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Melispelos
September 29th, 2014, 09:55 AM
Hey there, beautifully haired people. I've often caught myself thinking about this issue and I wanted to know your opinion about it -- I love learning about other peoples customs in different countries.

There are certain hair etiquette issues that are frowned upon in certain places, and are completely normal in other cultures. I read in a thread on this forum the other day about how going out with wet hair is considered rude or messy in some places. I live in Buenos Aires (Argentina), and seeing women with wet hair walking on the street or taking public transportation is completely normal, specially in the morning. I think this has much to do with in what time of the day people choose to shower. Most of the people I know shower in the morning (I do it before going to bed, because I exercise at night). It's also not uncommon to see people braiding or combing their hair on the bus. I find this kind of yucky, but other people don't seem to care.

There are also differences in how the length and coloring of hair is regarded in different places. A few years ago I went to Europe and it struck me that most women wore their hair short, shoulder lenght or armpit lenght at the most (I visited France, Greece and Armenia, the last being in Asia, but they have very European-like fashion). In Argentina, women usually have very long hair, waist lenght or even longer, and seldom use eye-catching dyes except maybe blonde ombre (it was EVERYWHERE this summer, I seriously wondered if all the women in Buenos Aires had the same stylist). Middle aged women often go for highlights or go entirely blonde when they start showing grey hairs, or keep their natural color with dye. Edgy and colorful hairstyles are something rare, though in the last two years I've been seeing more of them. Until recently, I had a pink ombre (just the ends and a part of my fringe) and I was stared at in most places like I was from Mars.

So, what's the 'hair etiquette' in your country/city like?

SkyChild
September 29th, 2014, 10:09 AM
I'm in the UK.
Here I've been frowned upon for wearing my hair wet out - being told it's unhygienic, messy, rude ?! and my favourite "You'll catch a cold if your hair is wet" - in which case nearly every woman I know would catch a cold instantly as soon as she washed her hair.

Which bugs me, because as you said, I shower in the mornings so even with a quick cool blast from the hairdryer, my lengths are usually at least damp before I leave the house. I usually dry my roots and then braid or bun my damp lengths. In Summer it dries pretty quickly, and no-one notices unless it's down.

Like you said, APL is considered long here and anything longer is VERY long. That said, teenage girls seem to wear their hair longer these days, and often virgin or very subtle colour, so maybe it's just that we hit 25 and join the Stepford Wives club and chop it into a bleached bob. Of course, there are others with pixies, shaved sides, ombre (guch, that is SO 10 years ago) and bright colours are really big where I live just now, whether slices of colour or a full head of bubblegum pink.

MsPharaohMoan
September 29th, 2014, 10:27 AM
Here in Canada you are definitely not supposed to fiddle with your hair at work - especially in the service industry. I'd hope this doesn't vary across the world, haha!

mithrandir
September 29th, 2014, 10:27 AM
This is really interesting! I'm looking forward to hearing everyone else's stories. :)

I live in a very small/kind of boring rural town and I'd say overall very long hair is rare. There are a few of us, but it's generally a lot of short haired people since the majority of the population is older. Shoulder length is considered "long." There's also a university in the next town so there are a lot of ubiquitous messy top-knot buns that would certainly kill my hair if I attempted them.

Brightly coloured hair gets a few weird looks around here, but last month when I visited a larger city I noticed that no one even batted an eye at styles like a green/blonde mohawk. Hm, what else...? generally you don't see a lot of people out in public with wet hair, not that I've noticed. I know you'd NEVER see it between November-February. No one wants their hair to freeze, lol!!

Purdy Bear
September 29th, 2014, 10:27 AM
I agree with Sky Child. In the UK long hair is for children, and confusion ensues with adults with long hair unless your elderly then it's sort of OK but most of them have the same short hair style with a pink tint.

All bald women are seen as chemo patients, I have found wearing my hat with Alopecia on the front does stop the barrage of chemo well wishers when I'm out shopping. People also get really pissed if you wear hats in doors - very strange I know.

Wearing rollers etc out is frowned upon as well, with extravagant hair accessories for the young.

People get really really confused when your white and have very curly hair. I was accosted once in a shop when a complete stranger started tugging at my hair insisting it needed a cut and reperm. I had to explain to her it was my natural curl and I had just seen my hair dresser the week before.

GetMeToWaist
September 29th, 2014, 10:31 AM
Here everyone dyes/bleaches their hair and the longest they will grow it is BSL. I see lots of damaged, dry hair on my daily commute. Also everyone seems to have wet hair in the morning... A lot do wash their hair daily.

Marbid
September 29th, 2014, 10:38 AM
I live in georgia.. U.s.

Its a pretty small rural town where i live, but it has a high number of hispanics. Just going to the only walmart in town and you will get a pretty clear feel about hair. Because of soo many hispanics here, its not hard to see tailbone hair and waist length even on the older crowd in the 50's or so. The more american ladies are sporting an angled bob and generally shorter bra strap hair, but there are still american ladies who wear their hair long. Most are young thou, no older american crown with long hair. I have yet to see an african american lady wear their natural hair here, they all do weaves. The gentelmen all have short hair, but some african american jentelmen have long locks.

There is a girl in my local pharmacy with midthigh blond hair. If you go into the neighboring even more rural farm towns thou, for some reason the short bob disapears on american ladies and you will encounter a few more mid thigh ladies.. But i suspect it has more to do with religion being more orthodox than hair wants.

As for bright colors, its pretty common where i live, ussually dip dyed or purple highlights, often worn on longer hair thou.

Where there is a lot of hair variety where i live, you can easly see anything over here. No one will notice my hair here unless i am in the knees region thou. Them they will assume that its because of religion. Its the only down side.

Wet hair outside does not call attention here. Hair fixing outside is ussually done in the restrooms. Every one says eeeewww over she hairs. We got many stylists accostumed to long hair here. ( thats awesome) well thats it....

Pretty varied.

dogzdinner
September 29th, 2014, 11:01 AM
I agree with Sky Child. In the UK long hair is for children, and confusion ensues with adults with long hair.

I think that depends where in the UK you live! I imagine its much the same in other countries too.
Here most ladies have hair that is BSL to waist length on average and styles tend to be either loose and glossy or scary buns (they are huge, back combed, full of product and slightly disturbing to a hair minimalist like me!).
You are def seen as odd to go out with wet hair though, which is odd coz it rarely gets cold enough here to make any difference!

lapushka
September 29th, 2014, 11:11 AM
I'm in the UK.
Here I've been frowned upon for wearing my hair wet out - being told it's unhygienic, messy, rude ?! and my favourite "You'll catch a cold if your hair is wet" - in which case nearly every woman I know would catch a cold instantly as soon as she washed her hair.

It's not because of wet hair as such, just wet hair and cold temperatures are generally not a good idea.

Rushli
September 29th, 2014, 11:16 AM
Middle of the US here. Live in a farming community but am often in my home town of 200,000+ people.

Wet hair is considered unprofessional. So it really comes down to how professional you need to look. And most places can overlook the running behind so my hair is wet incident. Then again, the wet hair is usually not worn down and loose. It is often in an updo, which keeps it wet longer, but still more professional looking.

Most women 30+ have shoulder or shorter hair. We do live right next to a reservation so there are many Native American women that keep longer hair and we also live very near several Amish communities so there again, long hair is the norm. Really, anyone can get away with whatever they want.

I am a SAHM so I have to admit I am not really big into what is in style. I had no idea ombré was so 10 years ago. Lol. Many years before ombré hair had an official name, my sister and several blondette friends spent so much time outside they naturally had an ombré all year long. It was gorgeous. I would love hair with a natural looking ombré.

I don't see a lot of bright colors around here but do on my Facebook where I mostly have friends from around the US. Again, I don't think it is professionally accepted, so it is usually students and people with more relaxed jobs (like a few of my fellow SAHMs). I am pretty sure my next Amazon order will include some manic panic. I better get in on the action before it goes out of style!

AmyBeth
September 29th, 2014, 11:21 AM
I live in the mountains of Colorado, in a ski resort area. We have locals and lots of tourists from different parts of the world who visit here. Since joining LHC and changing the way I wear and care for my hair, I've been looking at this issue, because my hair is generally heavily oiled and up in a bun. It really seems as though anything goes here! I'm not particularly talented with updos, and sometimes I might have felt self conscious about it. But when I look around, the standard seems to be to pile your hair on your head (in any old way) and then clip it with a claw clip! But if your hair is styled and frozen into place with hair spray, that doesn't seem to phase anyone either. I see lots of people who go out with wet hair, too, generally up in the ubiquitous claw clip. On men and women, short, long, crazy colors, grey, whatever. As I said, anything goes.:)

velorutionista
September 29th, 2014, 11:34 AM
Hailing from MN here...It seems like "long" hair here is APL to Waist, I rarely see anyone with longer hair (although there are a lot of Amish in the southern part of the state, and I'd bet shiny nickles they have pretty long hair--alas, it's always bunned whenever I see them out and about). And it seems like a lot of of the over-45 contingent sports the "startled hedgehog" style (kind of like an unfinished pixie--cut short and sticking out every which way). There's definitely a divide between hair I see in the city and when we travel out-state--a lot more long hair in the boonies (though still not much longer than waist)!

I think wet hair in public is kind of taboo--I definitely get guff for it on a regular basis, especially in cooler weather. Mostly along the lines of "you'll catch cold" though--misplaced concern.

Playing with your hair in public doesn't get too much notice (although I avoid messing with my hair in front of people at work--it seems like that is frowned upon). I have definitely gotten none-too-nice comments when my hairstyle changes throughout the day, i.e. come in with it wet/damp & down to dry (it's combed, not messy), then put up in a bun once dry, or when I change from braid to bun or switch to a different bun that's more comfortable--the gossipy old ladies I work with always make a comment about how much free time I must have to redo my hair (I don't think they believe me when I say it literally takes seconds to switch buns or bun a braid). Sigh. That might just be my co-workers, though. And my slippy fine hair doesn't always deign to hold a single bun for hours and hours--not my fault!

It also seems natural texture is frowned upon here--i.e. hair that is not volumized, straightened, and sprayed to within an inch of its life is dowdy, lazy, etc.

cathair
September 29th, 2014, 11:48 AM
It's not because of wet hair as such, just wet hair and cold temperatures are generally not a good idea.

I think this has been de-bunked though. The English thing about it that you will catch a cold from your wet hair making you cold. When you actually get a cold because of a virus. There are similar myths when you are swimming about it being more important to dry your top half first, because it supposedly loses heat more quickly, when it actually makes no difference.

I get stared at when I go outside with wet hair. I have chosen not to care now. I am blessed with hair that air dries pretty quickly anyway.

I think in times past, it was considered rude to wear a hat indoors. You were expected to take it off at the door. I think this is a little bit old fashioned now really. I think it has probably been replaced by people wearing hoodies with hoods up indoors, which is seen as thugish and chavy.

I remember being told is it rude to brush you hair in public, especially in the pub or somewhere you eat or drink. I can see little sense to that.

I've also been told even when I had hair shorter than BSL and not working in the service industry, it looks unprofessional to wear it down to work.

Yenn
September 29th, 2014, 12:07 PM
6 years ago I lived in Ukraine, so I'm not sure how well this applies to street fashion at this time, but one of the things I remember that it was socially acceptable to wash your hair twise a week and not every day. Also, short pixie was a rarety, long hair was praised, but medium length hair seems to be a common length. It is also pretty common to do herbal rinses... Unnatural colors (greens, blues, purples, etc) were frowned upon. The cultural change after moving to US was quiet notiseble in hair routine - while there are more pixies and more people with longer hair, overall variety of color and length, I have notised an unexplainable love to straighteners which was almost a requirement in highschool as well as everyday hair washing. Lucky for me, I didn't pickup the harmful habit of hair straightening since my hair would just puff up poodle style instead of laying in neat dead curtains xD I did start dying my hair though, although back in Ukraine I swore to only ever dye my hair with henna when greys will be too much too handle :rolleyes:

LunaLuvsU
September 29th, 2014, 12:20 PM
Im from Minnesota, USA, and I dont really see LONG hair here all to often. The longest I saw was just beyond tailbone, not to far from my length. I never get comments on it when its down and I always shower at night so I dont usually go out with wet hair. I play or comb out my hair when I either need or want to. My hair isnt diseased or gross and I also dont care what others think. Admire it or hate it its still gonna be there :D

DweamGoiL
September 29th, 2014, 12:30 PM
Without taking it too personally, but just to clarify :) I get that not everyone lives in a diversified city, and that your environment molds how you see the rest of society. Being Hispanic (Latin) is not exclusive of being American. American simply means you were born in America. America is a large continent consisting of North, South, and Central parts...it is not another term for mainland US. But, I get that in daily conversation, most people in the US use the term American to signify being born in the US. That being said, it means that people of hispanic background (ethnicity) can be born in America, and then would be considered American. I have lived in NYC all my life and was born here, but I primarily identify myself as hispanic/Latin. My children are 2nd generation American and they also consider themselves Hispanic/Latin because culturally, our ancestors came from Spanish speaking Europe and the Caribbean. We also have the advantage to be able to speak multiple languages fluently.

So, moving on from that, here the whole hair thing is a mixed bag. You can see almost anything in NYC, but it depends on the group, the neighborhood, and the age demographic. As a general rule, BSL is considered pretty long unless you go into neighborhoods with a more ethnic populace, and there the average is WL although I have seen some ladies with TBL. I even saw a beutifully lush South Asian head of hair once in a thick knee length braid. I can only imagine how long her hair must have been loose. Most women, in an office setting, have short very styled, bleached hair, and the older you get, the lighter it gets despite what your natural color may have been once. The bob seems to be on the back burner for now.

In 20 somethings, long hair is quite common, but it's usually worn down or in a top knotty knot. I only see wet hair in the Summer, and rollers in the hair are considered a fashion faux pas unless you are heading home straight from getting your hair set. Other than that, people don't groom in public, and depending where you go, you can spot all hair colors of the rainbow. What you usually don't see is really long grey hair.

cherrybird
September 29th, 2014, 12:36 PM
I live in a fairly large city (for Canada, anyways) and there are all types of styles here. I'm noticing a lot of young women in University usually either sport a short edgy style or a long natural style. Saw my first in person calf length head of hair just last week! What's really awesome is I see a lot of black and mixed race women wear their hair in its natural state.

