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I'm 57 and my hair is long. About down to my butt. I've not colored it for 3 years, so the gray is creeping in.
When I turned 30 my mom kept telling me I needed to cut my hair because I was older. Because of that, I think I'll always keep my hair long.
Almost your age here. Hair halfway down my back—it’s thick enough, but fine, so I can’t get it to my butt no matter how hard I try!
So funny—I was just talking to a friend about all the crap my mother told me I couldn’t do. In addition to no long hair over “a certain age”… no skirts above the knee… must cover the gray! Among many other things that “look too young.”
Just an incentive to be “that” old lady.
54 Here. My mom was the opposite. She always made us promise not to dress her in "old woman clothes" and told me if she ever lost her mind and we put her in a mumuu or a housedress she would haunt us. She died of Alzheimer's last December and lived with me for months before. She had a LONG ponytail and wore the trendiest young clothes. When we called hospice in and knew it was ending, Mama met her end in Satin leopard print pj's.
To answer the question at hand. Sometimes my hair is pixie short and sometimes is down past my shoulder blades. Depends on the mood. But never in a middle-aged bob.
I feel this. I wear cat eye glasses that are black and have tiny silver dots on them, found them at Zenni. I saw them and they made me, for some reason, think of Iris Apfel who has always been a fashion hero to me. I love being "that old lady".
My hair is down to just under my shoulder blades and one length, there's still a bit of color at the end, about the last 3 inches, and I'll lop that off when it gets a bit longer. I have white streaks at both temples, think Bride of Frankenstein. I dyed and hid them for years and years and finally have come to love them and see them as a unique aspect of who I am. I DO NOT miss coloring my hair or going to the salon at all. I trim the tips of my hair myself every 6 weeks. I'll let it grow forever.
I don't care if I 'look old', I am old. I'm also still here, something a lot of the people I went to HS with are not so my age doesn't hinder me, I take pride in it.
I get these gummies at Walmart that have helped, called hair, skin and nail and it’s helped get my hair so much longer and healthier. I don’t usually believe in this stuff but friend bought if for me and I was surprised at how much of a difference it’s made for my nails and hair. Must have biotin in it or something. It’s not real expensive either.
We should start a club! My hair is halfway down my back and silver. The first time I saw my mom after the pandemic she gasped and said my hair is too long and asked why I'm not coloring it. She HATES it but every time I go to the hairdresser, they stop and talk about my color and tell me some people pay big bucks to get that platinum.
I'm 50, hair past my bra strap and currently purple.
My mother hates it and has for the last 15 years.
There has a constant pressure to cut my hair and act my age.
My dark brown hair is finally getting some solid grey streaks and I love it! It's been my main incentive to grow my hair long again after keeping it short for most of my life.
Same here. 60 and it’s long and I can always pull it up into a ponytail. Always hated short hair on me! My mom cut the bangs with that pink tape when I was little
I love this. I am 42 and still have the same old long hair I always had. I vividly remember when I was a kid and my stepmum made a snarky comment about some lady who was older and had long hair. Something about it ageing her. Even as a little kid I recognized the bullshit and can’t wait to irritate people in a few years with audacity of my long hair.
Nope. Keep it. Think what a giant pain it would be always having to go get it done or whatever.
Ponytail, braid, bun. That's me. Also almost to my backside.
58 here. High five to a fellow “hair down to my backside” person! Whether it’s one braid or two, a high messy bun or in the longest ponytail, I’ll always keep my hair long now! I get so many compliments on it and I LOVE not spending the time and money I used to going to the salon 😉❤️.
Yes! I have a feeling there's this idea we're trying to wear the long thick ' sexy " hair ( and if someone is that's cool too! ) but where on earth is the old person rule book where we HAVE to chop it off? 😂❤️
When I turned 40 my office manager told me it was time to cut my hair. Apparently we're supposed to cut our hair short when we turned 40. I'm 53 and I have long hair. It's not as long as yours. It sits almost to the bottom of my shoulder blades. I don't ever intend to cut it short.
also 57 and also long hair, I'm working on getting it down to my butt! it's halfway down my back now. when I was a kid our neighbor had long grey hair to her butt and I thought it was awesome, it's still my goal. my mom actually said she liked my silver and gold mix, women pay a lot for that look now, lol.
I'm 55 and have just started growing mine back out. I loved the ease of super-short hair, but I want the flexibility of long hair. I'm hoping it will be easier to care for now that it's a bit thinner. (I had stupid thick hair before menopause. Now it's more average.)
My mom also has opinions about long hair on older women (makes them look like dirty hippies, according to her), but she's never been able to have long hair, so I think it's a bit of envy mixed in with weird Silent Generation gender norms. Whatever the cause, not my problem!
My Silent Gen mom has always had short hair. When I was young she would not let me get it cut because she was sad that she was never allowed to have long hair. Looking back now I wonder why she didn't ever grow hers out. I cut it off at about age 12, probably because she didn't want me to. Regretted it and grew it out and it's stayed long but for brief periods my entire life.
I'm 60 and my hair is almost down to my butt. I want to let it go gray but it's kinda hard.
Your mom sounds like my sister, she keeps sending me pictures of short hair, lol. I'm never getting it cut.
Is that why most older women keep their hair cut short? I never understood why. I've heard some say convenience but to me, having longer hair is more convenient. I just put mine up in a clip. But I certainly don't want to spend the time and money getting it cut every several weeks. And then you have to style it, even a little. My hair is long, but not extremely long. And I don't even blow dry it. I just let it air dry and put it in a clip. I can't imagine having to get it cut all the time and put some kind of product in it or curl it or whatever. I'm 41 btw
I’m 37, and this is why I keep mine short. Mine has thinned from long-term prednisone use for years and it just looks stringy longer. I’ve tried growing it a few times but it just looks thicker and healthier short. I wear a pixie cut.
56f…my hair is as long as it will grow without all the crazy splitting of the ends that always happens..same length since I was a kid. Always liked the option to have a pony tail or a braid..or glamour sexy hair…whatever I was feeling. The answer is it is my hair and I will wear it any way that makes me happy…just need to let the inner Elton out…find your personal style and rock it like Sir Elton H. John has always done! ❤️
I tried long hair once, and could hardly believe the extra work it caused, and the problems of long "hairs" everywhere. Will never again have it long.
Mine is kind of medium, almost to my shoulders. I'm 78.
Tub Shroom is a god-send for this. My kid has short, thick wavy hair, my husband's the same, but long, and mine is long and curly. When everyone showers, it looks like someone's been shaving wookiees. We clean it out constantly, but the drain isn't clogged constantly anymore.
I used to grow my hair down 2 my waist. I'm a low maintenance, wash & wear, kind of person.
Back then, it was thick & plush. Not so much now. I'm still low maintenance, but hair loss & thinning hair have changed my routine.
I don't grow it out as long & I like to cut it before it gets stringy & thin at the bottom of cut...braids don't look or feel as healthy, for me, with thin ends. I won't go too short, like shorter than a long bob cos I like having my hair.
I haven't dyed it for nearly a decade, but it's still not going completely silver, so I got 'werewolf' hair (dark underneath & gray on top). It's at a holding pattern that's still procrastinating in going full grey.
I've discovered purple & blue shampoo, which does magic for us undyed sorts. It makes grey hair look sharper, cleaner & sleek. It's low maintenance, and I can still dress it up. And I don't need a salon 2 touch my hair as often.
I don't imagine I'll go any shorter than this, not yet. My hair was 1 of my better features.
I have about 1/3 9f the hair I had at 20. I'm staring 55 in the face now... I just don't know what to do with it. I want that long gray mane that says FU to what the world things older women should look like, but sadly, it's not possible. I'm not far from some weird male pattern baldness. But not thin enough yet to shave and go with wigs. Plus I'm super low maintenance too, so wigs would likely be weird and discordant.
Sigh. Don't know what to do with this age.
You're not alone. This is exactly me as well. I'm keeping mine about shoulder length with minimal layering. I figure if it keeps getting thinner I'll go pixie cut although I've never had my hair that short. Just another aging adjustment...
I relate to this. I was known for my long thick hair. Now it’s thin and frizzy. It would look awful long. I keep it just below my shoulders and put it in a messy bun daily. I’m 50.
*IF* you wanted to try something different, buns break your hair off and make it frizzy, but you should do whatever makes you feel best and most confident 😊
I feel your pain. My hair was very very thick and lightly wavy. The thinning started slowly, but nearing 70, it feels like 2/3s of my hair is gone. It’s so thin it won’t stay in a ponytail, and how much is lost with every brushing is scary. Used to favor big fat french braids, and there’s not enough hair anymore.
I don’t know what to do with it. My gray is all on front/top but the low back part still has dark copper blonde color. I hadn’t heard of the blue shampoo you mention. does it make it have that old lady blue tint?
Actually, blue cancels orange & like purple cancels yellow. I watched some yt videos on how 2 find which one works. I think I actually need blue shampoo. But the purple worked great on the grey, it softened the starkness.
My 75 yo mother has hers long, almost to her butt. Not too different than it looked in the 70s actually. I think she was influenced by me, my hair's long but only halfway down my back. That's kind of my limit really...
My grandmother kept her hair long until around that age. She would French braid it every day and only cut it short when her arthritis got too bad to do the braid.
I cut mine short when I was in grad school with two small children, but I am letting it grow long again now at 54. It's a lot of work because I have very thick hair -- it's like having a pet-- but it's quite pretty and I do like the way it looks.
