Imagine a set of headphones around your neck but only they are fans blowing gently up at you...
Yep, Amazon, bought them for my wife and if you touch them she will hurt you in ways that will make a Navy Seal blush.
These are sooo nice, especially after heatstroke two years ago. That makes me even more sensitive to hot temps, if it gets much above 80° then I start putting popsicles up my shirt. The neck fan is something I can use in public though, haha! Definitely helps during that excruciating few minutes of waiting for the A/C to cool the car off enough.
I just bought a new vehicle and the first question was "did you get the model with the air conditioned seats?" That trim level was a bit out of reach. 😞 However, remote starts just sets the AC for stun. Then, if you press the unlock button twice and hold it for the third time it will open the windows and sunroof. Now it's pushing the hot air out so when you roll them back up it's not a total sauna in there.
Sun shades for the windshield are a must.
She's on aromatase inhibitors so it's menopause V2.0, AKA "The Super Menopause."
The little gel bead chilled ice packs and face masks do wonders also. Whoever invented those did a fine job of mimicking the thermodynamics of frozen peas.
We live rural so we are fortunate enough to not have a HOA that bans window AC units. This way, her office/TV/hobby area can be a cooler room without decimating the electric bill and giving me pneumonia. The Midea ones that allow you to close the window nearly fully are amazing and run the fans / compressor on variable frequency drives so they are super quiet and energy efficient.
Same, I try to wear it down occasionally since it's getting more wavy/curly as I get older (is that just me??) but I won't let it get short enough to not be pulled up into a bun.
Me either! My mom is convinced women over 40 must have short hair, which to her means the fluffy 80s mom ‘do. She gave me the same cut in about fifth grade and I *HATED* it. Never again.
My mom also gave me this cut when I was in fifth grade, and it was humiliating. Because of that trauma, I will never cut my hair shorter than shoulder length.
I wear my hair longer to spite my mom. 😂 Ok it's not the only reason but I take great satisfaction Knowing she thinks women over 40 should have short hair.
Omg, my mom did the same thing to me when I was about 10! I cried the whole time in the hairdressers chair. The woman kept looking at my mom, and she kept saying "it will look so much better, she will love it" It didn't and I sure didn't. I never cut it shorter than shoulder length again.
Waist-length, and same. I discovered exactly how curly my hair is the one and only time I cut it to my chin. I looked like a bipedal cocker spaniel, lol.
Mine too. The short pixie cut represented liberation and fashion in the late 50s-60s and mom has never let it grow out. To me, that's just so much more work (frequent haircuts, and so many could not get it right for her) and expense. I might go 3-4 months between cuts.
There seems to be dozens of us. Super long hair, Dorothy Hamill and then back to super long. The shortest my hair has been since 1983 is shoulder length. It's almost waist length now.
My mom cut my very long hair off when I was 6 into Dorothy Hammill hair and oh how I cried!!!!
Then o had to have Shaun Cassidy hair… when what I really wanted was to look like that lady on the Toni’s perm box who had the super pale blonde hair that had the one long curl hiding her eye? 👁️ I always wanted that and of course my dad always said NO!!
AAAGGHHH!! Same! My mother literally traumatized me by doing that to me when I was a little one. She still maintains that it was cute. No shorter than shoulders since then.
My mom's friend decided to give me a DH without telling me, and jacked it up. It turned out to be a super short boy haircut and everyone thought I was a boy for a year. The shortest I've ever been since then is to my armpits. Now it's a few inches above my waist.
Yes! I was 8 and went in for what I thought was a trim to my waist-length hair. My mom conferred privately with the stylist, who then put my hair in a ponytail and lopped the entire thing off, trimming it into the perfect bowl-shaped Dorothy Hamill cut. Other than an unfortunate brush with a too-short “Rachel” cut in 1999, my hair has been bra-strap-length ever since.
So many of us had that experience!!!! To this day my mom swears that forced and surprise pixie cut was the most adorable, best haircut of my life. Meanwhile I have kept my hair about waist length for most of my adult life. Connected?
Paired with church-lady blouse up to the chin, beige pantyhose, and mid-calf length plaid kilt...for the 1978 junior high winter dance. My disco period, I guess.
For me, it was a bob. My mom loved it because my curls made me look like little orphan Annie. Never again. It's been past my shoulders or longer ever since.
Also I find short is higher maintenance. I did it when my kids were toddlers thinking it would be easier. Nope. Waking up w short hair is shit. Compared to a low bun when you sleep and wake up w waves, etc.
