13 Jul Should Women Over 50 Wear Their Hair Shorter?

You know me. My hair. I joke with my hubby with talk of a morbid sarcastic nature, What would people say about me? “Well, she had great hair!”. Kidding, kidding. I had an interesting discussion with my hair stylist the other day. Why do women over 40+ feel that they need to go shorter with their hair?

Do you wake up, the day of your 40th birthday, or 50th for that matter,  and go, “that’s it. I just don’t feel right in long hair anymore. It’s not appropriate. ” I don’t think so! First of all, i am not one of those ladies that think anything with fashion/style should be classified as appropriate/inappropriate. Who decides, and who makes up these lists? Nevertheless, I have seen lists which say women over a certain age, should not have long hair. ( not wear denim, no shorts… etc)

I think I always will have long hair. Well, I remember, as a small child, around 7 or 8, when you went door to door selling Girl Scout cookies, my sister would accompany me to the neighbor’s house. The woman who opened the door, was that lady. Long, grey silver hair,  down the length of her back, scared my sister and I at the time. the “Witch Lady” we would call her as kids, just privately to ourselves. She was probably 55 at the time! in 1975, long grey hair just wasn’t common, like it may be today. Women today are letting their hair grey and wearing it long as a statement.

I talked about women having longer hair after 40-50+ just out of interest to see the opinion of my hairdresser. I used to think ladies at this age, just didn’t want to fuss, want the extra work of keeping up long hair. I learned something different. I think, for me, I like long hair, as i have an oval face, and some sharper features- not the delicate features I often associate with short or shorter hair. For me, long hair is romantic, or at least I perceived it that way, for me.

Once i became the middle aged lady, I thought more about it. The dreaded Menopause has many side effects, and your hormones are responsable for much of it. Low estrogen levels can change the texture of hair. Thicker hair can become thinner, or more fine. Whether I am in Menopause of Peri, my hairstylist will attest to my hair being more fine than it was 10 years ago. Add in daily medications, and the chemicals from them, also have an effect on the hair’s texture.

With finer hair, hairstyles become a consideration. My mom has fine hair, and she wears it in a layered style which suits her well. My hair is styled with layers and she usually does some face framing layers for interest in the front of my hair. When you look up hairstyles for ladies over 50 on Youtube, you get the barrage of short hair cuts, pixies,  bobs and layered shags. I asked my stylist if I ever decided to go shorter and wanted an angled bob, how hard would that be. She told me there was much more maintenece in the angled bob that the long hairstyle I had now, as I would need to keep it shaped and the angle cut, so trims often. More work was not what I wanted.

I certainly feel that everyone should choose the length and style that makes them happy. Short, medium or long, however you like to see yourself. I think when I was younger, I beleived he misconception of thinking that ladies just didn’t want to take the time to style longer hair . It really has to do with how as we age, our hair changes, and what we can do to create the best look for ourselves. Hormones and other factors create a change in texture. I feel it is all about keeping your hair healthy, whether it is long or short.

Id love to hear your thoughts on long hair and hairstyles for women at midlife?

if you enjoyed this, Read my post- Hair Changes at Midlife

Let me know in the comments. Thank you for the comments, I appreciate it !

Have a great weekend!

Jess xx

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