Is long hair increasingly popular?

[lyria]

So I was at the Union Square Holiday Craft Faire today and there were so many long hairs that if I had been counting I would have lost count. Long hairs were everywhere, not just making and selling crafts, but wandering through.

It got me thinking that if here in the center of Manhattan there are so many long hairs, maybe it's becoming more popular and generally acceptable. The long hairs were mostly women, but of all ages and hair types. I didn't see any classic or longer, but tons longer than BSL and many around waist or hip length.

I think especially in our current celebrity worship culture, long hair may be becoming not only popular but almost idealized. I'm thinking of common pop culture icons like Tyra Banks or younger tv stars like Blake Lively.

I think long hair is In! Any thoughts? Have you noticed increasing long hair sightings in your area?

[MountainGypsy]

lyria, now that you mention it, I have been seeing a lot more long hair in my area. It seems to be particularly in the 20-something aged women and it's lovely well cared for hair.

[MBonn]

hmm I'm not sure I've noticed but I'll be looking now for sure. I think "natural" in general is becoming more popular and accepted; rather than being shunned as "hippy."

[Katahdin]

It is in, especially hip/tailbone length hair. There are quite a few girls in my school with long, very straight, blunt-hemline hair about hip-length. I think it's quite stylish, though I don't know how they can get it to grow so long and healthy when they flat iron it every day. My hair would be totally fried. :shrug:

[Vitalai]

There's a whole lot of girls at my school with hair BSL length or sometimes longer. They do blowfry, straighten, and curl them though. Some are lucky to still have beautiful hair. Not many girls have shoulder-length or above.

[Curlsgirl]

It is not around here at all. But then where I live is a little behind the "style" compared to bigger cities. The girls in high school still have shoulder length flat-ironed hair here mostly. How can it suddenly be in style? It takes years to grow it that long unless they are using extensions.

[windblown]

I see lots of long hair around here. I definitely think it's becoming more popular.

[Kirin]

I think what TV and the media tells us about what women should have, how they should look, and all those makeover shows are full of you know what!

Did you ever notice, in a makeover show, the one's chopping off everyone's hair so they are "in fashion" have long hair? That most of the desired beautiful hollywood stars all have long hair? Yet, we're told whats in fashion is short short short and more short.

I often wonder if its jealousy on the part of those on the inside that want to hack all our hair off so they look better than us LOL.

[backtolonghair]

Wow.. well yeah, I think it definitely has been. I see alot of people in my area, around my age, with shorter hair though.. so maybe it's the area. But I just love long hair! And there are alot of celebrities who are doing the long hair thing. It's look great!
:)

[Magdalene]

It's hard for long hair to suddenly become trendy, though. Unless you're getting extensions, you can't wake up and say "I'm going to have long hair today!"

[backtolonghair]

I think what TV and the media tells us about what women should have, how they should look, and all those makeover shows are full of you know what!

Did you ever notice, in a makeover show, the one's chopping off everyone's hair so they are "in fashion" have long hair? That most of the desired beautiful hollywood stars all have long hair? Yet, we're told whats in fashion is short short short and more short.

I often wonder if its jealousy on the part of those on the inside that want to hack all our hair off so they look better than us LOL.

Yeah, I do find that a little weird. What's up with that?
Yeah, like that one lady from Makeover from TLC she has BSL hair and they always have people get their hair cut really short. I never got that.

Yes, most of the hollywood stars do have really long hair... for most of them they are extensions, but still.. if long hair wasn't beautiful, then why would they wear it? They would all have shorter hair. I think maybe because most people believe the lie that you have to have shorter hair when you reach a certain age, that it makes the celebrities appear that they are on a different level or something.. that they can wear it because they are celebrities, but no else past that age can get away with it. It's so stupid! Lol :wethree:

Blessings

[goodenough]

If you read "style" books, some say that only celebs and the wealthy can wear long hair well because they have enough time and money. Maybe because many women color their hair and that is more expensive and damaging to long hair? Also, I think they are factoring in more time for heat styling. I think you can look as stylish as you want with long hair. I choose to wear mine in a stylish way, if I didn't--who would I be hurting?