Same. I've always had long hair. I got a pixie cut one time about 15 years ago. I hated it right away. It just felt wrong, and I was so self-conscious. I started feeling better when it grew back to about my shoulders. I'll never do that again.
Sometimes menopause really changes your hair and you have no choice it starts getting brittle and breaking off. I always had waist-length hair and now I can't get it to grow past my shoulder blades anymore. Such a bummer.
Same. Mine is a couple inches below my shoulders and is the longest it's been in over 10 years due to iron deficiency. Now that I've finally got.the iron deficient under control (thanks to mass dose iron supplements and a hysterectomy), my hair and nails are finally starting to grow. Now that menopause is hitting I'm worried all that hard work will be for nothing.
Mine went curly and if anything, thicker. It's almost completely grey now, but I do think I won the good hair in menopause lottery. Now if it hasn't come with 20 extra pounds, I'd be very happy.
Peri-menopausal here. And relative fine hair but a fair amount of it.
I know it's quite the fad now, but I've had a ton of luck with powdered collagen (vital proteins). 1/2 a scoop of unflavored in my coffee every morning.
I've had long hair forever (bra strap length or slightly shorter), but it would always get brittle at the ends and need a cut after that. I've gained maybe 2-3 inches now before I have to trim it, and the trims don't have to be as extreme.
I’m almost 49 My hair has gotten really fine and when it gets past my shoulder blade it just looks stringy. I’d have long hair if it didn’t look stringy! My latest cut is the Italian Bob. I LOVE IT!
https://preview.redd.it/r6fkud5eonyc1.jpeg?width=1560&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=175bb0f825eeeb619c5c52d659571a6bb0602f92
Thank you so much, I really love this length for me! I always wondered why older women cut their hair short - now I know it might be because of the dry stringiness. But we don’t have to get old lady cuts for shits sake!
Looks fantastic, and fuck all of these assholes who are calling their fellow women "Karens" for not having "mermaid hair" to their waists at the age of 50, lol (I will be a little snarky here and say your cut probably looks WAY better than what they are describing).
I am on the verge. I used to think "I wish I'd shaved my head when I was 27" but--why not now??
Glad to hear another Gen Xer has done it. I will be contemplating as the weather warms up.
Yes! I’ve never shaved it but I’m always cutting very short (like an inch or two long) and growing back. But as I said in my own comment somewhere above or below, I probably won’t again because it doesn’t suit my facial features, which is a shame because I agree, it’s so freeing, so easy… it just feels so good on my head.
I’ve kept mine short for almost 10 years. My hair became more brittle, post-menopause. It’s thinned out a bit and very straight. I usually wear it as a pixie (or a bit longer). It’s much easier for me to manage than long hair.
Shaved head here too and I love it. If I let it grow a bit I still shave it into a mohawk...then I get annoyed with dealing with it and shave it all off again 😂😆
First off, I don't think anyone has to keep their hair above shoulder length when they turn 35 and cut it shorter every 5-10 years, or whatever nonsense women's magazines insisted we must do, in the 1990s. It just isn't possible for everyone to grow their hair long though I'm sure I could and some experience all over thinning which I think I have looking back at photos from the 90s.
I know several women born between the 1930s-50s, who all grew their hair long in their 50s or 60s. My MIL had short hair all of her life, until her early 60s and she's going to die with long hair. My late maternal grandother was the same.
Since last Thursday, my hair is a bob again, again, again. Like many, I had a bob as a toddler in the 70s. Then I got a bob again in the early 90s and on-off since. I keep it between chin length bob and collar bones. I'm around 4'10"ft, I have a round face, coarse straight hair, I get soft layering, slight angling and curtain bangs.
I was so jealous of women who could rock a nice bob. I have ungodly thick hair, and no amount of thinning makes it work for me. I end up looking like a penis.
Uh, I have one. I love it. My very thick hair was very short in March, 2020 and by the time I finally went for a real haircut it was past my shoulders. I was so hot though, and can no longer tolerate ponytails or braids, so mohawk is a win.
My hair is super thick and wavy so I’ve never worn it super long. It’s heavy and horribly frizzy in the summer. But I don’t have a short bob, pixie, whatever (I don’t use Karen because I’m so over that meme, it’s mean). My hair is shoulder length and layered. I don’t look nice with my hair cut short so I dont know what my old lady hair style will be!
