Short hair on older women

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why do older women get their haircut short when that exposes their necks and necks show age? And is it because their hair gets thin, they think it makes them look better, or they want less hassle of washing it?

How are you defining “older women”?

Why do I care if my aging neck is exposed? Do you consider it indecent?

I’m in my 50s, and my hair is halfway down my back. It is thick and frizzy, so twisted into a bun every day. Short hair is a nuisance to deal with. A neighbor/family friend wore a bun well into her 80s when her arthritis made it too painful, and I always admired her style.

How is short hair a nuisance? It is much easier to have shorter hair...less time washing it and you brush and go. And honestly, you wear your hair however you want it. But to say short hair is more work is not true.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am 58. My hair is naturally wavy and I still have a lot of it. I straighten it about half the time. Barring a major health issue, I have no plans to cut my hair short enough that I can’t pull it up. Even my hairdresser says short hair would be way more work for me based on my hair type.

I don’t wear it as long as I did in my 20s and 30s but that’s a personal preference, not pressure to follow an unwritten rule about long hair on older women. I keep it around my shoulders or just below these days.

+1
This describes me too. I almost always wear my hair in a ponytail, so it has to be at least long enough to pull it back. I do think it would be more work if I had shorter hair that couldn't be pulled into a ponytail. It would have to be styled every day and I'm not up for it.

Dp. It is not 'more work' to have short hair! Since when did having less of something take more time?

I don't care what you do with your hair..no judgement but I have short hair and do not style it every day! That is very funny!!

My hair has its own personality with a lot of cowlicks. When long, the weight of the hair keeps it presentable right from when I wake up. Short, some of my hair goes one way, the rest is straight. I use a round brush to get my cowlicks to heel with a hair dryer. So...longer time styling.

See how that works when you don't assume everyone is the same as you.
NP

[Anonymous]

Because even long hair doesn't cover your neck. The front of the neck is where age shows. Your long hair wont hide that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I keep longer hair as I have a face shape that looks bad with short or chin length hair. Hairdressers put on their old lady glasses and only want to cut a pixie or a bob on me. I just put it up in a Ficcare clip and don't bother with hairdressers. They hate older women's hair. I've seen too many hefty older women with short unflattering pixies to bother with what is acceptable or not.

So much judgement in your post. It is sad when women become more judgemental than men.

Women are much more judgmental on other women’s looks than men.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am 58. My hair is naturally wavy and I still have a lot of it. I straighten it about half the time. Barring a major health issue, I have no plans to cut my hair short enough that I can’t pull it up. Even my hairdresser says short hair would be way more work for me based on my hair type.

I don’t wear it as long as I did in my 20s and 30s but that’s a personal preference, not pressure to follow an unwritten rule about long hair on older women. I keep it around my shoulders or just below these days.

55 with very thick hair. Below shoulders. I have never had short hair. I would look awful given my head size and face shape.

It’s strange but my hair has actually gotten thicker in my 50s. My mom is 80 with very thick hair so I guess not everyone gets thin hair or bald spots with age.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I still have a ton of hair although the texture has changed since menopause. I wear it super short now because I cannot be arsed with hair styling, makeup, and of that crap anymore. I wash my face with very good retinol soap and apply moisturizer and use a tiny bit of eyeliner and an eyelash curler and lip gloss and that is all I can be arsed to do.

It makes me laugh now and again because my mother always wanted me in short hair (it suits my face) and I always wanted it longer my whole childhood so I wore it long for years after I came under my own control. It’s ironic that once I came entirely under my own control - free of biological reproductive urges - I was happy to embrace a haircut so short that my entire styling regime is one minute of rubbing in some bed head type styling produce and letting it dry however it wants.

Every day that I am post menopausal I love my body and face more than ever before.

Love this. I suspect the "cannot be arsed" is a huge factor. I wore my hair in a pixie for several years after having each kid in my 30s because even a bob required daily styling, whereas the pixie was wash and go and generally looked good with zero effort.

