Managable Length

[afu]

I was just wondering what the community thought about length in relation to how easy it is to manage when worn loose.

My goal at the moment is waist, maybe stretching to hip. i grow my hair because i like it loose, and i worry that going any longer would just be too annoying to cope with on a daily basis.

Do any of you wear your hair up more when long simply for this reason? or do you maintain at a certain length to avoid this? what length do you find is the limit?

[nobeltonya]

I'm at tbone, and haven't had much problem wearing it down for the most part, yet. Once it starts to become a burden, I'll probably maintain that length.. but luckily, I haven't found it yet. :D

[Madora]

Wearing my hair down was kept to a minimum because it was always getting in the way, not to mention tangled. It was like wearing a thick blanket too. Much too hot.

I usually wore it up since it protected my hair as well as affording me opportunities to get creative with braids.

[DarkCurls]

Hi,

My hair is at waist (just barely), goal is hip. I'm growing it out for the same reason, because I love wearing it down and I think long hair looks beautiful down.
At waist it's definitely manageable. I always wear it down, I don't like the way I look when my hair is out of my face (too strict... nose too big... too old). I want to try wearing it up more often as part of my foray into the world of benign neglect, but that's not because it's getting unmanageable, just because I wonder if it will be better for my hair and make my growing-out process seem faster. When I get to hip I'll definitely let it down again.
It does get caught under the strap of my backpack and on those damned nails sticking out of the chairs at my school, but that's the fault of the school, not mine. I don't have any other trouble with it.
However, when I get to hip I foresee a lot of hair-stuck-in-car-door moments. :D It's all part of the fun.
This is why I'm going for hip, or maybe tailbone at the most: at classic I'd just sit on my hair and get it stuck everywhere all the time.

[katiejune]

About 30" for me is where things start to get annoying. This on me is mid-back, almost waist. It gets caught in my coat buttons, car doors, husbands armpits, etc. It's also at the point where rolling it in hot rollers is getting hard (almost longer than my arm length so cannot keep tension).

[Amber_Maiden]

Wearing my hair is much more manageable then down. I mostly wore my hair down when it was waist, but now I just have way too much hair!

[torrilin]

I think this is going to vary a lot based on hair type, activity level and thickness.

I don't find my hair a hot blanket like Madora, but my hair is fine, floaty and delicate. If my hair's down, it's in everything. It gets caught on stuff, it gets in my eyes, it gets in my mouth, and it does it from pixie length on down!

I'm also pretty active and something of a tomboy, so having my hair get in my way is unpleasant. Short hair doesn't keep out of my way, but I can make long hair be comfortable. So... my hair is long, but I prefer to wear it up.

[jel]

Hip length was still manageable for me to wear down regularly, and that's why I think of that as the length to which I will one day cut back. For the time being, I'm growing to fingertip! :D

From about BCL I was not able to wear my hair down due to tangling and clothing issues (zips, buttons, etc.) - also, free shedding of yard-long hairs is not very sociable, in my opinion! ;)

[MonaLisa]

TBL here. Regarding tangles - same problems I had at waist length too! I still wear it down and i don't notice any problems...regarding anything..

[Chromis]

Just grow it. Only you can say how long is the right length for you. Us telling you what is manageable on our hair will not change the growth of your own. I don't mean this unkindly. Plenty of people start with one goal when they find this site only have that goal gradually.....lengthen over time (pun intended!)

I found even at BSL I liked wearing my hair up. I find that my hair is easier to care for the longer it gets, even at knee, but that is not quite what you asked about. I hate having hair in my face though and I like to hike and garden.

[darklyndsea]

I used to always wear my hair in a ponytail (my hair doesn't work completely loose. As far as I can tell, my hair in a ponytail is about as manageable as other people's loose), and it only got to be less manageable once I had to start sweeping it out of the way when I went to the bathroom. I ended up cutting at a bit past classic because it got to be too annoying.

[BeckyAH]

This is so personal. My hair is midback curly/waist straight and I am honestly not sure I can handle it now. I'm trying to hold off till July or September to decide, but um. It's heavy, unruly, hot and just not much fun lately. As I hate my hair up... I may have hit my wall.

[afu]

Just grow it. Only you can say how long is the right length for you. Us telling you what is manageable on our hair will not change the growth of your own. I don't mean this unkindly. Plenty of people start with one goal when they find this site only have that goal gradually.....lengthen over time (pun intended!)


I will definitly be assessing the situation as time goes on and i'll just start to maintain when it gets too annoying for me to bear. I only really opened this thread out of curiosity more than for personal advice, i find it fascinating knowing how much variability there is in the world of hair.

Like others have said, i am finding my hair easier to control as it gets longer, im sure there will be a point in time where this reverses again however

[dulce]

I'm a little past waist and wear a half up a lot but my hair is fine and not super thick and doesn't tangle a lot.It probably depends on your hair type how long you can go and still wear it loose[plus weather, eg.windy days are a no no]

[BeckyAH]

I will definitly be assessing the situation as time goes on and i'll just start to maintain when it gets too annoying for me to bear.

This is what I've done in the past - theroetically. In practice, it gets too annoying for me to bear, I get REALLY irritated/peeved with it, and rather than maintaining, I whack off a foot. ...I clearly need a better method.

And to remember (and keep remembering) hot and humid is not the time of year for me to decide my hair is to annoying to live with.