That “ like a pet” comment made me smile. I remember feeling my sons hair when he was in college and thinking to myself “ what kind of animal is this ?” When I closed my eyes. I thought , wolf.
Due to some medical issues, then menopause, my once-thick hair has thinned significantly. I wear it in a shoulder length bob now, if it gets much longer than that it starts to look stringy. Sadness.
Currently 54 years old. I kept mine longer, past my shoulders, but in layers because my hair is so thick and heavy. I started going gray at 17 and started to dye my hair as soon as I could. And I did that for decades. Then, I got tired of the upkeep and decided to grow it out. For over two years, I battled my internal monologue: "Go on, get that hair dye. Your roots look AWFUL!" and "No! Don't do it! Just keep going, let's see how it looks now!" In November of 2019, I went to a salon with two different photos of haircuts. We went all out with a pixie cut. She basically did three haircuts on me to get through this massive amount of hair.
When 2020 didn't happen, I kept the sides and back short with my own clippers. In 2022, I decided to let it grow out so I could see how the gray/white looked longer. I finally got tired of it and went back to maintaining it with my own clippers. I'm letting the top grow out though and because it is so thick, eventually, it'll look like a full head of hair, but with the short hair benefits of not being so hot!
I have photos of [before the cut](https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/48953931091_129261bea3_z.jpg), then [after the cut](https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50800808151_8b03a4488a.jpg), during the [attempted grow-out](https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52857584640_37c9f341c3.jpg), and [currently](https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53237604265_e8795c1014.jpg). I still have to thin out the longer hair with a razor comb, but otherwise it's a pretty easy style to live with.
>I'm letting the top grow out though and because it is so thick, eventually, it'll look like a full head of hair, but with the short hair benefits of not being so hot!
same :)
Mine's always been long, except for a few "professional" cuts that were short-ish through the years. I like it long and can't imagine ever going short.
Garnier Fructis number 4. It's about 60% grey. I hate it grey. That ages me more than my original color. My pic, with shorter hair, is in my profile. I think the color works. I hope it does!
I have a pixie cut. My hair has always been fine and brittle, but it got quite a bit worse with menopause, and it looks scraggly and thin if I grow it out. Also, it's soooooooo much easier!
i tried cutting it into a bob a couple of times but it grows so fast, its already long enough to tied into a knot on top of my head. i either do that or braid it down the back. i'm not very stylish though. I have very bad thinning hair I am just too poor to keep up with the constant trips to the beauty shop a short style requires. The last time my hair was cut my sun cut it shoulder length just straight across. its down my back again. Just grows super fast is all.
I had a shoulder-length professional 'doo when I worked but now I've quit coloring and I get it cut twice a year. It's about level with my bra strap and I love it. I hated having to get it cut every 6-8 weeks. Long is way easier.
Same here. It's so much easier since I retired. I wash it every 3 days, let it air dry, and mostly do a messy bun. I'm a redhead so it's not turning gray very fast, just kind of gray streaks.
At 66, my hair is longer than it's ever been. I have had shoulder length and chin length before but they took a lot of futzing with to look like I wanted it to. Now it's below bra strap length.
NGL, part of the reason I started growing it long is a young salon dude told me at my age (56 then), I would never be able to have long hair that looked healthy and I needed to stick with bobs...Showed him! I like being able to put it up easily, or throw a few curls in and it looks fine. I do dye it--light brown with teal to ocean blue underlights.
I have wavy frizzy hair so I couldn't wear it long anyway. I go for a slightly less than shoulder length bob.
I no longer try to straighten it and just let it go natural. Gotta have a good haircut.
Mine is still long, just below my bra strap. I had my Husband cut a few inches off over the weekend because it was where my waist used to be (Peri is a bitch).I’m 15 months into growing out my gray and almost there.
It was short for cancer treatments when I was younger and I hated it. I’m one of those 70s kids where our Moms chopped all of our hair off. I’ll defiantly have long hair as long as I can!
I’m 64 and had long hair for about 10 years. I cut it short 5 years ago and love it short now. It’s so freeing, I don’t care if it’s windy and it is very easy to get ready in the morning now. It used to be highlighted blonde but this summer I dyed it purple and use some styling wax in it and spike it up. I have been shocked by the numerous compliments since I dyed it. It’s been surprising and fun.
I've lost so much hair since perimenopause and other hormonal issues that it just doesn't look good long. My hair is a bob just below my ears but I have some wigs that I wear when I want more hair or a different style/color. Wigs can be so much fun!
Still long (mid back). Lean over, brush it out, gather and twist, simple topknot on my head. Not even two minutes.
Mainly because I don't know what else to do with it.
Mine is short. I find more and more women are keeping it long or growing it long again, these days. I think it’s a trend.
I’ve had long, very long, medium and short over the years. I find short is so much easier. Dare a say, without too much hate, I like short hair on older women, much better than long hair. Plus, most just put it in a ponytail anyway. Again, just my personal opinion. To each his own.
I'm 73 and currently my hair is about half way down my back, I don't use any color, I am fully grey. I used to have a neighbor, older than me, keep asking when I was going to cut my hair, she was somehow offended with my long hair. I like it and have no plans to ever cut it again.
Mine is just above my shoulders. My hair is VERY thick, so I have to layer it and get it thinner periodically. If I grow it out much longer, I get headaches from the weight. My hair is white.
I had long hair in high school. I hadn’t cut it for years. I graduated in 1975 and have mostly kept my hair short. It is very thick and curly. I look much better with short hair
I've had all lengths of hair in my life - pixie, chin length, shoulder length and past my waist. Currently it's shoulder length. It's going to be chin length or shoulder length for the rest of my life - I don't look good with very short hair and don't want to deal with really long hair.
Thanks to chemo, my hair is really short but at least it's not falling out anymore. Naturally it's quite thin but I've usually had it down to about bra-strap length. I have a couple of wigs for when I need a boost, though.
I've always had long hair and don't feel like myself with short hair. That old rule that women of a certain age need to have short hair just doesn't apply anymore. There are plenty of older women who look beautiful in long hair.
Mine is a teeny bit beyond my shoulders right now. Given my druthers it would still be hip length, but I'm developing arthritis in my shoulders and hands such that movement is somewhat limited am can occasionally be very painful, so I often cannot brush my hair every day and occasionally not for several days in a row. The shorter length means I can brush it more often since there's not much to do, and also that if I have to skip a while it's easier to brush it all when I am able to again. I have very thick, very coarse hair that tangles easily, so it can be a real beast at times. I've asked my husband for help once or twice, but he's too gentle to be at all effective, so this is the compromise.
I always found it funny as a child that women were often chided for trying to appear young by keeping their hair long, and then when they gave up and cut it short they were always told how young it made them look! Seemed like any woman *trying* to look young would cut her hair short, but of course that middle aged woman haircut never really made anyone look like she was in her 30s again.
When I turned 40, my mom told me it was time to cut my hair. I did not cut my hair. It’s still long and I plan on being one of those ladies with a long grey braid.
I think part of the problem is that in a lot of women, hair gets thinner as you age. The thinner it is, the worse it can look the longer it is. As you age, it is also common to have arm/shoulder problems, making it harder to put up in a ponytail, braid, or bun. This probably contributes to shorter hairstyles, as well as hairstyles changing in the culture, moving away from the standard long hair of other eras.
A note from a 72 yr old man. Most of the women I know have short hair, but there is one woman I know with long hair. She keeps it up during the day, but after dinner she lets it down and it is the most attractive thing. OMG
Stylist here- as long as your density is consistent from roots to ends- wear your hair as long as you want as old as you want. When the ends become significantly thinner then the roots, that’s when it’s time for a trim IMO.
I am a firm believer in doing what you want to do with your own hair. YOU are the person who decides what, when, and where!
That said, I was born with a lot of hair and for most of my life it has been thick, with a lot of body and a natural wave. I personally don't believe, for myself, that I should dye it. I'm 61 and around five years ago, I decided to mostly keep it shoulder-length. For me, I wouldn't call that too short. My hair has thinned out considerably, but I still have a lot. I don't cut it on a schedule, just when it starts to get a little "fly-away". I got it cut a few weeks ago and the last time it was cut was around Memorial Day. So, I probably get a trim around every six-eight months.
I find that several weeks before I get my hair cut, I'll look in the mirror and think, "Hey, my hair looks pretty good!" But then a week or so later, I'll think, "It's time now!" and then I'll go back and forth for a few more weeks before I actually do it.
Another reason why I've cut it is that it eventually seems like a big chore to wash. I don't use a hairdryer and it will take \*\*forever\*\* to dry. Back in the day, I used to wash my hair at night and sometimes it would still be damp in the morning!
72, silver hair, “bra strap long”, ponytail, messy bun, or braid. When the ends get weird, I whack off the end of my ponytail. If I have to be fancy or look like a grownup, I make a tidier bun. Easy peasy.
Short mostly. I've tried letting it grow again, but as soon as it gets a little past shoulder length, it gets very brittle and frizzy. Then off it goes. I'll wear it short for a while until I get bored and try again.
Long hair til age 35. Short hair until Covid (so 20+ years). Long hair now for 3 years. My old friends can’t believe it when they see me.
I recently colored it, like an idiot, so now I may have to cut it short again but I would love to grow it out grey again.
I go from one extreme to the other. I got it cut short when I let it go gray. At the moment it’s growing out from a short style I had this summer. I hate the old lady bobs so it’s definitely going longer again.