If you head downtown there is a lot less variety. Women usually cut their hair to a bob, then dye it a natural shade. I see a few pixies and one woman who puts some really amazing pinks and blues in her salt and pepper hair. You see even fewer men with long hair, if they aren't wearing a short back and sides they slick back their hair.

Most people dry their hair before coming to work, but I see that as practical more than anything. Gets pretty cold here in the winter; my ringlets freeze solid. It's a big faux pas to brush or style your hair in public.



*snip*
People get really really confused when your white and have very curly hair. I was accosted once in a shop when a complete stranger started tugging at my hair insisting it needed a cut and reperm. I had to explain to her it was my natural curl and I had just seen my hair dresser the week before.

This behaviour would be considered extremely rude here! Probably rude where you are too though :)

Rosetta
September 29th, 2014, 12:45 PM
I agree with Sky Child. In the UK long hair is for children, and confusion ensues with adults with long hair unless your elderly then it's sort of OK but most of them have the same short hair style with a pink tint.
You must be joking...? I used to live in the UK (London) for years, and that is definitely not the case, you see all kinds of hair possible... Especially women of East Indian origin often have really long hair, and I never encountered any negativity at all because of my long hair...


Wearing rollers etc out is frowned upon as well
I really believe that's considered a bad faux-pas *everywhere* ;)

I can't think of any specific etiquette over here, unless it's that you must wash your hair at least every other day, preferably daily, otherwise it's unhygienic; and if your hair is of an "ordinary, mousy" colour (dark blonde/ash light brown), you simply *must* dye it, either bleached platinum, black or red ;) (Half-joking, but that mostly seems to be the case...)

Yenn
September 29th, 2014, 12:46 PM
Most women, in an office setting, have short very styled, bleached hair, and the older you get, the lighter it gets despite what your natural color may have been once.

that is so true! and besides hearing that its easier to maintain hair color when greys are not too obvious, I also hear that blonde hair color makes woman appear younger. Does anyone have any color theory to back this up?

Melispelos
September 29th, 2014, 12:55 PM
People get really really confused when your white and have very curly hair. I was accosted once in a shop when a complete stranger started tugging at my hair insisting it needed a cut and reperm. I had to explain to her it was my natural curl and I had just seen my hair dresser the week before.

If a complete stranger started tugging my hair, I would probably punch them in the gut. Nobody. Touches. My. Hair.

No, but seriously, what's wrong with some people? They think they have the right to tell you how to style your hair.

In Arg. there are lots of white women with very tight curls, and they rarely straighten their hair,

Carolyn
September 29th, 2014, 01:39 PM
I go out with wet hair when I don't have time to let it dry. I don't have a problem with what others might think who see me at a fast food place or Walmart. When it gets dry I will bun it. In public. If I am out in the wind on a day when I have my hair down, I will detangle it when I get inside pretty much anywhere I am. I've never gotten a look for it. I don't roll my hair anymore but I would go out in rollers if I did. I often rolled my hair back in the 60s and 70s and went out like that. I didn't really care what strangers thought. I was more concerned how my hair looked on a date night.

In the 50s and 60s women wore hats all the time and did not take them off indoors. Men did but not women. Where I live now all the farmers wear ball cap style hats with usually some kind of farm or seed logo on them. They wear them indoors as casual places all the time. I know it bothers the older generation some but I don't think it's a big deal at all. It's just a cap for crying out loud. I don't believe women are ever required to take off their hats. If I'm wearing a ball cap with a pulled through ponytail I never take it off.

lapushka
September 29th, 2014, 02:03 PM
I think this has been de-bunked though. The English thing about it that you will catch a cold from your wet hair making you cold. When you actually get a cold because of a virus. There are similar myths when you are swimming about it being more important to dry your top half first, because it supposedly loses heat more quickly, when it actually makes no difference.

I get stared at when I go outside with wet hair. I have chosen not to care now. I am blessed with hair that air dries pretty quickly anyway.

My mom always used to tell me after I'd had a long bath time or when my hair was wet, to not go outside just like that. It does feel chilly and feels like you might catch something if you're not careful!

cathair
September 29th, 2014, 02:07 PM
My mom always used to tell me after I'd had a long bath time or when my hair was wet, to not go outside just like that. It does feel chilly and feels like you might catch something if you're not careful!

I agree it's not always pleasant to go out with wet hair :) I don't know if it can cause anything else, but I'm pretty sure it can't give you a cold as the wives tale says:

http://www.nhs.uk/Livewell/coldsandflu/Pages/Preventionandcure.aspx


Does getting cold or wet cause colds?

The only thing that can cause a cold or flu is a cold or flu virus. Getting cold or wet won’t give you a cold. However, if you are already carrying the virus in your nose, it might allow symptoms to develop.

A study at the Common Cold Centre in Cardiff found that people who chilled their feet in cold water for 20 minutes were twice as likely to develop a cold as those who didn't chill their feet.

The authors suggest that this is because some people carry cold viruses without having symptoms. Getting chilled causes blood vessels in the nose to constrict, affecting the defences in the nose and making it easier for the virus to replicate.

"Getting a cold from going out in the cold or after washing your hair is a myth," says Dr Joshi. "Colds are common. If the virus is already there and then you go out with wet hair and develop symptoms, it's common to think that is what caused it."

lunalocks
September 29th, 2014, 02:20 PM
Here you see every length. And color. The short bob with the sides lower than the back and coming to points is a popular style.

I find it interesting in running into women I have known for decades but have not seen in a while and seeing the change in their hair. One, an artist with dark wavy hair kept it long and began putting in several hues of purple dye. Hadn't seen her for about 7 years. She now has gone gray with a short style, back of neck shaved short and the top streaked in all different Koolade colors. Another woman who began going gray in her 20s was dying her hair brown. The next time I saw her she was dying it a reddish brown. Over time it became redder and redder. Fast forward 15 years and she's a blond. but it looks fakey blond. And another co worker now has blond streaks through her dark brown hair. A close relative began streaking her blond hair in her teens. Now the underhair is really a dark brown but she streaks more and more so that it now looks like streaked out blond hair with dark brown ribbons through it. Why do women go lighter and lighter so much that it looks totally fake? Or maybe it just looks fake to me, because I know that it is. I remember what their original hair looked like and it was far more healthy than what they have now.

bustang65
September 29th, 2014, 02:26 PM
Honestly, I wish I knew. I've been told by some people that it's trashy, but I've always done it. I used to stand outside waiting for the bus with wet hair. It was permed back then, and for several weeks, it would freeze hard in spirals from standing out in 0-20 degree F weather!! Because I'm Apostolic and most of my friends are in Bible College, I obviously see a lot of long hair!! They normally have it braided or in an updo out in public, whereas the upperclassmen often attend classes with it hanging naturally. (Except for the ones that have ankle or floor length hair and some time CL girls get tired of it hitting the floor when they sit in class.) The freshman like to do their hair all cute and we laugh at them. (Who has time for that crap at 6 am?)

I have many long hairs that are fellow Gen-Y'ers. I would say it's mixed here in Indiana. Almost all of the "preppy" girls have long hair. (At least APL and normally BSL) WL is becoming a little rare for secular girls, with HL, TBL extremely rare. Like, once in a blue moon rare. I feel like there is a some unspoken rule that it's kind of indecent to run around in public with WSL or longer hair hanging loose. Most often you see girls in church that do banded ponytails and then bubble the intervals so it poufs out, and therefore makes it "shorter." Brushing hair in public seems to be rude.

SkyChild
September 29th, 2014, 02:29 PM
I had no idea ombré was so 10 years ago. Lol.

It's not really. I'm just rolling my eyes at how when I dipdyed my ends blond a decade ago, I got no end of "What are you doing, that's so weird!" from people who now think it's the great new thing because some celebrities did it. As for the manic panic - deffo get it, it's brilliant fun for a change.

Also, I know there's various evidence for or against the wearing hair out wet causing colds but I agree totally, that it's not particularly pleasant. I have had my hair freeze on Winter days, so I do tend to blast it with a hairdryer before I go out (but then you get into the whole heated styling versus damage issue! Sigh. Just need to move somewhere warm)

lapushka
September 29th, 2014, 02:45 PM
I agree it's not always pleasant to go out with wet hair :) I don't know if it can cause anything else, but I'm pretty sure it can't give you a cold as the wives tale says:

http://www.nhs.uk/Livewell/coldsandflu/Pages/Preventionandcure.aspx

Very informative link, thank you. Makes sense that it won't happen just like that from having wet hair, but it's good to know that if you're carrying the virus and you do those things, that it's generally not good.

Catatafish
September 29th, 2014, 03:07 PM
There are a lot of people in my city with unusual hair colour/styles, but the most popular seems so be APL to BSL, usually worn down or in a top knot. Bobs are somewhat popular too, and pixie haircuts are becoming a bit more poplar. Also undercuts. It's very unusual to see somebody with hair past waist length. There are a lot of college students and musicians/artsy people around though, so I suppose there is a fair amount of variation.

I'm not sure if it is rude to go outside with wet hair or not. I do sometimes, though I try not to. I don't really see what the problem is with it. I wouldn't go to work with completely wet hair though. I'd just go to work a little early, and put it up when I arrived in the bathroom. At least it'd be damp by then, and not as noticeable.

I occasionally comb my hair in public, usually if I'm sitting outside, because I shed a lot. You wouldn't see somebody doing it at a restaurant, but you can in more casual settings. I don't think it's that rude. I often see people (usually older men) clipping their nails in public, and I think that is disgusting!

It isn't considered rude for women to wear hats inside usually. I know that you used to have to wear a hat or some sort of head covering to go to church. And didn't certain professions, like nursing, require that women wear hats at all times?

Robot Ninja
September 29th, 2014, 03:12 PM
In my part of Canada BSL-to-waist hair is becoming fairly common among teenage girls and younger women. I'm seeing a lot more funky colors too, as well as blatant dye jobs, like the blonde-on-top-with-a-dark-underlayer look.

Going out with wet hair is considered kinda slobbish, but people still do it if they're, well, being slobs. Of course, it's just a bad idea in the winter. Pulling out a comb in public will get you side-eyed but finger-combing or putting your hair up in public generally won't.

Touching a stranger's hair is a huge no, but of course just like anywhere there are people with boundary issues.

miss_asimov
September 29th, 2014, 04:30 PM
I live in the UK and am a secondary school teacher. So many of my female pupils now have rather long hair (BSl and beyond), usually virgin or with highlights. They do all tend to wear it down...

Rushli
September 29th, 2014, 05:19 PM
I

In the 50s and 60s women wore hats all the time and did not take them off indoors. Men did but not women. Where I live now all the farmers wear ball cap style hats with usually some kind of farm or seed logo on them. They wear them indoors as casual places all the time. I know it bothers the older generation some but I don't think it's a big deal at all. It's just a cap for crying out loud. I don't believe women are ever required to take off their hats. If I'm wearing a ball cap with a pulled through ponytail I never take it off.

In high school I had a class that covered some etiquette. The reason women did not take off hats was because they were pinned on their heads. Now a days, baseball and sun hats would not fall under this catigory. At the time we were discussing it in regards to if they needed to be taken off when saying the pledge of allegiance or listening to the national anthem at a ball game or something.

