Does long, thick hair look unprofessional on a 40 yo woman?
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Anonymous
| NP. Ideas for pulling your hair back, other than a bun, ponytail with or French twist? |
Anonymous
Turban? Crown braid? There are a lot of different buns, too. Bee butt is very different than figure 8 with hairsticks, but of course they are both buns. |
Anonymous
| I echo the pp who said a few inches off and layered. Are you opposed to layering, or actually cutting into the hair because if your hair is thick, this can work. You are fortunate to have thick hair, op...one long length is probably not serving you in the best way. https://www.google.com/search?q=sela+ward+hair&safe=off&client=ms-android-att-us&source=android-browser&prmd=isnv&sxsrf=ALeKk016EJGo3WcTOMbsz3pnVJ8XOkp2Cg:1618094131933&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjMm8mv3vTvAhViUd8KHcCWB6kQ_AUoAXoECAIQAQ&biw=320&bih=490#imgrc=3QpAFb5S23j5NM |
Anonymous
That's totally fine. Hitting your ass or close to it, gets unprofessional. It's like having nails that are too long. Your intellect should be what attracts attention, not your looks. |
Anonymous
| OP I think you already know the answer, although it’s clear you love your hair. If you are a secretary, art director, actress, interior designer, TV anchor or school teacher yes it’s fine. Otherwise no. Long hair is just not professional. |
Anonymous
| It would be professional if you put it up in a twist or bun but that could be a lot more effort or not look good with your face. |
Anonymous
+1 |
Anonymous
I agree and will add that I’m an executive in my mid-40s with hair your length, OP. I wear the hair the way I want to and don’t care what anyone else thinks. |
Anonymous
Theoretically, yes. But I think in real life hair is a signifier and in general there are overall styles that you tend to see in certain professions. And trends. Hair follows trends right? Though maybe not as rapidly as clothing. This has been studied with makeup, in professional settings where wearing none and heavy can both affect perception of competence although of course, you can make your own choices and some people won't notice or care and some will. Whether this is fair is a whole other issue. My concern with it being very long is just that it can be perceived as dated, which in any profession is never a good link. I just went to a new physician who had a sort of dated office, was wearing no makeup and a casual tee under her white coat. She was ok, but when I think about whether to return, where there are many people I can see, her overall professional style did make me wonder if she was current on other things too. There are numerous factors involved in whether I go back (expense, location, how she answered questions, overall fit, etc). But here I am also thinking about how she presented herself, and how it was an outlier to myself and most of the physicians I see. It's not a deal breaker probably but it's in the matrix. I am sure too losing me as a pt is no big deal to her. My point is just it is valuable to dress and present at about the same or better yet, one tier above your clients/patients/customers. If this look fits with your people, then it might be fine. |
Anonymous
| "Know your office (or profession, or style, etc)." is always a common refrain in situations where you are making choices about your presentation in your worklife for a reason. It really does depend on a list of factors. To your point, yes you should probably cut it or at least trim it. Trust your instincts. |
Anonymous
| The number of professions where this is unprofessional looking is actually the vast minority. It used to be that if you wanted to make good money you were in a place where people wore suits to work daily. Now its just the old boys clubs of finance and law that are still . that (and even those are shifting, but will probably persevere) and everyone else making good money works in industries where this length of hair isn't even registering at all. |
Anonymous
Add to that workspaces where long hair poses a safety risk. It's unprofessional not to adhere to safety standards. So, some labs and some working with machinery, some medical settings, etc. |
Anonymous
That's not long at all. |
Anonymous
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I don't know about unprofessional, but it tends to look dowdy on plain women a la Kelly Loeffler and ridiculous for daytime on glammed up women like the Real Housewives.
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