I've been trying to grow it out for over a year, since I felt like age and a bit of weight gain were making it look less "edgy" and more "frumpy." It's curly, but I don't have the time or interest to brush style every curl and diffuse dry, so I always feel a bit messy and not put together. My hair has always been too fine to grow much past my collarbones, so I've never been a luscious long haired youth, but I suspect next time I get sick of this and cut it off...that'll be it for me, short hair forever!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why do older women get their haircut short when that exposes their necks and necks show age? And is it because their hair gets thin, they think it makes them look better, or they want less hassle of washing it?

How are you defining “older women”?

Why do I care if my aging neck is exposed? Do you consider it indecent?

I’m in my 50s, and my hair is halfway down my back. It is thick and frizzy, so twisted into a bun every day. Short hair is a nuisance to deal with. A neighbor/family friend wore a bun well into her 80s when her arthritis made it too painful, and I always admired her style.

How is short hair a nuisance? It is much easier to have shorter hair...less time washing it and you brush and go. And honestly, you wear your hair however you want it. But to say short hair is more work is not true.

My short hair is more work because I have to blow it dry and straighten or curl it to not be a frizzy mess. My long hair is heavy enought that I can wash and go with mousse and it looks nice.

Also my short hair doesn't go ina pony tail so for sports it's a pain.

[Anonymous]

There is nothing worse than women in their late 40's or older wearing waist length straight hair. It is thin and stringy. I have several girl friends that wear their hair this way. It really ages them and is not attractive.

In older men the pony tail look when they are balding is also another bad look but it is common.

[Anonymous]

9:02 poster again

My aging girlfriends would look better if they cut their hair to their should blades or shoulder length. It would be more youthful.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Very few women can pull short hair attractively in middle age.

Very few women actually have hair so fine they "need" a short cut. My mother had baby fine, feathery hair and did need such a cut. But most women don't have that texture until much later, if they ever have it at all. Usually women feel their hair thinning, and the comparison makes them believe a short cut is best. But if they saw themselves objectively, they'd realize longer hair still suits them better.

Let be real.

Most women are not attractive in middle age and most don't care. I can spend all day at a spa and i'm still coming out looking average at best.

[Anonymous]

Several reasons, mostly mentioned already:

-Hair texture changes, especially as the grays come in. Long old hair isn’t sleek and shiny like it was when you were 20.

-pulling hair back in a ponytail is less flattering as face becomes thinner and more saggy.

-short hair adds some volume to face.

-many women experience thinning, either all over or by the temples. Long hair exacerbates this

[Anonymous]

My theory is that American hairdressers are lousy and cutting short hair. It takes more skill than cutting longer hair because each cut needs to be custom to the head shape and hair of the person. They've also only ever seen the awful cuts that are ubiquitous on older American women, so I that's what they do. I agree that it's often a terrible look, but I don't think the solution is going long.

I had an amazing pixie cut when I was living in France, but never could get it replicated in the US, even with photos of the original. Now I have a wavy French bob, which is harder for hairdressers to butcher to cut than a pixie. I do think short hair can look super chic. I just think it's really hard to find an American hairdresser with that skill set. By contrast, I saw beautiful and flattering short haircuts all over France.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is an interesting discussion, because I think that many of the aging actresses in Hollywood who continue to wear hair down to their waists (most of them with extensions) would look far, far better with hair cut to above their shoulders. (I'm looking at you SJP, Demi, Nicole).

Agreed. Hair past the bra strap doesn't really look good after high school--it's a very, very young look.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is an interesting discussion, because I think that many of the aging actresses in Hollywood who continue to wear hair down to their waists (most of them with extensions) would look far, far better with hair cut to above their shoulders. (I'm looking at you SJP, Demi, Nicole).

Agreed. Hair past the bra strap doesn't really look good after high school--it's a very, very young look.

Maybe if your isn't healthy. But SJP, and also Amal Clooney, have fabulous long hair.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is an interesting discussion, because I think that many of the aging actresses in Hollywood who continue to wear hair down to their waists (most of them with extensions) would look far, far better with hair cut to above their shoulders. (I'm looking at you SJP, Demi, Nicole).

Agreed. Hair past the bra strap doesn't really look good after high school--it's a very, very young look.

Maybe if your isn't healthy. But SJP, and also Amal Clooney, have fabulous long hair.

Not sure that it's all theirs...