Choosing a length

[Boudicca]

Happy New Year!

Just wondering how you ladies and gentlemen go about choosing which length you wear your hair at? Is it always terminal length, or does thickness/condition factor in?

My hair is now thigh-length when dry, knee-length when wet. However, the best thickness is really to just below the bra-strap, with most of the thinning from waist to thigh. My thickness on the scalp isn't especially flattering, either.

I'm not sure whether continuing to wear it up will help the thickness continue down the length, or whether this is simply what my hair looks like at terminal. It is not manageable when loose, nor is it particularly flattering.

In short, in a quandry. Any words of wisdom?

[Amber_Maiden]

No words of wisdom... though I'm sure someone has some!

As for choosing a length, thickness played a point is choosing it. My hair is very thick and anything longer than TBL would be way too heavy. It's heavy now and I'm only I'm past waist!

[jacqueline101]

I don't have real long or thick hair. I'd like to try tail bone length. I've always wanted hair that length.

[spidermom]

I picked classic length because of a girl I knew in grade school. Her hair was to die for! Now I think I'll let it grow for as long as is possible. I'm very curious to find out what my maximum length would be. I'll have to give up wanting my ends to be perfect, though, which is hard. I hate when they get all dried out and splitty. So far it's been impossible to prevent.

P.S: I wish you had pictures, Boudicca.

[MasCat]

I just want to feel good. If at terminal I will not feel good about my hair I will try to cut itback to when I felt good. Or just love it more the way it is :)

[Madora]

I chose my hair length because I wanted to be able to do various braided hairstyles.

My hair is always up to help protect the ends and I'm hoping it will reach my goal of 50 inches. The more you protect your hair (by wearing it up) the better the chances for longer, healthy hair.

[Yozhik]

I'm still choosing a length, which I think will end up being somewhere around BSL-Waist.

Right now I'm edging toward hip, but I really think that in the long run, I might want hair a little shorter so I can wear it down with more ease without it getting super-tangled.

As for some factors that play in my reasoning: wearing hair down, wearing certain hairstyles, and wearing my favorite hairtoys. :)

[dulce]

My factor is the age related thinning,hope for tailbone but may have to stay at waist,time will tell.

[Juneii]

I've chosen my goal length based on how flattering it looks on my body when it is down. Its condition and thickness matters to me most though so I would rather stay at a shorter length if it means my hair will be close in thickness all the way down the length than to have it long and straggly at the ends.

I'm with spidermom, please post pictures of your hair if you can! :)

[Kat]

I cut from knee back to classic a couple weeks ago. I wanted to see how long it would get, and I think knee was about terminal. Got rid of the wispy ends. But mostly I just cut it because I felt that for me, knee was just TOO long. (Although to hear my coworker tell it, it was a good idea because my hair was just so damaged and nasty and thin at the ends. Those aren't the exact words she's used every time she has gotten on me about it, but that's the implication, or so it always sounds to me.)

I do like it this length. I like that the ends are thicker, and I don't feel like it's OVERLY long now. I'd have to take off a lot more to get rid of all the really damaged stuff-- I'd probably have to take it back to at least BSL and would probably have to leave it there as I think it would just keep getting dry/splitty/bushy-- but I don't want to go that short. The shortest I'd consider going would be hip, and I'll only cut back to there if I decide classic is too long for me.

[jeanniet]

I think you should have it at the length that is best for you, in terms of looks, manageability, etc. Some people prefer to have shorter length and a thicker hemline, for instance, while others want the length and don't care about the hemline as much. If you like yours best at BSL or waist, there's no point in having it longer unless that's what you want. I'm growing to hip and possibly TB because I want to see what it's like at that point, but I honestly don't know if I'd want to grow longer or even trim back a bit. Waist is a good length for me, but I've always wanted to have hair all the way down my back, so hip may be *the* length. Or maybe TB... :D

[Lostsoule77]

Before I joined here my hair goal (not that I thought of it like that) was TBL. When I first joined here it quickly changed to classic because of how gorgeous that looks on all that have it. Now it's edging to mid-thighish or wherever it has to be for me to do a classic length braid. This is all based on aesthetics. Right now I have pretty bad taper in my braid due to still having one layer that is growing out and a pretty severe u hemline. It doesn't look bad enough for me to chop all to that layer though. I will continue to evaluate that though as I grow and will trim if needed.

