Long hair on the job

[dryxi]

Tell me your work-related long hair stories!

My job is heavily based around work on the computer, so my hair doesn't generate any interest outside typical office social interaction. I'm curious if anyone else's hair has hindered or helped them at work.

[marvel-lover]

I have a funny one! I was lifeguarding at my park earlier this summer when I noticed a child drowning. I jumped in right by them and as soon as I came back up my hair, which was in a disc bun held by a waterproof acrylic stick, completely exploded out of the bun all over my and the victim's faces! We had a good laugh about it after I pulled him out.

[animetor7]

Well, and I know I've told this story on many threads before, I work in a lab so hair that is longer than about a pixie or so is a work hazard if worn loose. Even a braid can get caught in machines or swing and knock over chemicals and such, so not a good idea. I've always worn my hair fully up into a bun because I don't want it to get in the way, so I haven't had anything happen to me. But one day in lab the only other lady in the lab with hair longer than shoulder length had her hair in a simple braid and we were working with Bunsen burners that day to sterilize some equipment. Her braid swung around when she was turning to grab something and it swung through the flame and caught on fire. Luckily, her braid was long enough that the flame didn't reach her skin before we got it put out, but she lost a good foot or more of hair and had to cut her hair to about chin or shoulder length. That incident along with hearing other horror stories of a similar nature from co-workers have reaffirmed my rule that I always wear my hair fully up and do not wear any hair toys with sticky outy bits into lab. It's not worth the risk. So yeah, as secure and close to the head as possible lest my hair becomes a hazard in the lab.

[sumidha]

I once had an agitated patient grab a hair stick out of my hair. After that I switched to spin pins or amish pins only.

[MsPharaohMoan]

O.O these stories

I keep mine up. Occasionally I'll let it down to readjust. Then I get the "your hair is so long" comment. :shrug: I was biking home from work and some guy yelled at me about how if I'd let my hair down I'd look more feminine. Heh!

[CrowningGlory]

I work with young children and they are often fascinated with my hair toys, especially the ones with dangles. Many times I've had them pull at a stick and remove it - or partially so - from my bun. Years ago a little girl with no hair (she just took longer than most to grow it - no illness or treatment caused the hair loss) desperately wanted to put a hair stick in her fuzz. I guess that was one of the best 'compliments' I ever received!

Apart from sticks being removed, I've had food and paint and other messy substances plastered in my hair, had my hair pulled, and have stopped counting the number of times I've brought home head lice from work.

[akurah]

My office horror story: Rolled over it with an office chair. More than once.

[FuzzyBlackWaves]

Other than the odd 'you've cut your hair???' when I used to do faux bobs or buns nobody really said anything :) Although I did get told off for having wispies once. That was by the manager that wanted me to wear makeup and perfume when I was on a warehouse shift, though :roll:

[mira-chan]

Well, and I know I've told this story on many threads before, I work in a lab so hair that is longer than about a pixie or so is a work hazard if worn loose. Even a braid can get caught in machines or swing and knock over chemicals and such, so not a good idea. I've always worn my hair fully up into a bun because I don't want it to get in the way, so I haven't had anything happen to me. But one day in lab the only other lady in the lab with hair longer than shoulder length had her hair in a simple braid and we were working with Bunsen burners that day to sterilize some equipment. Her braid swung around when she was turning to grab something and it swung through the flame and caught on fire. Luckily, her braid was long enough that the flame didn't reach her skin before we got it put out, but she lost a good foot or more of hair and had to cut her hair to about chin or shoulder length. That incident along with hearing other horror stories of a similar nature from co-workers have reaffirmed my rule that I always wear my hair fully up and do not wear any hair toys with sticky outy bits into lab. It's not worth the risk. So yeah, as secure and close to the head as possible lest my hair becomes a hazard in the lab.

Same for same reasons. I train students in lab safety and have developed the "eyes in back of head" technique for spotting swishy hair by a flame in the lab.

Occasionally I'll wear it in a braid or half up on days I'm only doing office time work or stopping by for 5 minutes to pick something up. Usually then there's some surprise at the length, if anyone is there.

[truepeacenik]

O.O these stories

I keep mine up. Occasionally I'll let it down to readjust. Then I get the "your hair is so long" comment. :shrug: I was biking home from work and some guy yelled at me about how if I'd let my hair down I'd look more feminine. Heh!

Because that's all we aim for in life. Feh.


My office horror story: Rolled over it with an office chair. More than once.

Isn't that fun? Massage stool, for me, but I was receiving. My stick had been bothering the therapist and I said she could pull it.
We trained together, she knew it was long, but not how long...and invasive.

At the end of the day, I let my hair down to start the conversion to my time.
I get many comments, and some are sweet.
However, I caught my hair in a door a couple days ago. Ouch.

[lisamt]

I'm still in high school so I don't have a career yet, but during the summer I work in a hair salon at the front desk, so having my hair down is encouraged :laugh: I mostly get comments from middle aged to older women about how they used to have hair my length or they've always wanted to :o

[alimc]

My poor hair gets a really hard time at work.

I'm a fire-fighter so it's exposed to all sorts of crazy temperatures!
It gets rammed under protective head-gear every day.
And my fire tunic has a velcro fastener at the back of my neck.....bye bye nape hair :rolleyes:

I'm still trying to figure out how to secure it for work, i can't get past elastic hair ties unfortunately.... spin pins are not reliable enough for 'helmet off, helmet on' situations... ah well! There are bigger isssues when a call comes in... :roll:

[leayellena]

It's not funny to rip off your hair in bag straps so I keep mine in a bun. Sometimes I think I am obsessed with hair protection, but seeing the girls and women ripping off their hair or brushing it in the last second before the bus stops I think I am not obsessed but I actually care about my hair. My hair is always in a bun outside because I don't want people staring at my hair and of course I want to protect my hair when I work.

