Long hair on older women

Of course it should be a personal choice. However IMHO I really think long grey hair is totally unsuitable for any lady. OK if it's worn up, but long straggly grey locks however well washed, to my mind it is inelegant, unchic and looks as if the wearer is trying to look young and girlish and failing badly. Mutton dressed as lamb springs to mind. Sorry to be harsh. And the photo of the lady, who I don't know who she is - not the GN poster, is a case in point - I don't think she looks good at all.

I have now stopped colouring my fine and thinning hair and it's slowly turning grey from its normal quite nice brown. This doesn't bother me and I have it regularly well cut to a length that is never more than just below the chin and layered. Get lots of compliments.

There is no right or wrong. It depends on what suits a person. I have seen older women with long hair who have looked stunning and other who have looked awful. I would love long hair but when I was young it never grew beyond my shoulders so doubt it would now.

It's down to personal choice I've had longer hair in the past but I didn't feel as well groomed so wore it up in a bun which then made me feel like an old maid I prefer a medium length bob with layers not brave enough for a short pixie cut but I do think they make some ladies look very trendy and youthful.

I don't like hanging down long hair on older women. Smacks of hankering after lost youth.

So there!

Wow coolgran your hair is gorgeous I have my hair because it used to be very heavy. I have an appointment with haidresser tomorrow and I think I am going to copy you mine is a bit like yours but it doesn't look as glamorous. I haven't gone grey good genes none of my aunts or uncles are grey. I have highlights and lowlights in it as the dark colour doesn't suit me anymore. I have it trimmed every 5 weeks I have a brilliant hairdresser local to and she is very reasonably priced. So enough about me we should wear our hair how we want and our clothes too I love the sixties fashion and Orla kiely shoes plus Clarks have a new sixties range called swixties totally gorgeous if only I could buy the lot I would

Marcy, you look beautiful! I like the longer wig.

I am 74 and love my long, grey hair, short hair does not suit me.

I have my hair long and I dye it to my old natural colour a few times a year when the grey gets too much. It lasts longer in the summer as the sun bleaches it and the grey shows less. I haven't been to a hairdresser for years. I have a few trust issues too and I can't really afford it so I cut my own fringe and DD gives the rest a trim when it gets really ratty at the ends. I like to keep it long enough to clip up when I'm hot in the summer but not so long that the style doesn't work when up. I've never been happy with my hair short so I'll probably continue as I am despite inccreasing age.

I've had short hair since being a teenager but when my daughter announced her engagement I decided to grow it for the wedding, giving me nearly a year. I got through all the annoying in-between stages and by the time the wedding came round it was shoulder length and I was feeling very feminine and 'Mamma Mia'.

The wedding came and went and I started to wear my hair up as it got very annoying. I realised that if I was wearing it up all the time there was no point in having it long so I decided to have it cut short again.. What a relief!!

The lady sitting opposite me at the hairdressers said it was like the years dropping away as the hair got shorter. Which made me feel great. I'll not grow it again. I have a short, layered style with a fringe. I have it cut every 6 weeks and can just run my finger through it to style it. Couldn't be easier.

I suppose it depends what you are used to and what suits you personally. I can understand if you've had long hair all your life it must be traumatic to think of cutting it. Perhaps trying a short wig on to get the effect would help.

I remember my grandmother with her long grey hair in a bun and she looked so pretty. My mum had short permed hair which was the style for older women in the 60's and 70's. Mine is short because it is easier to manage but I know one or two women in their sixties who have lovely long hair. It's what you feel happy with and thank goodness these days we have all the products to look after our hair.

I have never really enjoyed "fussing" about hair and looks, however now that I am now longer a firm and sleek looking "spring chicken" I find I would prefer to look "acceptable" rather than bag lady. Hate the idea of spending a fortune on hairdressers so have come up with the following scheme - I use hairdressing colleges/model for apprentice/hairdressing courses at local college - all good sources of cheap and supervised haircare. They are often glad to have people to use but it does tend to be a bit slow and time consuming sometimes.

I posted two pictures on Facebook and asked people if they preferred my hair long or short. I got 13 to 1 in favour of short. So last Friday I had it cut from below my shoulders to just below my ears. I hate it and wish I had trusted my feelings and kept it long. So I would say have it how you want it, take no notice of what anyone else says!

Luckily,I have always had long,thick,curly hair and at the age of 61,just a few greys.Recently had it cut to collar length purely because I could no longer manage to wash my long hair,due to health problems.I hate it!
My dear great-gran died at the age of 86 with her beautiful white hair still at waist length.This was unusual then,back in the sixties-most older ladies had succumbed to the short perm and weekly set,highlighting their thinning hair.
If you love your long hair,keep it!There are many ways to style it,layers can flatter your face.I say keep your crowning glory.

I think long hair softens your face and makes you look younger, to the OP I reckon the people advising you to get it cut are probably envious.

I personally keep mine short because it is thin and wiry and it's the only way I can keep it looking tidy and smart but if I had thick lustrous hair and my arthritic shoulders, neck, wrists and fingers could handle styling it I would wear it long

https://www.gransnet.com/uploads/talk/201604/medium-288912-mary-after-001-lowres.jpg https://www.gransnet.com/uploads/talk/201604/medium-647007-mary-after-003-lowres.jpg

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!

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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 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

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 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 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.