Remember, most of us enjoy caring for our hair and treating it nice. We take time to educate ourselves and experiment with what workds. A lot of people don't want to!

[Elainehali]

I think so.

Fashion trends seem to work on opposites. One day the pants will be super skinny legged, then right afterward the trend will be large sailor pants.

I think it's because what's in fashion for a while will get boring, and cause people to crave the opposite.

We're all aware that hair takes a painfully long time to grow, but it works the same way as any other fashion.

[Magicknthenight]

I have been noticing people have wanted longer hair. Plus seeing a lot more people with long hair. It just happens over night so i assume its extensions not some miracle.
Their are 2 girls at my school with longer hair then me. I have waist length.
One has straight long hair she always wears in a pony-tail. Down i think it would be about tail bone.
The other has really curly hair that's about tailbone. Not sure how long it is stretched. It is pretty :)
But yea suddenly its the new thing. Lots of people that cut it really short. But i don't think most of them want extreme lengths like i do. They say how they miss their hair and grow it back out to about armpit length.
Most of the girls at my school have straightened hair. A lot of people die it very frequently. I know this girl that dyes her hair a couple times a week. And this other girl about every 2 weeks. No one really knows the length of my hair since i keep it up though.

[marajade]

We live in such a gotta have it quick society. It makes me giggle when I read fashion articles in ladies' magazines about having long hair etc because if you truly tried to follow the trends you couldn't keep up with it. You'd chop your hair off and two months later waist is in. It's almost like an unreal expectation. :confused:

[atlantaz3]

The trends seem to go from long to short in one year. And ya just know that the celeb that had short hair last year has extensions this year. Only one other person in my office has what I would call long hair - to her waist. Most have the classic corporate look, variations on bobs.

[Roseate]

I think maybe because most people believe the lie that you have to have shorter hair when you reach a certain age

I've always found that "rule" to be so odd- I tend to think it's the other way 'round!

Young women with fresh faces can look so cute with edgy short hair, but older women often benefit from the softness and classic look of long hair. And what looks more elegant than a silver-haired woman with a nice up-do? Of course, some people are just more comfortable at a certain length, whatever their age.

My mom grew her hair out at 60, and it looks great. Rules! Pfft.

[nayver]

I am a truly fan of fashion blogs :) and most of the blog fashion icons are long haired (BSL and waist), with very natural hair. I think hair is becoming the new accesory.

[SolSara]

Yes, it's very popular with long hair in Sweden right now, especially for young women. BSL or even waist is quite common actually. To bad many still bleach and straight their hair to death, but there are some with gorgeous hair too. :) Most of my girlfriends are trying to grow their hair out, so I've given them some good advice. ;)

[Arctic_Mama]

I think the resurgence of the Natural movement helps a lot, and fashion is cyclical - it has been high maintenance, edgy, and downright artificial for so long. And yet there is a dichotomy of women trying to 'maintain' their way to that perfect natural look. I think some are slowly discovering that the best way to achieve that timeless, healthy, glow is to actually DO it, instead of just recreate it with paints, powders, and styling.

Also, what is old becomes new again. Long, healthy hair has been relatively scarce for three decades now, and so I think the my generation is rediscovering it, as it were.

I also wouldn't minimize the power of this site and word of mouth. I know MANY women have asked me about my hair and hobbies and LHC comes up. Especially with the internet being so accessible and connected, it is easy to spread the word on other forums and guide people here.

[Isilme]

maybe it's my web browser that keeps a history over what I search, but guess what comes up as first result when I google long hair? Yes, that's right, this very site.

[Curlsgirl]

maybe it's my web browser that keeps a history over what I search, but guess what comes up as first result when I google long hair? Yes, that's right, this very site.


Absolutely! Anytime I google ANYTHING to do with long hair, LHC comes up if not at the top toward the top.

