View Full Version : FREEDOM! I wore my loonnnngg hair down at work today!!!
jane53
August 26th, 2010, 07:11 PM
I came to LHC to get encouragement to keep my hair long even though I'm almost 57. What I found was a great community and lots of ideas for hair styles, but there are lots of people here that advocate wearing hair up all or most of the time, and that felt to me like just more disapproval for having long hair at 56.
I'd always worn my hip-length hair in a low ponytail. Then, with LHC influence, I started wearing my hair up a lot this summer.
Today, I was sitting in my office and my updo was just feeling so DANG UNCOMFORTABLE, so I took it down and wore it long, no ponytail.
As I was leaving work, a couple of younger faculty told me I should wear it down more! I swung my hair in response, and they applauded and said, "For sure! Wear it down!"
And I honest-to-goodness felt so free.
Now granted, today we were all just in our offices doing course syllabi, and it might feel different when I'm up in front of classes with my mane.
But I think I'm going to try it more. Ponytails? only sometimes. Updos? Enough of the hair snapping and discomfort.
Down-hairs, join the freedom movement! :cheese::cheese::cheese:
trolleypup
August 26th, 2010, 07:15 PM
Today, I was sitting in my office and my updo was just feeling so DANG UNCOMFORTABLE, so I took it down and wore it long, no ponytail.
As I was leaving work, a couple of younger faculty told me I should wear it down more! I swung my hair in response, and they applauded and said, "For sure! Wear it down!"
And I honest-to-goodness felt so free.
Yup! Wear it as you wish! Usually mine is up, but sometimes is it down or in a clipped pony.
And sometimes it does just feel sooo good to pull the stick out and let it down...regardless of whether there is an audience. Back when I was driving buses, part of the routine of getting off work was to pull the stick out and let my hair down as I walked away from the bus.
christine1989
August 26th, 2010, 07:17 PM
Your hair looks great down! If I attempted to wear it down for a day it would look like a frizzy fro by the time I got home.
Capybara
August 26th, 2010, 07:21 PM
This is exactly how I feel when I wear my hair down! Freedom :D
Such a lovely, happy post. You go, girl! You DO have awesome hair!
jane53
August 26th, 2010, 07:21 PM
Your hair looks great down! If I attempted to wear it down for a day it would look like a frizzy fro by the time I got home.
I love your avatar picture, christine!
My hair never frizzes. It's vice is occasional limpness. It was full and swingy today, though; in a good hair mood.
akuamoonmaui
August 26th, 2010, 07:30 PM
I love that you have long hair "at your age" (I'm saying that SO tongue-in-cheek). Long hair is a philosophy!
triumphator!
August 26th, 2010, 08:30 PM
Yay, who says you have to wear it up at work, anyway? Enjoy :)
nowxisxforever
August 26th, 2010, 09:27 PM
I usually wear mine up to protect it since it's prone to splits and tangles and all that nastiness, but I wear it down at work ('safe' environment- no wind, about the worst I'll get is a tug from a friend) sometimes. :D
tinti
August 26th, 2010, 09:52 PM
Oh yeah, it feels so great sometimes to just let down the hair, and your hair is beautiful too. I tried the wear it up for xx weeks/months challange right when I joined but I felt I couldn't pull it off even though I wear it up most of the time. Guess I shouldn't be so strickt with myself ;)
melikai
August 27th, 2010, 03:37 AM
I'm definitely with you on this - I love to wear my hair down!