chen bao jun
September 29th, 2014, 05:23 PM
I remember hat etiquette in NYC in the early 1960's. Women always put on hats to go out. You would not think of going out bareheaded, whether male or female in those days. The hats were very pretty and decorated with veils or flowers or things like that. Often they were so small that they were more ornamental than anything. the nicer ones were for church, as you absolutely as a woman could not go into any church with an uncovered head as a woman. the Catholics hung on to this for a long time and certain very conservative Protestants still do it, but usually wear veils now instead of hats. But in those days even the mainstream Protestant churches had women with covered heads.
My mom used to put on a hat AND gloves to take us for a walk in the park in our pram (that was what they called a baby carriage back in the day and they were huge, I remember riding around in it with my sister as a four year old when she was two and we both still easily fit); she wore hats to the library, she wore hats grocery shopping. She never wore pants back then--she always wore dresses. She would wear flat shoes most of the time, like ballerina flats, but that was because she is so tall. Many other ladies you would see in high heeled shoes 24/7. My mom was dressed in what was considered an informal dress then (but girls nowadays would wear something similar as guests to a wedding) from the moment she woke up in the morning, until the evening, and as I said, would put on gloves and a hat whenever she went out.
Men wore hats when they went out. I remember the fedora style the most in the early 60's. They were beautiful hats and were made of felted wool. My mom still had some of my dad's hats from that time until recently. They went out of style so suddenly that they weren't much used and very nice. If it rained, my dad had a kind of fitted cover he put over them. a fitted transparent cover. You rarely saw a bareheaded man in the streets in those days, even after President Kennedy went to his inauguration bareheaded (which was quite a shocking thing to do). In the summer, they might have straw hats, especially in an informal atmostphere like the beach (I'd see them when we went to Coney Island). the etiquette about men's hats was very strict. They not only HAD to take off their hats in church, but when they went indoors to visit people they took them off. A man did not wear a hat in the house, it was rude. He'd put it on the table beside him. In the street, if a man saw a lady he knew, he would tip his hat to her. I remember my dad doing this when we took walks. It was a very graceful gesture. If they stopped to chat (the man and the lady) he would take off his hat while talking to her to be polite, a lot of the time. I am sure there was some etiquette about this, but I'm not sure what it was.
Men did not wear gloves except for warmth by then, except when very formally dressed (like in a tuxedo, for a wedding)--my dad said his father used to wear gloves a lot, but from what I can remember, ladies were the ones who wore gloves. There were different styles for different sorts of dresses and occasions. The least formal ones were little white cotton ones. those were the ones my mom wore even to the grocery store. If you went out in the evening and had a sleeveless dress, you would have very long gloves, up past your elbows. For a while then, the three-quarter sleeve coats were stylish for women at this period. (I remember them being called 'bracelet sleeves'). You had to wear long gloves with those coats. And you put your bracelets on OVER the gloves. Those pearl bracelets that have 3 or 4 rows were very popular then (they were mostly faux pearls as cultured pearls cost a lot at that period). Also, a lot of ladies had charm bracelets.
the hats protected your head and hair (most of them, the teeny little ones didn't do anything but decorate). The melanoma rate was lower then, I think partly because of this protection. And people didn't pass the winter with a perpetual cold in their head. Wearing the gloves meant that you weren't touching people's hands all the time, in an age when there weren't kleenex yet (although there were pocket handkerchiefs, plenty of them, and they also had their etiquette). Also, kids went to school later and they never went to daycare. Kindergarten was actually optional and a lot of kids didn't go. So they had more immunity. Although there were still diseases then that we don't have now. Polio was done with, thank goodness, but we still got measles and mumps to name just two things. I had both the measles and the mumps, they were like a rite of childhood. What would often happen was, when one child in the neighborhood got the measles, all the other mothers would bring their kid to that child and hope they would catch the measles and get it over with (because you were going to get it sometime). This was especially important for little boys since the measles doesn't usually hurt little boys--but it can make grown men infertile.
Things were so much more formal than now. As a little girl--I was only three in 1960, I had to wear white gloves and also little white socks with ruffles, to church. I remember we couldn't wear pants to school no matter how cold it got, until I was in 5th grade. That would have been in 1967. And there were endless arguments as to whether this was decent or not. In the end they let us wear ski pants under our skirts but we had to take them off when we got to school. We walked to school, because it was in a city and there weren't school buses there and remember panty hose were not invented yet. So you had socks. Knee high socks and a wool skirt, but we would get very cold. But the pants were considered to be indecent on girls or women.
The mini skirt came out the next year, 1968, from London and everything got 'mod' and a lot less formal, all of a sudden. it really was all of a sudden. Like bam! One minute you looked like Jackie Kennedy and the next minute, like Petula Clark or Twiggy. The whole culture took a complete 180 turn. It was in 1968 when some teenage girls first had really long hair, from what I remember. Long probably being bra strap, but it looked very very long since before then, EVERYBODY had really short hair, sometimes a pixie but more often a bob, very styled and curled, you didn't see many women with hair as long as their shoulders before 1965 or so (when you were allowed to have shoulder length hair, flipped over on the ends.) so hair down your back was really shocking--and it was meant to be. It was part of the youth rebellion, with the hippies and all of that. that the hippie girls hair was not styled was even more shocking. Everyone's hair was heavily styled before that. Yes, you wore rollers at night and a LOT of hair spray and there was a lot of poufing and teasing, and for formal occasions, women would put some fake hair, a 'piece' it was called, and pin it to their short haircuts. it wasn't supposed to fool anybody, really. it was just a formal sort of thing that went with the white gloves and sleeveless dresses, to look as if you had a bun, even though you actually had really short, curled hair.
I never saw hair rollers out in the street until the early 70's, when I went to junior high school in a Hispanic neighborhood, I think probably recent immigrants, because everybody spoke spanish all the time and it was fluent (and usually, in my experience, the second generation knows a little spanish, very bad spanish, like childish, since they essentially stop learning it once they go to school, and the third generation doesn't know any spanish anymore, they are completely american.) IN this neighborhood, to my surprise, I would see hair curlers, big giant ones, worn openly in street basically all the time, often with a scarf sort of holding them down, but not hiding them. I wasn't surprised at the rollers, because my dad's family's not spanish but they are mixed race and from very near to Mexico and the hair type a lot of them have, if you wear giant rollers, your curls straighten out without using heat or chemicals. A lot of my aunts wore giant hair rollers in the house basically all the time, or did what they called a doobie or maybe dubi? I don't know. You wind your hair around your head as if its a big roller. It has the same effect. You never saw them at home without these rollers, because you had to wear your hair straight, curls were like, death, but you never saw them in the street WITH them.



In the 50s and 60s women wore hats all the time and did not take them off indoors. Men did but not women. Where I live now all the farmers wear ball cap style hats with usually some kind of farm or seed logo on them. They wear them indoors as casual places all the time. I know it bothers the older generation some but I don't think it's a big deal at all. It's just a cap for crying out loud. I don't believe women are ever required to take off their hats. If I'm wearing a ball cap with a pulled through ponytail I never take it off.

DreamSheep
September 29th, 2014, 05:28 PM
that is so true! and besides hearing that its easier to maintain hair color when greys are not too obvious, I also hear that blonde hair color makes woman appear younger. Does anyone have any color theory to back this up?

I guess most children have hair that darkens as they get older. That said, I don't think that is the youth these women are trying to go after.

nerdymomma
September 29th, 2014, 06:41 PM
This is an interesting thread. I live in a beach town so it is distinctly more informal here vs DC. Lots of women wear their hair down, and long, more natural styles are more common than I remember in our old city, where it was more common to see a lot of heat styling. My BSL hair is on the longer end of normal, and I wear it up 99% of the time, and for some reason I always catch a bit of flack for that choice. I have seen a fair number of longhairs (waist and beyond) here, especially at the beachfront during summer time.

Carolyn
September 29th, 2014, 06:47 PM
In high school I had a class that covered some etiquette. The reason women did not take off hats was because they were pinned on their heads. Now a days, baseball and sun hats would not fall under this catigory. At the time we were discussing it in regards to if they needed to be taken off when saying the pledge of allegiance or listening to the national anthem at a ball game or something.Years ago we had a discussion on hat etiquette here at LHC. It would be in the old archives. At that time I did some internet research and could not find a hard and fast rule on women removing baseball caps and sun hats when the national anthem is played. Some sites said yes and some said no but most info I found was it was up to the woman if she took off her hat. I choose to keep mine on and many other women do too. Dalaina Harvick was criticized for not taking hers off. She said it was not required and she preferred to keep hers on. When I go to a NASCAR race I sometimes have a braided bun with a baseball cap. I'd like to see someone tell me to remove it. Not happening. I remember reading about ladies wearing giant hats to the movies and being asked to remove them as the people behind couldn't see around them. Now that makes sense.

RavennaNight
September 29th, 2014, 07:41 PM
Interesting about going out with wet hair. I do it often, as I shower in the morning, so that's when washing would normally occur on days that I wash. When I was a kid and my mom used to take me to church, one Sunday morning I decided to wet and scrunch my hair. She was irate that I was going to church with wet hair. To this day I don't get why. It's just wet! So? How is it inappropriate? How is it rude? If it's wet, clearly it was recently washed by one method or another, so it would meet the normal world's pristine (if not ridiculously uptight) hygiene standards.

There are all different lengths where I live. Someone mentioned Hispanics with really long hair, that is the case here too. The Hispanic women in my community have some of the longest hair, along with south Asian women. Women in general here seem to be growing hair longer lately.

sumidha
September 29th, 2014, 07:55 PM
I'm from Northern California, so maybe unsurprisingly there's not a lot of hard and fast etiquette around hair. People pretty much do whatever they want, and no one gives them a second look. I imagine if you went out with hair that was literally dripping wet people would be confused, but I think when we talk about 'wet' hair here most most of the time people mean hair that's still damp, or visibly wet, not dripping water onto everyone. :)

MsPharaohMoan
September 29th, 2014, 08:11 PM
*wonders what canadian city cherrybird is from*

"laying in neat dead curtains" - this is what I'm going to think of every time I see straightened hair now! xD

I remember going to the UK, specifically London, and oh man! The styles! From clothing to hair everyone was different and no one seemed to care. I probably looked like I was gawking at everyone while I was there… Because I was.

winship2
September 29th, 2014, 08:39 PM
Chen Bao Jun, I enjoyed your post so much :)

Mellenoire
September 29th, 2014, 11:17 PM
Where I grew up in Australia (suburbs of a big city) hair was considered inappropriate, as was doing your hair in public. You would never go to an interview with wet hair! Most women wore their hair around BSL (my chin length hair was considered unusual) but it was rare to have hair longer than waist. Also, it was considered very unprofessional to have brightly coloured hair, in addition to greying hair. Formal wear implies hair up.

Now I've moved to a much smaller rural town and wet hair is considered quite alright. Styling hair in public is still not on, but I see many people in professional positions with bright streaks of colour. People tend to either be longer than waist or shorter than APL.

Sharysa
September 29th, 2014, 11:50 PM
It also seems natural texture is frowned upon here--i.e. hair that is not volumized, straightened, and sprayed to within an inch of its life is dowdy, lazy, etc.

Seconded. Here in North California, I noticed that there's a lot of awesome dyed/edgy styles. Long hair (waist to hip) is fairly common, but long hair with natural TEXTURE is not. Nearly everyone either straightens their hair to death or heat-styles their curls. Very few people have natural waves or curls like mine.

I've also noticed that most girls' hair doesn't really MOVE a lot, probably due to hairspray/gel. For example: If a moderate wind comes up, bits of my hair start blowing around (usually the sides). And it's NOT the nice, romantic kind--it's either "GAAAAAAH HAIR IN MY EYES" or "GAAAAAH HAIR IS FLOATING, MUST PHYSICALLY HOLD IT DOWN BEFORE IT EMBARRASSES ME."

But with other girls, their hair somehow manages to sit nicely in place like a helmet/cape, while my hair goes nuts. It's a little bit creepy.

Etiquette-wise, nobody really minds if you redo your braid/bun as long as you don't try full-on re-styling on public transport. For quick rebraiding (like, my braid is only a bit fuzzy) I just stay where I am and redo it, but if I want a mirror or if my braid is looking really trashed, I go into the bathroom so I can finger-comb and then rebraid it.

YvetteVarie
September 30th, 2014, 01:36 AM
Here, we are mostly black (African). Women normally wear their hair in weaves or extension braids. Those who don't wear these have their hair chemically straightened and wear it down or in a ponytail to show off length. Virgin hair is considered mainly for kids and teenagers in very strict schools. A few older women have their hair cut very short, and then dye it dark brown, red or blonde. Many other women wear dreadlocks, and these are becoming more and more mainstream. Very few women with long, virgin hair wear it out. We are considered oddballs (or lazy) because we don't do the accepted ''adult'' hairstyles like weaves or relax our hair. Weaves are also an indicator of economic status. The lower income women get synthetic hair, and the very wealthy women get 'Brazilian", 'Peruvian' or whatever flavor of the month weave hair.

Actual hair length is usually bald to shoulder length. APL+ is considered very long hair. Weaves and extensions range from shoulder to hip length.

Etiquette-wise, it depends with where you are. Grooming on public transport is pretty normal. However, in upscale areas, public grooming is frowned on.

YvetteVarie
September 30th, 2014, 01:38 AM
Here, we are mostly black (African). Women normally wear their hair in weaves or extension braids. Those who don't wear these have their hair chemically straightened and wear it down or in a ponytail to show off length. Virgin hair is considered mainly for kids and teenagers in very strict schools. A few older women have their hair cut very short, and then dye it dark brown, red or blonde. Many other women wear dreadlocks, and these are becoming more and more mainstream. Very few women with long, virgin hair wear it out. We are considered oddballs (or lazy) because we don't do the accepted ''adult'' hairstyles like weaves or relax our hair. Weaves are also an indicator of economic status. The lower income women get synthetic hair, and the very wealthy women get 'Brazilian", 'Peruvian' or whatever flavor of the month weave hair.

Actual hair length is usually bald to shoulder length. APL+ is considered very long hair. Weaves and extensions range from shoulder to hip length.

Etiquette-wise, it depends with where you are. Grooming on public transport is pretty normal. However, in upscale areas, public grooming is frowned on.

ExpectoPatronum
September 30th, 2014, 01:48 AM
I live in a very...progressive...town...and pretty much nothing is frowned upon. I have seen hair of all types, textures, colors, and in all states of cleanliness. I have seem dreads that looked good, I have seen dreads that look horrendous. I have seen parents letting their kids run around with hair that looks like it hasn't been brushed once in their entire life. A lot of hair is long and more natural (ie not heat styled). Though there are people who do style their hair but no one really looks down on them for it. This town is a very much "do whatever you want, it's fine as long as it doesn't hurt anyone."

It's very freeing actually. It's nice being able to go to school not worrying about how your hair looks...and it's also nice knowing that, despite how bad of a hair day you may be having, someone's hair will probably look "worse" (in your own eyes, at least.)

Rosetta
September 30th, 2014, 03:29 AM
I remember going to the UK, specifically London, and oh man! The styles! From clothing to hair everyone was different and no one seemed to care.
Exactly, glad I'm not the only one to see it that way :) As that's the opposite of Purdy Bear and SkyChild's claims (on previous pages) that in the UK "long hair is for children", and that everyone looks the same later on... Maybe this has less to do with factual reality than what you're brought up to think..? (As now it's those not brought up in the UK having opposite views to those who have.)

Majorane
September 30th, 2014, 03:36 AM
Over here in Holland I see a lot of:
-bleach. Yellow bleached hair. So many women wanna be blond, and they go for yellow. Oftentimes I think it doesn't match their complexion that well at all-white people and yellow is a very difficult combination. And bleach makes it look like straw. Sometimes you can see the wonderfull natural darker blonde regrowth from their roots, and I think 'hmm your natural color is sooo much nicer than that dead yellow straw...' but of course, they aren't there to decorate my world.

-women going to their 40's going short. Pixy to shoulderlength short. Sometimes blonde and short, or styled like a big French twist hairspray helmet, other times short and with red spikies. Again I wonder why they choose those hairstyles, they all look the same to me and they don't always seem to be chosen because they match that persons features the best. Buuuut, again, not my problem, if they like it, go for it.

-people are growing their hair again! Many teenage girls are longerhaired nowadays and there seems to be a trend for mums and ladies above 40 to not always go in for the chop! Usually it's either loose or in a messy bun, or with a few clips, and around BSL-waist, but I have seen some spectaculsir classic+ hair around town lately. Messy partings, too. Very little people bun it up like I do (which is why I have a lovehate relationship with protective hairstyles). And often it looks dry, dry, dry.


In general, I think a lot of people could maybe use a comb a bit more often, if you ask me. Which they didn't so I'd never say it. There still is that rule that older women (and 'older' apparently means '35+' :wail) shouldn't have too long hair, apl max, but that rule does get broken more often now. And of course there's that group of women abouve 35 that want to look like in their twenties and have their BSL hair super expensively highlighted and fashionably loose curled.

People do seem to think hair is gross. Hair in soup? Demand for fresh soup! I just fish it out and continue eating. I don't think hair is that dirty.