[dryxi]

That was by the manager that wanted me to wear makeup and perfume when I was on a warehouse shift, though :roll:

That's ridiculous. I used to do warehouse work hauling stuff off semis and taking inventory. I hope you told your manager where to put their opinions, in a relatively diplomatic way, of course.

My hands were always covered in dirt and grease. If yours were too, you should have asked your manager what they meant by wispies and started touching their hair to demonstrate your lack of understanding. :redgrin:

[Anje]

Another lab person here. Mine was always tied back/up, but I've had to enforce that with my students. One actually had her long hair draped across an open Petri dish at one point! I often have worn a braid, but it was always long enough that it didn't swing past the bench counter top.

[Jas]

For my last placement I had my hair up most of the time and down sometimes, I'm a student mental health nurse and was on placement in an anorexia unit so it was fine to have it down. I wouldn't have it down in more acute MH wards though and definitely wouldn't risk wearing any of my hair sticks - I still need to figure something out for that other than plain hairbands. I've found my hair sticks amazing though, I get no discomfort at all throughout the day unlike hairbands.

[animetor7]

For my last placement I had my hair up most of the time and down sometimes, I'm a student mental health nurse and was on placement in an anorexia unit so it was fine to have it down. I wouldn't have it down in more acute MH wards though and definitely wouldn't risk wearing any of my hair sticks - I still need to figure something out for that other than plain hairbands. I've found my hair sticks amazing though, I get no discomfort at all throughout the day unlike hairbands.

Maybe something like spin pins or amish pins? Something that couldn't be grabbed, pulled out, or used as a weapon?

[Jas]

mm yeah do you find they're just as good? I've never tried either. I've taken to doing the nautilus (I think it is) bun which I really like. Would I be able to do that with the other pins?

[floridaorchid]

I currently work in a day care, so unless my hair is completely up in a bun, it's constantly grabbed and petted. They really try to always run their fingers through it. Its sweet, but sometimes their hands are not the cleanest for a minor germaphobe!

[lithostoic]

Both jobs I've had required hair to be pulled up. First being a gas station that served food, so that was for sanitary reasons. Second one was unloading shipping containers from trucks. Very sweaty job.

[animetor7]

mm yeah do you find they're just as good? I've never tried either. I've taken to doing the nautilus (I think it is) bun which I really like. Would I be able to do that with the other pins?

You could certainly do a nautilus with a flexi-8 which isn't very grab-able, but I'm not sure about spin pins or amish pins. I mostly use amish pins for cinnabuns or similar types of coiled buns and spin pins weren't successful for me, though many others swear by them. :)

[Jas]

ooh I really like the look of the flexi-8, definitely going to get one of those and try it out at least

[Siv]

For my last placement I had my hair up most of the time and down sometimes, I'm a student mental health nurse and was on placement in an anorexia unit so it was fine to have it down. I wouldn't have it down in more acute MH wards though and definitely wouldn't risk wearing any of my hair sticks - I still need to figure something out for that other than plain hairbands. I've found my hair sticks amazing though, I get no discomfort at all throughout the day unlike hairbands.


Maybe something like spin pins or amish pins? Something that couldn't be grabbed, pulled out, or used as a weapon?

I work as a correctional officer at a high security level so I have some of those issues too, though I don't do task force-type stuff so I don't need to worry about helmets like the firefighter who commented earlier. But definitely no grabbable hairstyles or hair toys. Anyway, I only have BSL hair atm, but did have WL at one point and it worked back then too: I usually do a sock bun with a very gentle hair tie (more like a silk band) and at WL I did a cinnabun. Then I clip the bun to my head with little claw clippies all around (like, 15 of them) and put a scrunchie around the bun on top of the clips for extra super-security, plus it looks cute. I'm fairly sure hat thing would say on top of my head through a full blown prison riot, though fortunately I've never had to test that theory :p It does stay though our self-defence training though!

[Jas]

There should really be an option to 'thank' posts on here! That's really useful to hear from someone who has similar potential issues. Am copying your response and going to give all those a go, see what works and feels best.

I've got PMVA training soon so will use that to test the bun I decide on :P

[spidermom]

This is from my son. In the past, he had hair that was somewhere between APL and BSL. He was offered a server job at a local restaurant, but they told him that he would have to get his hair cut. So he got a typical male short haircut. Then he noticed that females in that same job could pull their hair back into ponytails. He thought that was pretty unfair.

[stachelbeere]

uuu I can contribute to this thread! I'm an artist and I also teach printmaking in a print room at an arts centre. I have to have my HL hair up or tucked away into my collar when I'm working and it's very much justified! When I occasionally leave my hair down in a braid it's in danger of falling into inks and all kinds of toxic solvents - as well as getting complimented by one of my students who says that my braid reminds her how long her granddaughter's hair is and how she likes to braid it (which is adorable!). My go to hairstyle is a bunned French braid secured with a jeter fork or claw clips. One time I dipped my hair into white oil paint but you can quiet easily clean it with oil - still not ideal though.

Back when I was studying I remember this one girl working with her hair down (BSL-ish) in the print room and one time she dipped her whole braid tassel into blue printing ink (which is very viscous). In hindsight she should have used white spirit to clean it but at that time she cut about 3 cm of her hair. I remember taking a picture of her hair, it looked super cool :cool:, like a nice dip dye, maybe I can find it some where and post it (with her permission)

[maborosi]

I have past classic length hair and work in a restaurant. There is no updo but bunning allowed for me :lol:

I used to wear it in a braid, but that got insanely risky if it was near an open flame.
Technically, my county doesn't care if it's a braid or bun, but it has to be restrained.
My hair's just too long to wear in a braid or pony for work.

spidermom- Sounds like crappy policy from the restaurant to me. That IS unfair!
I'd never make a male employee cut their hair to have a job with me- I've had guys with WL hair before.
As long as the employees are wearing their hair properly restrained, I don't really get too fussed about it.

