Long hair on older women

I get a bit fed up with the idea that older women should wear their hair short. We should wear it just how we like. I find long is easier to manage as it looks fine even when you get up in the morning, whereas a short cut has to be styled - I am too lazy!

How awful, Gaggi3, what an indignity for the poor woman!

my grey hair is short , but that is my choice ! I cringed when I read about the lady getting hers cut off in the care home , My MIL had her long hair in a plait rolled up into a bun and it looked tidy and elegant

Personal choice surely....my only inner grumble is when its just allowed to growwwww........you know never trimmed and goes very 'ratty' at the ends.....and even then much younger folks are just as guilty of that. There is a lady of my acquaintance who has it half way down her back but its very fine, never trimmed and she wears two dainty slides either side to keep it off her face.
Its almost as if she is wearing her own 12 year old hair in her 50s - which is daft because she is always very smartly dressed. Hey ho!
Mind you it could be sour grapes on my behalf, mine will never get much longer than collar length and its very fine so I have always been a bit limited as to style. I'd also like it to make its mind up as to how grey its going to be.....at the moment I'm a bit too 'salt and pepper' for my liking but will never go back to the rigmarole of high/low lights just to pretend I'm still a bit blonde.

My witchy hair! Might look awful but I couldn't bear to have it cut.

I just pull it into a pony tail a la Vicky Pollard! When it was short I had to wrestle with the tongs, moose any gaud knows what!

I would love to have my collar length bob back but unfortunately I have very little hair at the moment as I'm going through a second round of chemo. I do have a short wig however and I love the look. The only thing is it's thicker than my 'normal' hair. I am 69 and think that if your hair is in good condition and the longer length suits you then why not?

Your hair is lovely wot! No wonder you don't want to cut it.

I have always worn my hair long it is so much easier to keep tidy and looking good,it is past my waist now and is plated or up in a big bun holder or clip.
There was a time a few years ago when I had ideas of cutting it to shoulder length but decided against it,the only draw back is the time it takes washing and drying and two boxes of Nice & Easy every 2 months as one box is not enough.So do what you want and keep your hair long if you want to its your choice no one elses.

I don`t agree that long hair pulls your face down and shows your wrinkles lol as one poster says . Do whatever you want with your hair . I look terrible with short hair as I found out a few years ago when my hairdresser suggested a new style and it took forever to grow back . I have it just past my shoulders in a light reddish colour and most of the time put it up in a twist . I always wear makeup out of the house and spend the spare bit of money I have on a good serum and moisturiser . Just because we are getiing on a bit doesn't mean you have to have your hair cut and stop wearing makeup but if that's what you want to do then that's OK too .

I don't know about "12 year old hair" - mine is in plaits, so I guess the same could be said of me; but I do not believe that there are styles for either young or old - wear it however you feel comfortable. The plaits are great - if you feel like it you can pin them up and that looks quite good. The GC love my "pigtails" and they tickle my neck with them.

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I would have loved longer hair. My hair is thick (my asset) and gets to feel too heavy so it's never been much longer than it is at present.
I know I am silver at the temples, think it's salt and pepper on top.

This is my present colour/style. Very easy to keep

My MiL was one who just let her hair grow. When I first saw her with it down, coupled with her missing teeth and baggy clothes I thought she looked like an old witch, but she told us her husband liked it. I keep mine short so that I can just wash it, run a comb through it and be ready to go.

I hope I do not look like an old witch!!

I am shocked at the idea that a care home would cut someone's hair like that.

I would have thought that a Care Home would have had to get permission, either from the resident or family, to have done a drastic hair cut. How sad.

We should all have our hair just as we wish.

I always used to yearn for long hair, but it's always been very fine and just went straggly as soon as it reached my collar. Now it's not only fine, but getting thinner and I just can't win.

I have never had long hair as mine is thick, curly and tends to grow outwards. When I was young I kept it shorter than it is now. I would love a straight, sleek grey bob that swayed as I walked along and always fell back into place.

I have just grown out an asymmetric bob, which I loved but it needed washed and styled every day to keep it in shape. It is now shoulder length, which is more versatile. My hair is wavy and I have a lot of it, so the layers seem to work better for me

lynnie1 i am with you, i use to have my hair trimmed every 5 weeks to keep it in shape when i was working and would have to wash and blow dry every morning due to the 'stand up fairies' paying a visit during the night.
Now i have it trimmed every 10-12 weeks, with a fringe trim for free in the middle of those weeks.
I just love the fact i can pull back in a ponytail or clasp and it looks tidy. My ambition is to grow it long enough to plait then coil into a bun at the back of my head. There is an elderly lady near me who has grey hair in either a plait or a bun and her hair looks fantastic!!!! who says we oldies cant have long hair!!!

I have a shortish layered blonde bob style, now and again allow it to become a medium layered blonde bob style, but never longer than that, just my own choice.
If the OP wants to know how she would look with long hair, visit a good wig shop and try on some long wigs in differing colours and look at yourself from all angles, do you like it really long, or just medium long, and what colours suit your skin colour?Don't be intimidated by staff ( I went with a friend to advise her) and the staff are obviously trying to get you to buy something BUT when you find the style you like and the colour, just say you will think about it.In fact, my friend did think about it, and went back a few days later and bought one.Doing this will really show you if it is worth all the bother of growing it long.

Coolgran I think your hair looks very nice! Since I became a jowly old woman, I can't have too much of my face showing.

Thank you wot
I have a round face and everything is dropping so i like hair around my face therefore .... it's short at the back, cut out over the ears with the front at ear level on one side and chin level on the other side.
Cut every six weeks.

Very nice, coolgran. Does the upkeep cost much though? Hairdresser s have never given me what I wanted though, so don't trust them!

I agree, wear your hair the way you want to. You have to work with what you have and if you have thick long hair wow, lucky you. I have had short, shoulder length, then short again over the past few years. I am lucky too as my hair is thick. I found the longer hair harder to manage, so, I bit the bullet and I went to my hair dressers and asked her to give me a slightly longer Judy Dench cut - short. Wow does it look good. It is so easy, I can wash it as often as I like, give it a bit of a blow dry, (5 minutes) then I put some "mud" product on my fingers and get the top and back to stand up a bit to give a bit of volume. I am so pleased with it, I should have done it a year ago. Now I can wear funky ear-rings and you can see them. I did have very short hair when I was 20 years old. Funny that, things sometimes go full circle.

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I've lost most of my hair so I wear a wig full time. My normal wig is almost to my shoulders and my "party girl" wig is longer.

The pictures are earlier this year at a glamour photo shoot, and yes the makeup artist did take ten years off my age!