[Speedbump]

I like the fact that more people are seeing more long hair (of course! :p ) but those people who are longhairs and not growing hair to be in style will always be a minority unless there is a major cultural shift that gives long hair a significance above what it has now. IOW, at one time, it was the cultural norm, at least in Europe, for women to have long hair just because they were women. Now, people can do whatever they want to a large degree, although there are "rules" and pressures created by people who want to make money from insecurity. There is just too much money to be made from women constantly changing their looks, and the hair industry will do whatever they need to do to keep people coming back for more cut/fry/dye. :shrug:

[rhubarbarin]

Even though there's always so much negative talk about long hair it's never really been out. In almost every era there are icons of feminine beauty with long hair.. nearly every female star that's a major sex symbol right now has longer hair.

I see an amazing amount of long hair among middle and high-school students. In my sister's class (juniors in HS) nearly every girl has BSL to hip length hair.

[Copasetic]

most people i know keep their hair right around shoulder length, or shorter. i know a lot of people that *like* long hair, but hate taking care of it, or hate how it looks on them.

[lyria]

Wow! So many posts in so little time!

While every era has had some long hair, it has certianly gone through periods where it was less popular. 1920's had flappers and short hair was all the rage. 1950's housewives were all about that perfectly coifed hair shoulder length at most. And I think that the 1980's and 90's were more about women being taken seriously as business associates and therefore trying to look somehow tougher and more serious which somehow translated to short hair.

That being said, now that long hair is making a bit of a comeback in popular culture, I wonder how this will translate to the corporate world. For example, as a soon to be lawyer, what kinds of hairstyles will be appropriate for the court room? Part of me still wants to say that the tidy updos and shorter hair styles are acceptabloe in that arena while free flowing waist length hair is not. But why should that be? Why should my legal argument be taken any less seriously with my hair down than with it up? Obviously it shouldn't, but the fact is it probably is anyway. So I wonder (and hope) that if long hair continues to be more pervasive in popular culture that will lead to greater acceptance of this "feminine" trait in the corporate world...

[brok3nwings]

yes i think it is going popular... my sister (17 years old right now) she wants to have her hair to waist and her friends have bsl maybe a bit longer hair... i think that the temptation of cuting the hair its bigger at the University or starting to work...
the thing is... many people want to have long hair...but not everyone is willing to take care of it. My home mate wants to grow her hair... she knows i come here to LHC, she never entered but sometimes she asks me questions... but she doesnt really want to listen. As my sister. They want easy answers but if for example i say... you have many splits you should trim and then start taking good care...they start giving excuses cause they think that for long hair the only thing that is needed is leting it grow. My sister has her hair past bsl, she has a beautiful hair...but i mean... i can see her splits 2 m away from her. And it feels horrible...anyway..this is what i think...many people want to have long hair, but few of them want to take care of it

[spidermom]

I've always seen plenty of long hairs sprinkled in among the short and the in-between lengths. I don't think it has ever completely gone out of style.

[akurah]

Around here, if your hair is long, you're in one of four groups typically:
Ethnic minority (Hispanic, Indian, Asian)
"Hippie" (I use that term loosely! Birkenstocks wearing, all natural stuff, steel water bottles, often have dreadlocked hair but not always, and is usually long regardless of if dreadlocked or not)
Under 25 (of any ethnicity or class)
IT technician (usually male, occasionally female IT techs usually have long hair, but majority is male)

Beyond that, long hair is fairly rare.

[Raven69]

I don't think its so much as overnight happenings just whether you are aware of it or take notice to other people. I think I have now become more aware of long hair (waist length and longer) then before I found LHC. I live in an area where the people like to think they are ahead or up to speed with fashion and as long as I have lived here; I have seen quiet a few long hairs. It is more common now though to be shoulder length and even past BSL. Like everyone else said - there are several celebrities that have shoulder length to BSL and sometimes longer. When I was in High School, (this was about 7 1/2 years ago) short hair wasn't really in, but it wasn't out either as was the case with long hair. There was this one girl I knew who had hair to her hips, and she wore it down alot and everyone loved to touch it. Most of the girls in high school had shoulder length and below BSL.