Based on what your saying I think (if it were me) I'd probably trim to just below classic and maintain while the rest works it's way down the length. That is without pictures of course. You could always cut to waist, but at your length I wouldn't be willing to chop that much. It all depends on what you want. Some hairs just take longer to catch up and I think this is what you are dealing with.

Of course if you can post some pics it would greatly help us make better recommendations for you. Perhaps it isn't as bad as you are saying (as is often the case) and it would make it easier for us to tell you if it would look better if you trim and if so where. Just my 2 cents. :D

[Boudicca]

Amber Maiden - I'm so jealous of your thick hair! Although mine is long, there's not actually very much of it. Is it actually uncomfortable in updos because of the weight?

Does anyone in your family have very long hair, jacqueline101? It might give an indication of how long you can go.

Jealous of your lovely braid, spidermom!! I will post a picture of my hair tomorrow, I promise. I need to take an updated one.

You've hit the nail on the head, MasCat. I don't think I feel good at my current length because of the thinness and the constant necessity of updos. Your avatar is so pretty, btw

Your braids are seriously stunning Madora - I can only manage a simple braided bun (which is always askew! :D) I do wear it up all the time, but I think I do have fairly thin hair. A hairdresser I went to (the only time I went) refused to layer my hair all the way round, saying that although it seemed like I had a lot of hair, I really didn't - and layers would look awful. He was great, actually.

Yozhik - That's the issue I'm having at the moment, too - down causes major tangles and is not manageable.

dulce - I didn't know about age-related thinning; are there supplements that might help?

Juneii - I will post pics, although I'll be pretty embarrassed given your own pic!! Your hair is glorious. I'm leaning towards opting for condition over length.

[Mesmerise]

Personally, I don't think I have the ability to have super long hair, so I just don't aim for those lengths. I am worried that my hair will be too thin even at my goal length, and I'll have to stop with shorter hair! It doesn't help that I've had shedding issues either...

For me, the appearance of my hair has to come before the length. I want to wear my hair loose and not feel embarrassed because I have stringy ends! I don't want to have to wear my hair up 100% of the time. If I wanted hair up all the time, I'd just chop it all off... my face looks no better with hair up than it does with hair short. I look best with hair loose and long!

So I guess it comes down to your priorities and how you feel about your hair! You may feel a lot better about it if you cut off a few inches and get more thickness at your ends.

[lunamummy]

The inspiring pictures on here have helped me aim longer, but for now I'm aiming towards waist length, purely for aesthetics, because that length really emphasizes a person's waist in a feminine way. I want it to look pretty though, so if it starts to look ratty I guess I'll stop whereever that is. Not happily though! I want to be able to do all the pretty styles I've been seeing!

[Raiscake]

My goal keeps changing all the time, but I know I want it waist length at least (for now). I still think that anything beyond classic is too long, but I do want to stand out with longer than usual hair. Waist-tailbone zone is ideal or me. I think I'll be able to reach those length with manageable hair and a thick hemline. Condition is more important then length for me.

[Diamond.Eyes]

My hair texture helped me in determining the length I wanted to grow my hair to. It's straight and pretty easy to work with. My current goal is tailbone and I'm only a little bit away from that at the moment. I'm pretty sure that once I reach there, I'll want it longer. Maybe classic or knee length? :p

[PixxieStix]

When I joined, my goal length was waist, which quickly turned into hip or tailbone. Really though, it will be more about the condition of my hair over the length. It needs to be manageable, healthy, and I prefer a more blunted hemline. In a few years, I guess we'll see! I also chose a length that would be longer than I've had before in my life, and one that would make me a little "out of the ordinary" long. :) A girl can be known for more than just her brains you know. :D

[Madora]

@Boudicca,

Thanks for your lovely braid compliment!

That hairdresser of yours sound like my kinda guy. No layers!

Unless your hair has stopped growing, then it hasn't reached its terminal length yet.

As others have mentioned, if you want to keep the ends trimmed and let it grow until it thickens up, that is possible. Otherwise, you might like to trim the ends a bit..or a lot (to waist). The trim to the waist will give your hair the appearance of being "thicker" while the shorter hairs continue to play catch up with the longer hairs.

However, since you don't wear your hair down all that much, perhaps just maintaining it (after a small trim) would be more appealing to you.