[Siv]

There should really be an option to 'thank' posts on here! That's really useful to hear from someone who has similar potential issues. Am copying your response and going to give all those a go, see what works and feels best.

I've got PMVA training soon so will use that to test the bun I decide on :P

I think as long as you have enough "things" securing your hair you'll be good to go :) My hair is of the Houdini variety and irregularly spits out pins (and unscrews spin pins!) so the claw clippies are my best option, but they won't stay through the day either unless I secure them with a scrunchie on top - but YMMV, of course! I just have really slippy hair. I think both amish, spin pins, and claw clippies are great options to regular pins, which IME can pull out hairs. I also think amish and spins like animetor7 suggested are both quicker to use and look nicer, but they don't work for me, so I thought I'd share what I do too, in case you encounter similar problems.

A bit more on topic: when I had around APL hair I wore double dutch braids a lot, but Houndini would fall out every now and then, and I'd have to fix it really quick. One day my elastic broke and I was just fixing the braid when we had an emergency and I had to run around trying to stop a fight with half my hair up and the other flapping around. It ended up both in my mouth and in a client's face. Yuck. I don't potentially want someone else's saliva in my hair. After that, I started sock-bunning!

[Zesty]

I work in the office of a roofing company now. Not many people see me, and technically there's no dress code, though the boss prefers business casual. I always wear my hair up for convenience, mostly with hair sticks or forks, but never get comments on hair toys, even ones I would consider unusual or flashy. :shrug: I feel fortunate that I don't really have any hazards like y'all are mentioning, though I guess there would be the risk of getting it eaten by the paper shredder if it were down. shudder:

[Kitteny]

My hair is not insanely long anymore, but I work with a couple of girls who have very long hair. I am a dancer (please no judgies, I love my job) and one of the girls flipped upside down on the pole and got her almost hip length hair caught in the bolts that hold it to the stage at the floor... goodness I've never heard a scream like that. We had to go on break so she could get all of the big chunk of hair that was ripped out unstuck and off the stage. Poor girl, I felt so bad for her. But her hair is so thick you couldn't even notice that section was missing. I'm going to have to be very very careful about that as my hair grows.


This is from my son. In the past, he had hair that was somewhere between APL and BSL. He was offered a server job at a local restaurant, but they told him that he would have to get his hair cut. So he got a typical male short haircut. Then he noticed that females in that same job could pull their hair back into ponytails. He thought that was pretty unfair.

That is so very unfair!

[Todd]

Occasionally I have to go to a site which requires hardhats. When my hair was shorter, I could kind of fold my ponytail up under the hat pretty well; maybe with a do-rag to help restrain it. Now its much too long for that. I'm finally getting better at braids and its easy enough to just hide the braid under the yellow safety vest. Sure the end of the braid is at about the bottom of the vest, but at least its out of the way and not attracting unwanted attention.

[CrowningGlory]

For my last placement I had my hair up most of the time and down sometimes, I'm a student mental health nurse and was on placement in an anorexia unit so it was fine to have it down. I wouldn't have it down in more acute MH wards though and definitely wouldn't risk wearing any of my hair sticks - I still need to figure something out for that other than plain hairbands. I've found my hair sticks amazing though, I get no discomfort at all throughout the day unlike hairbands.

I'm the same with hair sticks and forks. Spin pins make my head ache and so do Ficcares, so for a full day at work I always use forks or sticks. Could you use a short stick that barely protrudes from your bun or maybe two or three short forks that don't go quite the whole way (hence the reason I suggested two or three)? I don't know what the dress code is where you work and when I was nursing we still wore caps so I could have hidden a short stick but I don't know how I'd handle it nowadays if I had remained in that career.

[Wavybrunetteuk]

Starting to think my colleagues will always want me to wear my hair up in a bun for work. I put oil on my hair this morning and it happened to look shiny and wavy with no frizz, and they still asked me to put it up. If I will always wear it up for work I might as well let it grow long enough to do cool and beautiful buns like you guys.

[Siv]

I'm the same with hair sticks and forks. Spin pins make my head ache and so do Ficcares, so for a full day at work I always use forks or sticks. Could you use a short stick that barely protrudes from your bun or maybe two or three short forks that don't go quite the whole way (hence the reason I suggested two or three)? I don't know what the dress code is where you work and when I was nursing we still wore caps so I could have hidden a short stick but I don't know how I'd handle it nowadays if I had remained in that career.

I have a cute story somewhat related to this ^ as well as the topic of the discussion! My sort of grandma used to be a nurse (my dad's family is a motley crew and I'm only biologically related to half of them...). She went to the "rolls royce" nursing school in Sweden that was started by Queen Sophia in the 1800's. The Queen was inspired to start the school by Florence Nightingale, and so the nurses wore hats to keep their hair in place, which were really similar to Florence's nurses' hats. Here's a pic of a Sophia-nurse in the hat an the old uniform:

https://s3.postimg.org/5c65hfz0z/500004_7000575h580zi88et21icb_F_550x566.jpg

They sew the hat by hand, with the help of older nurses, for their graduation. A lot of them still wear the hat daily, though they only have to wear it for formal occasions when they wear their old school formal uniform dress. At work they just wear normal scrubs these days. I really like the hat though, and I wish I could wear a similar one without potentially being bothered by others about it! It looks like it would really keep the hair contained :)

[Jas]

I'm the same with hair sticks and forks. Spin pins make my head ache and so do Ficcares, so for a full day at work I always use forks or sticks. Could you use a short stick that barely protrudes from your bun or maybe two or three short forks that don't go quite the whole way (hence the reason I suggested two or three)? I don't know what the dress code is where you work and when I was nursing we still wore caps so I could have hidden a short stick but I don't know how I'd handle it nowadays if I had remained in that career.