I think you should wear it down in front of classes, people would probably LOVE it. I really dislike the notion that having your hair loose equals unprofessional. If your hair is healthy and clean, why not?
jackiesjottings
August 27th, 2010, 03:44 AM
Yay :)) I am a long haired 50 year old and I love to indulge myself by wearing it down from time to time :))
RavennaNight
August 27th, 2010, 04:30 AM
:cheer: Enjoy your newfound free-flowing freedom!;)
I'm the same way. Not too fond of up dos either. I dislike the way my head looks, and they're quite uncomfortable. I'm to a point I only wear them when I'm eating or my head is excessively dirty. It's good to know how to do them, for the practical purpose of throwing it up quick to eat, but that's about it.:shrug:
jane53
August 27th, 2010, 06:14 AM
I usually wear mine up to protect it since it's prone to splits and tangles and all that nastiness, but I wear it down at work ('safe' environment- no wind, about the worst I'll get is a tug from a friend) sometimes. :D
I must be weird. I get more breakage from wearing it up. :confused:
Angela_Rose
August 27th, 2010, 07:32 AM
Back before I was covering my hair every day, my release-from-work routine included shaking my hair loose from its bun on the walk from the door to my truck through the parking lot. So freeing!
Good for you!
Phexlyn
August 27th, 2010, 07:35 AM
Yay for long hair freedom! :cheese:
Honestly, just wear it whichever way you want to. It's your hair, and it's beautiful, and you have every right to wear it down if that's what you're comfortable with :)
LindsayNichole
August 27th, 2010, 07:40 AM
Good for you! I usually wear my hair down. I put it in a single braid, or occasionally pigtail braids, when it's getting in the way or to sleep, but otherwise, I enjoy it down and free! :D
Siava
August 27th, 2010, 07:44 AM
:cheer: Not only does it feel great, but it's nice to get positive feedback as well. I'm glad you did.
swanns
August 27th, 2010, 10:10 AM
Congrats! :)
Wearing my hair down makes me feel super self-conscious, it's always up after max 5 minutes.
*Rose Red*
August 27th, 2010, 10:12 AM
Your hair is great! Enjoy the compliments and wear it down as often as you want!
x0h_bother
August 27th, 2010, 10:18 AM
I'm glad you find it freeing too. I am only BSL so I don't really know what it's like to have longer hair, but at my length I only wear it down. Hair is meant to be seen! :) Enjoy
dragonette@1
August 27th, 2010, 10:18 AM
I am 52, and wear my up for work. The minute I leave the building, my hair comes down! Ah, freedom!
restourceful
August 27th, 2010, 10:38 AM
It has been just too dang hot for me to wear mine down this summer, but I'm thinking as the weather cools I might enjoy wearing it down some. My work is such that I have to wear it contained, but other than that, I'm almost looking forward to wearing it down some now that it is longer than I've ever had it before.
I'm glad you've found what makes you happy. That's what this long hair journey is all about! :joy:
twilight_faerie
August 27th, 2010, 10:54 AM
Aw, that's awesome! It's so nice to hear about people getting compliments on their long hair rather than "you need to cut it" remarks. I would've been walking on air for the rest of the day. :D
Arianwen
August 27th, 2010, 11:13 AM
I sometimes wore mine down at college if I wasn't cycle-commuting and my Anthropology instructor once complimented me on it which was nice of her...doh I forgot I actually did get a in real life compliment at least once lol.
Jenn of Pence
August 27th, 2010, 11:34 AM
Jane, you are contrarian inspiration. ;) I love wearing my hair down and rarely have a need for it to be up; sometimes back in a temp low pony is helpful for doing stuff in the lab or at home. I do like that I've learned some updos for days that I feel like wearing it up (oh, like when it's 5,000 degrees outside!!!), and I have a few that are sort of "goals" for when my hair gets long enough to do them. But I reserve the right to wear it down as much as I can stand, no matter how long it gets!
Henrietta
August 27th, 2010, 11:42 AM
Yaaay! Congratulations! I like your attitude. Theoretically we should protect hair- the more protection the longer it is. But I am sure I will wear it down too... I would feel special with long hair but I will also want other people to see how long my hair is;) I am with you:)
TrudieCat
August 27th, 2010, 11:51 AM
What a nice story! I agree that hair should be enjoyed, whatever that means for its wearer (grower?). :) And your hair is beautiful, so show it off!
redkdawg
August 27th, 2010, 02:27 PM
I would love to be able to wear my hair down at work. However, I need to move stuff all day so I bend over to pick up boxes, etc. My hair also tends to go forward over my face.