In movies that are mideival times era/fairy tales the actress usually has long hair (whether a wig or extensions is unkown) that have hair past the waist and in some cases to the knees or longer. Take LOTR, Liv Tyler has hair extensions that make her hair past her hips - or in 10th kingdom, the girl had shoulder length hair and then became 'cursed' with long hair that was who-knows-how long and the other characters ended up chopping off her hair with a 'magic' axe and her hair cut looked like a boy's there was barely an inch or two of it left on her head! I mean, she looked good but ewww!!! There are more and more movies out with women who have shoulder length and below BSL, like in Harry Potter, Sci-Fi movies, Matrix ect.

I know my sister had a wig(or was it extensions, can't remember) she wore on occasions cause she wanted her hair back (BSL) cause they chopped it off up to her ears in boot camp.

EDIT: Going along with what TPAM said, the ones I notice more with long hair, are hispanic females, or of asian descent and female. Otherwise the males are usually artists, models or bikers(if they are white) - (or native american).

[Ranee]

Since I got to pay attention to other peoples hair I'm seeing long haired people EVERYWHERE. They must have been there before but I never really noticed it I guess. Funny how that works he.

[Alun]

I've always found that "rule" to be so odd- I tend to think it's the other way 'round!

Young women with fresh faces can look so cute with edgy short hair, but older women often benefit from the softness and classic look of long hair. And what looks more elegant than a silver-haired woman with a nice up-do? Of course, some people are just more comfortable at a certain length, whatever their age.

My mom grew her hair out at 60, and it looks great. Rules! Pfft.

So true. As a general rule I'd say a woman shouldn't have a pixie cut unless she looks like a pixie. OTOH, if they want to that's up to them, I suppose.

[backtolonghair]

Since I got to pay attention to other peoples hair I'm seeing long haired people EVERYWHERE. They must have been there before but I never really noticed it I guess. Funny how that works he.


I know, me too! Ever since joining this site, I look at people's hair and their lengths more than I ever did! :)

[MBonn]

So true. As a general rule I'd say a woman shouldn't have a pixie cut unless she looks like a pixie. OTOH, if they want to that's up to them, I suppose.


I completely agree! And IMHO most women can't pull off very short hair.

[heidi w.]

We are heading back to 1970 or so in fashion, and hair.

Just the other day I saw a Garnier Fructis commercial with a lovely classic length blonde model. For a second I thought it was Leona! until I looked closer at the face.

Among younger women, I would say, yes, longer hair is in.

Still the myths about shorter for "older" women. Ick!:justy:

heidi w.

[Arctic_Mama]

Sorry, double post!

It's funny you mention the groups with long hair, though, because I do find that to be true. Though I'm a longhair for life I am indeed under 25, and my long haired husband is a Structural Engineer and Programmer... he grew his out in college because he was too cheap and lazy to get it cut every six weeks, and I know most of the longhaired guys I know have similar reasons - easier upkeep!

Interesting!

[Tangles]

I've seen alot of girls my age with BSL or slightly below BSL, but not many with waist , and very few with hip.

[Raven69]

Reviving thread...came across a blog site doing a search...

Article posted on Tuesday, April 24, 2007 - reads:

Long Hair Still Most Popular:

Long hair is still winning as the most popular hair style. Everywhere you look you see the long, flowing hair style look.

If you are very patient, you can just grow out your hair. Most hair grows about 1/2 inch per month. At that rate, you could have about 12-inch long hair in only 2 years.

If you want the long hair style sooner, you can always get permanent hair extensions or even wear clip-in hair extensions. Hair extensions have come a long way and some methods are quite affordable for those that don't have millions in the bank (like celebrities!!).

[RavennaNight]

I think I have been noticing the trend as well. No "extreme" lengths, but a lot more BSL-Hip folks all over, of all ages! I saw some stunning BSL snow white hair walking about the other day and it looked like something out of a fairytale.

[RavennaNight]

We are heading back to 1970 or so in fashion, and hair.

Just the other day I saw a Garnier Fructis commercial with a lovely classic length blonde model. For a second I thought it was Leona! until I looked closer at the face.