Yeah I was looking around for some shorter ones on ebay but my search didn't come back with them that short.. that would be a lot better though, it's really difficult to know what I would be able to wear. Maybe more blunted ones for work? Not sure, there's no workplace policy specifically for that that I can see.

Ah we don't have caps, that would make things a bit easier though!

I clicked multi quote to respond to Siv too but I'm not sure if it's worked, the quote hasn't shown on here. Those caps look really cute and practical! Really lovely story :D

[katydid317]

I have a cute story somewhat related to this ^ as well as the topic of the discussion! My sort of grandma used to be a nurse (my dad's family is a motley crew and I'm only biologically related to half of them...). She went to the "rolls royce" nursing school in Sweden that was started by Queen Sophia in the 1800's. The Queen was inspired to start the school by Florence Nightingale, and so the nurses wore hats to keep their hair in place, which were really similar to Florence's nurses' hats. Here's a pic of a Sophia-nurse in the hat an the old uniform:

https://s3.postimg.org/5c65hfz0z/500004_7000575h580zi88et21icb_F_550x566.jpg

They sew the hat by hand, with the help of older nurses, for their graduation. A lot of them still wear the hat daily, though they only have to wear it for formal occasions when they wear their old school formal uniform dress. At work they just wear normal scrubs these days. I really like the hat though, and I wish I could wear a similar one without potentially being bothered by others about it! It looks like it would really keep the hair contained :)

That looks way more practical than the funny little cap I have seen in pictures of some of the older nurses I work with. It kind of make sense to have a hat you could keep your hair tucked into, it would be perfect for nurses. Except from what I have noticed most of the older nurses I have seen keep their hair fairly short, so they don't need to keep it up.

[Simsy]

I work as a truck driver with a lot of mine site work. Most of the female drivers around town wear ponys, braids or small buns; few longer than MBL and most BSL or shorter. I personally go with milkmaid braids sewn down and a scarf to keep the hard hats from grabbing bits of braid. Decently secure and tidy to boot.

[Simsy]

My hair is not insanely long anymore, but I work with a couple of girls who have very long hair. I am a dancer (please no judgies, I love my job) and one of the girls flipped upside down on the pole and got her almost hip length hair caught in the bolts that hold it to the stage at the floor... goodness I've never heard a scream like that. We had to go on break so she could get all of the big chunk of hair that was ripped out unstuck and off the stage. Poor girl, I felt so bad for her. But her hair is so thick you couldn't even notice that section was missing. I'm going to have to be very very careful about that as my hair grows.


I dance occasionally for fun and fitness, and I had wondered how to go about securing hair for dancing. Cheers for the heads up. Any prior warning about hazards are appreciated.

[MidnightMoon]

Back when I worked as an assistant teacher in elementary school I would wear it up most of the time, mostly for my own convenience. Kids do like to touch your hair sometimes, but it's not as one would probably imagine. It's not like they would be sticking glue to it or pulling. The main reason was to avoid knots (I did have to bend all the time, pick up stuff, help them, walk around all the time).
Since I graduated, I had an office job, so hair wasn't a concern, but it had gotten to a length deemed unprofessional (tailbone), and in a office pretty much anything past waist is seemed as either too juvenile or something probably only a secretary ("doesn't mind looking professional") would do, so I'd always wear it in a bun. I think I did wear it loose a couple of times when it was at waist, but again, I wasn't really in charge of people. (Of course I don't think hair length has anything to do with one's ability to do a job, I'm stating how it's perceived here/where I worked).

[Jas]

How interesting that it's perceived like that at your job, I've never really thought about length being unprofessional. Did people actually say they thought it was unprofessional?

[MidnightMoon]

How interesting that it's perceived like that at your job, I've never really thought about length being unprofessional. Did people actually say they thought it was unprofessional?

Was, I no longer work there :P.
No, no one said a thing, there wasn't even a dress code (not a private business/company) aside from safety related issues (and that's for engineers, architects, labourers, etc.), but you wouldn't be hired or let go with anything out of the ordinary anyways (say, visible tattoos, lots of piercings, orange hair or something of the sort).
I feel like the whole long hair=unprofessional is more of an "open secret". I've never seen a female boss with hair past BSL, most keep it short. My two bosses were female and their hair barely touched her collar.
"Lower positions", where it seemed like it was more about the looks (think, receptionists, secretaries, etc.), did have long hair. They also wore brighter makeup, etc.

I don't think I've heard much said about it, but I don't think it's limited to my workplace or area. Of course I haven't lived say, in the states, but the image shown on TV or series is about the same. I've often looked at websites claiming to guide you on what's professional and what isn't, and it seems as long hair is one of those things one should take into account.
I guess if I worked in a creative agency it would be less frowned upon than say a bank, but I don't really have that experience.
I think the idea was/is to look less feminine, and blend in more with men.
I hope that's changing now, but for me it seems it's still that way to the point I can't really picture a boss in a meeting turning around and having long loose hair brushing her back, behind, or further down.
I also remember when my grandmother had guests this past February (last time I was in Russia), and we were discussing something hair related and I mentioned I wore buns to work and she said something along the lines of "but of course, such long hair loose would be inappropriate at work". She's an older woman, and worked mostly as an engineer.