I tend to leave it down at home though. :)
jane53
August 28th, 2010, 07:06 AM
More radical progress in the FREEDOM experiment.
Yesterday, we had lots of college-wide (all faculty and all staff) and faculty meetings. I had my hair up in a lazy French twist for the early meeting.
Then it started sliding down and when I worked on getting it back up, it wouldn't stay, so I did a meeting of the full faculty with my hip-length hair down. WHOOOOOOO-OOOOO!!! I even spoke up a lot so it's not like I could hide.
Then, I had a meeting with student who will be my peer adviser, and he seemed to think I was my same self with my mane hanging down.
Then I had to conduct a department meeting with the hip-length mane; I had no time between meetings to twist it back up, though I could smooth my BBB through it. One of the young faculty members who encouraged me to wear it down day before yesterday was sitting next to me and snuck in a covert stroke of my hair and after the meeting said, "You should wear it like that a lot!"
So I guess I will.
The last time I wore my hair completely down to teach was when I had a broken elbow and my right arm was in a cast from shoulder to finger tips and I couldn't do anything but brush my hair.
It's good to feel the freedom to wear it down because when it won't go up and slides out of styles, I get so much breakage twisting it too tightly to get it to stay.
SpinDance
August 28th, 2010, 07:27 AM
I'm so glad that you feel more comfortable wearing your hair down! Your hair is lovely. Lucky that you don't frizz like some of us.
With regard to wearing it up, I'm lucky I guess. I take mine down and put it back up at random intervals all day. I work in a small group in a larger company, but no one says anything. I do my work, I participate, etc., so who cares what I do with my hair so long as it isn't in anyone elses way?
I love the feeling of my hair flowing free, but sometimes I don't want it in my way, so being able to quickly bun it and quickly let it free works for me. Better than braids, which were my usual non-wash day style for many years. Braids I just want *out* as the day goes on. With sticks/forks/Flexi's I have the best of everything.
jane53
August 28th, 2010, 07:36 AM
I'm so glad that you feel more comfortable wearing your hair down! Your hair is lovely. Lucky that you don't frizz like some of us.
With regard to wearing it up, I'm lucky I guess. I take mine down and put it back up at random intervals all day. I work in a small group in a larger company, but no one says anything. I do my work, I participate, etc., so who cares what I do with my hair so long as it isn't in anyone elses way?
I love the feeling of my hair flowing free, but sometimes I don't want it in my way, so being able to quickly bun it and quickly let it free works for me. Better than braids, which were my usual non-wash day style for many years. Braids I just want *out* as the day goes on. With sticks/forks/Flexi's I have the best of everything.
I had my hair up with a Flexi yesterday. I'm right between Flexi sizes, so when my hair's wet, it stays up, but as it dries and gets slippery (I don't frizz), it slides out.
I guess it wouldn't matter so much to me if so much of my job didn't involve being in front of large groups of people and being the center of attention.
I always have a hair stick in my purse and can do a bee-butt bun or a tightly-twisted cinnabun any time. But to stay in any style, it has to be really tightly twisted because it's slippery. I think frizz would help it stay in styles.
Cupofmilk
August 28th, 2010, 07:37 AM
Jane - I havce always liked your hair. I am so glad you wore it down at work and got compliments.
jane53
August 28th, 2010, 07:41 AM
Jane - I havce always liked your hair. I am so glad you wore it down at work and got compliments.
Thanks, Cupofmilk. :) I guess I've finally decided to ignore the belief held by some that if you don't cut all your hair off when you're a certain age, then you must restrain it appropriately in an updo or backdo.
CurlAhead
August 28th, 2010, 07:46 AM
Your hair looks great down! If I attempted to wear it down for a day it would look like a frizzy fro by the time I got home.
I agree, it looks great.
And christine, my hair is just like yours. It looks nice before I go to school, but when I have just walked to the bus it is frizzy! :rolleyes:
SpinDance
August 28th, 2010, 07:56 AM
You are right, Jane, I expect the frizz and texture does help it stay in buns better. I have had good luck with buns that have a center, like Nautilus. I've learned to make it without twisting, just wrapping, then put the stick/Flexi under the middle part. It holds solidly for me, unlike cinnamon and some of the other twist-based buns. They do want to slide out.
