Changing perceptions of long hair

[Eireann]

When I started growing my hair long, I would look at long hair in movies or pictures and think it was unbelievably extraordinarily long. Now that my hair is as long or longer than those images, they don't seem all that long at all. It's actually a little disappointing. I was hoping to be more wowed with my own hair rather than less wowed with other people's!

[Eire]

Hi fellow Irish person! *waves*

That's an interesting reaction. I can't say my perception of other people's hair has changed much, but I am barely waist length so my hair doesn't feel super long to me. I think I'll feel like a truly long haired person when I'm at hip. Until then, it's hard to tell if my perceptions will change, but something tells me I'll always think that long hair is pretty!

[LisaEvans]

Eireann, I'm totally with you on that. I look at stars' hair, or even just random people and think that their hair looks so fabulous and so long. My hair is about 3 inches away from my waist, and when comparing that to other hair I see, it still doesn't seem to appear as long as theirs, even in cases where their hair is shorter than mine.

I'm unsure of why my hair doesn't appear that long to me. However, I'm wondering if it's because I'm overweight. I think with me it might just be that hair appears longer when the person is thin.

I also try to remember that a very large percentage of celebrities with long hair have extensions. Which add length and thickness to the hair and cause it to move/lay differently. That could definitely contribute to the illusion that their hair is longer than yours.

Just my thoughts/observations on this :D

[HairFaerie]

I am the complete opposite.

When my hair was longer than it is now (a little past BSL), I would see people and think, "Wow! I can't wait until mine is that long!" One day I said that and my son said "Mom, are you serious? Your hair is WAY longer thank that!" I was in disbelief. So, my perception is skewed the other way.

[MathnSkating]

I don't watch movies often, but I do notice when other people comment on other people's hair. They will say "wow that persons hair is so long!" and I will look at it and it is maybe a little past shoulders. I guess if I had short hair and never grew my hair out I would consider that long too, but its weird to hear people talk about it. Especially my friends because I will be sitting right next them with below waist length hair :p

[JulietCapulet]

If you put your hair up for a month and then suddenly let it down, that wow factor might come back!

[Honeylove]

When the Lord of the Rings movies came out I was at APL to BSL and dreamed of having hair as long as Arwen or Galadriel. Now my hair is a good step longer than theirs and when I see pictures of them I'm a bit disappointed and say to myself, "Why can't their hair be a bit longer?" :silly:

[AnnaJamila]

I think that I have super short, super thin hair. But that might just be because of what I'm compairing it to... Luxurious, wavy, booty-brushin, dense black hair. Sigh. At least mine is softer...

[Fairlight63]

When I had shorter hair, I would look at others with longer hair (for instance BSL) & think that their hair was so long & that I wanted my hair to be that long.
Now since my hair is almost waist length I see others that I used to think that their hair was so long, now it doesn't seem that long to me.
My hair doesn't seem that long to me either & it is 32.5", I do wear it up most of the time though.

[MsBubbles]

I was absolutely astounded to go back and watch movies I had seen only three years earlier, and be utterly convinced they must've reshot the movie, or that I was watching a different version or something. What my pre-LHC eyes had processed as 'long hair', had merely only been shoulder to APL the whole time!

Gone Baby Gone (Michelle Monaghan, Amy Ryan) shocked me. Their hair was only APL at the most. Then there are umpteen Gwyneth Paltrow films, plus Sex and the City. SJP's hair (real or extensions) is only waist at best. Then there was that season of Friends where Jennifer Aniston wore extensions. Her hair looked great, but was still probably only midback.

There are more of these but that's all that comes to mind right now.

[beez1717]

I've always thought this: super short hair is like peach fuzz and a little longer. Then there is really short hair which is like a bowl cut, and then there is slightly less then short hair which is like shoulder, and then there is short hair which is like BSL, and then there is medium hair which is like between waist and BSL (right between) and then you've got long after that. Yup. I get frustrated when people say "gee you have long hair" to me. I have APL hair and that means NO IT'S SHORT. If you want long go see waist classic or something like that!

[Masara]

Like Ms Bubbles, I go back and look at films or TV shows where I remember seeing long hair, and now I'm surprised at how short it is.
Yesterday I was at a gymnastics competition and nearly all of the competitors had long hair. I kept seeing girls with their hair down and thinking "she's got long hair" only to realise that none had hair below BSL. My hair was that length two years ago.