[pili]

My work has been either in tourism (some corporate, some stand alone), usually food oriented, retail, or in fitness. Surprisingly, I never had anyone say anything about my hair, other than to say they liked it except for two times.

Once as an intern at a very corporate hotel front desk, a department head that did not usually come to our area and had only ever seen me with my hair up, came in and kind of disapprovingly said something about how much hair I had (WL and curly as all heck in FL humidity), he was the only one. In that same hotel there was a woman with an ankle length braid who walked around everywhere. I never got up the courage to talk to her though.

The other time was when I had grown out my pixie cut (not the one pictured below, this was 1999), my boss and mentor told me to keep my hair long. We had a good working relationship and he was very fatherly towards me. When I asked him if it didn't look more professional short, he said long and down suited me better. This is when I was already in a management position and working food service.

I actually wore it up the most in the fitness industry. It was just too in the way otherwise.

[DweamGoiL]

Was, I no longer work there :P.
No, no one said a thing, there wasn't even a dress code (not a private business/company) aside from safety related issues (and that's for engineers, architects, labourers, etc.), but you wouldn't be hired or let go with anything out of the ordinary anyways (say, visible tattoos, lots of piercings, orange hair or something of the sort).
I feel like the whole long hair=unprofessional is more of an "open secret". I've never seen a female boss with hair past BSL, most keep it short. My two bosses were female and their hair barely touched her collar.
"Lower positions", where it seemed like it was more about the looks (think, receptionists, secretaries, etc.), did have long hair. They also wore brighter makeup, etc.

I don't think I've heard much said about it, but I don't think it's limited to my workplace or area. Of course I haven't lived say, in the states, but the image shown on TV or series is about the same. I've often looked at websites claiming to guide you on what's professional and what isn't, and it seems as long hair is one of those things one should take into account.
I guess if I worked in a creative agency it would be less frowned upon than say a bank, but I don't really have that experience.
I think the idea was/is to look less feminine, and blend in more with men.
I hope that's changing now, but for me it seems it's still that way to the point I can't really picture a boss in a meeting turning around and having long loose hair brushing her back, behind, or further down.
I also remember when my grandmother had guests this past February (last time I was in Russia), and we were discussing something hair related and I mentioned I wore buns to work and she said something along the lines of "but of course, such long hair loose would be inappropriate at work". She's an older woman, and worked mostly as an engineer.

I this it's the same in the US as well. Most business offices frown upon very long loose hair. There are less formal settings or very small business where this doesn't really come into play, but if you work in a standard run of the mill business office, this definitely applies. You can get away with BSL and maybe WL if you wear it down on occasion or if it's not too big, but anything past that is not considered professional. I work as a Senior Manager and I can kind of get away with it on days I don't have any meetings with other departments. I keep my hair mostly at WL. When it gets passed that, I usually keep it bunned. Layers allow me to wear it longer and be able to have it looked styled so it's not as inviting of negative criticism or passive aggressive judgments behind my back.

As MidnightMoon pointed out, it's not that people really go around telling you this stuff, but office culture and fitting in is very important if you want to climb up the ladder professionally.

[MidnightMoon]

I this it's the same in the US as well. Most business offices frown upon very long loose hair. There are less formal settings or very small business where this doesn't really come into play, but if you work in a standard run of the mill business office, this definitely applies. You can get away with BSL and maybe WL if you wear it down on occasion or if it's not too big, but anything past that is not considered professional. I work as a Senior Manager and I can kind of get away with it on days I don't have any meetings with other departments. I keep my hair mostly at WL. When it gets passed that, I usually keep it bunned. Layers allow me to wear it longer and be able to have it looked styled so it's not as inviting of negative criticism or passive aggressive judgments behind my back.

As MidnightMoon pointed out, it's not that people really go around telling you this stuff, but office culture and fitting in is very important if you want to climb up the ladder professionally.

I figured :/
I was worried not that long ago I might not even get away with a bun. I don't intend to become the boss of any corporation, sure, but I was afraid buns might seem less trendy or fashionable.
It's like, not only are you expected to have short hair, but it should also be coloured and styled to indicate your condition, so you look "fancy" and not "librarian".
I really don't see myself with a chin length bob, though, so I guess buns will do it for me.
I really wish we could go back in time, where women had long hair and it was just normal to see huge buns and updos... I like long hair, on both men and women, and I shouldn't apologise or pay for being feminine... *sigh*

[MusicalSpoons]

I work with children so have my hair bunned the vast majority of the time, or braided occasionally. For the past 4 years, I've worked with 7-9 year-olds and I've had more paint and ink on my clothes than in my hair (thankfully!) but it still happens. Plus the occasional being caught between two chairs, in someone's zip, or in someone's velcro ...
yeah, I don't have it braided often! Bunned is so much safer.

When I started using sticks, I was concerned about poking children in the eye - at the time I worked with a couple of boys who had very little spatial awareness and would walk into doorframes, bump into people around them, etc. Naturally, I had visions of them not avoiding my hairstick when sitting at the table working, but miraculously they managed to keep themselves unpoked :D


For my last placement I had my hair up most of the time and down sometimes, I'm a student mental health nurse and was on placement in an anorexia unit so it was fine to have it down. I wouldn't have it down in more acute MH wards though and definitely wouldn't risk wearing any of my hair sticks - I still need to figure something out for that other than plain hairbands. I've found my hair sticks amazing though, I get no discomfort at all throughout the day unlike hairbands.

I see you've already had a couple of suggestions, but I wanted to add to the suggestion of bun-width sticks. Have you considered/tried Ketylo sticks? I have a couple of short ones that are almost the exact width of my LWB, and they're harder to yank out anyway because of their shape. I see you're also in the UK; Longhairedjewels sells them (google will take you to her website). I also second the suggestion of a flexi-8; they're definitely un-yankable!