Oh! And another crazy thing! I saw tree hair salons over here offer monthly subscriptions: you pay them a set fee every month and you can come in to have it blowdried and styled as much as you like! Amazing.... I guess that's for the hip richer ladies with the expensive highlights. Wierd....



Chen, I really loved reading your long post of hair in your youth. Makes me want to wear a hat and gloves every day. So classy....

Nightamin
September 30th, 2014, 03:48 AM
I don't think anything is frowned upon where I'm from (Melbourne, Australia) except for perhaps dirty hair. Other than that it's common to see all types of hair - heat styled, dyed, natural, virgin, you name it. Long hair (meaning waist or longer) also seems to be gaining popularity around here (specifically with girls in their early-mid twenties) but many seem to resort to wearing extensions since the majority are heat tool addicts who need to get their fix several times a week. I think BSL is the most common length that I see around here, though.

lazuliblue
September 30th, 2014, 04:01 AM
Exactly, glad I'm not the only one to see it that way :) As that's the opposite of Purdy Bear and SkyChild's claims (on previous pages) that in the UK "long hair is for children", and that everyone looks the same later on... Maybe this has less to do with factual reality than what you're brought up to think..? (As now it's those not brought up in the UK having opposite views to those who have.)

It's probably to do with where in the the UK you are. As MsPharaohMoan said, in London there will be a myriad of styles and lengths. However, once you get to the more isolated, smaller cities and towns the average hair length seems to decrease. Where I live BSL is considered long!

As for hair etiquette, I'm not really sure what people think about going out with wet hair...I do it!

JustPam
September 30th, 2014, 05:44 AM
Here I see massive variations in hairstyles, many awful (obvious extensions in short choppy hair, huge tight donut buns, loose messy buns, slinky buns) but also a fair amount of "normal" styles and celebrity trends. I notice a lot of younger girls now are sticking with natural looking hair that's around waist length, bright dyes and edgy cuts seem more of an alternative crowd thing. The longest hair I've seen is a man with floor length dreadlocks, then the next longest seems to be middle-eastern women, between TBL and MTL mostly.

People have no problem blocking all the sinks in public bathrooms to adjust and re-backcomb their hair and choke everyone with hairspray. I never really see anyone out with wet hair, plenty people with greasy stinky hair that sit next to me on the bus (vom)

rags
September 30th, 2014, 05:50 AM
I live in a quite rural area in the Southern US. The wet hair thing really isn't frowned upon in summer here, and in winter it's more of the "you'll catch a cold" thing than any etiquette really. The teens and twenty somethings generally have anything from pixies to BSL, though I've been seeing longer and longer the last year or two! Once you hit 35-40, though - the secular women almost all cut it. Even if you don't cut it, you MUST dye it! I've had cashiers in Wal-Mart tell me how much younger I would look if I would only dye my hair. My hair is long AND salt and pepper to silver (it's well over 50 percent silver now. Old pic), so I do get comments and looks and heard one person call it "witchy" loud enough for me to hear. Safe to say, long hair on older women is NOT approved of here. (However, this is only if I wear it down, which happens once a month maybe? )

Why I said secular is that we have quite a large Pentacostal/Apostolic group in our area. They have beautiful long hair, and the older women almost always have it up (this is because it's usually quite long - you have to! I used to attend the giant church there for several years). I get lumped in with them a lot because I wear long skirts almost exclusively (I have a couple of right at the knee or right below the knee skirts, but those are usually in winter with tights. I don't wear trousers/jeans at all. ). So I get a "pass" from most people when I'm wearing it up as they assume I'm religious and that's why I have long hair. The religious people know better - I wear earrings! :p

Oh, and no one in my age group except the religious women wear buns really. Down is the preferred look, braids sometimes - but no buns. Yet another reason I get classified religious I suppose. The young people do wear the ubiquitous messy bun, though.

It is considered rude to here to comb your hair outside of very casual settings, but most especially in restaurants (I would consider that rude also), mainly because of shed hairs getting in people's food. Hats nowadays are worn indoors and out, neither is considered rude by younger people or by most older people nowadays. I too remember the days of hats in church though! (and gloves, but I only had to wear them for more "dress up" occasions. My mother turned into a semi-hippie around the time I was born. :p )

angstroms
September 30th, 2014, 06:15 AM
I live in Alaska, and hair seems to be like just about anything else here...No one really pays it any mind, in my experience. When I went to a big event here there were people in Met-worthy formal wear, and people in carharts, with neither group really making a thing of it. I don't know if it's like that everywhere here, but I would say its sort of the same with hair. No one seems to care if it's up, down, wet, styled, messy...Maybe the occasional comment on a great color, style, or length, as trends here are very behind the lower 48. I see a lot of people with long hair here, though. Also an oddly high proportion of redheads in my area!

RockyLvsAdrian
September 30th, 2014, 06:29 AM
I live in the South Wales valleys, UK. Pretty much anything goes here. Long, short, shaved, dyed, natural, crazy colours. All are common and don't raise eyebrows.

Rosetta
September 30th, 2014, 06:50 AM
It's probably to do with where in the the UK you are. As MsPharaohMoan said, in London there will be a myriad of styles and lengths. However, once you get to the more isolated, smaller cities and towns the average hair length seems to decrease.
True, but at least Purdy Bear's location (the one below avatar) is London, and she was the one saying long hair is for kids ;)

SnottyDotty
September 30th, 2014, 07:53 AM
I live in the South Wales valleys, UK. Pretty much anything goes here. Long, short, shaved, dyed, natural, crazy colours. All are common and don't raise eyebrows.

^ This is exactly what I love about living in Wales. As far as etiquette goes people don't even seem to look twice if someone is walking around town in their pyjamas or dressing gown so I'm sure wet hair won't get a second look either.

DweamGoiL
September 30th, 2014, 08:15 AM
Not to sidetrack the thread, but SnottyDotty, I love your nick :)

SnottyDotty
September 30th, 2014, 08:27 AM
Not to sidetrack the thread, but SnottyDotty, I love your nick :)

Hehe, thank you :D

Lady Mary
September 30th, 2014, 09:02 AM
At the moment I live in a coastal town in the southern United States so seeing wet hair is pretty normal. People are often coming from or heading to the beach. They're usually dressed as such though so I don't see wet hair unless the person is wearing a bathing suit/beach wrap usually. Length varies greatly, older women (55+) used to almost universally have very short hair. In the last five years or so, I am seeing this less. I think the previous generation, the silent geners, tended towards poofy pixies but as the baby boomers age, they're more likely to keep their locks. Women of middle ages tend to have APL-BSL hair, sometimes the poofy bob (like Victoria Beckham.) Younger girls are displaying a lot of natural looking longer hair, BSL and longer. This is recent as well. As for color, bottle blonde and tan skin is prevalent. I get a lot of looks for being pale with dark hair, lots of "get some sun" type comments. I only see unnatural colors (like pink and blue) once in a blue moon. I can't remember the last time I saw a really interesting hair style, like a mohawk or something. Living in southern California, I saw that stuff on a daily basis (and had plenty of interesting hair myself I might add!)

Lady Katherine
September 30th, 2014, 09:13 AM
I live in New Jersey. It's a diverse area, so that means lots of different hair styles! I love it! But I feel like the older people have shorter hair. And wet hair is a big no no. At least among the people I see and know.

truepeacenik
September 30th, 2014, 09:24 AM
Rags, you earring wearing rebel. I love you.

Expecto, the only hair etiquette, or etiquette at all for that matter I noticed in your fine town was hold your hand out.
Even McKinley has his hand out. ;)

I'm sorting styles and fashion from etiquette and manners.
Here's what I gather on the Invisible Miss Manners of Hair
Do not touch someone's hair. Multiply this by 10 if the person is a Black woman. And god have mercy on your soul.
Again, there are people who break this rule, male and female.
I get petted on rare occasion. Sometimes I have good humor about it, sometimes not.

It's ok to ask where you get it cut, curled, colored, braided or straightened. Price questions are more subtle, ranging from "are they good?" to the confusing-to-me, "did he pay for it? "

Free flowing hair is fine. Dreads are fine, but there's an income point where they become "nasty" to people. I think there's a difference between dreading the hair you grow, on your own (and not being Black), having dreads done at a salon, and having dread extensions. It seems to parallel my experience of "long hair is a nasty mess unless you bought it."

Rainbows of color are fine until one hits upper middle class socio-economically.
Manners often are social signals of status, and the rules change.
Older, artsy women get away with rainbow hair, especially on silver.

Hats depend on the group.
In my Jewish community, men are expected to wear kippah. Many wear a Borsolino as well.
Women cover in varying degrees. Some don't, some use scarves or hats, and some sheitels.

I live among several Muslim families who recently emigrated. The women and girls, as young as six, wear hijab.
In teen years, there's a split, where the young women will rebel against their family and uncover, or rebel against the culture and cover.
The men, to be fair, wear western clothing almost exclusively but do dress modestly. No shorts, sagging pants, etc.
(Sagging pants are big here. Belts at the classic length line are common. I've seen mid calf, too.)

Many hair salons have modesty rooms. I was unaware of these until college, when I befriended salon owner from Pakistan. She had an all glass front wall, so she had to build a small room in back that served for waxing and all services for modest customers.
This allows the ladies to get haircuts. Without any men seeing their hair.

Damp hair: I don't notice it, but I do know a coworker will come on with towel dried hair and bun it before gets his first client. Yes, he.

truepeacenik
September 30th, 2014, 09:26 AM
Dreaded double post.
I'm blaming loads of cold medicine.

I have no kitties to offer.

Frederikke
September 30th, 2014, 09:49 AM
I live in scandinavia. I guess here anything really goes...
I'm trying really hard to think of har specific thing that would be frowned upon! Obviously greasy to the point of stringy would not be the best but i think that might be worse here because our fine hair show greasiness much quicker.

Frederikke
September 30th, 2014, 09:54 AM
I think anything goes here, really. (scandinavia)

cathair
September 30th, 2014, 10:40 AM
It's probably to do with where in the the UK you are. As MsPharaohMoan said, in London there will be a myriad of styles and lengths. However, once you get to the more isolated, smaller cities and towns the average hair length seems to decrease. Where I live BSL is considered long!

As for hair etiquette, I'm not really sure what people think about going out with wet hair...I do it!


True, but at least Purdy Bear's location (the one below avatar) is London, and she was the one saying long hair is for kids ;)

I can see both points of view. London isn't at all representative of the rest of the country. It is much more diverse and much more multicultural, although this is rather rapidly changing in recent years. While I don't think you will get stoned or anything for having wildly different hair! You will get stared at and people making comments and sometimes you need quite a thick skin for it. But I wouldn't say long hair is different enough for that either. I'm think more, weird cut, shaved, brightly coloured.

I don't think long hair is associated with little girls, exactly. Although it does have youthful connotations (?) There definitely is some.. I'm not sure trend is the right word.. maybe social expectation that women of a certain age should have shorter hair. I know many women in their forties and fifties who have cut longish hair into something short because of it.

Purdy Bear's experience is that elderly people sometimes have longer hair. But I very rarely see this. I associate elderly women with the granny perm, or the more modern granny pixie with a very bright or kind of weird colour cast. Often because they say their hair has thinned so much, so it 'had to be' cut short and curled. When I worked in nursing home only one resident had long hair and she was considered difficult, partly because of it.

My Mum is half bald and no one said said anything to her about it (in my presence) or made a chemo reference for a long time now. But I suppose I am quite protective of her so I don't know if they would dare. I can remember people doing it though. Sometimes they think they are being helpful, sometimes it's like watching a car crash and they can't help themselves.

Frederikke
September 30th, 2014, 11:09 AM
I think anything goes here, really. (scandinavia)

Sofialu
September 30th, 2014, 12:55 PM
Exactly, glad I'm not the only one to see it that way :) As that's the opposite of Purdy Bear and SkyChild's claims (on previous pages) that in the UK "long hair is for children", and that everyone looks the same later on... Maybe this has less to do with factual reality than what you're brought up to think..? (As now it's those not brought up in the UK having opposite views to those who have.)

I've been brought up in the UK and I've found most people are complimentary if you do something out of the ordinary with your hair. I see just as many adults with long hair as short and no one bats an eyelid. The only thing I don't generally see is hair longer than TBL, that would get a few admiring stares. Also I don't see many older people with very long hair, usually the older generation (age 60+) keep a shorter do.

DweamGoiL
September 30th, 2014, 12:58 PM
I wasn't surprised at the rollers, because my dad's family's not spanish but they are mixed race and from very near to Mexico and the hair type a lot of them have, if you wear giant rollers, your curls straighten out without using heat or chemicals. A lot of my aunts wore giant hair rollers in the house basically all the time, or did what they called a doobie or maybe dubi? I don't know. You wind your hair around your head as if its a big roller. It has the same effect.

Actually, chen it's called a Tubi (pronounced Too bee), but for some reason most English dominant people find this hard to pronounce or I am not sure if they are not able to hear the T sound at the beginning of the word since it's more subtle when this word is enunciated in Spanish, but either way:


http://youtu.be/tabmSp-d9u4

In Hispanic culture, it is rather uncouth to go out sporting a Tubi in public unless you're running home from the hairdressers or wear a scarf over it...same idea as rollers. In the house though most women leave their hair wrapped this way until they are ready to go out.

RockyLvsAdrian
September 30th, 2014, 01:08 PM
^ This is exactly what I love about living in Wales. As far as etiquette goes people don't even seem to look twice if someone is walking around town in their pyjamas or dressing gown so I'm sure wet hair won't get a second look either.

Very true!! Gone are the days where miner's wives stripped to the waist and fought in the street but there are certain elements of "Welshness" that are rarely seen elsewhere in the UK! ☺️

Sofialu
September 30th, 2014, 01:12 PM
I can see both points of view. London isn't at all representative of the rest of the country. It is much more diverse and much more multicultural, although this is rather rapidly changing in recent years. While I don't think you will get stoned or anything for having wildly different hair! You will get stared at and people making comments and sometimes you need quite a thick skin for it. But I wouldn't say long hair is different enough for that either. I'm think more, weird cut, shaved, brightly coloured.

