight, with some layers. It was really long this morning (past halfway down my back), but I just got 5 inches cut off, so now its a few inches past my shoulders. I've always had long hair..it's easiest for me to deal with (I never blow dry, rarely use a flat iron), and it flatters my chubby cheeks. :)

I used to keep my hair very short. I'm in the military, and I thought it'd be easier to deal with...but it's really not. It always ended up being a pain.

So while I was on a deployment, I decided to grow it out. WTH, right? I left for my deployment in 2008 when my hair was literally 2 inches long. Spiky. Cute. Now it's grown down past the middle of my back (longer than my bra even!). And I've trimmed it too.

But my hair is SO straight. I don't even have to flat iron it, just use a brush and my blow dryer.

My hair is shoulder length and growing, thick and wavy. So I would say medium but others call that long. It grows quickly. I usually grow it out, get it cut and donate to locks of love. I've had extremely long hair and extremely short hair in my lifetime. Both are nice but I think I prefer to keep it longer. It is usually pulled back anyway because that is just what works for me throughout the day. Someday I intend to have a phenom. cut and style that I will keep up with....when the kids are older and when I have the time for monthly cuts/colors, etc.

I normally keep my hair long. When it's long enough, I chop it and donate it to Locks of Love. Sorry, 8kidsdad. :) Maybe after 8 kids, your wife was worried that you were finding her TOO attractive? ;)

I am STILL growing out a shag cut I got last year. So I guess it's medium-longish. It looks terrible. Awful. Horrendous. If only it was 1973--I would be so IN with this 'do. There was this movie called "Little Darlings" that came out in like 1980, with Tatum O'Neal. THAT is my hair.
I am hoping when it grows out, and I get it styled, this mortification will finally come to an end.

Mine used to be long and I loved it, got lots of compliments on it when Id actually take the time to style it a bit. ... but I got bored one day, first with the color, so I went lighter and my hair turned aweful. So I thought Id try to satisfy my other boredom with it and cut it. I always wanted one of those super sleek angled forward bobs. So I asked for a little longer version of the traditional bob. I loved it for one day, the day the hairstylest styled it. I have the same products & tools and cannot get it to do what she did. ...now im growing it long again, and its back to its original dark color. :o/

mine is about 3-4 inches past my shoulders. My hair is also curly/ frizzy no matter what I do unless I straighten it. That takes about 45 mins -an hour since its so thick. So needless to say due to convience its always is a pony tail, bun or french braid. My hubby likes my hair longer so I keep it at that length for him... even though I sometimes think its crazy since its always up. I do agree I look better with longer hair.. but what's the point when its always up!

my hair is naturally curly and grows super fast. I have always kept it slightly layered on the ends, no bangs and long to the middle of my back. Super easy to take care of and I cut it myself. I get compliments on it that I'm going to be 45 and don't have that "old lady" hair. I hate that women cut their hair short for convenience when they get older. Why is that I wonder? Oh well, good luck with your hair! =)

For the most part, my hair has been pixie-cut short for the past 20 years. It's pretty fine and takes forever to grow longer and then it's just really limp, so I can't do much with it anyway except have it in a pony tail. I am so used to short hair that the feel of it on my neck bugs me. But it also looks very flattering on me and I get a lot of compliments on it! The last time I attempted to grow it out was for my wedding 7 years ago so I could wear it up - then I got it cut short again 2 days later!

Medium.
When my hair is too long, it looks stringy, and super flat, and doesn't dry quick.
When my hair is too short it makes my already super round face look insanely fat. It dries super quick and gets very frizzy.
When it's medium I can curl it, straighten it, leave it natural, it dries well. I also have long side swept bangs and found that they best flatter my face as well.

When I was young, my hair was straight and my mom took me to the "beauty" school regularly to cut it in a short pixie style. I hated it. As soon as I could, I grew it out long, and wore it waist length through high school and college. Since then I've mostly worn it short, trying to look like a serious professional woman, but have recently started growing it longer again, below the shoulders. The weird thing is that my hair has gotten wavy so I have to use a flat iron to get the smooth straight look I used to have.