Among younger women, I would say, yes, longer hair is in.

Still the myths about shorter for "older" women. Ick!:justy:

heidi w.

I love that commercial!

[Dreamernz]

I have definitely been seeing that, the number of longhairs are increasing.......

[WritingPrincess]

I don't know. The town I live in is annoyingly homogeneous. 99% of the adult women have either shoulder length, layered hair or shorter-than-ear-length hair. It annoys me, or did I say that already?

[Tangles]

I haven't been seeing a lot of bobs lately--tons of APL and BSL--but waist + continues to be a rarity.

[lyria]

I agree that waist+ is rare, but it seems like BSL (ish) is everywhere! But then, I'm in school sor maybe people plan to cut post graduation as we are forced into the working world?

[rockkcor]

It is hard to tell…
Perhaps ‘longish’ hair is kind of trendy as females are concerned while very short in males…
One thing for sure – with more long hair sites and groups it would become more popular! I think that people are more into ability to choose if they are using Internet…
For me it is great to know that I am not the only male that wants to grow his hair superlong… So now I have no fear about what some people may thing as I know what you – the people on ‘Longhaircommunity’ – think about it! And I know that belong here!
Who cares about the others!
So in that way we are making it more popular, promoting it and perhaps long hair is becoming popular…
After all we all live in the world we create ourselves…

[Nicole.Amina]

I'm not sure if this was universal, but starting about four years ago (I think) Hispanic GUYS started growing their hair in my area. Mostly between shoulder and APL. Then all of a sudden I guess they all decided to get a hair cut because now I hardly see any.

Women in my area have always had long hair. It is a bit more prevalent though. (Or maybe I'm just noticing it more because of LHC lol).

[Opal25]

I do think long hair is in -- I've been seeing quite a lot of long hairs in the past few years (at least waistlength & a few classic length & 1 knee length [I ended up telling her how beautiful I thought her hair was...]).

[Johanna]

I've moved around australia alot this year, starting in victoria, to NSW, to QLD and I've noticed that the higher up in I get, the longer the average womens hair is. Down in victoria shoulder length was common. In NSW BSL was common, now that I'm in Brisbane, I'm seeing tons of TBL to even knees!

I'm leaving for Darwin on the weekend, I'm hoping the trend continues ;)

[DaveDecker]

I've moved around australia alot this year, starting in victoria, to NSW, to QLD and I've noticed that the higher up in I get, the longer the average womens hair is. Down in victoria shoulder length was common. In NSW BSL was common, now that I'm in Brisbane, I'm seeing tons of TBL to even knees!

I'm leaving for Darwin on the weekend, I'm hoping the trend continues ;)

With that sort of trend, I suppose that just about everyone in Darwin will be sporting ankle-length hair. :p

I have long noticed here in the U.S. that long hair is more prevalent the farther south (closer to the equator) you are. Maybe it's because they are more accustomed to the heat, and don't get mad urges to chop the moment a heat wave strikes (such as they infrequently do far away from the equator)? :shrug: Just a theory.

[Drynwhyl]

Basically, everything I do\wear that is "unusual" becomes popular in a few months. But most of the people can't grow their hair long and healthy (they don't know how I guess) so it's one of the rare things I can be original with, while liking it :D

[fairydust]

Long hair seems to be somewhat popular where I live, but only among a certain age group. A lot of the high school students (girls) that I teach have longish hair - not super long, but down to BSL. I've seen a couple of girls with hair down to their tailbone, and one guy even (he's a student of mine as well) has really long hair. It looks incredibly well cared for, too. The guy plays in a local metal band, so that explains it :) None of my friends have long hair, though, and while I was still a university student about a year ago (when I had long hair), I noticed that not many others around campus had long hair. So, to answer the question: long hair is and isn't increasingly popular at least where I am :)

[pdy2kn6]

personally, i have seem some more long hairer every now and again, however i have to say I have been noticing much more girls with shorter hair, the longer my hair gets. Many people are starting wearing cropped looks, very short. I have to say that I don't think it is about being 'accepted' because i think long hair (however long) is accepted, it is just seen as different because not many people have the time and patience to take care of their hair enough to get it to an extreme length.