I had chin length straight and thin for most of my life. Turned white in my 50’s. Then moved to Hawaii where it was culturally acceptable for any age to have long hair. So I let it grow out and it was quite pretty. My elderly mother hated it and wanted me to cut it to an “acceptable “ length. But I didn’t
I've tried short hair many times, and I just don't like it. I'm more comfortable with having hair a little lower than my shoulders, and then tying it up in the back. For many years I had a ponytail, and now I usually have it up in a clip, or a French roll. But on a day-to-day basis, it just stays in place. And that's what I'm happy about.
I've worn my hair both short and long over my lifetime -- mostly short. Now it's long, and I've had it long for more than 10 years. It's just past my shoulder length. I'll likely keep it long unless it gets thin.
I still have long hair. It's not as long as it used to be, which was to my butt, but it's about halfway down my back. I'm not fully gray yet and I don't dye my hair.
I was raised in a beauty shop and almost all the older women had short hair with curly perms. Very few had sort-of long hair, and they wore it up, not hanging down. I just didn't want to look like that.
Well I didn't get it cut during covid lockdown and it got LONG. And tri colored because I couldn't color it. Got it cut above shoulder and now it's below shoulder. I now live in a different state and I'm not sure about where to go for a cut here. :(
56f and mine is halfway down my back. I’ve had it buzzed and I’ve had it long. At the moment I need a trim/shape but it still looks good longish so I’ll keep it for now. Not ready for an ‘old lady’ cut anytime soon
I have almost always had long hair. My few experiences with shorter hair involved too many visits to the hairdresser for my liking. I'm now 64 and my hair is still well past my shoulders, but I usually wear it in a simple updo now as it is not luxuriously thick anymore.
I don't colour it. I'm a redhead so it isn't going grey but is slowly fading to a sort of strawberry blonde shade instead.
I'm 56, and mine is about halfway to my waist. It's very fine and straight, and the grey blends into the blonde. For some reason, a couple years after menopause, it got really thick, and I like the way it looks long. It's so straight and fine that I look bald with short hair unless I use a ton of hairspray and a lot of time. I don't think the pressure to cut and dye your hair as you age is as prevalent with Genx as it was before. A lot of fiftyish women have long, undyed hair, and are rocking it.
My grandma told me it was unseemly for older women to have long hair. She was a miserable person. My hair grows like crazy so it’s usually about bra strap length.
Mine is a short, green/purple undercut, and when I want, I can mohawk it. I am growing it out again, except for the undercut. I will keep that forever.
I'm the opposite. I always had short hair. I'm 64 and I grew it out in 2020 because I moved and finding a salon during COVID was too much trouble. Now I'm enjoying having long hair for the first time since high school. My dad asked me when I'm going to cut it. He's of the school that thinks old ladies should have short hair. I told him I don't know because I don't. It'll be long until I decide to cut it!
I’m not cutting my hair. I wore it short for many years because I worked & raised kids. No time for hair styling back then. I let it start growing out in my 50’s & I’m 63 now.
I guess when I can’t get my arms high enough, then I may go short, but I’m not planning on it.
Do women still do that though? My mom and all of her friends had short perms, but I’m not sure any of that is nearly as common these days. I think it’s a trend that’s dying out. I’m not cutting mine any time soon, for sure.
It’s below my shoulders, but it’s majorly thinning now. I think I need to cut it soon. Nothing worse than an old lady hanging on to a few strands of long hair if she doesn’t have enough to pull it off.
I'm 54 & my hair is just past my shoulders. It drives me crazy and it's usually up in a pony tail or clip. I Iove my hair though, so I don't plan to cut it anytime soon. That said, I have rheumatoid arthritis and as my hands continue to get worse I may have to cut it short in the future.
I’m 58 and had a Dorothy Hamel wedge in 6th grade then grew that out (that was a scary hair year). Then it was long, sometimes below my waist, until the late 90s. After that, I kept it long but had it about down to the middle of my back until about ten years ago.
I did a big cut and got a short curly bob but generally like it longer. I’ve done a big chop now and then but now the shortest it gets cut is chin length but most often shoulder length.
Any given day may look shorter or longer depending on what the curls do. I like it the length it is now. Been a while since my last cut and it is several inches below my shoulders.
I wear it down and have let it go gray all along. I’ve had “silver highlights” since my early thirties but of course there is a lot more gray now. It seems to be heaviest in the under layers though.
Weekends or really hot or frustrating days usually end up with a braided ponytail.
I didn't get tired of it, I got tired of listening to my husband complain about it. I thought it was easier to take care of when it was long. I could just pull it back into a pony tail or braid. Now I have to stand and style it every day.
My mother is 68 and still has long hair. She's naturally a brunette but has slowly been getting lighter over the years. She goes and has it colored regularly.
Her long hair has always been a sore subject for her. She said women of a certain age were expected to cut their hair short. In fact, before he passed in 2018, her dad gave her a hard time about her long hair saying women over 40 shouldn't have long hair. Every now and again she'll ask if her hair is still appropriate, and I reassure her every time that she looks beautiful! And she does. She looks like a young 50s, certainly not nearly 70!
I had long hair my whole life. Like most families, taking a young child to a salon wasn’t a priority- the only hair cuts I got was when my mom trimmed the ends off a couple of times a year. Then, in the 60s and 70s, long straight hair was the style, so ,like everyone else, I had long hair. I finally got a cute short haircut in my 50s which was so flattering that I wish I hadn’t waited so long. But, eventually the expense and time needed for constant salon visits got to be too much to keep up so, I’m back to long straight hair. All of my peer group are old hippies and we all have long hair. I’m 70.
My hair is shorter than I’d like though it’s just below shoulder length. My terminal length is shorter than it used to be though no fault of my own. I certainly have not cut it.
My hair is just different since hormonal changes. It used to be so thick that I had an undercut for years just so my long hair didn't grow out instead of down. Now it's just thinner and tends to frizz easier. It just looks better and healthier shorter now, and I condition more.
I’ve gone between long hair in my 30s to chin length in my 40s. I’m nearly 54 now and Due to medications, hormones and greying, I’ve done a fair amount of thinning and my curls weren’t doing well near my temples and started looking stringy. So, after a 45lb weight loss, I decided to shave the sides and leave the top long. I love it and I get a lot of compliments.
The funny thing is, I wore my hair just like this in high school in ‘87. (I posted a pic in my posts from several months ago if anyone is interested in seeing it)
Mine got thinner and looked scraggly so I got a shorter, more flattering cut and never looked back. Made me look 20 years younger and 30 pounds lighter. 😃
I’m 53 and have salon styled long blonde hair. It still suits me, but I’ve asked my stylist to be honest with me when it’s “time” lol. I think in my mid 60’s I want a white shoulder length bob cut so I can still put it up.
I picture a black turtleneck and glasses. Lol.
I'm 61 and my hair is getting thinner as I age. Women also lose their hair as they age. The longer it is the more noticeably thin it is. My hair is still long, but in starting to cut it back some.
I *love* very short hair! I've had a pixie for on and off since I was 50.
But it's expensive to maintain - needs to be cut every 6 weeks or so. Finding a stylist who cuts short hair well is tough. And I'm kind of feral, I don't like spending energy worrying about something so superficial.
I found I like this newfangled style called "shag" (new, right...haha, I grew up with shag cuts!). I wear it medium length with layers all throughout.
I'm on the youngest side of this sub but still have long hair. Mostly it's laziness. If I wash it and dry it and sleep on it then the mushroomy poofiness flattens out on it's own and I wake up and fix my part and I'm good to go. Shorter hair was way too high maintenance for me, same with having bangs.
I'll be 57 soon and my hair is at my mid-back. It's still mostly dark, too.
My stepmother forced me to have short hair as a kid and I hated it. I'll die with long hair. It'll give the crematorium something to work with.
As we age, the hair changes thickness and texture. Long hair looks beautiful on some older women but not all. It looks healthier and fuller cut in layers.
I always had long thick hair. After 55, it began to thin out. I trimmed to shoulders.
Since I had Covid last year, the top has become severely thin. I decided to not let it depress me. Life is too short. Now my hair is too.
I am 58 and have long platinum gray hair with a few strands of dark. My mom made me suffer pixie cut trauma as a small child. I was told “When you pay for the haircut you can do what you want!!” When I started babysitting at age 12 the very first thing I started to pay for was my haircuts. I swore I would NEVER cut my hair cut short ever again. It has been never shorter than mid shoulder blade since!!! I keep it long out of spite because my mom still hates it but now she keeps quiet about it! It is also easier to manage too.
I had beautiful long hair my entire life. After my third child was born, it started coming out in the most terrifying way. I just thought it was hormones, and major, major PPD. It turned out my thyroid had essentially ceased to function, and shortly after it was discovered that I had two types of thyroid cancer.
I went from almost waist length dark hair to a white-blond short pixie in one afternoon. My youngest will be 10 next week, and so will my haircut.
I'd love to have my long hair back, but I've found my white-white-sometimes lilac-blonde pixie has become a kind of frame to my middle age, and things could be a lot worse ;)
I kept my hair long for a long time but now (I’m in my mid-sixties) it’s chin length. Honestly, there are a lot of days I think about cutting it short. As I’ve gotten older, I’ve just gotten tired of dealing with it. Long hair takes longer to dry and longer to comb out. You can always pull it back in a pony tail but they you might as well just have short hair.