I have done several! At first it was shoulder length. Other times it has been jaw length. Rigth now it's really long...past my bra in the back. I think it's my favorite. I love it. I have naturally frizzy, wavy in spots, straight in other spots, and so I ALWAYS have to do my hair or else I look horrid. If I'm staying home, I'll just pull it back. I used to blow dry and flat iron it (and it looks really nice once I spend 45 minutes on it), but I have started using hot rollers - big ones - and that has given a lot of body and fullness to my hair...as well as defrizzing it! I now can go to bed with wet hair, get up, put in hot rollers (doesn't matter what it looks like prior) and end up with nice looking hair by the end in much LESS time.

ADDED: As for what hubbies think (thinking of what one hubby said in the comments here), mine is good with me doing whatever I want. He won't even give me his opinion as to his preference, unless I pry it out of him, because he really wants me to do what I like and is worried if he shares his opinion I'll go off of his. Anyway, he likes my hair however I do it, though, I do think he likes it long best. When I do cut it, he totally understands. Mostly I cut it because I lose a ton of hair after a baby is born, and it starts looking stringy. Having shorter hair is easier to make it look nice and fuller. I personally prefer long hair on me...as long as i haven't lost half of it after a birth of a baby!

8kidsDad, don't be too h*** o* your wife. She's thinking and serving others and should have your support:-) I'd be proud of her!

Mine too is curly, and a little frizzy. I straighten it more than I wear in curly. It's sad that I "fry" nature almost every day. It's longer, about to my bra line. I can't stand the thought of cutting it shorter. As curly as it is, I would look like a fool.

My husband loves that show. LOL I watch it sometimes, I am to busy to sit for to long. He hates when they cut their hair. I have curley/wavy hair. So I just let it go. I put some mouse in it and let it dry. I am 38 yrs old, I don't like it passed my bra strap. That's just me. :)

Im torn about my hair! Its thin and fine and I always think I want it long until its long. I cut it in a angeled bob after I had my baby and it was crazy feeling the air on my neck! I have never but it that short again but its below shoulder length. I love short cuts it just looks stupid on me!
** wow really! @ 8kidsdad, this is Mamapedia let the ladies handle it!

Its long right now.
have not cut it in months.
That's why.

I have worn it all kinds of ways. I have an oval face, so thankfully I can wear it in many lengths. In our marriage, my hair has been a range. A pixie cut, to half way down my back. My hair grows insanely fast.

My husband is only disappointed in a hair cut, if I was. He would love me bald. I sure hope 8kidsdad never has to experience his wife loosing her hair, to the disease she donates all 16 inches to. I wonder, if he saw a woman with a wig of her hair on, if he would understand why she sacrifices all that length, so someone can have such beautiful hair. Oh, and I really kind of hate feminism. So...there's that. I was a great mom with a pixie cut, and a great mom with llong hair. I owe my husband a huge hug and kiss, for being proud of my hair, no matter how it looks.

All of the above.

I have SUPER curly hair that I've had as long as my bum, and as short as 1/2 inch at the the longest.

My favorite is my "delusions of Eliza Dushku" hair, which is usually how I wear it. Braband/nipple length, and in touseled glossy waves. It's my absolute fav/ looks best on me.

Granted, that means I have to blow it out, which is a hassle at that length (1 hour+).

I just cut it to jaw length. Because I'm having shoulder surgery on Friday and I won't be able to use my arm at ALL for 6 weeks, and then only moderately for 6 months. Thwibbt. Of course, at jawlength it only takes me 15 minutes to dry and straighten my hair. Which is fantastic. This is my 2nd favorite length. I'm not pretty enough to pull off skullcap short, but this short I can flip it about or gloss it up, deep bangs, no bangs... it's really versatile.

14-17 inches just got donated. Of course, that's how long STRAIGHT. That was only 6 inches curly. So they may just stuff pillows with it.

My hair is longish. I wear it past my shoulders a few inches, maybe halfway down my back. My husband loves long hair on me. It is blonde, and I get highlights so it doesn't look scraggly. I have had shorter hair before, and it just isn't as flattering on me.