Dear self:
It's curly. It's crap in summer. Assess this again in fall.
Love, Me.

[luxepiggy]

I prefer to maintain between hip & tailbone; classic length drives me nutso! (*(oo)*)

All lengths between hip and almost-classic feel about the same to me, but classic length hair seems to constantly get in my way! It wraps itself around the handles of my shopping bags, brushes the floor when I'm putting on my shoes, and bothers me when I'm driving. Don't even get me started on how annoying it is to travel!! I zipped part of my hair into my luggage once - owowow! (>(oo)<)`

[bluesnowflake]

Mine's almost TB and I can wear it down every so often but it needs to be combed out a few times and I have to be extra careful about getting it caught in things. I'd say the last time I wore my hair down without thinking about it was waist, but that's possibly just because that was before I started thinking so much about taking care of my hair in general- even if I cut my hair short now I'd probably still be more careful.

[jasper]

For me, manageable length is about mid-back. I find my longer hair getting caught and snagged or getting gunk in it, so when I got close to waist, I started wearing it up most of the time and at hip, I always have it contained some way: braids or buns.

[Blueneko]

I just cut back 2" from waist. I was having trouble handling it so I am going to rev up again to tackle waist in a few months. I think summer vacation will help me with making time for my hair.

[jacqueline101]

I'm almost bra strap length. I'd say anything past waste would need to be worn up especially if you have thick hair.

[Firefly]

I love to wear my hair down, so if it gets to a length where it's too unmanageable to do so, I'll cut back to wherever it was that I could wear it down. I'm just about at hip now, and so far so good (but I'm only a ii- YMMV).

[Deborah]

I have always had long hair, and until the last 15 years I almost always wore it down. For me, waist to hip length worked great for wearing it down. Hair longer than that just seemed to be in the way all the time.

[long&blonde]

I just salon trimmed back to waist this Saturday.
I was at low bcl:approaching CL, and I couldn't wear it down anymore. Maybe had I kept up with trims? I never trimmed. The slightest breeze or movement, I was getting crazy knots in my ends, and, hair caught:everywhere, on everything. Considering I am no up-do pro, I would get it up, with a stick. I missed wearing it down. Since Saturdays cut, and the shock wore off? I haven't wore it up since. Its waist,with long layers. I seriously am loving it. :)

[racrane]

Everyone is different with their comfort level. For me, waist length is fine. Any longer is annoying... but that was in high school. I might feel different now. But the fun is in playing around with it! :)

[Mrsbaybeegurl]

Semi off topic but I'm glad to see many here feel waist length hair is manageable when wearing it down :) I really don't want to put my hair up all the time and considering I have fairly thin hair, it seems possible to be able to wear it down often even as it grows! Yay!! I read on another thread that many people starting having to put it up once they reached BSL and I was getting a little down...everyone is different, just glad to see there is hope LOL

Ok...back to hearing from people who actually have long hair...sorry for the topic diversion. ;)

[Nymphea]

As for me, waist felt very manageable. I liked it and wore it down a lot. Now when my hair is about hip, I feel more and more difficulties with my hair down, so I put it up very often. To be honest, I don't miss wearing my hair down - I'm so excited about the length, and wearing it up more is a nice change. It almost feels easier somehow.

It is nice to know that every length has its own advances. ;)

[RisaMoe]

I think folks settle into this spot naturally. So far any length seems fine for me. My hair is about mid thigh and I don't feel it's difficult to manage yet. I don't wear it loose to work very often, but I do leave it down in a number of braid/pony tail combinations.

I guess I have had it long for so long that maneuvering around zippers, toilets, dinner plates, car doors and other obsticals as become unconscious for me.

[Natalia]

i typically wear my hair up out of practicallity i dont like having to fiddle or find hairtoys mid-task. as far as wearing it down i have fine/thin hair which lends to its flighty peronality so anything longer than mid-back/ elbow length is in the way constantly. does that stop me from growing no lol right now im flirting with classic. i have long hair because i love it not because its conveinient, though as a caveat to that long hair is easier to wear up and you can do more intereting things with it. sorry feeling rambly tonight i guess

[Phexlyn]

Like others, I find that wearing hair down gets in my way too much, and this has been like that forever. Really.

When I was a child, I always had a braid or ponytail, my fringe annoyed me to no end, so I grew it out. When I had my hair cut to chin length, I always tucked it behind my ears to get it out of the way. Once it was long enough to put it up, I did it.

I didn't even like wearing it down when it was only BSL. I enjoyed half-ups the most between BSL and hip length, I think. Tailbone was ok but got caught in things much more often, and now I only have it loose for really special events when I know I'm standing most of the time. ;)

[UpNorth]

my hair tangled more at shoulder- APL with virgin hair than it does at waist with bleached hair when worn down. I like to wear it down and I do it occationally, when my hair is clean and looking good. I hope it wont be so much harder to manage when at hip where I plan to stay and cut off some old damage.

[Arya]

My hair is solidly hip length, and it's been annoying to wear down since BSL. My hair tangles into rat's nests at the nape of my neck and makes me a crazy person. I needed to ponytail it for my own sanity at waist and now that I'm at hip my ponytail is starting to get ratty. I need to braid it (but I hate the spiky feeling of wearing a braid down, so I mostly have it in a bun or a pinned up braid now. Thinking of cutting it off soon.