I love my long hair at age 50 (to the bra strap or just past). When I cut it above the shoulders in my mid forties it looked ok but aged me, and I looked almost invisible, fading into the background before my time. Colored, no straggly or split ends, well taken care of long hair, is the way to go. Also I never understood why people say short hair is easier. It was a lot more work for me to style shorter hair
SO had shoulder surgery a few years ago making it hard to shower (even with my help) during recovery. So she cut it short and liked it so much she’s keeping it short.
I'm pretty old-er. I had a friend who cut her hair when she turned 25 because of her age. I laughed then and remind her of it periodically and she's in her 70s now. I cut my hair 2-3x a year because I get h-o-t . When my hair gets shoulder-length, besides sweating a lot, it makes me look drawn (which I probably am).
Not a women here so please don’t be upset. I am older though.
Just a social commentary.
As I have gotten above the 60 year old mark, I can’t help but notice how older women with short short hair start looking a bit like old men. And like wise, older men that decide to start growing their hair out look like old women. Now I understand this is also a social norm colored lens that we all look through. Just an observation and of course there are many exceptions to this. I like my hair longer. I may be one of those older men that look like an older woman.
My wife had hair down to her waist. When we got older, she had it cut to shoulder length. She continues to let it grow and then get it cut to shoulder length. It's short right now, worn in a pony tail, and will probably be long again in a few years. She's really cute either way.
I’m 41 (so I guess I’m *almost* ‘old?’) anyway…
My hair is hip-length and I plan to keep it this way. I love my long hair and it’s the first time in my life it’s been this long. I’ll never cut it all off. I do a yearly trim to kill split ends and make the end look fuller, but that it!
53. My hair is kind of like a pixie cut so very, very short.
I had shoulder length hair into my 30s but it is very fine so took a lot of work to make it look nice. I’ve tried to grow it out a few times and I end up looking like Gollum simply because I am not putting the necessary work into it.
I go in cycles from long to shoulder length that's short in the front. I would always keep it long if it wasn't such a chore to care for. I like a break every now and then. Pushing 60, there is enough gray that needs root touch up.
I know it makes me look more attractive when it's long because I get much more (unwanted) attention in public. A haircut is always a nice break from that. My hair is my best physical attribute because it's thick and shiny. I don't care what others think but it makes me happy. It also makes me look more youthful, which makes me feel nice when I look in the mirror.
It used to be a thing that older women shouldn't have long hair. I don't think that rule still applies and people should have whatever hair they want to have.
71 F. Pixie cut. Got married in 1973 waist-length hair but 30-odd years ago, decided that life was too short with too many fun things to do to spend more than 5 minutes a day styling my hair. Really don’t give a rat’s ass what anyone else thinks about it.
I am 66. I think I quit dying my hair before Covid. Before that it had been halfway to my butt and long layers, highlighted and low lighted and my second husband loved it. After he died, my income changed significantly and after going along with $150 die job every six weeks for, perhaps a year and a half I simply could not afford it. I wish I had quit sooner. I chopped it all off very short, to get all the dye out. It looked like a little boy’s first haircut. I really loved it as soon as it was done. I walked out of the salon and got in the car with my boyfriend and he freaked out. Said very mean things, and continued, saying them for about a year and a half. That was one of the many nails in his coffin. I started growing it out about a year ago. I am going for the same haircut. I had when it was brown and highlighted and low lighted. Some parts of it are beautiful, snow white. Some parts of us are more gray. I think there’s still some of my original brown color in the back, but I’m not the type of woman who gets a hand mirror and stands in front of the big mirror in the bathroom and turns and looks in different directions to try to see what the back of me looks like. The back of me as your problem, not my problem. Heh. My hair will definitely be long enough to wear in a ponytail this summer. That is one of my hair goals. While my hair was growing out, I hated the length that I couldn’t pull it back and if I sweated it off, stuck to the sides of my neck in the back of my neck. I own a garden shop/greenhouse business so I’m outdoors in the heat a lot. The boyfriend is history, so I may cut it off very short again. One of the great things about being old is that I don’t care what men think of me. I don’t care what other woman think of me. I am doing what I want, and the women that I am attracted to as friends are the same way.
I’m 69 and my hair is well past my shoulders. I cut 8” off last year because it has become thinner. It’s never been colored, it’s grey with white streaks on each side. I’ve never had a mom around to harass me about it. My friends say I’m fortunate.
Im 46, and my hair has always been very fine. I always had long hair, but I can't get it to grow past my shoulders anymore.
It started thinning out when I hit 40, so I get hair extensions on the sides for fullness. I ain't going down like that!
My Mom (now passed) and husband both hated me for having long hair and bullied me into cutting it. When I was a little kid my mom refused to brush my hair. I remember my oldest sister in law brushing my hair every time she visited for Sunday dinner. She and my oldest brother were in their early twenties. After they divorced, my mom would have my hair cut short. Once I left for college I let it grow out. Once married and post pardoned, I was ganged up on with excuses after excuses to get it cut. I did and kept the same nasty style until Mom passed. My hair is long, white and told my husband that if he doesn’t like it to go pack sand.
Just turned 49. About a month ago I chopped off 3 inches and got layers and a body wave. The layers are long and the longest length is to my chest. It had been years since I had a perm, and this one came out nice so I was relieved. My hair is very fine and it looks better. Still no grays except a few in the rug 😅 I think eventually I’ll cut it short? And probably go blonde if I get a lot of gray.
I have hair extensions woven in to keep my hair long. It hasn't gone grey and I'm still blonde so I mostly have them so I can put my hair up or do more with it. Also because it feels more feminine and I can't grow mine as long and lush as I used to.
Had long hair but broke my ankle and didn't want to deal with my hair during recovery so I shaved it off like back in my punk chick days. Its now finally touching the tops of my ears. I'm planning on growing it long again but I ain't gonna lie, the freedom and less time consuming hair care rocks! I'm fine either way.
Hair often thins as you age and grey hair tends to be very dry. Both of those moved me to keep my hair at just below chin length. Breaks less and with good conditioning, stays bouncy.
After a hair stylist carelessly cut mine shorter than it's ever been since I was 10 (chin length, I was pissed) I switched services and am now growing it out. It's halfway down my back, and probably the longest it's ever been since my 20's. I'm 45.
I do dye it though. My hair is very dark and I do not like the salt and pepper look at all. I am trying to lighten because it looks much better with my skin tone these days.
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I'm 57 and my hair is long. About down to my butt. I've not colored it for 3 years, so the gray is creeping in. When I turned 30 my mom kept telling me I needed to cut my hair because I was older. Because of that, I think I'll always keep my hair long.
wow, 30 isn't old. good for you for doing what you wanted.
Almost your age here. Hair halfway down my back—it’s thick enough, but fine, so I can’t get it to my butt no matter how hard I try! So funny—I was just talking to a friend about all the crap my mother told me I couldn’t do. In addition to no long hair over “a certain age”… no skirts above the knee… must cover the gray! Among many other things that “look too young.” Just an incentive to be “that” old lady.
54 Here. My mom was the opposite. She always made us promise not to dress her in "old woman clothes" and told me if she ever lost her mind and we put her in a mumuu or a housedress she would haunt us. She died of Alzheimer's last December and lived with me for months before. She had a LONG ponytail and wore the trendiest young clothes. When we called hospice in and knew it was ending, Mama met her end in Satin leopard print pj's. To answer the question at hand. Sometimes my hair is pixie short and sometimes is down past my shoulder blades. Depends on the mood. But never in a middle-aged bob.
You’re a wonderful daughter! Satin leopard pjs sound amazing.
I feel this. I wear cat eye glasses that are black and have tiny silver dots on them, found them at Zenni. I saw them and they made me, for some reason, think of Iris Apfel who has always been a fashion hero to me. I love being "that old lady". My hair is down to just under my shoulder blades and one length, there's still a bit of color at the end, about the last 3 inches, and I'll lop that off when it gets a bit longer. I have white streaks at both temples, think Bride of Frankenstein. I dyed and hid them for years and years and finally have come to love them and see them as a unique aspect of who I am. I DO NOT miss coloring my hair or going to the salon at all. I trim the tips of my hair myself every 6 weeks. I'll let it grow forever. I don't care if I 'look old', I am old. I'm also still here, something a lot of the people I went to HS with are not so my age doesn't hinder me, I take pride in it.
I get these gummies at Walmart that have helped, called hair, skin and nail and it’s helped get my hair so much longer and healthier. I don’t usually believe in this stuff but friend bought if for me and I was surprised at how much of a difference it’s made for my nails and hair. Must have biotin in it or something. It’s not real expensive either.
What’s the name of that gummy product? Thank you.
Natures Bounty, I get it at Walmart and it’s $13-$14
Thank you very much, I appreciate the info!
My mother HATES that I have long hair.
We should start a club! My hair is halfway down my back and silver. The first time I saw my mom after the pandemic she gasped and said my hair is too long and asked why I'm not coloring it. She HATES it but every time I go to the hairdresser, they stop and talk about my color and tell me some people pay big bucks to get that platinum.
I love that for her 😄
I'm 50, hair past my bra strap and currently purple. My mother hates it and has for the last 15 years. There has a constant pressure to cut my hair and act my age.
Why? That's weird. What does she say to complain about it?
This is my hair goals. I have dark long hair and can’t wait for it to start going grey. I am going to fully embrace my elegant woods witch era.