And if it is of any comfort to you, I've found that hair with a bit of taper is a little easier to style than hair that is blunt cut (not that the blunt cut hemline is hard to deal with..it just takes a little more experimenting on how to tuck in the ends when doing updos).

[Boudicca]

OK - I had someone take pictures of my hair from the back. I'm pretty embarrassed to post them, as I think they look terrible and everyone else in this thread has glorious hair, but I do want to address this problem.

The three where my hair is much shorter are from when I first joined the lhc. The ones in the black top and jeans were taken today.

The one where I have very noticeable scalp thinness at the crown is where my hair is in a centre part at the front.

The one where the scalp thinness isn't quite so bad is when my hair is just swept back.

I thought the side shot might be useful.

Warnings - I am shockingly pale - you may want to don sunglasses :D I apologise for my scruffiness; I am wearing old loose jeans. Also, after seeing these shots, a diet is definitely on the cards.

http://s192.photobucket.com/albums/z136/Boudicca_01/Boards/

Password: Terrible



Jeanniet - omg, your thickness! Tailbone-length hair that thick and wavy will be stunning
Mesmerise - Like you say, I'm too embarrassed to wear my hair loose just now, and my updos aren't really that flattering, which means I think I have to reassess.
Raiscake - I think, like you say, condition might prove to be more important than length
DiamondEyes - you are a prettier version of Molly Quinn from Castle! Your hair looks like it is in amazing condition
PixxieStix - Love the ringlets! Like you, I really only aimed for maintaining waist and increasing thickness when I joined, but before I knew it my hair just started getting longer and longer!
Madora - I think a trim might be in order - it's just I've always hated cutting my hair. That hairdresser was great - he could have hacked my hair, but just layered the very front so my fringe could grow out discreetly. Can I ask - did you braid your own hair for your avatar photo/

[long&blonde]

Happy New Year!

Just wondering how you ladies and gentlemen go about choosing which length you wear your hair at? Is it always terminal length, or does thickness/condition factor in?

My hair is now thigh-length when dry, knee-length when wet. However, the best thickness is really to just below the bra-strap, with most of the thinning from waist to thigh. My thickness on the scalp isn't especially flattering, either.

I'm not sure whether continuing to wear it up will help the thickness continue down the length, or whether this is simply what my hair looks like at terminal. It is not manageable when loose, nor is it particularly flattering.

In short, in a quandry. Any words of wisdom?
Omg! Your color, thickness, waves and ringlets!
Your hair is to die for!
What length strikes a chord with you, personally?
TBL touchs me,tho on my way to CL from BCL to see what its like.
You don't sound pleased to wear your hair down at its current length.
I would find a long haired stylist,were it me, I personally find a V hemline so pretty & flattering.
And excellent for curls!
And i'd go back to tailbone.
I think that length would even accentuate your thickness & curls more.
And pale? Need for a diet? Omg! You are hard on yourself!
I wish I had Your "need for a diet", lol! You are beautiful!
I think all of us are harder on ourselves when young tho.
I am 57 now. I look back now at photos of myself in my 20s,recalling how I was unhappy,thinking I needed to diet THEN,
& now I think "What was I thinking!?" Lol!

[Boudicca]

You're too sweet, long&blonde! TY very much :)

I think I'd probably be happy at waist-length, possibly a little longer, if the hair maintained decent thickness all the way down. I've found that hip and beyond is difficult to manage when loose and ends up getting bunned when I lose patience.

I think tailbone sounds like a good idea - anything else would be a shock to the system. I'd probably micro-trim.

I didn't even know that there were long-haired stylists! I'd need to found it if there were one in the local area. It would be nice to get a non-choppy stylist's take on it.

Any pics of your own hair on the site, long&blonde?

[spidermom]

The curls really help give a nice appearance, even with the thin ends. I certainly think you should go no shorter than tailbone, then live with that for a few weeks before going shorter.

[morrigan*]

I can't see pics.

[Boudicca]

Hi spidermom :) I think going gradually to tailbone sounds like a good idea. The curls at the end are cheating, I'm afraid! If I twist the end of my hair around my finger and then let go, it holds a corkscrew curl.

Hello Morrigan. :) If you click the link in my signature and type in the password - Terrible - then it will take you to the album

[spidermom]

You call that cheating? I've got a blow-dryer attachment that swirls the hair around in the chamber, creating a nice spiral curl. I love it!