I'm very glad that more of us are refusing to fit in the tiny moulds of others, who think that once someone is a certain age, or is a certain gender, or whatever, that they can or should or can't or shouldn't do something. That's fine if that's what they want to do, but I don't want someone else telling me what to do, whether is it with my hair, or something else. Now if I choose, that's a whole different matter.
The only way to reset the expectations of others is to just do it. I see it all the time now when I go to the school with my son, who is a senior this year. Many of the young men wear earrings. That's fine, a personal choice, but when I was that age there may have been a few who wore one, but I don't recall any who wore 2. Things change. Nice thing can be when we get to change what is 'expected' to match what we want.
I realized long ago that if I do what I want, not what may be 'typical' of someone my age, that before long whatever it is will be expected *for me*, even if unexpected in general. Here's to Walking Our Own Path, long hair free or up as we choose!
Debra83
August 28th, 2010, 08:01 AM
Don't forget about half ups too!!! That will help your hair stay out of your face, and I believe it is less damaging to my hair than a ponytail holder. I use those spring jawclips, and have found very little trouble with them.
jane53
August 28th, 2010, 08:04 AM
Don't forget about half ups too!!! That will help your hair stay out of your face, and I believe it is less damaging to my hair than a ponytail holder. I use those spring jawclips, and have found very little trouble with them.
I do half-ups sometimes. Sometimes I do a mini-figure 8 with a hair stick with my front hair and leave the rest down. If mine looked like yours does half-up, I'd do it more often!
Spring jaw clips often don't work for me, though I'm experimenting more with them to see if I can figure out what I'm doing wrong.
Jezerellica
August 28th, 2010, 08:45 AM
Everyone has the right to wear their hair however they like.
I LOVE the feel of wearing my hair down. Even with it getting stuck in things or whatever, it feels better than having things stuck in my head or the weight of the hair and clips adding to head pain.
Wearing hair up is so great for keeping my place cleaner of hair on the carpets! THAT is worth it.
Rivanariko
August 28th, 2010, 09:06 AM
For me, wearing my hair up instead of down is one of the major things that made a difference in letting it grow again. I get such MASSIVE tangles if I leave it down all day throughout my activities, it would take me hours to gently detangle it. Even wearing my hair up all the time, I still manage to get tangles (somehow??) that make my hair break as I'm very carefully finger-combing at night.
I do wear it down in the evenings though, when I get home from work the stick comes out and the hair falls down. And for special occasions. I feel gorgeous and free when my hair is down, provided it's smooth and tangle-free, lol! Which it stays that way for... approximately 5 minutes usually.
If I didn't have the problem of tangles and snarls and super-delicate fragile hair, I would surely wear it down most of the time. (not at work. I work in a cake decorating department and my hair needs to be pulled back to keep it from falling in the cupcakes, lol!)
Your hair is absolutely lovely, and I'm so glad that you've decided to wear it how YOU enjoy it! If updos are hurting your hair and your image of it, then don't wear them! Your long hair is absolutely beautiful, wear it down with PRIDE!
spidermom
August 28th, 2010, 11:28 AM
Nice compliment; I'm glad you got it. I wish I could wear mine down more often - that is what I pictured when I decided to grow it. Unfortunately, it tangles and knots up so bad. Unless I'm going to be sitting absolutely still, mine has to be up. It's less hot that way, too.
nowxisxforever
August 28th, 2010, 01:01 PM
I must be weird. I get more breakage from wearing it up. :confused:
Yeah I'm not sure. Mine gets tangled something fierce if I leave it down, but it's a kind of a wavy/curly type, rather than straight. It's very poofy and prone to splitting, so the splits tangle and just..it's bad. lol :) I get tangles in the hair that's not IN the bun sometmes when it's up, but not the hair in the bun generally. :cheese:
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