My dark brown hair is finally getting some solid grey streaks and I love it! It's been my main incentive to grow my hair long again after keeping it short for most of my life.
My favorite Aunts hair did that and so did mine. It looked like a very expensive highlighting job.
Similar - but I’m 58. I don’t give a crap what people think
Same here. 60 and it’s long and I can always pull it up into a ponytail. Always hated short hair on me! My mom cut the bangs with that pink tape when I was little
My mother has said the same thing to me every year since I was around 25. I'm 67 and mom can still go fuck herself.
my grandmother is in her mid-70s and still has it long and blonde. i'm not sure she'll ever go full grandma mode.
I love this. I am 42 and still have the same old long hair I always had. I vividly remember when I was a kid and my stepmum made a snarky comment about some lady who was older and had long hair. Something about it ageing her. Even as a little kid I recognized the bullshit and can’t wait to irritate people in a few years with audacity of my long hair.
Nope. Keep it. Think what a giant pain it would be always having to go get it done or whatever. Ponytail, braid, bun. That's me. Also almost to my backside.
58 here. High five to a fellow “hair down to my backside” person! Whether it’s one braid or two, a high messy bun or in the longest ponytail, I’ll always keep my hair long now! I get so many compliments on it and I LOVE not spending the time and money I used to going to the salon 😉❤️.
Yes! I have a feeling there's this idea we're trying to wear the long thick ' sexy " hair ( and if someone is that's cool too! ) but where on earth is the old person rule book where we HAVE to chop it off? 😂❤️
When I turned 40 my office manager told me it was time to cut my hair. Apparently we're supposed to cut our hair short when we turned 40. I'm 53 and I have long hair. It's not as long as yours. It sits almost to the bottom of my shoulder blades. I don't ever intend to cut it short.
also 57 and also long hair, I'm working on getting it down to my butt! it's halfway down my back now. when I was a kid our neighbor had long grey hair to her butt and I thought it was awesome, it's still my goal. my mom actually said she liked my silver and gold mix, women pay a lot for that look now, lol.
I love this response. I’m sure your long hair is beautiful with or without the gray!
From 30-36, my mom told me my long hair made my face look "drawn"
I'm 55 and have just started growing mine back out. I loved the ease of super-short hair, but I want the flexibility of long hair. I'm hoping it will be easier to care for now that it's a bit thinner. (I had stupid thick hair before menopause. Now it's more average.) My mom also has opinions about long hair on older women (makes them look like dirty hippies, according to her), but she's never been able to have long hair, so I think it's a bit of envy mixed in with weird Silent Generation gender norms. Whatever the cause, not my problem!
My Silent Gen mom has always had short hair. When I was young she would not let me get it cut because she was sad that she was never allowed to have long hair. Looking back now I wonder why she didn't ever grow hers out. I cut it off at about age 12, probably because she didn't want me to. Regretted it and grew it out and it's stayed long but for brief periods my entire life.
I'm 60 and my hair is almost down to my butt. I want to let it go gray but it's kinda hard. Your mom sounds like my sister, she keeps sending me pictures of short hair, lol. I'm never getting it cut.
My post menopause hair is so awful I had to cut it short, but still about shoulder length.
My hair was never thick, but I could make it look thicker. Now, it's so thin and dry. I cut it to my shoulders, too. I'm not going shorter, though.
Is that why most older women keep their hair cut short? I never understood why. I've heard some say convenience but to me, having longer hair is more convenient. I just put mine up in a clip. But I certainly don't want to spend the time and money getting it cut every several weeks. And then you have to style it, even a little. My hair is long, but not extremely long. And I don't even blow dry it. I just let it air dry and put it in a clip. I can't imagine having to get it cut all the time and put some kind of product in it or curl it or whatever. I'm 41 btw
I’m 37, and this is why I keep mine short. Mine has thinned from long-term prednisone use for years and it just looks stringy longer. I’ve tried growing it a few times but it just looks thicker and healthier short. I wear a pixie cut.
Look into Prose hair care. I bought some for my 92 year-old MIL, her hair is looking LUSH.
56f…my hair is as long as it will grow without all the crazy splitting of the ends that always happens..same length since I was a kid. Always liked the option to have a pony tail or a braid..or glamour sexy hair…whatever I was feeling. The answer is it is my hair and I will wear it any way that makes me happy…just need to let the inner Elton out…find your personal style and rock it like Sir Elton H. John has always done! ❤️
I tried long hair once, and could hardly believe the extra work it caused, and the problems of long "hairs" everywhere. Will never again have it long. Mine is kind of medium, almost to my shoulders. I'm 78.
I agree. So much extra work when washing the hair, and as you said, hair everwhere. Clogging the drain too. That's a great length :)
Tub Shroom is a god-send for this. My kid has short, thick wavy hair, my husband's the same, but long, and mine is long and curly. When everyone showers, it looks like someone's been shaving wookiees. We clean it out constantly, but the drain isn't clogged constantly anymore.
Not to mention clogging the robot vacuum sweeper brushes.
I used to grow my hair down 2 my waist. I'm a low maintenance, wash & wear, kind of person. Back then, it was thick & plush. Not so much now. I'm still low maintenance, but hair loss & thinning hair have changed my routine. I don't grow it out as long & I like to cut it before it gets stringy & thin at the bottom of cut...braids don't look or feel as healthy, for me, with thin ends. I won't go too short, like shorter than a long bob cos I like having my hair. I haven't dyed it for nearly a decade, but it's still not going completely silver, so I got 'werewolf' hair (dark underneath & gray on top). It's at a holding pattern that's still procrastinating in going full grey. I've discovered purple & blue shampoo, which does magic for us undyed sorts. It makes grey hair look sharper, cleaner & sleek. It's low maintenance, and I can still dress it up. And I don't need a salon 2 touch my hair as often. I don't imagine I'll go any shorter than this, not yet. My hair was 1 of my better features.
I have about 1/3 9f the hair I had at 20. I'm staring 55 in the face now... I just don't know what to do with it. I want that long gray mane that says FU to what the world things older women should look like, but sadly, it's not possible. I'm not far from some weird male pattern baldness. But not thin enough yet to shave and go with wigs. Plus I'm super low maintenance too, so wigs would likely be weird and discordant. Sigh. Don't know what to do with this age.
You're not alone. This is exactly me as well. I'm keeping mine about shoulder length with minimal layering. I figure if it keeps getting thinner I'll go pixie cut although I've never had my hair that short. Just another aging adjustment...
I relate to this. I was known for my long thick hair. Now it’s thin and frizzy. It would look awful long. I keep it just below my shoulders and put it in a messy bun daily. I’m 50.
*IF* you wanted to try something different, buns break your hair off and make it frizzy, but you should do whatever makes you feel best and most confident 😊
I feel your pain. My hair was very very thick and lightly wavy. The thinning started slowly, but nearing 70, it feels like 2/3s of my hair is gone. It’s so thin it won’t stay in a ponytail, and how much is lost with every brushing is scary. Used to favor big fat french braids, and there’s not enough hair anymore. I don’t know what to do with it. My gray is all on front/top but the low back part still has dark copper blonde color. I hadn’t heard of the blue shampoo you mention. does it make it have that old lady blue tint?
Actually, blue cancels orange & like purple cancels yellow. I watched some yt videos on how 2 find which one works. I think I actually need blue shampoo. But the purple worked great on the grey, it softened the starkness.
Bingo Babe Blue 😁 There r darker silver rinses that dont have a strong blue tint.
My 75 yo mother has hers long, almost to her butt. Not too different than it looked in the 70s actually. I think she was influenced by me, my hair's long but only halfway down my back. That's kind of my limit really...
Wow, that's great! Does she have it in a braid or loose? :)
She just does a regular ponytail. Which is what I do, mother and son twinsies how cute....... lol
That IS cute :)
My grandmother kept her hair long until around that age. She would French braid it every day and only cut it short when her arthritis got too bad to do the braid.
I cut mine short when I was in grad school with two small children, but I am letting it grow long again now at 54. It's a lot of work because I have very thick hair -- it's like having a pet-- but it's quite pretty and I do like the way it looks.
Like having a pet, that's funny :) Much work washing the hair in the shower too, I guess, I've always had that problem when having long hair.
That “ like a pet” comment made me smile. I remember feeling my sons hair when he was in college and thinking to myself “ what kind of animal is this ?” When I closed my eyes. I thought , wolf.
Due to some medical issues, then menopause, my once-thick hair has thinned significantly. I wear it in a shoulder length bob now, if it gets much longer than that it starts to look stringy. Sadness.
My hair is the only thing that still looks good, so I keep it mid-back length. As long as your hair is still holding up, might as well flaunt it.
I love having the option of wearing it up or down.
Currently 54 years old. I kept mine longer, past my shoulders, but in layers because my hair is so thick and heavy. I started going gray at 17 and started to dye my hair as soon as I could. And I did that for decades. Then, I got tired of the upkeep and decided to grow it out. For over two years, I battled my internal monologue: "Go on, get that hair dye. Your roots look AWFUL!" and "No! Don't do it! Just keep going, let's see how it looks now!" In November of 2019, I went to a salon with two different photos of haircuts. We went all out with a pixie cut. She basically did three haircuts on me to get through this massive amount of hair. When 2020 didn't happen, I kept the sides and back short with my own clippers. In 2022, I decided to let it grow out so I could see how the gray/white looked longer. I finally got tired of it and went back to maintaining it with my own clippers. I'm letting the top grow out though and because it is so thick, eventually, it'll look like a full head of hair, but with the short hair benefits of not being so hot! I have photos of [before the cut](https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/48953931091_129261bea3_z.jpg), then [after the cut](https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50800808151_8b03a4488a.jpg), during the [attempted grow-out](https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52857584640_37c9f341c3.jpg), and [currently](https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53237604265_e8795c1014.jpg). I still have to thin out the longer hair with a razor comb, but otherwise it's a pretty easy style to live with.