I don't think long hair is associated with little girls, exactly. Although it does have youthful connotations (?) There definitely is some.. I'm not sure trend is the right word.. maybe social expectation that women of a certain age should have shorter hair. I know many women in their forties and fifties who have cut longish hair into something short because of it.

Purdy Bear's experience is that elderly people sometimes have longer hair. But I very rarely see this. I associate elderly women with the granny perm, or the more modern granny pixie with a very bright or kind of weird colour cast. Often because they say their hair has thinned so much, so it 'had to be' cut short and curled. When I worked in nursing home only one resident had long hair and she was considered difficult, partly because of it.

My Mum is half bald and no one said said anything to her about it (in my presence) or made a chemo reference for a long time now. But I suppose I am quite protective of her so I don't know if they would dare. I can remember people doing it though. Sometimes they think they are being helpful, sometimes it's like watching a car crash and they can't help themselves.

Sorry cathair I didn't see your post when I replied to Rosetta but in general what I've found is similar to your experience, especially the older generation tending to have shorter hair (shoulder length and above) as opposed to long hair.

Sofialu
September 30th, 2014, 01:22 PM
Back to the OP re etiquette - I occasionally do the school run with wet hair and no one cares.

SkyChild
September 30th, 2014, 01:23 PM
I didn't say long hair is for kids. I said where I live it's uncommon to see anyone past their mid-twenties with longer than BSL hair.
Those that do are often sporting extensions. Most career-women I know, near me, reckon that long hair is unprofessional-looking.
Myself and my extended family (cousins etc) only know one lady over 60 (between us) with hair anywhere near long, all the rest seem to be sporting the granny perm.
I also didn't say I don't like her hair, and I don't think people would moan about long hair on people, you'd most likely get nice comments.
It does seem to be very much middle-aged up ladies around my city who moan about "young kids today" with their long/short/shaved/pink/blue/green hair. My Mum commented that she'd be less likely to go to a shop assistant with un-natural coloured hair if there was a worker nearby that was brunette or blonde. This never even occurred to me. I was like "But it's only hair, it doesn't affect how they do their job." Weird.

I was trying to give a picture to the OP of the general demographics where I am.

I'm in Dundee by the way.
That's definitely not London.

Unofficial_Rose
September 30th, 2014, 01:37 PM
Honestly, I wish I knew. I've been told by some people that it's trashy, but I've always done it. I used to stand outside waiting for the bus with wet hair. It was permed back then, and for several weeks, it would freeze hard in spirals from standing out in 0-20 degree F weather!!


You know what, me too! I'm in the UK and no-one has ever said anything to me or given me funny looks when I've gone out with wet hair. I don't think I'm the type of person who is considered trashy. :confused:

Federica
October 1st, 2014, 07:14 AM
I live in Italy, and I must say that even if we're a small country, there's a lot of cultural differencences between our regions.
Here in the most metropolitan, industrialised and continental area, Milan, you can see every kind of people and styles, and things get crazy during the fashion weeks or the design expositions.
No hair style here is unusual, you can see elder (or young) people with green hair, natural super long hair (and I mean far beyond classic), bleached layered salon heads, a lot of ombrč and some stunning dreadlocks.
I noticed that if you move from the metropolitan area but you stay in the north of the country people has more "ordinary" hair, which means processed and not very long, but there are some long haired folks.
In the southern mediterranean area, I noticed that the average lenght is much longer in women, and it's difficult to see a woman with shorter hair than shoulder (even if I didn't see any longer than tbl).
In summertime is quite usual to go out with wet hair, but I doubt that someone would go to work like that here in Milan.

emilia1992
October 1st, 2014, 09:08 AM
I'm in London, and pretty much anything goes. Common styles/types are:

1) The suited professional: Often hair between shoulder and armpit length, very neatly cut (as in, it looks like they just left the hairdressers 5 minutes ago). Hair is often dyed, with blonde being popular.
2) The early-morning joggers: Hair between shoulder and armpit length, tied back in a ponytail. A mixture of natural and dyed.
3) Students 1: A sort of 'undone' look, like loose ponytails or messy buns. Hair is usually longer than armpit length.
4) Students 2: Very polished, but noticeably so (e.g. curls clearly done by tongs, highlights)
5) Students 3: Short hair, bright colours (I've seen pink, green and blue), with additions like undercuts, mohawks, you name it.
6) Tourists: Of course, a large range. Usually worn loose, and more natural than dyed.

Of course, this being London, this list can't even begin to cover the variety on show! But the hair etiquette is just to regard everything as normal. Someone with a multicoloured extreme haircut could walk down the street and no one would bat an eyelid.
Very greasy hair is frowned upon, but no one would actually say anything.
Wet hair is also seen as a bit weird (don't ask me why), but damp and tied up seems to be okay.
Very long hair (by LHC standards) would probably attract some glances, but once again, no one would comment on it.

lapushka
October 1st, 2014, 09:44 AM
I've never observed any "hair etiquette" that I know of. Just that it's not usual for people to go out in the morning with wet hair, and that it's frowned upon to do your hair in public, esp. when you're in a restaurant or pub.

truepeacenik
October 1st, 2014, 12:52 PM
Curious, is there a difference in going out with damp hair comparing loose and updos?

If it's up, do people even notice the dampness?

velorutionista
October 1st, 2014, 12:57 PM
Around my neck of the woods, damp/wet hair that's up doesn't get as much notice as when it's loose. Although once in a while my put-up wet hair gets mistaken for greasy/oily hair in need of a wash (though this seems to only happen on the rare occasion I find myself in the checkout line at Target, so maybe it's just that particular crowd?)

Catatafish
October 1st, 2014, 01:52 PM
I think that because it rains approximately 225 days out of the year where I live, it's not much of a big deal if your hair is damp. Unless you drive to work/whatever and get a parking spot right beside the door, you are going to get wet sometimes.

I'm kind of confused as to why it would be poor etiquette. I understand that it doesn't look put together or professional for work, but in other situations, why is it considered bad to have damp hair?

fiđrildi
October 1st, 2014, 03:23 PM
I have seen people in the street wearing their hair wet (just in the mornings, and it was very unusual). Honestly, I don't know about "hair etiquettes" around here, but I've never seen anyone combing their hair in the bus, or out in the streets, for example.
I usually wash my hair at night, so I don't go out with wet hair, but I have done it sometimes in the past, and I didn't notice anyone looking at me in a weird way :p

People usually wear their hair short, but there are lengths and textures of all kinds, all over. It's rare to see hair that's longer than hip, and most of the women (especially in their 40's and up) have very artificial hair, mostly bleached and blonde dyed.

TheBlondieDream
October 2nd, 2014, 07:59 AM
I live in Italy, and I must say that even if we're a small country, there's a lot of cultural differencences between our regions.
Here in the most metropolitan, industrialised and continental area, Milan, you can see every kind of people and styles, and things get crazy during the fashion weeks or the design expositions.
No hair style here is unusual, you can see elder (or young) people with green hair, natural super long hair (and I mean far beyond classic), bleached layered salon heads, a lot of ombrč and some stunning dreadlocks.
I noticed that if you move from the metropolitan area but you stay in the north of the country people has more "ordinary" hair, which means processed and not very long, but there are some long haired folks.
In the southern mediterranean area, I noticed that the average lenght is much longer in women, and it's difficult to see a woman with shorter hair than shoulder (even if I didn't see any longer than tbl).
In summertime is quite usual to go out with wet hair, but I doubt that someone would go to work like that here in Milan.

Being in the same country and aera, i cannot but agree with Federica.
Here in Milan (i live really in town center) it is possible to spot like every kind of hair, texture and colours, while getting out of town or in other regions thing being different, usually relating on mid/long lenghts and natural (even when dyed) colours.
The only thing i noticed is the tendency of spotting curls as messy and in need to be blowdried, but it may have been my experience only as i have a frizz tendency in my curls since i was very young.
Another trend is that elderly women, here at north, wear the "granny style" hair (white/blonde hairs, shorts and permed) and i've rarely seen italian old women with white long hairs (i don't know about southerns, really, never been so much there to see).

UniqueWabbit
October 2nd, 2014, 08:10 AM
I live in America. We have no idea what etiquette is, nor how to spell it. People go out with all kinds of hair. Unless you're a sheep or a teenager, you just do whatever with your hair. Everyone pretty much has their own style, except on TV and with celebrities who have no idea what their particular hair style should be defer to the powers that decide such things for very visible people. Lots of women keep their hair short when they get older and many dye it but more and more you see long, white or gray hair. When you do, you remember it!

Madora
October 2nd, 2014, 08:13 AM
I haven't a clue what hair etiquette is now in the US. One thing I will say is that the current culture (some of it) doesn't give a rats behind what they do with their hair in public places. I find that rude. At least find a restroom and comb your locks in there.

In my day (the Dark Ages) we were taught that it was rude to comb/brush your hair/put on makeup..out in public. You were supposed to have taken care of that earlier..at home...or in a restroom if your hair got mussed. Some of the kids in my high school were forever playing with their hair, combing it to death, no matter where they were. They were reminded that young ladies combed their hair in the restroom or at home and that it was uncivil to do it in public.

Our grade school had certain rules about hair styles..for boys. There was a certain style that was "hot" with the guys...called the "duckbill" I think. Pretty harmless by today's standards! But back then, if you showed up with that style, you were put in detention and told to change your haircut to something else. It was not allowed..period.

rags
October 2nd, 2014, 10:30 AM
I live in America. We have no idea what etiquette is, nor how to spell it. People go out with all kinds of hair. Unless you're a sheep or a teenager, you just do whatever with your hair. Everyone pretty much has their own style, except on TV and with celebrities who have no idea what their particular hair style should be defer to the powers that decide such things for very visible people. Lots of women keep their hair short when they get older and many dye it but more and more you see long, white or gray hair. When you do, you remember it!

Well, America is a very large country. I for one, WAS raised with some idea of etiquette about hair (mainly what Madora is saying, that it is rude to comb it in public, etc.). And in my little rural mountain town - if someone showed up with a green mohawk there would be ALL kinds of things said. If it were a minor, they would not be allowed in the public school (no unnatural colors allowed) and if it were an adult they'd have a lot of trouble finding a job. I don't think you can say anything goes for America -even for two states close together, or from one area to the next in the larger states.

brickworld13
October 2nd, 2014, 10:32 AM
I live in America. We have no idea what etiquette is, nor how to spell it. People go out with all kinds of hair. Unless you're a sheep or a teenager, you just do whatever with your hair. Everyone pretty much has their own style, except on TV and with celebrities who have no idea what their particular hair style should be defer to the powers that decide such things for very visible people. Lots of women keep their hair short when they get older and many dye it but more and more you see long, white or gray hair. When you do, you remember it!

I agree with all of this. I've seen everything in the US, and the only people with strong opinions on appearance seem to be stuck in an entirely different era.

ETA: I also agree that is patchwork and what is acceptable in one area is a big fat NO in a different one.

gustavonut
October 2nd, 2014, 10:43 AM
Here in Missouri, it's all about the squeaky clean method. (Except for me of course.)
My nana went through horrible times with her mom because her mom would wash her hair till it literally squeaked clean. After washing vigorously, her mom would pull strands of her hair and try to make it so clean that it dried out completely.
My nana never had completely healthy hair, but it was always so long. So is my mom's hair.
Basically none of my family knows how to take care of their hair naturally. They just wash it with whatever and hope for the best.
Nothing really special here haha. I've decided to go natural myself because of the horrible experience I had to go through.

Melle53
October 2nd, 2014, 02:25 PM
I live in the UK, south east and in a smallish seaside town. The town used to be famous for being a retirement place so there are a lot of elderly people but the demographic is changing. Anyway, I'm 21 myself so my peers are all teens and in their 20s.

Long hair is very rare here. And I mean LHC long. "long" here is considered to be APL or BSL. My friends used to comment on how long my hair was when it was about ASL and I remember thinking "What?! Have they seen LHC?!!" hahaha

I see so much damage it literally hurts my soul :( It's mostly young people because there is a huge trend for bright colours and even when they stick to natural colours young people are just so indecisive! My friends and other people I know change their hair colours all the time (one friend literally used to dye her hair a new colour every week!) and I think I know maybe one or two people (of the sort of 17-21 age group) who still have their natural colours. (Well, girls anyway, don't know many men hair who dye their hair :P) It annoys me because it happens so much that girls will go from brunette to blonde and go on and on about how excited they are and then a few days later post "miss my brown hair :( </3" and then dye it back and then a week later "Omg miss being blonde lol" and go blonde again and ect ect it's so frustrating!J Just make your mind up and stop bleaching your hair it makes me want to cry hahaha

There's also a LOT of extensions. So I guess you do see "long" hair but it's nearly always fake! It's pretty common to wear extensions, I went to a party about 6 months ago and I was the only girl there not wearing them (you guys would have been proud!) I think it's necessary because of all the damage which leaves them with short hair. These girls don't seem to get it that if you didn't bleach the **** out of your hair then you wouldn't need them.

Having said all that, there's been a surge lately in a trend for short hair. Many girls have been ditching the extensions and going out with their real hair length (at least some of the time) and some have even been having bobs cut. My sister has started growing out her super damaged bleach blonde to have her natural colour. So there are some exceptions but mostly you can stereotype

Shoulder to APL length, blonde or might be dark but will definitely have been bleached at some point, damaged, dry, will probably wear extensions (don't often match very well :P) and probably a bit patchy in colour due to being dyed at home badly many times.

There was a trend last year or so for an undercut or shaving part of your hair off. That seems to have passed now but it's obviously going to take a while to grow back so you sometimes see a girl with a side bit that's like an inch long hehehe. A few summers ago you couldn't meet a single person without ombre or dip dye. Most of the time it was bright colours but sometimes just blonde or whatever. There are still some around (I had an ombre fairly recently) but it's mostly gone now.

In terms of middle aged women, mostly short hair, you never see one with really long hair and usually blonde (I have also heard it makes you look younger?)

And the famous old ladies here all have a gorgeous blue rinse with a nice perm. Every single one of them. Literally. It's like when you play a video game and there are only a couple of characters and you get little clones walking about and it's funny because they all look the same.

roseomalley
October 2nd, 2014, 05:57 PM
I live in Toronto, which is a big, multicultural and inclusive city. Every hair length, colour and style can be seen. No one tends to notice. like Madora and Rags, I was taught that grooming your hair lin public was a no-no. It just was not considered polite. It seems today that idea may have fallen to the wayside.