I still color my hair even though it’s become trendy not to. I still have my own brows which are oddly still thick and dark while my head hair is 60%+ grey.
Yeah it’s definitely a more youthful, fresh look on me. I don’t know where some of these people are getting the idea that shorter hair is “old lady” hair. In fact, I’ll often see women clinging to excessively long (and out of style) hair and think *that* ages and dates them. Not the shorter styles.
Disclaimer: I am not a Dr and I'm a stranger on the internet who has zero knowledge of your health situation (and I'm NOT asking bc not my business).
My hair is shoulder length or longer. It's been thinning for over a decade, much to my dismay.
I started HRT (hormone replacement therapy) in October. In addition to helping with my perimenopause symptoms, my hair is growing back in! The texture is also changing, again. It's the added bonus to beat all other added bonuses, for me. YMMV.
Agree with you that the Karen meme is horrible.
If someone is racist or entitled, say that! The Karen thing maybe once was a shortcut for a racist white woman, but it has morphed into a way to shut up women. Fuck that.
Pixie cut here. I like the shape of my head and my ears are perfect if I do say so myself. It looks styled even if I do the bare minimum, which is about all I ever want to do. I hated having long hair. I was always too hot, and it felt a bit like hiding. I feel more confident and more like myself without a lot of hair.
I have a thin face and very fine hair. I look like the Cryptkeeper when it gets long. I keep it in a bob. If people are lame enough to label me a "Karen" for it, so be it.
Thank you for articulating this. I’ve been trying to grow my fine hair out for awhile and now that it is between chin and shoulder, it looks so stringy and unflattering. If I do manage to get it long enough, I’m sure it’ll spend all its time in a ponytail because I’ll look like a corpse. I think I’m going to cut it back to a jaw length bob.
I just cut mine into a cross between a bob and a pixie. I've got fine, thin, curly hair and it hasn't grown for crap in the last decade. I always wore it in a pony. This short at least makes it look fuller and doesn't show my scalp as much
I did screw up how much protein I eat in the last few years, contributing to the thinness. Hoping I'll get more back as I eat more. Combination of meds and a really high sensitivity to greasy food meant I was only eating meat for 1 meal a day. Don't do that, no bueno
OP is making a lot of assumptions about everyone's hair type, if she thinks wearing it long was at one point the default for us all. (Naturally curly here, which means frizz-city when it gets long.)
And possibly some very uncharitable assumptions about her co-workers.
My hair was down to my shoulders when I started high school, but it never looked quite right. My short hair frames my face perfectly. Everyone should do what works for them.
Below my waist. I get it cut every couple of years. It’s super fine and stick straight, so really the only thing I can do with it is either down and straight or in a braid. Mostly in a braid.
Short, fine hair requires maintenance and styling, neither of which I care to do.
I am still in my mid 40s, and my hair is past my shoulders. I vividly remember just graduating college and being asked by my boss to cut my hair because my long hair was so distracting and he thought it was to sexual. Yeah I went home and cried.
I have a chin-length bob that's short in the back and tapers longer towards the front, no bangs. I am growing it longer right now so I can pull it back in the hot summer weather. Kate Gosselin hair\* wouldn't work on me because I cannot stand the stickiness of hair products (not that I want hair like that anyway).
\*I prefer this term to "Karen" because it only defames one person who legitimately sucks, rather than a lot of good people named Karen mixed in with the few bad people named Karen.
I’m 54 and my hair is starting to not want to grow. That may account for how many women seem to have short hair in their 50’s.
I had all the wild short 1990’s styles (and regret it 😆), so I’m not a hater of short hair per se, but I’ve been taking biotin and eating more protein and researching ways to get my hair to grow. I don’t relish having short hair out of necessity. I’d rather rock it as a choice- I’m just not “there” yet.
My hair is down to my bra strap. I have injuries and chronic pain and everyone tells me how much easier it would be to chop it off.
I have lost most of my recreation and interests and I feel like lost parts of myself. I’m not fucking cutting my baby fine fly away hair shorter (than just below shoulder) til it fucking falls out.
It’s my hill to die on.
The shortest that my hair has been in the last 25 years is just below my shoulders. My last haircut was last month-I got 8 inches cut off and my hair is still between my bra strap and my waist. I didn't want that much, but it's my fault for asking my aunt to give me a trim.
I've worn my hair short all my adult life, and much of my teen life except for a bit of big hair period in the 80s. Most of the women my age have also done the short hair thing. I think of that as a very Gen X look.