[Rosethorn]

I think your hair is gorgeous! I've got curl envy.

[BlazingHeart]

I'm growing for terminal because I want to know just how long my hair can grow, but I am not sure what length I want long term. My profession kind of pushes me towards going back to the wedge/pageboy I wore until I decided to grow it out, and I do miss the ease of that cut. On the other hand, I know I have great hair, and it seems like a shame to keep it short.

[piffyanne]

Had to wipe off the keyboard before posting--I was too busy drooling over your hair's gorgeous texture to think about what the ends looked like for quite some time. Looked prettily fairytale like, to me--I'll put in a vote for how your hair will look gorgeous whether you cut back a bit or keep it at that length.

If my hair looked like yours, I'd cherish it to pieces; try not to be so hard on yourself! :)

[Lostsoule77]

After looking at your pictures you are definitely to hard on yourself. Your hair is gorgeous! If you feel a trim is in order then do so, but it doesn't look like you have to have one.

[Flying Penguin]

Your hair is NOT terrible! Change that password! :P Love the curls. I think it's important to *like* how your hair looks. I agree with the others that you should maybe cut back to tailbone if you want to thicken it up and see how you like it there. I would also take pictures every step of the way! I know for me, it's hard to see the difference in length without referring to pictures, because I get used to the current length really fast.

I'm also kind of in the process of deciding what length to maintain my hair at. When I look back to pictures of even just earlier this year, I'm surprised at how short my hair looks, and can objectively (I think) come to the conclusion that I like it better at the current length. I'm currently growing to waist, and when I hit it, I'll compare pictures of BSL and WL and decide which I like more. If I like WL better, then I'll grow to hip, then compare pics again, etc... For me, condition and how it frames my body are just as important as length. (For example, I hope WL will emphasize my waist. I think it will from the back, but I like to wear my hair down in the front a lot, and WL may actually cover up my waist from the front, so I'll have to see...) Hope this helps!

[LaceyNg]

[clipped] .... condition and how it frames my body are just as important as length. (For example, I hope WL will emphasize my waist. I think it will from the back, but I like to wear my hair down in the front a lot, and WL may actually cover up my waist from the front, so I'll have to see...) Hope this helps!

i agree with Flying Penguin, your hair is NOT Terrible!!!

if it were my hair i'd do as the others have suggested and cut back to TB. but no more than that, at least till i'd lived with it like that for a bit.

i chose my goal of TB or BCL purely for how it will (hopefully) look when it's worn down. to me, long flowing hair is beautiful, so i want a length that i can wear down without it being too much trouble. when i get to TB or BCL i'll stop and evaluate. and i'll do like Flying Penguin said, and compare my length pics! i agree very much so with what she said above, about how i'd like my hair to emphasize my waist. i dont have much in the hip area unfortunately so i'm hoping hair past there will maybe add to it? i dunno exactly, i'll just have to wait and see how it goes :) but i won't hesitate to chop it back if i find that hair that long isnt flattering on me. and i dont think i'd go longer either, since i'm quite short and i think extremely long hair would only make my legs look shorter.

[LadyKate]

I originally thought I wanted my hair down to my hips, now that it's almost that long I think I want it to about classic. I'm thinking much longer than that would be unmanagable for me, but maybe I'll change my mind when it gets closer to classic!

[ladylovecraft]

I originally started wanting waist length, but after a while on LHC my goal has moved to tailbone. I'm pretty sure it'll stick there. It seems to me to be the longest hair one can have that can still be worn down without ridiculous adjustments. Everyone who has longer than TBL seems to wear it up *constantly*, and that's not why I have/want long hair. To each their own though : )

[morrigan*]

You had such a beautiful curls. I don't think that it looks terrible, it looks awsome.
Maybe trimm ends a bit, but i don't think you need to go very short.


You call that cheating? I've got a blow-dryer attachment that swirls the hair around in the chamber, creating a nice spiral curl. I love it!
I have one of those too, it really makes nice looking curls :D.

[Mesmerise]

Well having looked at your pics, I will say that I can see where you are coming from. In some of the pics your hair does look lovely, but I can also see that the ends are quite thin...and having thin ends myself I can empathise with you.

I actually think your hair looked somewhat better in those pics where it was a bit shorter, as it looked thicker to me than it does now. I think if you cut back to maybe TBL or hip the ends won't look as bad to you! I also think your curls are lovely.