Aurum
October 2nd, 2014, 07:12 PM
I'm curious, does re-braiding an untidy braid qualify for "icky no-no" status like combing does? My values much be different than all of yours, because I would rather spend a minute redoing my hairstyle than go around all day with it looking unprofessional. As a high school student, I rarely get time to actually *use* the restroom, and when I do, I'm running out the door afterwards. There is just no time in my daily schedule to waste in the bathroom fixing my hair.

Fimu
October 3rd, 2014, 01:21 AM
I live in Holland and it's common to have wavy or curly hair. But I haven't observed the etiquette that much yet.
The average length among twenty-somethings ranges from short to mid-back or waist and middle-aged women usually have short and dyed (blond or red). Beyond hip-length is rare here.
Sometimes on campus I see ombre hair or artificial colors (like pink and blue). It's not weird here if people (usually youngsters) have damp hair in the morning. And I see often wavies and curlies with somewhat frizzy hair.

jacqueline101
October 3rd, 2014, 04:32 AM
I use to live near a salon and I got to see popular culture anything short, spiked, and colorful went. Then it became longer and colorful with bling strands, feathers, and ombré hair. Length gained with extensions.

mica
October 10th, 2014, 09:37 AM
I may be biased because my university's faculty (design, architecture and urbanism) is considered by many to be a seedbed of all things trendy or just simply unconventional and edgy regarding fashion and, of course, hair. Super long, shaved, half shaved, bleached in every color you can imagine all at once, you call it. Also, whatever is going to be in style any given season, you see it there first. But if I try and step away from that, I'd say the current trends lean more to blunt cuts recently, so I've seen many girls chop off their hair in order to get rid of the layers that were in style not so long ago. Ombres are still pretty in, although just the natural ones (no crazy colors anymore, sadly) and even then I don't give them much time, and I seem to see a lot of women with bleached hair showing off their dark roots (remember when that was completely unacceptable? I must admit I love the look though).


I read in a thread on this forum the other day about how going out with wet hair is considered rude or messy in some places. I live in Buenos Aires (Argentina), and seeing women with wet hair walking on the street or taking public transportation is completely normal, specially in the morning. I think this has much to do with in what time of the day people choose to shower. Most of the people I know shower in the morning (I do it before going to bed, because I exercise at night). It's also not uncommon to see people braiding or combing their hair on the bus. I find this kind of yucky, but other people don't seem to care.

So true! Every morning I see a lot of women with damp, even dripping wet hair! I personally love watching them do their hair and makeup on the bus though, it feels empowering. "Think my tight schedule will stop me from looking my best? watch me".

Astraea
January 16th, 2016, 06:04 PM
Revive-a-thread!

It's very tolerant and inclusive in NYC as far as I've experienced, especially now.

Someone styling their hair in public or wet hair would only get an eyebrow if someone were doing it naked or on fire.

If I saw someone coloring hair or installing extensions in public I'd think it was performance art - and no one would care.

Edgy styles only highlight our contribution to pushing the envelope, moving the economy and fostering creativity.

The ONLY thing I swear gets NYers ready to fight is breach of hair boundary!

It's a tight city. Tight quarters on the subway, at work, on line, on the sidewalk, in your apt - it's close, and we value the modicum of space, hygiene and safety we get. So if someone is combing/styling/spraying their hair on the subway causing fall, dandruff or product to touch their neighbor - long knives drawn. Or the annoying 'I've put on my coat and now I'll ever-so-dramatically flip out my knee-length tourist locks a full 6 feet behind me because there couldn't possibly be anyone 2 feet behind me in this insanely congested city who'll have my gross tendrils invade their mouth, nose and eyes'. Or the ever-so-pleasant long braid whip on line at the bank or supermarket - seriously? You've had this Rapunzel rope for years, there isn't an emergency demanding your attention and you've done this a million times before (bc you're an obnoxious jerk) and you're STILL wide eyed and amazed about pelting someone in the face and even defiant when they go off on you? Or anyone daring to touch hair that doesn't belong to them. I've read naturals' experience with this, and am in shock. I'm quiet, very polite and eschew confrontation but who are these women who politely chastise savages who touch their bodies without permission?! Who are the women who quietly suffer and put up with it? I understand your safety is foremost when challenging someone but other than that, I honestly know I'd be arrested. I'm a woman, this is my body not public domain, NO!

Other than those circumstances the hair etiquette bar is pretty low and liberal in the big apple and dare I say even the tri-state.

chen bao jun
January 16th, 2016, 06:32 PM
Great thread to revive!

I live in the mid-Atlantic area of the US. This is a conservative area where a lot of people are religious.

I never see anybody out and about with wet hair, or with hair in curlers (I don't think people in general use curlers anymore. Its all flatironing or curling iron).

the public schools don't have rules about hair and clothes (or at least very minimal rules) but a growing majority of people homeschool their children or send them to private school instead as public school stray further and further from the mainstream values of the parents. Tidiness and modesty are general goals people have about how they should look, although of course the children, especially teenagers, are like teenagers everywhere, rebellious. However, boundaries are not really pushed all that much. Thus, while you see boys with long hair and even man buns, it tends to be groomed long hair. You don't see mohawks or hair partially shaved in other ways, or dyed different (bright blue, peurple, neon pink) colors. to not be pushing any boundaries very much. I have seen boys with long hair (shoulder length and even longer) and have even seen the 'man bun' but they are not allowed to dye it to colors like purple or blue, or to have hairstyles like mohawks. I don't see many girls with short hair, though. The girls all want to look tradionally feminine and the vast majority of them through the teen years have extremely long hair, TB and hip length being common. Then as young moms (people here marry right out of college and have larger families), they are usually APL or even brastrap. They tend to keep hair that long way into their fifties. Only when you women in the very late 50s and early 60s, the age when menopause and hair dye had begun to take a severe toll, do you begin to see short at all on women , and even then it is not 'pixies'. More like ear length, shoulder length.

those are just the ordinarily religious. The really really religious women have classic hair or hair to their knees or longer, but you will never see it, they wear head coverings not just in church, but everywhere, 24/7. And those men and boys have short cropped hair and these days, usually beards. No, they are not Amish or Memnonite. Beards came into style 5 or 6 years ago and it is the young men you see with them, the fathers are more clean cut.

If I think of anything else, I will write more later.

cat11
January 16th, 2016, 06:36 PM
hmmm I live in Maryland outside of Baltimore.

I have curly hair and if I wear it down people ALWAYS touch it and I HATE it. They genuinely think this is a compliment though or positive attention. "OMG is your hair real/do you curl it" touch touch and investigate type things.... But I never say anything because it is always aquaintences, like coworkers or something.. well there have been one or two strangers ad Im sure I made a cringe-y face and said thanks. Not worth the effort to be nasty to well meaning folks. Its also always women. If it was a guy, it would be different...a blantant death stare like what happened when a co worker pretended he was going to cut my hair with scissors to get a reaction...

Its one of my many reasons for wearing my hair up. People at my job now talk to me about my hair and are like oh you should wear it down... but one of the reasons I dont is because of the inevitable grabby hands.

People here aren't accepting of different styles. Very short? Lesbian. Classic length or longer? Butt-mop. Intricate braided bun? Plain Grandma Hair. Unless its shoulder to bsl and styled, someones got something to say. course there are many exceptions and people who want to do things that are different around here (rural suburb..) quickly grow a thick skin and stop giving a **** about what others think. I know this cause I used to have multi colored hair, hair that was quite short for a gial and unevenly cut, jet black goth looking hair... There are people with different styles though, like colors or partialy shaved hair or mohawks/assymettrical cuts. A lot more of them though, where I go to college in the city. At my old community college most girls had traditional plain long hair or longish dyed hair.

It's bad ettiquette to brush in public unless your in a bathroom or locker room. But then again people might feel differently about this based on their upbringing and if their parents mentioned it to them. But generally its thought of as gross/inconsiderate of others cause your getting hairs everywhere. I wouldn't do it. It's not polite. Styling is different, like re-doing a pony.


As for coloring hair in public or extentions... why would anyone want to do that? I think thats what anyone watching would think. It would be quite odd.

curlysamantha
January 16th, 2016, 06:49 PM
Where I live in the US it seems to be bad etiquette if you don't wash your hair literally every single day (some people get praised for doing it twice a day!!). I've gotten disgusted looks for saying I wash mine every other day (God only knows what would happen if I told them that I now wash it once a week). Also people tend to use heat/chemicals way too much and then complain that their hair is unhealthy but also don't want to stop over using heat/chemicals.
On a side note my boyfriend is Russian (grew up in eastern Ukraine) and he always gets upset with me for going out with wet hair, mostly because he think I will catch a cold. He tells me to cover it in a babushka style scarf.

trolleypup
January 16th, 2016, 07:02 PM
Revive-a-thread!

It's very tolerant and inclusive in NYC as far as I've experienced, especially now.

Someone styling their hair in public or wet hair would only get an eyebrow if someone were doing it naked or on fire.

If I saw someone coloring hair or installing extensions in public I'd think it was performance art - and no one would care.

Edgy styles only highlight our contribution to pushing the envelope, moving the economy and fostering creativity.

The ONLY thing I swear gets NYers ready to fight is breach of hair boundary!

It's a tight city. Tight quarters on the subway, at work, on line, on the sidewalk, in your apt - it's close, and we value the modicum of space, hygiene and safety we get. So if someone is combing/styling/spraying their hair on the subway causing fall, dandruff or product to touch their neighbor - long knives drawn. Or the annoying 'I've put on my coat and now I'll ever-so-dramatically flip out my knee-length tourist locks a full 6 feet behind me because there couldn't possibly be anyone 2 feet behind me in this insanely congested city who'll have my gross tendrils invade their mouth, nose and eyes'. Or the ever-so-pleasant long braid whip on line at the bank or supermarket - seriously? You've had this Rapunzel rope for years, there isn't an emergency demanding your attention and you've done this a million times before (bc you're an obnoxious jerk) and you're STILL wide eyed and amazed about pelting someone in the face and even defiant when they go off on you? Or anyone daring to touch hair that doesn't belong to them. I've read naturals' experience with this, and am in shock. I'm quiet, very polite and eschew confrontation but who are these women who politely chastise savages who touch their bodies without permission?! Who are the women who quietly suffer and put up with it? I understand your safety is foremost when challenging someone but other than that, I honestly know I'd be arrested. I'm a woman, this is my body not public domain, NO!

Other than those circumstances the hair etiquette bar is pretty low and liberal in the big apple and dare I say even the tri-state.
Sounds pretty much like San Francisco.

Sparklecake
January 17th, 2016, 02:22 AM
Where I live in regional Australia its surprisingly tolerant. Women have all sorts of styles ranging between pixie and tailbone, I've seen all sorts of colours but its mostly virgin or a believable dye. Longer hair is common on younger men... the only hair on a younger male that I've seen shorter than 5cm is on my friend that is in the army. My partners hair is almost APL and the only people to comment are his highly religious family. Most older men have either no hair or its kept short, with a few exceptions of course. My uncle has a tailbone length mullet and no one seems to bat an eyelid. If someone is out in public with wet hair its usually assumed that they have been for a swim, either than or it doesn't even get noticed as its dry within the hour.

dogzdinner
January 17th, 2016, 04:46 AM
Im not sure I really have hair etiquette here! Its not unusual for someone to pop to the shops in their pajamas or stagger about at 8am half drunk so haircare is pretty lowdown on the list. LOL:D
It doesnt really matter if its wet, you brush/braid it in public or swish it about as long as its not right in someones face. Long hair is def becoming more popular though. Teenagers tend to have very long hair that they wear loose and then at some point after they leave school it morphs into a bunned updo! Ive even noticed it at work, my job requires hair above shoulder length and/or neatly tied back. Used to be everyone had a short cut or a bob but nowadays the majority have long hair that they secure up somehow.

Garnetgem
January 17th, 2016, 04:50 AM
Im not sure I really have hair etiquette here! Its not unusual for someone to pop to the shops in their pajamas or stagger about at 8am half drunk so haircare is pretty lowdown on the list. LOL:D

Lol yes i can tell before i looked at location this is the uk no doubt,hair care is not the top of the list really is it if its greasy wash it and if tangled we comb it lol and if in public then we comb it no matter what :) thanks for making me smile :)

Jennah
January 19th, 2016, 06:27 PM
Here in Uruguay where I live, the etiquette is that hair must look nice and neat. Nothing weird is tolerated at all.

Dreadlocks are out of the question, you´d be considered dirty and parents would not want their children to have anything to do with you. Any haircut that is strange is disliked, that is anything asymetrical, a-cut bob, mohawk, shaven, anything like that would be considered trashy and probably made you unwelcome even in stores or it will raise a lot of flags.

Anything hippie also is bad, which would be the equivalent of trashy. Hair past hip and you´d be crazy. Color dye is a no-no. Even if you have curly hair it should be perfectly kept, softened, and maybe clipped up with something so no big crazy hair. You should have a nice haircut, styled, and have no messy ends either, that is trashy.

This society is very conservative for the most part, not only with hair but clothes too. It must all fit a norm or you´ll get either discriminated or looked with suspicion.

lapis_lazuli
January 19th, 2016, 06:37 PM
It's interesting reading how hair and cultures can clash... :hmm:
Here in Ontario, (at least where I live) we're liberal for the most part. I've seen everything from knee-length dreads to shaved sides to crazy colours, you name it. Some of the older folk may take issue with it, but it's common and accepted among most :)

Jennah
January 19th, 2016, 06:54 PM
It's interesting reading how hair and cultures can clash... :hmm:
Here in Ontario, (at least where I live) we're liberal for the most part. I've seen everything from knee-length dreads to shaved sides to crazy colours, you name it. Some of the older folk may take issue with it, but it's common and accepted among most :)

Cool! :cool:

missrandie
January 19th, 2016, 07:28 PM
I will say that I have noticed a big difference in hair culture between here (Texas) and home (Nebraska).

Here, in San Antonio, I have been assumed to be a lesbian more times than I can count, based solely on my haircut (which was a pixie). Hair here is either big and blonde, big and dark brown/black, or sleek and dark. I see hair down more than I see any other style, and everywhere from APL to TBL.