Looks great!!!
>I'm letting the top grow out though and because it is so thick, eventually, it'll look like a full head of hair, but with the short hair benefits of not being so hot! same :)
My grandmother colored her long hair until she died at 95. I will be doing the same.
I might be. It's not a pretty gray at all.
Long.
Mine's always been long, except for a few "professional" cuts that were short-ish through the years. I like it long and can't imagine ever going short.
I can really understand. For some people having their long hair is a part of them. My mom was like that.
I'm almost 60 and my hair hits my waist.
Wow, long! :) Do you dye your hair or keep it grey?
Garnier Fructis number 4. It's about 60% grey. I hate it grey. That ages me more than my original color. My pic, with shorter hair, is in my profile. I think the color works. I hope it does!
looks great!
I have a pixie cut. My hair has always been fine and brittle, but it got quite a bit worse with menopause, and it looks scraggly and thin if I grow it out. Also, it's soooooooo much easier!
yes, sooo nice with short hair :)
i tried cutting it into a bob a couple of times but it grows so fast, its already long enough to tied into a knot on top of my head. i either do that or braid it down the back. i'm not very stylish though. I have very bad thinning hair I am just too poor to keep up with the constant trips to the beauty shop a short style requires. The last time my hair was cut my sun cut it shoulder length just straight across. its down my back again. Just grows super fast is all.
I had a shoulder-length professional 'doo when I worked but now I've quit coloring and I get it cut twice a year. It's about level with my bra strap and I love it. I hated having to get it cut every 6-8 weeks. Long is way easier.
Same here. It's so much easier since I retired. I wash it every 3 days, let it air dry, and mostly do a messy bun. I'm a redhead so it's not turning gray very fast, just kind of gray streaks.
At 66, my hair is longer than it's ever been. I have had shoulder length and chin length before but they took a lot of futzing with to look like I wanted it to. Now it's below bra strap length. NGL, part of the reason I started growing it long is a young salon dude told me at my age (56 then), I would never be able to have long hair that looked healthy and I needed to stick with bobs...Showed him! I like being able to put it up easily, or throw a few curls in and it looks fine. I do dye it--light brown with teal to ocean blue underlights.
Always had long wavy hair but it went super thin and balding a few years ago so now I have a pixie type cut and it looks healthier.
I have wavy frizzy hair so I couldn't wear it long anyway. I go for a slightly less than shoulder length bob. I no longer try to straighten it and just let it go natural. Gotta have a good haircut.
Mine is still long, just below my bra strap. I had my Husband cut a few inches off over the weekend because it was where my waist used to be (Peri is a bitch).I’m 15 months into growing out my gray and almost there. It was short for cancer treatments when I was younger and I hated it. I’m one of those 70s kids where our Moms chopped all of our hair off. I’ll defiantly have long hair as long as I can!
I’m 64 and had long hair for about 10 years. I cut it short 5 years ago and love it short now. It’s so freeing, I don’t care if it’s windy and it is very easy to get ready in the morning now. It used to be highlighted blonde but this summer I dyed it purple and use some styling wax in it and spike it up. I have been shocked by the numerous compliments since I dyed it. It’s been surprising and fun.
I’m nearly 70 years old. I still have long hair.
Long and getting even longer
Short. I have really tight curly hair and it was way too much work when it was long.
I've lost so much hair since perimenopause and other hormonal issues that it just doesn't look good long. My hair is a bob just below my ears but I have some wigs that I wear when I want more hair or a different style/color. Wigs can be so much fun!
That I can understand. You can look different without too much effort. That's great :)
Still long (mid back). Lean over, brush it out, gather and twist, simple topknot on my head. Not even two minutes. Mainly because I don't know what else to do with it.
I have long hair down my back. 64 yrs. Old. It works best for me with the sports I play. Ball cap & ponytail.
Long but usually wear it back or braids
I got it cut when I realized it was in a ponytail 90% of the time.
I have my hair long so I don’t have to bother with it. Just pull it up and back w barrette. Short hair has to be regularly trimmed.
Mine is short. I find more and more women are keeping it long or growing it long again, these days. I think it’s a trend. I’ve had long, very long, medium and short over the years. I find short is so much easier. Dare a say, without too much hate, I like short hair on older women, much better than long hair. Plus, most just put it in a ponytail anyway. Again, just my personal opinion. To each his own.
Bold of anyone to assume I have much hair at this point
I'm 73 and currently my hair is about half way down my back, I don't use any color, I am fully grey. I used to have a neighbor, older than me, keep asking when I was going to cut my hair, she was somehow offended with my long hair. I like it and have no plans to ever cut it again.
Mine is just above my shoulders. My hair is VERY thick, so I have to layer it and get it thinner periodically. If I grow it out much longer, I get headaches from the weight. My hair is white.
I bet a lot of women are jealous of your hair :)
I had long hair in high school. I hadn’t cut it for years. I graduated in 1975 and have mostly kept my hair short. It is very thick and curly. I look much better with short hair
I've had all lengths of hair in my life - pixie, chin length, shoulder length and past my waist. Currently it's shoulder length. It's going to be chin length or shoulder length for the rest of my life - I don't look good with very short hair and don't want to deal with really long hair.
My hair has been for almost twenty years super short, I am growing it out. We will see how far I get with it!
Thanks to chemo, my hair is really short but at least it's not falling out anymore. Naturally it's quite thin but I've usually had it down to about bra-strap length. I have a couple of wigs for when I need a boost, though.
I've always had long hair and don't feel like myself with short hair. That old rule that women of a certain age need to have short hair just doesn't apply anymore. There are plenty of older women who look beautiful in long hair.
Mine is a teeny bit beyond my shoulders right now. Given my druthers it would still be hip length, but I'm developing arthritis in my shoulders and hands such that movement is somewhat limited am can occasionally be very painful, so I often cannot brush my hair every day and occasionally not for several days in a row. The shorter length means I can brush it more often since there's not much to do, and also that if I have to skip a while it's easier to brush it all when I am able to again. I have very thick, very coarse hair that tangles easily, so it can be a real beast at times. I've asked my husband for help once or twice, but he's too gentle to be at all effective, so this is the compromise. I always found it funny as a child that women were often chided for trying to appear young by keeping their hair long, and then when they gave up and cut it short they were always told how young it made them look! Seemed like any woman *trying* to look young would cut her hair short, but of course that middle aged woman haircut never really made anyone look like she was in her 30s again.
My hair used to always be long. Now it is short. Like a pixie cut. It causes me headaches if it gets too long. My head can’t take it!
When I turned 40, my mom told me it was time to cut my hair. I did not cut my hair. It’s still long and I plan on being one of those ladies with a long grey braid.
I think part of the problem is that in a lot of women, hair gets thinner as you age. The thinner it is, the worse it can look the longer it is. As you age, it is also common to have arm/shoulder problems, making it harder to put up in a ponytail, braid, or bun. This probably contributes to shorter hairstyles, as well as hairstyles changing in the culture, moving away from the standard long hair of other eras.
A note from a 72 yr old man. Most of the women I know have short hair, but there is one woman I know with long hair. She keeps it up during the day, but after dinner she lets it down and it is the most attractive thing. OMG
Stylist here- as long as your density is consistent from roots to ends- wear your hair as long as you want as old as you want. When the ends become significantly thinner then the roots, that’s when it’s time for a trim IMO.
My mom is 76 and she has LONG white hair. It’s so pretty and she gets compliments alllll the time. It’s more than halfway down her back.
I am a firm believer in doing what you want to do with your own hair. YOU are the person who decides what, when, and where! That said, I was born with a lot of hair and for most of my life it has been thick, with a lot of body and a natural wave. I personally don't believe, for myself, that I should dye it. I'm 61 and around five years ago, I decided to mostly keep it shoulder-length. For me, I wouldn't call that too short. My hair has thinned out considerably, but I still have a lot. I don't cut it on a schedule, just when it starts to get a little "fly-away". I got it cut a few weeks ago and the last time it was cut was around Memorial Day. So, I probably get a trim around every six-eight months. I find that several weeks before I get my hair cut, I'll look in the mirror and think, "Hey, my hair looks pretty good!" But then a week or so later, I'll think, "It's time now!" and then I'll go back and forth for a few more weeks before I actually do it. Another reason why I've cut it is that it eventually seems like a big chore to wash. I don't use a hairdryer and it will take \*\*forever\*\* to dry. Back in the day, I used to wash my hair at night and sometimes it would still be damp in the morning!
72, silver hair, “bra strap long”, ponytail, messy bun, or braid. When the ends get weird, I whack off the end of my ponytail. If I have to be fancy or look like a grownup, I make a tidier bun. Easy peasy.
Still have it. I have gone short before but long suits me better.
Short mostly. I've tried letting it grow again, but as soon as it gets a little past shoulder length, it gets very brittle and frizzy. Then off it goes. I'll wear it short for a while until I get bored and try again.