[lyria]

personally, i have seem some more long hairer every now and again, however i have to say I have been noticing much more girls with shorter hair, the longer my hair gets. Many people are starting wearing cropped looks, very short. I have to say that I don't think it is about being 'accepted' because i think long hair (however long) is accepted, it is just seen as different because not many people have the time and patience to take care of their hair enough to get it to an extreme length.

Maybe they don't have the patience to grow it, but taking care of it I think can be done well through benign neglect! styling short hair with products and blowfryers takes my roommates at least three times as long as it takes me to comb out my wet hair after a shower!

[flapjack]

The Hispanic and Asian comment is odd to me because here in LA, they all have it between chin length and bsl with tons of layers... which imo, is pretty short. I have a lot of female Asian friends, most of them weren't born in the US, and shoulder length or above is definitely popular. BSL to waist is really common for a lot of White girls I see at my university, though. I would say their hair is usually the longest in the bunch.

I only see hair waist and below on some girls around college age. The occasional man or woman. And that's it.

[beehives]

I've definitely noticed more long hair in the media. I think it really saw its peak about a year ago with all the beachy, tousled waves (which I think looks gorgeous, by the way) seen in Hollywood and whatnot. Since then I've seen an increase in long-haired ladies on the streets.

Whatever it is, I'm not complaining! Gorgeous.

[BetterInBlue]

Around here, if your hair is long, you're in one of four groups typically:
Ethnic minority (Hispanic, Indian, Asian)
"Hippie" (I use that term loosely! Birkenstocks wearing, all natural stuff, steel water bottles, often have dreadlocked hair but not always, and is usually long regardless of if dreadlocked or not)
Under 25 (of any ethnicity or class)
IT technician (usually male, occasionally female IT techs usually have long hair, but majority is male)

Beyond that, long hair is fairly rare.

I was just going to say that I noticed lot more longhaired women when I lived in an area with more ethnic diversity (particularly among Hispanic and Indian women). Now living back in my small, semi-rural, hometown that is about 95% white, I mainly see long hair on the very young. Most women my age (late 20s) and older have the choppy bob cuts, though I'd say there is a greater proportion of middle-aged and older women wearing long hair here than average because this area is more traditional, old-fashioned (I'm not quite sure how to describe it with making it sound negative - if you're from Appalachia, you'll understand).

[nicolezoie]

I think that the shampoo commercials of late (the Garnier and Pantene ones in particular) are all mentally preparing us for the release of Rapunzel. Goodness knows what's going to happen AFTER the movie comes out though. :mad:

[Beatnik Guy]

Goodness knows what's going to happen AFTER the movie comes out though. :mad:
You'll be famous? :cheese:

On the basis of having been in Nepal this week, I'd conclude that long hair (for women anyhow) had gotten a lot more popular; I suspect that'll not carry over to other parts of the world though? :rolleyes:

[Sissy]

This post made me think and I had a look when out at the shops. There are some people with longish hair here like mid-back. They are usually younger, some are in 30's-50's. It seems that it's more commonly younger girls though (teens to mid 20's). I had a think about the facility I work at. Out of all the professional staff, there is only one person I can think of whom has longer hair than me (I work in the teaching profession).

[lyria]

This post made me think and I had a look when out at the shops. There are some people with longish hair here like mid-back. They are usually younger, some are in 30's-50's. It seems that it's more commonly younger girls though (teens to mid 20's). I had a think about the facility I work at. Out of all the professional staff, there is only one person I can think of whom has longer hair than me (I work in the teaching profession).

Hmm, maybe an increase in long hair among teens to mid-20's will lead to an increase among 30's when these longhairs grow up and (hopefully) don't chop? :)

[goldenwaves]

I don't know if it's increasing, but since I've been obsessed with my hair I've noticed some long hair in my area. There are a few people with very long hair (at least waist) in the supermarket where I work. I hope it's in!