I have never seen anybody combing/brushing their hair in public here, but in a bathroom is alright. More often than not it's reapplication of hairspray!

People also don't get touchy feely around here, unless you are somewhere like a dancehall where touchy is kinda part of the game. Texans aren't the touchiest people I've met lol.

If you have wild colors in your hair, you are either trying to be hip or you are a hairdresser. And a peekaboo streak is more likely than dip dye. I don't see a lot of colorful hair, but maybe that has to do with the large population of dark haired folks.

Most the men I'm around have their hair very short, but that comes with their job. I've also seen some very handsome long haired male heads around here.. Those all tend to be salt and pepper too. I love the renegray-long haired combo Ive seen!

Facial hair on the guys is mostly all personal preference. Again, most the gents I'm around are clean shaven, but at the bicycle swap this weekend I saw lots and lots of beards, and one fellow using his wooden beard comb! I believe I saw a set of beard beads too, but I can't quite recall.

In Nebraska, there's a lot of long hairs and lots of updos-everything from messy buns to a full braided, coiled, and pinned bun. I was the only one who used a hair stick for my updos. Folks keep their hair up because of the hardcore winds we get. If somebody wears theirs down, its not uncommon to see them go to a discrete corner or the bathroom to brush it out after encountering a forceful gust.

Men at home tend to have their hair above their collars. Thats really the only thing I see. Of course there are those like my uncle who have a long braid on their balding head, and nobody says a word because that's just him. Facial hair also varies wildly.

Lots of highlighted hair at home too. And bleached hair. I've actually seen more "wild" colors in Nebraska than I have in Texas. And lots and lots of straightening! I had only met 2 girls before graduating highschool who wore their hair curly and did a true curly routine for it.

So there it all is, I guess.

gregh
January 22nd, 2016, 03:17 PM
It is interesting to read all of these. There are only a few things that really stand out to me. First is not play with you hair in professional settings or when people expect you to be paying attention. There is a lady at work that constantly twirls her hair, takes it down, puts it up, etc. and while she is very good at what she does it really makes her come off as a ditzy person. As a guy, I am expected to have my hair back at work. And lastly I have to agree with the others who mentioned people not paying attention and hitting other when they are flipping their hair around.

Amode
January 22nd, 2016, 05:09 PM
Here in Finland it's apparently more common than most places to have unnaturally dyed hair (blue, green, purple, multicolour...). I was not aware of this for a long time, as I grew up with the mindset that Finland is a backwards piece of Northern forest, perpetually 10 years late of European fashion. BUT then I started going abroad when I was around fifteen, and to my surprise I was almost always alone with my pink hair.
Even if you leave shock colours out of it, bleaching and dyeing hair is extremely common among all genders. I assume it has something to do with the natural Nordic hair quality being thin, frail, dirt-road-coloured and generally unimpressive... It doesn't look like much in its natural state, so we mess around with it lot. Young people in particular have all sorts of elaborate haircuts. The trend of shaving the sides of the head landed here some years ago, too. Long hair on men is pretty common.
That being said, I don't feel like there's any pressure to do anything special with your hair or to have it look good when you go out. I can go to work or to school with wet/messy/unwashed/uncombed hair, and no one will say anything about or give dirty looks. Especially in wintertime (freezing cold, windy, snowstorms, wearing caps all the time...) it's generally understood that everyone's hair will look horrible.

I don't see Finnish people with super long hair very often. Could be the hair quality thing. Or it could be that it's just too difficult to manage in these weather conditions.

Obsidian
January 22nd, 2016, 06:11 PM
I live in a small logging community and hair lengths are across the board. Most woman with short hair are older while the younger girls seems to be APL to waist. I've only seen one woman with what you would all consider long, I'd say around BCL but I don't look to close, she gets grumpy when people stare at her hair.

There are a few fun colored heads going around but its mostly teens and the dye job is bad. Color tossed over damaged hair then allowed to fade, it almost always looks bad. There is also a lot of darker haired women with streaks or ombres but they are done badly and I see a lot of damage.

You don't really see styles like undercuts or mohawks, they just wouldn't go over well here though I wore my fair share of "punk" styles growing up. People liked to gossip about me quite a lot, usually loud enough for me or my parent to hear.

I go out often with wet hair but I would never go out with rollers or some kind of hair mask in, some things need to be done in private. I don't even like to go in my yard when I have henna on, I don't want my neighbors to see me.

trolleypup
January 22nd, 2016, 06:15 PM
It is interesting to read all of these. There are only a few things that really stand out to me. First is not play with you hair in professional settings or when people expect you to be paying attention. There is a lady at work that constantly twirls her hair, takes it down, puts it up, etc. and while she is very good at what she does it really makes her come off as a ditzy person. As a guy, I am expected to have my hair back at work. And lastly I have to agree with the others who mentioned people not paying attention and hitting other when they are flipping their hair around.
I'm guilty of making a point of messing with my hair when I am trapped at a useless meeting/training and someone is droning on for hours. Sometimes they get the point, sometimes they don't, and if they try to call me out, well, I am paying enough attention to not miss anything. And in the end, I have detangled hair.

gregh
January 22nd, 2016, 06:24 PM
I'm guilty of making a point of messing with my hair when I am trapped at a useless meeting/training and someone is droning on for hours. Sometimes they get the point, sometimes they don't, and if they try to call me out, well, I am paying enough attention to not miss anything. And in the end, I have detangled hair.

Haha! Well at least it's conscious and to make a point. The temptation to play with hair when one is bored is quite strong I must admit.

trolleypup
January 22nd, 2016, 06:38 PM
Haha! Well at least it's conscious and to make a point. The temptation to play with hair when one is bored is quite strong I must admit.
And it's long enough that I can finger detangle while staring at the speaker.

a.steeez
January 22nd, 2016, 06:41 PM
Im from utah, usa mormon state the big hair rumor is true! Its very cosmetic here straighteners and curlers are an everyday need here! Longer lengths are very desired the longest ive seen is waist but thats rare but it varies so much length isnt a big deal here there is a lot of dry damaged hair here though, ive never seen someone with wet hair. I gave into these styling methods for awhile had to do a big cut. Now i dont really pay attention to the hair "status qo" lol im not gonna ruin my hair over that! I wear my hair natural everyday i have loose curls and i dont feel like people look down on me. I do get the occasional older blonde lady darting here eyes at me across the room but other than that diversity here is pretty normal.

Hairkay
January 23rd, 2016, 03:31 AM
I live in a big city and there's quite a variety of hairstyles. There are a lot of hair extensions too. You can get away with having wet hair but you tend to see a bit of that in summer time when it's warm. I haven't seen anyone comb their hair in public so far.

In the Caribbean children are expected to go to school with hair immaculately combed. Most places expect hair longer than twa/pixie to be tied back or plaited/braided. They've become more accepting about having cornrowed hair (with or without extensions) and dreadlocks in work places. There's a mix of conservatism and liberalism. Some may take offence at a hair style which they'll make the person very aware of others wouldn't raise an eyebrow. My bro decided to have a mohawk when he was 14. We all gasped when he returned home with the look and left it at that. A week later he had it cut off. He'd been tired or having most people especially at school telling him exactly what they thought of his hair style. These days in the UK my youngest nephew has this hairstyle happily just like many boys in his class.

frostedeyes
March 7th, 2019, 05:30 PM
In my city in NorCal, there are tons of different hair lengths, styles, colors, etc. It’s more acceptable for teenage girls to have waist length hair or longer, and usually, college-aged girls are expected to have midback hair to APL and shoulder length. Quite a few have pixies. Lots of people dye their hair unnatural colors.

Not having your hair heat styled while out and about, wether at school or at work or just to run errands is considered sloppy or unprofessional. Even teenagers are expected to have perfectly styled hair, day in, day out.

I’m often told that my TBL hair is “very long” to a lot of people, since many girls my age (I’m 23) have breast-length hair since it’s considered more “fashionable”. Lots of women experiment with lobs. In fact, lobs are extremely trendy within the 19-29 age range.

cjk
March 7th, 2019, 06:15 PM
For guys it's even weirder. Though I've honestly never given it formal thought before, I've noticed that we are expected to have our hair look finished, coiffed, and basically effortless at all times.

The original post mentioned that wet hair is problematic, well it's similar for us. Or ungroomed, more precisely.

As for the appearance of effort, again we are supposed to look like we wake up like this. Yet most of us put in enormous effort, even those of us with short styles.

As for common styles, if you're a man who is not currently wearing a buzz cut, businessman's taper, or some variation of an undercut then you're not normal. Men have short hair and if you don't, you're a weirdo.

Hello. I'm a proud weirdo.

Stardreamer
March 7th, 2019, 06:42 PM
In the northern part of the North Island of New Zealand (the North of the North! :D) it's very very common to see elderly women with short hair, cut close to the head or in a pixie type style, or similar to a man's. Sometimes I see chin length or even shoulder length. Rarely I see hair longer than shoulder length or APL on old women. But I HAVE seen Tailbone Length or maybe Hip length hair on an elderly woman.

Men/boys generally have short hair but I've seen about mid back length hair on a boy here. Some boys grow their hair long-ish, some very long. Generally, though, short hair (or short-ish) is common. Some men have long hair. Elderly men never have long hair here.

As for the girls, it's a different story. Long hair here is all too common, it almost makes me go off it. Many, many girls wear their long or short hair down or in ponytails and some wear braids. But I swear, down and ponytailed have to be the main styles. There's a lack of intricate hairstyles here. I'm talking about my school and what I see out in public. Some grown women tend to wear buns. I don't see too many middle-aged women with long hair.

Girls/young women here have waist length hair, MBL or BSL hair generally. It's so common, it makes my eyes almost hurt. I'm just really used to it aaaargh
Several have hip length or longer. Seems that my country is a good country for long hair? I have seen even mid-thigh length hair. Never longer, I believe. But I think not many girls choose to go longer than around waist length.
I still think long dreadlocks are the most stunning. In Takaka, New Zealand, there's no shortage of people walking around wearing flowing clothes and long dreadlocks. Dreadlocks here are not that common, but it always catches my eye.

I sound fed up but I feel like every girl here looks the same. Long, natural, waist length or around there hair, worn down and flowing. Some choose to go for some dye. It looks kind of boring in the end, there's a definite lack of hairstyles and updos here. :rolleyes:

Edit: I think dreadlocks are frowned upon here.

Lizabeth94
March 7th, 2019, 07:47 PM
I live in NY, and I would say we have a little bit of everything. Going out with wet hair certainly isn’t an issue here, I walk around with wet hair everyday and no one bats an eye.
I would say that 50% of girls have medium length hair (somewhere between shoulder and bra strap length), 25% have pixie cuts, and 25% have super long hair. I would say that 75% of guys have short hair/or are bald, 20% have hair between shoulder and armpit length, and maybe 5% have super long hair.
It’s pretty rare to see an elderly person with hair past their shoulders. I would say only 1% of elderly women have long hair, the rest all have bobs or pixie cuts.
Dyes, bright colors, dreadlocks, beads, cornrows, ect are all normal too.

Groovy Granny
March 7th, 2019, 09:14 PM
I'm in Northern New England and in my neck of the woods (small rural towns) it is pretty boring.
No weird colors or styles, even in the young people; most girls have SL hair or short Bobs, and most guys have regular cuts.
Comments usually are made if something is out of the ordinary in color/shaved/tattoos ; snob community :p

Of people my age, most cut/curl/color.....there are only a handful of women like me (near 70) who are going silver and long.

Some young girls go out with wet hair; my DD is one and she is 44 and a long hair again ;)
She has gone dye free and silver,and grew out her short bob to BSL this past year, so I guess I can take credit for that :o

One lady at our church also has grown longer (pixie to SL) ; not sure how much longer she is going....and she occasionally comes in with wet hair On younger folks I accept it more, but on older folks IMHO it looks weird and sloppy :p )
There is only one other gal my age at church with hair my length and she is also going silver.
Neither have much style; bangs pinned back, single braids or twists with no accessories.

Looks like I am the odd duck out with LHC styles and hair toys :rockerdud....but no one ever comments (not even family) :shrug:

But I am not here to decorate their world ~ I do it for ME because I like the ease of care and creative styling options :flower:

AmaryllisRed
March 7th, 2019, 10:50 PM
No one here ever goes out with wet hair. I mean, it's winter here now, so definitely not! But even in warm weather, if I see someone with wet hair, I assume they've just come from the pool or the beach.

itskate
March 7th, 2019, 11:00 PM
Jeez, never would I have considered it to be weird or rude or sloppy to go out with wet hair, haha. I mean, what else am I supposed to do, use a blow dryer every single time?? Night shower?????? I think NOT. (My hair only looks good down if I shower in the morning) Luckily......I just don't care what people think. The only thing that's awkward is finding a place to retreat to in order to flip my head upside down and scrunch/fluff it out, that's where I draw the line as far as acceptable hair things to do in public.

Tinyponies
March 8th, 2019, 02:16 AM
Here I’ve been noticing a trend of longer hair on women, mostly but not all young, and many many more men with long hair. I love it. I wonder if it is down to us having a few years of some very beautifully made fantasy series.

victorian girl
March 8th, 2019, 04:15 AM
Here, in Kaliningrad, Russia, everything is like... like in many other places. 50+ - very short hair, always dyed, I don't remember seeing anyone with gray hair who's younger than 80 and doesn't wear a headscarf all the time (in English those headscarfs are sometimes called "babushka", but babushka is actually a person who wears it - an elderly woman, a grandma, and the thing itself is called "platok" or "kosynka", if it's in lighter fabric). 30+ - mostly short to APL hair, dyed in "natural" colours. Teens and young adults - just anything: lots of short hair, shoulder length hair in bright colours - mostly pink and blue, and lots-lots-lots of long hair down to WL or HL.

Young long hairs always have problems in PE classes when they forget to put their hair away! (That's both etiquette and safety, I guess). Brushing your hair in public - some people get away with it, but those usually also appear to have bad manners in general. No one cares about how often you wash your hair as long as it looks ok. And wet hair - well, in our very windy and stormy climate it's the most uncomfortable thing ever (swimming in the Baltic Sea, anyone?), so I've never seen anyone with obviously wet hair on the street. There are also some nastier things than cold that can happen - like neuritis of different kinds, and I don't think anyone wants to get a toothache, or an earache, or a paralyzed face. (It's a bit like smoking - you won't necessarily get a lung cancer, but it's better not to smoke, of course).