[MidnightMoon]

I work with children so have my hair bunned the vast majority of the time, or braided occasionally. For the past 4 years, I've worked with 7-9 year-olds and I've had more paint and ink on my clothes than in my hair (thankfully!) but it still happens. Plus the occasional being caught between two chairs, in someone's zip, or in someone's velcro ...
yeah, I don't have it braided often! Bunned is so much safer.

When I started using sticks, I was concerned about poking children in the eye - at the time I worked with a couple of boys who had very little spatial awareness and would walk into doorframes, bump into people around them, etc. Naturally, I had visions of them not avoiding my hairstick when sitting at the table working, but miraculously they managed to keep themselves unpoked :D



I see you've already had a couple of suggestions, but I wanted to add to the suggestion of bun-width sticks. Have you considered/tried Ketylo sticks? I have a couple of short ones that are almost the exact width of my LWB, and they're harder to yank out anyway because of their shape. I see you're also in the UK; Longhairedjewels sells them (google will take you to her website). I also second the suggestion of a flexi-8; they're definitely un-yankable!

I never even thought of sticks being a possible hazard for children back when I worked in elementary lol. Now it makes sense, but back in the day I'd put pretty much any stick or pen I could find if I wanted it up xD
I also never ended up with ink or paint, perhaps being someone who doesn't really enjoy physical contact and avoided it helped.
I also made a sort of cinnamon bun and clipped the ends to my head sometimes, that seemed to work.

[Jas]

Oh thank you musicalspoons - yes that's exactly the kind of thing I was thinking of but had no name or frame of reference for, was just typing in "short hair sticks" which didn't bring up much lol.

Midnightmoon it's really good to get your perspective. I wonder if I've just been oblivious to that culture.. I've never really paid attention to hair lengths in my workplace but now I think of it - all my managers have had hair above BSL at least.

[MidnightMoon]

Oh thank you musicalspoons - yes that's exactly the kind of thing I was thinking of but had no name or frame of reference for, was just typing in "short hair sticks" which didn't bring up much lol.

Midnightmoon it's really good to get your perspective. I wonder if I've just been oblivious to that culture.. I've never really paid attention to hair lengths in my workplace but now I think of it - all my managers have had hair above BSL at least.

Hehe, I'm glad to be of any help, even if it's something sad like this :lol:
It might be different somewhere else, though. Where I'm living right now (BCN) I see things I would never see back home, or other countries where I've lived, for example, I see a lot of bartenders and baristas with tattoos and piercings, specially at places popular among teens and young adults. I also noticed the dress code is more casual. I see women with shorter dresses or skirts, open shoes, soft fabric jackets or just bare arms instead of suits, etc.
I haven't seen a lot of long hair though, and I see a lot of the same style in locals (pretty much everybody has brown hair here, so it's either dyed a lighter colour, or an ombre). Not a lot of long hair.

[MusicalSpoons]

I also never ended up with ink or paint, perhaps being someone who doesn't really enjoy physical contact and avoided it helped.

Haha, I'm the exact opposite which is probably what I'm doing wrong!


Oh thank you musicalspoons - yes that's exactly the kind of thing I was thinking of but had no name or frame of reference for, was just typing in "short hair sticks" which didn't bring up much lol.
you're most welcome - Ketylo sticks were a revelation to me! Previously I'd had to do buns reeeeally tightly so they stood a chance of staying in ... and then after a couple of hours my hair would just spit out whatever hairtoy I'd used. With Ketylos, they not only stayed, but they didn't have to almost give me a facelift either :joy: Them being the perfect, safe length for me was a bonus :D

[HairPlease]

I do a lot of mechanical work. My hair could get me killed if I let it all loose during some things. Right now, it's short (collarbone), and it's not going to cause any problems, but I try to keep it gelled back or in a bandana so it doesn't fall out and "contaminate" what I work with/on. I'm in an industry that wouldn't discourage long hair on either gender, but it is highly encouraged to keep that stuff out of the way for everyone and everything's sake. Bandanas are common.

[Alun]

Not sure if I'm the only man who has posted in this thread. Obviously, the whole situation is even more of a problem if you are a man with long hair. I think now the advent of the dreaded 'man-bun' may help us guys a bit. It pretty much gives us the permission to wear our hair up without being seen as girly. A lot of guys wore constant ponytails to work before this, but I think it earned them little or no 'brownie points', and I didn't follow this practice.

Now, being newly without a job, I have to decide whether to wear my hair up for job interviews, and if so, whether wearing a bun or putting it all in a hair clip is a better option. I tend to at least think the answer to the first question is yes. I have been wearing it up in each of these styles recently and nobody seems to notice. I just get a positive reaction from some women at the moment I let it down. Now you don't have to be a woman anymore to get to enjoy that moment!

[Arete]

I bun my hair at work. I work in a lab, and a braid or pony would get everywhere. One time, somebody knocked out my hair fork and my hair almost fell in a urine sample :O. :shudder:

[dryxi]

Not sure if I'm the only man who has posted in this thread. Obviously, the whole situation is even more of a problem if you are a man with long hair. I think now the advent of the dreaded 'man-bun' may help us guys a bit. It pretty much gives us the permission to wear our hair up without being seen as girly. A lot of guys wore constant ponytails to work before this, but I think it earned them little or no 'brownie points', and I didn't follow this practice.

Now, being newly without a job, I have to decide whether to wear my hair up for job interviews, and if so, whether wearing a bun or putting it all in a hair clip is a better option. I tend to at least think the answer to the first question is yes. I have been wearing it up in each of these styles recently and nobody seems to notice. I just get a positive reaction from some women at the moment I let it down. Now you don't have to be a woman anymore to get to enjoy that moment!