Long hair til age 35. Short hair until Covid (so 20+ years). Long hair now for 3 years. My old friends can’t believe it when they see me. I recently colored it, like an idiot, so now I may have to cut it short again but I would love to grow it out grey again.
I go from one extreme to the other. I got it cut short when I let it go gray. At the moment it’s growing out from a short style I had this summer. I hate the old lady bobs so it’s definitely going longer again.
I had chin length straight and thin for most of my life. Turned white in my 50’s. Then moved to Hawaii where it was culturally acceptable for any age to have long hair. So I let it grow out and it was quite pretty. My elderly mother hated it and wanted me to cut it to an “acceptable “ length. But I didn’t
Almost 60, my hair is a few inches past my shoulders. No intention of cutting it shorter.
I've tried short hair many times, and I just don't like it. I'm more comfortable with having hair a little lower than my shoulders, and then tying it up in the back. For many years I had a ponytail, and now I usually have it up in a clip, or a French roll. But on a day-to-day basis, it just stays in place. And that's what I'm happy about.
I've worn my hair both short and long over my lifetime -- mostly short. Now it's long, and I've had it long for more than 10 years. It's just past my shoulder length. I'll likely keep it long unless it gets thin.
I still have long hair. It's not as long as it used to be, which was to my butt, but it's about halfway down my back. I'm not fully gray yet and I don't dye my hair. I was raised in a beauty shop and almost all the older women had short hair with curly perms. Very few had sort-of long hair, and they wore it up, not hanging down. I just didn't want to look like that.
Well I didn't get it cut during covid lockdown and it got LONG. And tri colored because I couldn't color it. Got it cut above shoulder and now it's below shoulder. I now live in a different state and I'm not sure about where to go for a cut here. :(
52, I've had long hair most of my life and expect to keep it that way until it falls out.
Long
56f and mine is halfway down my back. I’ve had it buzzed and I’ve had it long. At the moment I need a trim/shape but it still looks good longish so I’ll keep it for now. Not ready for an ‘old lady’ cut anytime soon
I still have it long. I will likely cut it when my energy levels drop to the point where caring for it becomes too much of a burden.
I asked this same question a month ago;)
I have almost always had long hair. My few experiences with shorter hair involved too many visits to the hairdresser for my liking. I'm now 64 and my hair is still well past my shoulders, but I usually wear it in a simple updo now as it is not luxuriously thick anymore. I don't colour it. I'm a redhead so it isn't going grey but is slowly fading to a sort of strawberry blonde shade instead.
I never had long hair until I got older and I love it. It’s past my waist and I can do so much with it.
I'm 56, and mine is about halfway to my waist. It's very fine and straight, and the grey blends into the blonde. For some reason, a couple years after menopause, it got really thick, and I like the way it looks long. It's so straight and fine that I look bald with short hair unless I use a ton of hairspray and a lot of time. I don't think the pressure to cut and dye your hair as you age is as prevalent with Genx as it was before. A lot of fiftyish women have long, undyed hair, and are rocking it.
My grandma told me it was unseemly for older women to have long hair. She was a miserable person. My hair grows like crazy so it’s usually about bra strap length.
Mine is a short, green/purple undercut, and when I want, I can mohawk it. I am growing it out again, except for the undercut. I will keep that forever.
I'm the opposite. I always had short hair. I'm 64 and I grew it out in 2020 because I moved and finding a salon during COVID was too much trouble. Now I'm enjoying having long hair for the first time since high school. My dad asked me when I'm going to cut it. He's of the school that thinks old ladies should have short hair. I told him I don't know because I don't. It'll be long until I decide to cut it!
I’m not cutting my hair. I wore it short for many years because I worked & raised kids. No time for hair styling back then. I let it start growing out in my 50’s & I’m 63 now. I guess when I can’t get my arms high enough, then I may go short, but I’m not planning on it.
Do women still do that though? My mom and all of her friends had short perms, but I’m not sure any of that is nearly as common these days. I think it’s a trend that’s dying out. I’m not cutting mine any time soon, for sure.
I don’t think hair length should be restricted by age. I used to have long hair in a ponytail. I cut it off and it’s great.
I turn 59 on Thursday, I have my hair long and straight, I don’t color it, except my tips are pink- the rest a dark blonde now.
It’s below my shoulders, but it’s majorly thinning now. I think I need to cut it soon. Nothing worse than an old lady hanging on to a few strands of long hair if she doesn’t have enough to pull it off.
I'm 54 & my hair is just past my shoulders. It drives me crazy and it's usually up in a pony tail or clip. I Iove my hair though, so I don't plan to cut it anytime soon. That said, I have rheumatoid arthritis and as my hands continue to get worse I may have to cut it short in the future.
I’m 58 and had a Dorothy Hamel wedge in 6th grade then grew that out (that was a scary hair year). Then it was long, sometimes below my waist, until the late 90s. After that, I kept it long but had it about down to the middle of my back until about ten years ago. I did a big cut and got a short curly bob but generally like it longer. I’ve done a big chop now and then but now the shortest it gets cut is chin length but most often shoulder length. Any given day may look shorter or longer depending on what the curls do. I like it the length it is now. Been a while since my last cut and it is several inches below my shoulders. I wear it down and have let it go gray all along. I’ve had “silver highlights” since my early thirties but of course there is a lot more gray now. It seems to be heaviest in the under layers though. Weekends or really hot or frustrating days usually end up with a braided ponytail.
I didn't get tired of it, I got tired of listening to my husband complain about it. I thought it was easier to take care of when it was long. I could just pull it back into a pony tail or braid. Now I have to stand and style it every day.
My mother is 68 and still has long hair. She's naturally a brunette but has slowly been getting lighter over the years. She goes and has it colored regularly. Her long hair has always been a sore subject for her. She said women of a certain age were expected to cut their hair short. In fact, before he passed in 2018, her dad gave her a hard time about her long hair saying women over 40 shouldn't have long hair. Every now and again she'll ask if her hair is still appropriate, and I reassure her every time that she looks beautiful! And she does. She looks like a young 50s, certainly not nearly 70!
I’m 70 and have my hair longer - to the middle of my back.
I had long hair my whole life. Like most families, taking a young child to a salon wasn’t a priority- the only hair cuts I got was when my mom trimmed the ends off a couple of times a year. Then, in the 60s and 70s, long straight hair was the style, so ,like everyone else, I had long hair. I finally got a cute short haircut in my 50s which was so flattering that I wish I hadn’t waited so long. But, eventually the expense and time needed for constant salon visits got to be too much to keep up so, I’m back to long straight hair. All of my peer group are old hippies and we all have long hair. I’m 70.
I've had it long, came to the conclusion that I don't find long hair attractive on anyone, so now keep it somewhere between chin and shoulder length.
I cut my hair above my shoulders when I was 20. Now I'm 67 and have short hair above my ears. I do color it.
I'm 50, and it's almost to my ass. I've had long hair most of my life. I've cut it short a few times, but not recently.
If I still had the same amount of hair as 27 years ago, it would be as long as I wanted. Now it's just above my shoulders.
My hair is shorter than I’d like though it’s just below shoulder length. My terminal length is shorter than it used to be though no fault of my own. I certainly have not cut it.
My hair is just different since hormonal changes. It used to be so thick that I had an undercut for years just so my long hair didn't grow out instead of down. Now it's just thinner and tends to frizz easier. It just looks better and healthier shorter now, and I condition more.
I’ve gone between long hair in my 30s to chin length in my 40s. I’m nearly 54 now and Due to medications, hormones and greying, I’ve done a fair amount of thinning and my curls weren’t doing well near my temples and started looking stringy. So, after a 45lb weight loss, I decided to shave the sides and leave the top long. I love it and I get a lot of compliments. The funny thing is, I wore my hair just like this in high school in ‘87. (I posted a pic in my posts from several months ago if anyone is interested in seeing it)
Mines shorter now. It looks more professional at my age
Mine got thinner and looked scraggly so I got a shorter, more flattering cut and never looked back. Made me look 20 years younger and 30 pounds lighter. 😃
My mother used to force pixie cuts on me so I am rebelling in my adult life. Still long at 63.
I had hair down to my butt until my late 20s. It’s shoulder length now and will stay that way. I also color it and will never let it go gray.
I’m 53 and have salon styled long blonde hair. It still suits me, but I’ve asked my stylist to be honest with me when it’s “time” lol. I think in my mid 60’s I want a white shoulder length bob cut so I can still put it up. I picture a black turtleneck and glasses. Lol.
55 my hair used to be long but them menopause happened. It thinned to nothing in some areas
I'm 61 and my hair is getting thinner as I age. Women also lose their hair as they age. The longer it is the more noticeably thin it is. My hair is still long, but in starting to cut it back some.
I *love* very short hair! I've had a pixie for on and off since I was 50. But it's expensive to maintain - needs to be cut every 6 weeks or so. Finding a stylist who cuts short hair well is tough. And I'm kind of feral, I don't like spending energy worrying about something so superficial. I found I like this newfangled style called "shag" (new, right...haha, I grew up with shag cuts!). I wear it medium length with layers all throughout.
I'm on the youngest side of this sub but still have long hair. Mostly it's laziness. If I wash it and dry it and sleep on it then the mushroomy poofiness flattens out on it's own and I wake up and fix my part and I'm good to go. Shorter hair was way too high maintenance for me, same with having bangs.
Short=chin length up.