Longlegs
March 8th, 2019, 05:02 AM
I live in Perth, in western Australia. This is one of the most multicultural cities in the world. So basically anything goes!. I've noticed the mullet look making a comeback lately for men. it was quite common in the 80's. It makes me laugh. Colourful hair is becoming more and more popular, I used to be the only person in my area with purple hair but it's not unusual to see all kinds of colours. It's very common for women over the age of 50 to have short hair. I don't know why women cut their hair when they get older. The styles are very boring - 'wash and wear' is the term used for these short cuts. Grey hair is becoming more common now too. And because it's so hot long hair is often worn up.

Stray_mind
March 8th, 2019, 06:19 AM
Well, in my country people usually tend to mind their own business,regarding hair. Of course, if your hair is super oily or messy looking, you will get a few side eyed looks, but people usually don't say anything right to your face.

As for the common trends - messy top knots, ponytails or loose for girls and short hair or small man buns for guys.

Begemot
March 8th, 2019, 07:05 AM
I can't think of much hair etiquette here. Being clean is expected, a somewhat neat style too. People are pretty brave and try new looks and colors. Long hair on men is not uncommon (lots of metalheads). The trends change but super straight hair with middle part is always popular. The color is either very light or very dark, even though natural colors seemed to make a comeback for some time. Older people may hold on to the idea that women are "trying to look young" if they keep their hair long but on the other a lot of people make fun of older women who cut their hair short as soon as they turn 50 or something. It's as usual with women and everyone giving critique of our appearances, you're damned if you do and you're damned if you don't.

Hairkay
March 8th, 2019, 09:21 PM
I grew up rinsing my hair daily since it's hot in the Caribbean. Most people left home in the mornings with wet hair and it usually got dry within the hour so by the time they got to work,school or wherever they were going it would be dry. Some used hair dryers mostly for styling purposes but air drying is the usual. I kept the air drying habit in the UK and no one has commented on it when I leave home with wet hair. There are times when others can't tell if my hair is wet or dry anyway.

Larke
March 8th, 2019, 10:44 PM
Where I live, many women under 30 years old will have long hair, waist or even hip-length. By 30, the majority that I see will have cut their hair to APL. About 60, it's all cut real short. It's not explicitly part of the culture, just seems to be related to implied beauty standards. I also see A LOT of dyed/coloured hair. I was in a room of about a hundred people recently and at least half of the women had some version of colour added to their hair. But I very rarely see ladies style their hair, beyond straightening. Braids and various updos aren't common, and I don't even remember seeing too many people curl their hair. Here, it is usually down loose, up in a ponytail, or up in a really messy pineapple bun. Hair accessories beyond the occasional tie or clip are also very rare.

As for wet hair, I almost never see that, but I feel comfortable going out with damp hair, as long as it's not soaked, so maybe it's just because I've never paid much attention one way or another.

Knightly
March 8th, 2019, 11:26 PM
In my country (Mexico) indigenous women wear their thick, straight, jet black hair quite long, usually classic, in one or two braids all the time, with lots of colorful ribbons, from young to old women. Sadly they are discriminated thanks to all the stereotypes created by the racist media that praises white people. If someone with a darker skin tone or that looks 'indigenous' and wears their hair long and braided, it's really probable they'll get called names.

Young regular women usually wear their hair down to middle back or waist length some dye it lighter tones or red since most people have black hair.
Old women usually have really really really short dyed hair.

I think the ideal mane here would be a blonde one,probably straight, squeaky clean and about waist length.

priinnz
March 9th, 2019, 04:06 AM
In the northern part of the North Island of New Zealand (the North of the North! :D).

Hi stardreamer, Kia Ora to a fellow New Zealander.
I am from the north of north island too. Auckland to be precise, and it’s a multicultural hot pot here. I take public transport daily and work in the university and I think I have seen all kinds of things now! I mean really everything! Bobs/ lobs, side shaves, Mohawks, dreadlocks, bright pink, ombré green, pink and purple gradient, literally everything. I have known people who colour their hair a new shade every two weeks. I have know a woman for nearly a decade and have never seen her without bright pink hair... I have seen blue beards and rainbow hair too (not as a one time experiment but with the colour being maintained over years).

The most bizarre thing I saw recently was a young girl with bangs and two ponytails with a prominent partition in the centre. One half of her head was platinum blond and the other half was pitch black. What I love about this city is the live and let live attitude.

Like stardreamer said school girls often have long hair here (hair down or top knots) while older people tend to prefer short. But this depends on cultural background too. I see a lot of Maori and Indian middle aged or old women with very long (hip length to calf length) hair.

Guys usually have short hair but I have seen a few dreadlocks on guys, mostly Teenagers and those in building industry.

All in all a very versatile and lovely place to be for hair experiments

Servana
March 9th, 2019, 06:26 AM
I live in a big metropolitan city in Australia and pretty much anything goes here. I see all cuts and colours. As for having wet hair, I occasionally see it on the train in the morning. I don't think it's that frowned upon but if my hair is wet I try to put it up. I've never seen someone go out with their hair down and wet. It's normally in a pony or bun and that's kind of acceptable.

As for people grooming their hair in public I will say that I personally think it's gross. Brushing your hair on public transport is inconsiderate. A public bathroom is a different story. The thought of someone doing that in a food establishment (which I've never seen before) makes me want to vomit!

Length-wise I'd say APL is the most common for women. I don't see many men with long hair at all.

EmeraldSkies
March 9th, 2019, 08:38 AM
In my country, most women have hair from chin length to MBL. Occasionally, you will see women with pixie hair, WL or HL hair. Its rare to see hair longer than HL here. Most women wear their hair either down, up in a ponytail or top knot or braid or clip up with a large claw clip. The weird thing is i have seen the same few people with very long hair (eg TBL, CL...) wear their hair down all the time. I wonder how they manage to deal with the tangles and damage. I have only seen people wearing hairtoys a couple of times and they are mostly on tourists. It's very common to see people(both man and women) with dyed, permed or rebonded hair. Men usually have short hair here. Many old women have their hair cut short, dyed and permed to hide their graying and thinning hair. I hope i don't have to do that when I'm old since i don't think it will look good on me and it's damaging to my hair.

Haven
March 9th, 2019, 12:48 PM
Here at my rather large university in the northeast US, it's pretty much anything goes. I see anywhere from virgin WL-unstretched curls to bright pink undercuts on a regular basis. Messy buns, topknots, and the like are common when students want a low-maintenance updo when getting ready for classes. For parties it seems expected to either flat-iron or heat curl your hair, but I don't do parties so I don't feel that pressure so much.

lithostoic
March 9th, 2019, 06:59 PM
Anything goes in southwest Florida. Buzz cuts, classic length, crazy rainbow colors or natural. It's all acceptable. And nothing seems to dominate too much.

Walking around with wet hair is very common. Keeps you cool in the hot weather.

frostedeyes
March 9th, 2019, 09:04 PM
^ lucky. Here in California, having really long hair (hip length or more) is considered inappropriate for anyone over 20.

sumidha
March 9th, 2019, 09:17 PM
I live in California and I regularly see people of all ages with very long (by the outside world's standards) hair. :shrug:

littlestarface
March 9th, 2019, 09:24 PM
I live in California and I regularly see people of all ages with very long (by the outside world's standards) hair. :shrug:

Me too, maybe cuz we're in the central? who knows I haven't been all over cali to know. I have tons of girls in my town with long hair and I mean long from tb to ankle from ages 5 to 40s?. My hair is nothing special in this town. The older womans tho most of them have pixies to shoulder.

sumidha
March 9th, 2019, 09:29 PM
Possibly, I do think I see a bit more long hair here than when I was in Northern California. :)

Chromis
March 9th, 2019, 09:32 PM
I lived in Southern California and saw long hair on all ages all the time. Saw the same when I went to go visit a friend last year there. I think short hair is only in the posh parts. Where I lived I don't think people could have afforded the salon maintenance! I did not see many women cutting it as they got older although they often wore it up. Had enough to bun though and that is certainly more than the "poodle perm" amount. Younger usually wore it long or in a pony.

Here you see a lot of variety, but loads of long hair and lots of women rocking long silvers. If anything I think there might be more older longhairs than younger :laugh:

It would not be considered rude here to have wet hair, but on the hand you just don't see people do it either. Too many old stories of catching a cold if you have wet hair I think.

Katsura
March 9th, 2019, 11:31 PM
I can't think of much hair etiquette here. Being clean is expected, a somewhat neat style too. People are pretty brave and try new looks and colors. Long hair on men is not uncommon (lots of metalheads). The trends change but super straight hair with middle part is always popular. The color is either very light or very dark, even though natural colors seemed to make a comeback for some time. Older people may hold on to the idea that women are "trying to look young" if they keep their hair long but on the other a lot of people make fun of older women who cut their hair short as soon as they turn 50 or something. It's as usual with women and everyone giving critique of our appearances, you're damned if you do and you're damned if you don't.

Haha, you said it all. :D

Begemot
March 10th, 2019, 05:27 AM
Haha, you said it all. :D

So it's best to just do what ever the heck we want :D

Natalia_A00
March 10th, 2019, 06:56 AM
I live in Spain and let me tell ya. Here I think it's kind of messy to go out with wet hair but it's not considered rude. But for example, brushing or combing your hair in class is super rude lol. Or walking around with a comb or brush in your hand. My father always tells me that's yucky, but I don't know, I have to say that I'm a very carefree person and I go my own way, so I have done this a lot of times. I don't care if people find it yucky. But when I was younger I was called out by teachers for brushing my hair in class (more than once). Now, I'm at university and nobody gives a damn (at least in public universities in Spain. People watch series in class, play video games, listen to music and nobody seems to care).
Sometimes I don't have time to comb my hair (because I'm late for an appointment or date) so I bring my brush with me and comb my hair in the street :D

About what hairstyles and trends are normal here, very long hair is not common at all. That's why some people consider my waist length hair to be REALLY long. A lot of people comment on this and it's funny, I don't think my hair is especially long. Short or medium hair is the norm here. Shoulder length or APL so is the most common I think. A lot of people dye their hair blonde and most young girls have balayage, Ombré, or highlights. Pixies are rare, the same with bangs or fringes. Older women don't usually have long hair, it's considered to look "witchy" on them. Long hair on men is very rare too. One boy from my school wanted to have long hair (long being chin length or so lol) and the staff forced him to cut it. It is considered informal, hippie or feminine for them.

Super colorful dyes are not especially common. Spanish culture is kind of judgy, it is said that the national sport is "criticizing others and gossip." People seem sociable but they are more self conscious than in other places, like the UK (from my personal experience when I went there).

Natalia_A00
March 10th, 2019, 07:10 AM
Also, another interesting note.

In Spain, VERY long hair (classic length, hip length) is associated with working class people and Romani people. That's why a lot of people don't like it, in fact a classmate told me that hip length was "choni" (derogatory term for working class women). Yes, also, racism is a problem here (unfortunately :(). Roma women usually have super beautiful long, thick hair but as you know they are very discriminated. Anything that is associated with them is "bad" "choni" "uncultured" "tacky." A girl used to call my mother "la Lola Flores" (a famous Roma singer and dancer) because of her long hair. And she didn't say that as a positive remark.
At least, this is my perception and I have heard comments like these more than once.

humble_knight
March 10th, 2019, 09:04 AM
I work in a very heavy metal-friendly city, thus long hair is common to see in both men and women, alike. Classic-length is slowly becoming the norm.

sophia_
March 10th, 2019, 10:04 AM
Maybe it's because I live in a (very) small town in pretty much the exact center of the United States, but the only people who style their hair are older women, with the exception of teenagers with access to the internet who see the pastel hair that was trendy a few years ago. Other than that, people go out with wet hair, never really anything more complicated than an English braid. Many people have long hair, nothing longer than mid-thigh, though (or probably everyone with hair longer than that just wears it up all the time).

Katsura
March 10th, 2019, 11:11 AM
So it's best to just do what ever the heck we want :D

I couldn't agree more! :thumbsup:

Beeboo123
March 11th, 2019, 05:02 AM
Hiiiiii I’m from SG too! I might be one of the people you see around wearing my hair down all the time. It doesn’t tangle, and doesn’t get damaged much because i flip it out of harm’s way. The humidity helps a lot in preventing hair from drying out. Terrible for frizz though, but most people here either have straight/rebonded hair, so it doesn’t affect them much. I see many people with HL+ length hair actually, so i’m not sure why you don’t? They’re everywhere, in malls, on public transport, etc


In my country, most women have hair from chin length to MBL. Occasionally, you will see women with pixie hair, WL or HL hair. Its rare to see hair longer than HL here. Most women wear their hair either down, up in a ponytail or top knot or braid or clip up with a large claw clip. The weird thing is i have seen the same few people with very long hair (eg TBL, CL...) wear their hair down all the time. I wonder how they manage to deal with the tangles and damage. I have only seen people wearing hairtoys a couple of times and they are mostly on tourists. It's very common to see people(both man and women) with dyed, permed or rebonded hair. Men usually have short hair here. Many old women have their hair cut short, dyed and permed to hide their graying and thinning hair. I hope i don't have to do that when I'm old since i don't think it will look good on me and it's damaging to my hair.

trolleypup
March 11th, 2019, 08:16 PM
^ lucky. Here in California, having really long hair (hip length or more) is considered inappropriate for anyone over 20.
California is a big state. Long to very long hair is common in San Francisco, across age groups and gender. I will admit, if you spend a lot of time in the less culturally diverse areas (yes we have those in SF), you will see less long hair, but you'd have to stay in the house to not see over 20s with past HL in a given day.

Strawonaberry
March 11th, 2019, 08:40 PM
Reading this thread has made me a bit nervous about the brushing-in-public thing... I'm guilty of having done it my whole life lol.
Though I've never heard anyone say anything about it here in Chile :p

I have a friend who used to have very long hair, I guess Hip length+, and she got very annoyed that everyone asked her if she was an evangelical christian. I think there's a strong association with that here.