Alun, what industry are you in? I've found some industries tolerate long hair on men more than others. Retail, sales, or anything that seeks to make your existance pleasant to the widest range of people seems to shoehorn everyone into strict cultural norms, such has banning tattoos, or forbidding long hair on men. Industries where men are expected to be tough or rugged (construction, fabrication, etc) seem not to mind as much, as long as the hair isn't a hazard, and "hip" jobs like tech seem to almost encourage people to step out of cultural norms.

All that being said, that's my perspective as a woman who has been involved in some of those industries. Your experice could be completely different.

[rusika1]

Here's how astronaut Karen Nyberg washes her hair at work https://www.seeker.com/space/heres-how-to-wash-your-hair-in-outer-space?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=seeker

[HeartofHaleth]

I keep mine in a braided bun held with spin pins and wrapped with a Buff/similar headwrap to keep it clean. I'm a commercial lobster fisherman, so anything dangling or "catchy", from sweatshirt drawstrings to jewelry to hair, has the potential to get stuck in machinery or lobster traps and lead to serious injury or maybe even death. This means that I don't have any "things happening to my hair" stories, but I have gotten some pretty great reactions from the guys working down on the float. Just recently I came in to sell without my wrap on (it was falling off and I had to wash my hair that day anyway), and one of them saw my bun. His reaction: "Did you do that yourself?? That looks intense as ****!!" Needless to say, "intense as ****" is my new goal for hairstyling skills ;)

[endlessly]

I work in a bookstore where I spend my entire day receiving and stocking books, so my hair tends to get in the way all the time. I wear it up in a huge claw clip 99% of the time (the 1% spent wearing it down is after breaking said claw clip and then waiting for my break so I can run over to Ulta to purchase yet another one), otherwise it would just catch and pull all day or wind up a huge, tangled mess. Once in a while, I've opted to wear it down when doing an event, like story time, for example. Because seriously, if you have long hair and are reading a book about princesses, they will legit think you are one.

[pili]

I work in a bookstore where I spend my entire day receiving and stocking books, so my hair tends to get in the way all the time. I wear it up in a huge claw clip 99% of the time (the 1% spent wearing it down is after breaking said claw clip and then waiting for my break so I can run over to Ulta to purchase yet another one), otherwise it would just catch and pull all day or wind up a huge, tangled mess. Once in a while, I've opted to wear it down when doing an event, like story time, for example. Because seriously, if you have long hair and are reading a book about princesses, they will legit think you are one.
LOL! I worked at a bookstore when my hair was at its longest, and this is totally true!

[littlestarface]

I keep my hair up at work all the time and in a hairnet, since I work with cooking making and slicing food but there is times when my hair will just explode out of the bun and hairnet ugh and then I get the usual "OMG its so looooong", or I got "dam your hair is long, why?!" or "wow its tooo long how long is it" :rolleyes: but I say nothing and just run to the back and put it back in a bun and way more tighter.

[Sammy-Catherine]

Normally my hair is bunned but when wet it needs to dry down. So hair down, customer in front of me and her husband behind me. He makes a comment that his wife used to have hair that long... which makes her upset then asking if it's fake. I didn't try too hard to convince her that all this hair is mine because what would I get out of her knowing my hair is real?

OH also I got a customer to check out this website!

[school of fish]

I'm a bellydancer - I both teach and perform. Although there's no real rule about having long hair, it's pretty much an expectation. It's not just the look of it - I actually use my hair in some of the dances I do. There are some regional and folkloric dances where hair tossing is some of the main movement. I tend to wear it loose when I teach too, not just when I'm gigging.

[Reyn127]

I work in a restaurant, so my hair is required to be tied back. At the very least I'll put it up in a braid, but most of the time it's in a bun so it's not swinging around everywhere.

There was this one kind of funny time where my hair stick slipped out of my hair at work. We were busy and I wasn't noticing my bun getting looser, and then all of a sudden my metal hair stick (or really, a double ended aluminum knitting needle I use) slipped right out and hit the concrete floor, making a ridiculously loud ringing bang. Obviously I had to drop everything and put my hair right back up. My coworker said the whole thing was kind of cool, haha.

[Twig]

Mine's in a pony tail under a hair cover all day long. Right now that's helpful so I don't focus on the awkwardness of the no man's land between shoulder and apl.

[Twig]

It also keeps the unsolicited hair advice to a tolerable minimum. I'm still for no good reason sensitive to "wow, your hair is getting long."

[Alun]

Alun, what industry are you in? I've found some industries tolerate long hair on men more than others. Retail, sales, or anything that seeks to make your existance pleasant to the widest range of people seems to shoehorn everyone into strict cultural norms, such has banning tattoos, or forbidding long hair on men. Industries where men are expected to be tough or rugged (construction, fabrication, etc) seem not to mind as much, as long as the hair isn't a hazard, and "hip" jobs like tech seem to almost encourage people to step out of cultural norms.

All that being said, that's my perspective as a woman who has been involved in some of those industries. Your experice could be completely different.

I'm a patent agent, and most of the jobs where I can use that licence are in law firms. So, basically office work, only worse!

I do know one guy who has been a partner in several law firms and who has 'long' hair, but it's only shoulder length, so nothing like as long as mine. He also used to wear a Hawaiian shirt at one time. Other than that I can only think of women who have hair as long as I have, and very few of them. There was one guy who was only a paralegal, but he was related to a partner in that particular firm.

