Falling off the Wagon

**NightingaleLHC** · April 23rd, 2011, 09:33 PM

After blowdrying and flat ironing my curly hair all through middle school, high school and the beginning of college, I wholeheartedly embraced LHC my junior year. I air dried, stopped using cones, regularly oiled and hennaed, and started micro trims. My hair grew from shoulder length to mid back. Then I started law school. When it came time for law firm interviews, I decided that I needed to look professional (and we all know that long hair isn't professional

). I chopped everything off to between chin and shoulder length, started blowdrying/ironing again, and am back on cones. Needless to say, my hair has suffered. I've started taking little steps back in the right direction--I'm doing CWC again and letting my hair go curly on the weekends.

I feel conflicted--on the one hand, I want my hair to be healthy, and I know that blowdrying is terrible for my hair. On the other hand, I am graduating soon, starting a career in corporate law, and I know that there is a dress code, which includes hair. Having both long and curly hair is like two strikes against me.

I guess this post is really about two separate (but for me, intertwined) issues--falling off the wagon of a good hair care routine (whatever that may mean to different people) and also succumbing to the pressures of societal expectations about a professional image.

Does anyone have any thoughts/experiences to share, or advice?

**Slinks** · April 23rd, 2011, 09:39 PM

really, seriously who says long is not proffessional !! hmmmm ?? curly and long hair are against the law ??

so sue me .. lol

**akuamoonmaui** · April 23rd, 2011, 09:41 PM

Well first of all, congratulations on graduating law school!

You can always baby your hair no matter what the style. Maybe you just have to put off longer hair until you're established? Or, what about updo's? A low bun at the nape of your neck is always classy and conservative.

**skydancer7** · April 23rd, 2011, 09:43 PM

Long hair can look very professional in an updo. There are tons to choose from...

**HintOfMint** · April 23rd, 2011, 09:45 PM

I am in law school too, just finishing my first year, so I definitely feel your pain. Fortunately, I'm on good terms with the partners at the firm at which I'm interning, and they're pretty relaxed about dress code (I can wear sneakers in the office as long as a client isn't there). One of the partners has even seen me with my hair down (not during the interview) and he still hired me.

However, this may be an issue for me in the future. I'm hoping to get around it by wearing my hair up all the time (french twists, buns, chignons and the like). I'll be watching this thread with interest, it's like you're posting this for the both of us.

As for straightening your hair, what about rollers or wrapping to loosen the curl, so that you can nix the heatstyling? I think at 2c/3a, your curl is just loose enough so that it takes manipulation well, but I could be wrong.

Best of luck!

**NightingaleLHC** · April 23rd, 2011, 09:59 PM

Originally Posted by Slinks

really, seriously who says long is not proffessional !! hmmmm ?? curly and long hair are against the law ??

so sue me .. lol

As silly as this sounds, I think it is against the unwritten law! I think because corporate professions were once exclusively the province of men there is an almost slavish adherence to a rigid professional image (at least at the bottom of the totem pole where I am starting).

Originally Posted by akuamoonmaui

Well first of all, congratulations on graduating law school!

You can always baby your hair no matter what the style. Maybe you just have to put off longer hair until you're established? Or, what about updo's? A low bun at the nape of your neck is always classy and conservative.

Thank you!

It is true that I could stick to buns, and that would look professional. The thing is that I know that I look more put together and, in my mind more attractive, with straight hair, even if it is straightened and then just pulled back. This probably sounds silly to most people.

**Lianna** · April 23rd, 2011, 10:03 PM

I'm in law school too, but where I live long hair isn't unprofessional per se (at least not mid-back or waist). I guess it's a cultural thing since long hair on women is very praised and lots of them have it. As long it isn't frizzy and uniform (no crazy waves or curls going everywhere), even down is okay. Like others said, I think a bun would suffice, I'm wearing my hair in a bun since I could do a sock bun at chin length. People actually noticed my hair is always up and wanted to see it down! *sigh* Just make the bun very neat. I think you can look gorgeous like that!

**louisemg82** · April 23rd, 2011, 11:01 PM

I too used to work for a company that considered long hair something to be hidden away. Seriously, we had a dress code that said you couldn't wear a ponytail if it was longer than 9 inches!! I didn't cut it at the time, I just used to hide it. I found it easy to hide in a bun using a sock or donut. Yes the bun looked big but that could easily be mistaken for a donut/sock. No-one knew how long my hair was until they saw me out of work. Now I've moved on to french and dutch braiding, I would suggest trying that. French/dutch braid and put the braid up in a bun or folding the braid twice to shorten the length of it.

**Pierre** · April 23rd, 2011, 11:11 PM

Originally Posted by NightingaleLHC

It is true that I could stick to buns, and that would look professional. The thing is that I know that I look more put together and, in my mind more attractive, with straight hair, even if it is straightened and then just pulled back. This probably sounds silly to most people.

As a fellow curlywurly, it sounds absurd to me. My best styles (I go by feel, but my sister saw me last December, when I switched to braids because my hair had gotten too long for what I was doing) consist of a braid on each side, then put up somehow. I sleep with the braids so that the hairs align their curls to the braids. Try it.

**Slinks** · April 23rd, 2011, 11:48 PM

Originally Posted by NightingaleLHC

As silly as this sounds, I think it is against the unwritten law! I think because corporate professions were once exclusively the province of men there is an almost slavish adherence to a rigid professional image (at least at the bottom of the totem pole where I am starting).
.

ah BUT didn't these guys once wear long & curly wigs and powder :-) lol .. where do you win even the judge wears a wig and powder ..