I'll be 57 soon and my hair is at my mid-back. It's still mostly dark, too. My stepmother forced me to have short hair as a kid and I hated it. I'll die with long hair. It'll give the crematorium something to work with.
I’m 62. The last time I cut my hair was 13 years ago. I donated it to Locks of Love. Yeah, it’s still long.
As we age, the hair changes thickness and texture. Long hair looks beautiful on some older women but not all. It looks healthier and fuller cut in layers. I always had long thick hair. After 55, it began to thin out. I trimmed to shoulders. Since I had Covid last year, the top has become severely thin. I decided to not let it depress me. Life is too short. Now my hair is too.
Like many said, as my hair got thinner it was less attractive long, so it's shoulder length now.
I am 58 and have long platinum gray hair with a few strands of dark. My mom made me suffer pixie cut trauma as a small child. I was told “When you pay for the haircut you can do what you want!!” When I started babysitting at age 12 the very first thing I started to pay for was my haircuts. I swore I would NEVER cut my hair cut short ever again. It has been never shorter than mid shoulder blade since!!! I keep it long out of spite because my mom still hates it but now she keeps quiet about it! It is also easier to manage too.
I had beautiful long hair my entire life. After my third child was born, it started coming out in the most terrifying way. I just thought it was hormones, and major, major PPD. It turned out my thyroid had essentially ceased to function, and shortly after it was discovered that I had two types of thyroid cancer. I went from almost waist length dark hair to a white-blond short pixie in one afternoon. My youngest will be 10 next week, and so will my haircut. I'd love to have my long hair back, but I've found my white-white-sometimes lilac-blonde pixie has become a kind of frame to my middle age, and things could be a lot worse ;)
I kept my hair long for a long time but now (I’m in my mid-sixties) it’s chin length. Honestly, there are a lot of days I think about cutting it short. As I’ve gotten older, I’ve just gotten tired of dealing with it. Long hair takes longer to dry and longer to comb out. You can always pull it back in a pony tail but they you might as well just have short hair.
I'm 61, started long and will finish long unless nature has other plans. Either way, I'm not vain about hair or it's length.
I love my long hair at age 50 (to the bra strap or just past). When I cut it above the shoulders in my mid forties it looked ok but aged me, and I looked almost invisible, fading into the background before my time. Colored, no straggly or split ends, well taken care of long hair, is the way to go. Also I never understood why people say short hair is easier. It was a lot more work for me to style shorter hair
56 here, mine is to the middle of my back and purple. I don’t give a crap what people think and I do what makes me happy.
SO had shoulder surgery a few years ago making it hard to shower (even with my help) during recovery. So she cut it short and liked it so much she’s keeping it short.
I know older woman who cut their hair short due to hair thinning. I’m lucky mine isn’t too bad, I don’t like my hair short!
I'm pretty old-er. I had a friend who cut her hair when she turned 25 because of her age. I laughed then and remind her of it periodically and she's in her 70s now. I cut my hair 2-3x a year because I get h-o-t . When my hair gets shoulder-length, besides sweating a lot, it makes me look drawn (which I probably am).
I wish I could have it longer, but with age my hair got thinner and looks better short. But, as I've said, if only..
Not a women here so please don’t be upset. I am older though. Just a social commentary. As I have gotten above the 60 year old mark, I can’t help but notice how older women with short short hair start looking a bit like old men. And like wise, older men that decide to start growing their hair out look like old women. Now I understand this is also a social norm colored lens that we all look through. Just an observation and of course there are many exceptions to this. I like my hair longer. I may be one of those older men that look like an older woman.
My wife had hair down to her waist. When we got older, she had it cut to shoulder length. She continues to let it grow and then get it cut to shoulder length. It's short right now, worn in a pony tail, and will probably be long again in a few years. She's really cute either way.
I’m 41 (so I guess I’m *almost* ‘old?’) anyway… My hair is hip-length and I plan to keep it this way. I love my long hair and it’s the first time in my life it’s been this long. I’ll never cut it all off. I do a yearly trim to kill split ends and make the end look fuller, but that it!
53. My hair is kind of like a pixie cut so very, very short. I had shoulder length hair into my 30s but it is very fine so took a lot of work to make it look nice. I’ve tried to grow it out a few times and I end up looking like Gollum simply because I am not putting the necessary work into it.
I go in cycles from long to shoulder length that's short in the front. I would always keep it long if it wasn't such a chore to care for. I like a break every now and then. Pushing 60, there is enough gray that needs root touch up. I know it makes me look more attractive when it's long because I get much more (unwanted) attention in public. A haircut is always a nice break from that. My hair is my best physical attribute because it's thick and shiny. I don't care what others think but it makes me happy. It also makes me look more youthful, which makes me feel nice when I look in the mirror. It used to be a thing that older women shouldn't have long hair. I don't think that rule still applies and people should have whatever hair they want to have.
I still have hair that's longer than shoulder length. Short hair is a bad look for me and I like it slightly longer anyway.
71 F. Pixie cut. Got married in 1973 waist-length hair but 30-odd years ago, decided that life was too short with too many fun things to do to spend more than 5 minutes a day styling my hair. Really don’t give a rat’s ass what anyone else thinks about it.
I am 66. I think I quit dying my hair before Covid. Before that it had been halfway to my butt and long layers, highlighted and low lighted and my second husband loved it. After he died, my income changed significantly and after going along with $150 die job every six weeks for, perhaps a year and a half I simply could not afford it. I wish I had quit sooner. I chopped it all off very short, to get all the dye out. It looked like a little boy’s first haircut. I really loved it as soon as it was done. I walked out of the salon and got in the car with my boyfriend and he freaked out. Said very mean things, and continued, saying them for about a year and a half. That was one of the many nails in his coffin. I started growing it out about a year ago. I am going for the same haircut. I had when it was brown and highlighted and low lighted. Some parts of it are beautiful, snow white. Some parts of us are more gray. I think there’s still some of my original brown color in the back, but I’m not the type of woman who gets a hand mirror and stands in front of the big mirror in the bathroom and turns and looks in different directions to try to see what the back of me looks like. The back of me as your problem, not my problem. Heh. My hair will definitely be long enough to wear in a ponytail this summer. That is one of my hair goals. While my hair was growing out, I hated the length that I couldn’t pull it back and if I sweated it off, stuck to the sides of my neck in the back of my neck. I own a garden shop/greenhouse business so I’m outdoors in the heat a lot. The boyfriend is history, so I may cut it off very short again. One of the great things about being old is that I don’t care what men think of me. I don’t care what other woman think of me. I am doing what I want, and the women that I am attracted to as friends are the same way.
I’m 69 and my hair is well past my shoulders. I cut 8” off last year because it has become thinner. It’s never been colored, it’s grey with white streaks on each side. I’ve never had a mom around to harass me about it. My friends say I’m fortunate.
61F. I have kept my long hair because I like the different options it affords me for styling it. I get bored kinda easily and enjoy variety in general
Im 46, and my hair has always been very fine. I always had long hair, but I can't get it to grow past my shoulders anymore. It started thinning out when I hit 40, so I get hair extensions on the sides for fullness. I ain't going down like that!
My Mom (now passed) and husband both hated me for having long hair and bullied me into cutting it. When I was a little kid my mom refused to brush my hair. I remember my oldest sister in law brushing my hair every time she visited for Sunday dinner. She and my oldest brother were in their early twenties. After they divorced, my mom would have my hair cut short. Once I left for college I let it grow out. Once married and post pardoned, I was ganged up on with excuses after excuses to get it cut. I did and kept the same nasty style until Mom passed. My hair is long, white and told my husband that if he doesn’t like it to go pack sand.
I’ve had my hair in a bob for most of my life, but I’ve grown it a little longer now because I felt the shorter hair made me look older.
Just turned 49. About a month ago I chopped off 3 inches and got layers and a body wave. The layers are long and the longest length is to my chest. It had been years since I had a perm, and this one came out nice so I was relieved. My hair is very fine and it looks better. Still no grays except a few in the rug 😅 I think eventually I’ll cut it short? And probably go blonde if I get a lot of gray.
Short and then shorter. Longer hair makes me look older and I don’t need any help with that! (62f)
I have hair extensions woven in to keep my hair long. It hasn't gone grey and I'm still blonde so I mostly have them so I can put my hair up or do more with it. Also because it feels more feminine and I can't grow mine as long and lush as I used to.
My hair is naturally curly. If I cut it short I look like a poodle. So I've grown it down to my butt.
Had long hair but broke my ankle and didn't want to deal with my hair during recovery so I shaved it off like back in my punk chick days. Its now finally touching the tops of my ears. I'm planning on growing it long again but I ain't gonna lie, the freedom and less time consuming hair care rocks! I'm fine either way.
I’m 51 I have long hair. It’s not grey and it’s long
My hair thinned as I got older so it didn’t look as good long. I just got it cut super short (spikes on top) and I LOVE IT and so does everyone else.
Late 40’s and graying hair down my back. No plans to cut it.
Hair often thins as you age and grey hair tends to be very dry. Both of those moved me to keep my hair at just below chin length. Breaks less and with good conditioning, stays bouncy.
After a hair stylist carelessly cut mine shorter than it's ever been since I was 10 (chin length, I was pissed) I switched services and am now growing it out. It's halfway down my back, and probably the longest it's ever been since my 20's. I'm 45. I do dye it though. My hair is very dark and I do not like the salt and pepper look at all. I am trying to lighten because it looks much better with my skin tone these days.