My hair is straight as a board, cut all 1 length and hangs almost below my bra strap in length.

Thanks to my Native American heritage, my hair will not curl, it is naturally very dark, good genes have kept the gray away but I do play with color about every 2 months and I get it trimmed at the same time.

I actually love my hair!

All of the above -- it depends on how busy I am and how much is in the budget to keep it the length/color I prefer.

My hair length ranges from a below-the-chin bob, to around my bra strap length, usually with some long layers, no bangs (usually, well, other than longer ones that are kinda part of my layers, think side swept...) Currently, it's growing out from the last bob cut, and is now a few inches past my shoulders, not to my bra strap yet. I rarely have it longer than that, it's not thick enough and doesn't look healthy when it's too long...

I tend to prefer my hair long, although I do go through bouts of boredom with it, which is when it usually gets chopped up to my chin... but even then, it's still JUST long enough to reach a tiny pony tail. HAVE to be able to pull it back...

I've got long, wavy and extremely thick golden brown or dirty blonde hair, which I get cut, thinned, and highlighted once or twice a year. I always get it cut one inch below the shoulder. I'm thinking I'll get it cut to shoulder-length or a tiny bit shorter when my parents visit next week. The most I do with my hair is wash it, brush it, and maybe blow dry it. For special events I have it pulled back.

I have the the other end very straight fine life less hair always kept it long have to wash it everyday no body to it them went shoulder length now at 50 ready to go shorther have to do whats best for you no matter what the style ask hair cuttter what will work best

I am rocking the mom-ponytail right now. I have blunt cut bangs and medium-long hair (like Zooey Descahnel except without professional stylists on hand).

I am the type of person that will spend years growing out thier hair, and then lob it all of in an instant when I am bored with it. I actually have been contemplating doing that now. In middle school I had a poodle-tastic spiral perm with blond highlights then a SHORT ultra bleached pixie, then In high school I wore my hair in Blue, Black and Purple bobs and I loved it! I grew my hair out for my wedding and wore it long and natural brown... when I got to college I chopped at back to a pixie again and spiked it up every day. Since then I have had it ultra bleached and wispy, blood red, pink, black and brown and all different lengths.

Naturally my hair is mousy brown, SUPER thin, and straight as a pin. I am lucky, because I have a natural "oval" shaped face, so almost any "do" looks good on me. Thankfully MY husband doesn't care how I wear my hair, as long as I feel hot... because when i feel good, he does *wink.

He has been hinting however that he thinks it would be cool if I dyed my hair black for halloween (and after then) I was a little "goth" girl back when we met in high school and I think he'd like to see me a little more "edgy" again.... I would too! hehehe!

-M.

I actually understand what 8kidsdad is saying. I think your wife should listen to you and just give the ten or even13 and meet in the middle with you. Most men prefer longer hair. My hubs has a mustache and when he saved it off I asked him to grow it back. I don't think you ment to sound like it read...kind of pissy.

To answer the question...my hair is to the small of my back. It is very very thick where strangers come and grab it and comment on how thick it is and I have never ever been to a hairdresser where they did not tell me that I had the most hair they ever saw ever. After I had my second child it became super curly as it was just a strong wave. I flat iron it on the weekends and wear it up in a knot most of the time. Its crazy wild and streaing with gray. I recently wanted to cut it but my hubby asked how long it had to be to donate it and I said "LIKE TEN INCHES"!!! He suggested I let it grow just a bit longer and then cut it. Its so thick it gives me headaches and I usually wear it with long layers and thin it out.

You have to wear your hair the way you feel comfortable. I don't know where people are getting the idea that older women should have short hair. There are a lot of old ladies out there that have beautiful long locks. Women have had long hair for centuries. Even the bible says hair is a woman's crown in glory. I'm 48 and look horrible in short hair. I look like a man! I have no choice, but to wear my hair shoulder length or longer. I do try to keep it layered, so there isn't any pull. You're lucky too. I get perms, because I'm the wash and go type.