American law firms have an odd two-tier class system, into which patent agents do not fit, or we sometimes do, but it depends on the firm. Basically, you are either professionals or staff, but some rigidly define professionals as meaning lawyers, even though patent agents practice law (subject to narrow limits), bill our hours to the clients, and sign our own work product. I have been applying to some corporate law firms that do patent law, but where not everybody in the firm understands what a patent agent is. The lawyers are not even the biggest problem. I recently had to deal with an HR drone who had no idea atall, and couldn't be persuaded.

And that's without the hair issue!

[trolleypup]

I work in a restaurant, so my hair is required to be tied back. At the very least I'll put it up in a braid, but most of the time it's in a bun so it's not swinging around everywhere.

There was this one kind of funny time where my hair stick slipped out of my hair at work. We were busy and I wasn't noticing my bun getting looser, and then all of a sudden my metal hair stick (or really, a double ended aluminum knitting needle I use) slipped right out and hit the concrete floor, making a ridiculously loud ringing bang. Obviously I had to drop everything and put my hair right back up. My coworker said the whole thing was kind of cool, haha.
For convenience, my hair is usually up at work, but from time to time I leave it down for drying or just randomly when I am in the office or classroom. Out in the yards or on/around the streetcars it is pretty much always up.

Like Reyn, I use a metal hair stick (stainless chopstick or aluminum gutter spike). Doing normal class stuff, my bun will stay up for hours, but when things get interesting (fixing poles, flagging trains, troubleshooting), the stick loosens much more quickly. Usually I catch it in the loosening stage, pull it and put the stick in my pocket, and continue on with hair down (no 15 second pause to put it up), but there have certainly been times when there is the ringing sound of the stick hitting the pavement is my first warning. Sometimes I put it back up quickly, sometimes, I leave it down for a while since running around in the open it doesn't get in the way.

As for long hair at work. SF Muni(cipal Transportation Agency) is far more interested in your ability to do the job than what you look like, heck they are much more interested in your ability to show up as scheduled than what you look like. Long history of long hairs working here at pretty much all levels from entry level to high executives.

[Upside Down]

A few days ago I was hot under my braid and I used a wooden tulip that was on my desk (random decorative monento item) as a hairstick. I was walking around with a huge tulip in my bun all day, and nobody noticed. People don't see buns or hairtoys, I tell ya.

Other than that my braid is now hovering around waist and it is bothering me when I drive. :/

[Imalath]

I work in the deli/bakery department of a grocery store, where I do everything from paperwork to food prep to customer service. We can wear our hair in ponytails or braids if we wear the uniform hats, but for safety purposes I bun directly on the center of my crown, and then cover with a hairnet or the uniform ball cap. I have started to outgrow the provided hairnets so I am experimenting with how loose I can wear my cap and have it still stay on when I'm practically standing on my head cleaning out deep fryers. With the cap, nobody even sees my bun, let alone how long the hair in it might be. It saves me a lot of odd conversations, and I never have to worry about dipping my braid tassel into 350-degree grease, dirty dishwater, or the meat slicers! :run:

Long hair isn't actively discouraged within my company's culture, but it is usually found on the teenage cashiers. Corporate has a vendetta against any 'unnatural' colors, though. I have heard of women being suspended for having blue or green hair, and someone once got a warning for cherry cola red. And yet every bottle blonde or platinum color doesn't get a second glance, and neither does fancy (and obviously dyed) highlights.

True fact: I once chopped my hair from waist to shoulder because I was in college working in a lab and couldn't get my buns to stop shedding pins and coming down at the worst opportunities. The bunsen burners they gave us were ancient and prone to singing fingers when lighted; I wouldn't risk my hair. I miss the lab work desperately, especially now that I have finally mastered bunning my hair!

[Ophidian]

I usually do a folded braid or low bun for work. If I'm due for a wash I'll do double french braids pinned up in the back. Well, the tails are long enough now that I realized if I tuck them under the other braid well enough they'll stay put. Around the house that is. So I decided to skip the spin pins one morning and spent the day trying to re-tuck houdini braids. It's food service so I can't just fix my hair out on the floor so if one fell out and it was busy I had to just go with it and pretend like I totally meant to leave the house with one braid tucked up in the back and the other (which had lost its hair tie by then) hanging out by my ear.

[littlestarface]

I work in the deli/bakery department of a grocery store, where I do everything from paperwork to food prep to customer service. We can wear our hair in ponytails or braids if we wear the uniform hats, but for safety purposes I bun directly on the center of my crown, and then cover with a hairnet or the uniform ball cap. I have started to outgrow the provided hairnets so I am experimenting with how loose I can wear my cap and have it still stay on when I'm practically standing on my head cleaning out deep fryers. With the cap, nobody even sees my bun, let alone how long the hair in it might be. It saves me a lot of odd conversations, and I never have to worry about dipping my braid tassel into 350-degree grease, dirty dishwater, or the meat slicers! :run:

Long hair isn't actively discouraged within my company's culture, but it is usually found on the teenage cashiers. Corporate has a vendetta against any 'unnatural' colors, though. I have heard of women being suspended for having blue or green hair, and someone once got a warning for cherry cola red. And yet every bottle blonde or platinum color doesn't get a second glance, and neither does fancy (and obviously dyed) highlights.

True fact: I once chopped my hair from waist to shoulder because I was in college working in a lab and couldn't get my buns to stop shedding pins and coming down at the worst opportunities. The bunsen burners they gave us were ancient and prone to singing fingers when lighted; I wouldn't risk my hair. I miss the lab work desperately, especially now that I have finally mastered bunning my hair!

Hey I work at the deli section too in my town :waving:

[Beckstar]

My hair was hip length in 2012 and I've shut it in file cabinets while walking away a got it wrapped around chair arms and stood up... Ouch. Bun, please?