[celebriangel]

I think when choosing a length, people in general look at length (I want it loooong!), practicality (is this much hair getting in the way because it's too long/an awkward length for buns?) and appearance (do my ends look thin? Does this much hair hide my butt?)

You need to decide yourself which of these is most important for you. While I don't mind a bit of taper, and hair that gets in the way isn't much of an issue because I wear it up all the time, I have no desire to grow all the way to terminal since everyone has wispy ends at terminal. So I've decided that I'm going to keep growing to TBL at least and see how I feel then.

It seems you've grown longer than you really wanted to. If I were you, I'd cut to TBL and then maintain TBL for at least 6 months to see if your thickness will grow down some (I think it will!) then you can evaluate whether you want to keep maintaining or go shorter.

[noelgirl]

For me it's a combination of practicality and condition. I maintain around waist because it's long enough to have "a lot of hair" and feel special that way, but not so much that I can't reasonably wear it down or half-up if I want. It's also a matter of practicality for dance - I prefer to wear a bun for class, so longer hair is better for that, but only to a certain point, as it eventually gets to be a very heavy bun, which can affect balance. As for condition, I suspect that most of the issues I had at longer lengths had to do with mechanical damage - plus, I like the way my wurls look at my current length.

[Renate]

My dream lenght isn't difficult to achieve at all: just past boob, or between BSL and waist. My hair is thin and fine, it is also fragile, so great lenghts wouldn't be easy or look nice, not matter how much I care for my hair.

Besides, I want long hair but I don't want to get out of my way to have it: I'll take care of it the best way I can, but I don't want to be bothered by it.

[Piyo]

Basically I want my hair to be as long as it can be while still looking in good shape and flattering on my body. I am not very tall, and I want my hair to look like some kind of luxurious accessory and not something weighing me down. I think hip length or nearly hip length will be the length I maintain.

I wouldn't be so hard on yourself! I love your length, color, and those gorgeous waves. My ends are no where near as thick as the rest of my hair, but it'll get there in time, as I'm sure will be the case with you. My favorite picture was the free flowing one with you in the blue sweater, your hair looked really happy. :)

[MissEarlGrey]

I've chosen waist as my goal and the length I'd like to keep it at. I do, however, believe that once I get there I will pull an UltraBella and cut it a bunch of layers. I just feel pulled down lately and that my face is not flattered by all-one-length hair.

[becks113]

My goal so far is hip.. Well, I want my hair to reach hips when it is pulled forward.. So maybe tailbone? Right now I'm a bit past bsl, so if I can get there without driving myself crazy first I'll be happy.(;

[Veviticus]

I thought that tailbone length was enough length for me,(so amazed that I could reach it) but being on this site has inspired me to try for classic. I don't think I want to go beyond classic at this point. I'm only 5'3" and I get enough attention with my hair as is.
Looking at everyone hair on this site has been amazing and so inspiring, and has given me encouragement beyond words. Thanks:toast:

[BlondieHepburn]

Boudicca, unfortunately I cannot see your photo. :( But I'm sure your hair is much lovelier than you seem to think. (I tend to think that it's rather difficult to have utterly terrible hair.)

As for my chosen length, tailbone is my goal. I chose it because that is about how long it was before my first big chop at age 18 (ah, youth) and I loved it. Any longer than that, and I think it would prove impractical for me. (I don't want to forget to save it from falling into the toilet all the time! :D) Once I reach my goal, I will likely maintain that length, and trim for fuller ends. Can't wait!

[Maktub]

I've chosen my goal length based on how flattering it looks on my body when it is down. Its condition and thickness matters to me most though so I would rather stay at a shorter length if it means my hair will be close in thickness all the way down the length than to have it long and straggly at the ends.

I'm with spidermom, please post pictures of your hair if you can! :)


Same for me !

Condition, health, thickness for me is much more important than lenght. I don't mind being a slow grower as my hair is in it's best condition while growing it.

[KwaveT]

I am another with not long hair yet. I want to try for waist to TB length. I am going to keep growing it to see what happens.

[luxepiggy]

I've always kept mine shorter than classic because I really enjoy wearing my hair down, and I didn't want to have to worry about sitting on it inadvertently (which is totally something a clumsy little piggy would do!). A few years ago, I realised that hip-length somehow gives my figure more of an hourglass appearance from the back, so that's where I've kept it since then.