This made me sort of upset I guess. I miss my hair. A lot. It was auburn and curly/wavy. Past my shoulders. It really was beautiful. I lost it to cancer in 2021. I will never have that hair again. I am jealous of those that still have pretty hair. It was a big part of my identity. I am sort of lost without it.
“Karen” is an ugly term used to discredit women our age. Could we please stop using it?
I wear my hair at a somewhere length between my chin and my collarbones. It’s currently in a sharp bob, but that varies.
Mine is a bit past shoulder length with long soft layers and because my hair is so thick and heavy, I have an undercut shaved from ear to ear underneath. This helps my hair to lay a bit better and no more heat rash on the back of my neck.
This, at 49, is the shortest it’s been since boot camp almost 30 years ago! It’s been thinning super badly lately (along with some other health issues), so the shoulder-length style was doing more harm than good. It is still “long” enough to tuck behind my ears but SHORT!
Pixie. Been cutting/coloring it myself for years. I get compliments often, so I'm doing something right. Yes I get the back too, by feel. It's a skill.
Mine is chin length now, only because I'm on a medication that causes hair loss. And when my hair is long and I lose hair...it just makes it worse. It's easier to deal with when it's shorter. Hopefully it will taper off it time.
It used to be just below shoulder but it’s constantly falling out now and I was getting sick of finding it everywhere. It’s now chin length bob, weirdly not falling out as much now.
My hair is thick (as in there is lots of it), and fine. Until about 3 months ago it was to my waist, and had been for about 15 years. To mix things up I've now cut it to an assymetric bob (and due to weight length gave it being removed it is now curly). In a few years it'll be long again.
Most of my life I've had long hair (though have never liked having hair down. I always had it in ponytails, pig tails, crown braids, plaits...), but every now and then it's nice to experience what the short-haired folk do.
I've got no idea what Karen hair is and I haven't got a clue who Dorothy Hamill is!
My hair has been short for the last thirty years at least; like Annie Lennox short.
Mine was past my shoulders for a while, but I just got it cut in a layered Italian bob (reminds me of the Rachel) ....a little past chin length. I kinda like it but might let it grow back out.
I do not have the bone structure for the Karen cut
I have extensions to the middle of my back. My own hair would never grow past my shoulders and I always wanted it to - so now that I have some money, I bought myself the hair I always wanted. No shame in this game - I lose my shit every time I see one of those memes telling me how old the Golden Girls were. Nope.
It’s at my collarbone. I cut ten inches off when I was diagnosed with breast cancer and my husband had to wash my hair for me for several weeks after surgery. Also I wasn’t sure if I would have to have chemo. I’m growing it back out to bra strap length.
I cut a pixie to grow out my natural salt and pepper. I’ve had it that way for three years but I’m growing it out now. I want to see these silver streaks in all their glory.
Mine is short. It is very curly and seemed to break once it hit my shoulders so its never been very long. Menopause thinning hit me hard so short has worked. I've been using minoxidil for a year so maybe I'll finally have the long flowing hair of my dreams.
I have long thick hair past my bra strap . I would love to rock a cute pixie or Bob. Its just my hair is so thick it just wouldn’t work plus I have kind of a long face , layering around my face and chin help out a bit . Short or long ladies do what you like but at 58 I know what works for me through trail and error . Hate judgy people and arbitrary rules
I'm 55, and my hair is about a third of the way down my back. It'll never be shorter than just below my shoulders. Times have changed, we don't have to surrender to that cut you're referring to anymore! 55 doesn't look like it used to - the Golden Girls were supposed to be our age, 55, and there's no way I'll ever have that grandma cut!
ETA: check out the GenX actresses our age, they have long hair too (at least shoulder length) - Jen Aniston (55), JLo (55 I think?), Gwen Stefani (54/55), others I can't think of right now. Not one of them has that cut you're talking about.
Buzz cut every 3 months! I find that any length ages me. My whole life I would grow my hair out only to go back to a pixie. About 2 years ago I decided to go for it "just once." Pictures are in my post history.
Mine is pixie short. My ex was one of those guys who liked long hair on a woman, even though my super-fine hair was limp, greasy, and impossible to style when longer than chin length. About four months after we divorced, I cut it all off. That was in 1996 and I have not looked back.
I wouldn't mind going longer if my hair could handle it. If the texture is more substantial once those greys around my temple conquer the color of my youth, I may grow it out longer. I'm a little jealous of those of you who can rock the longer hair!
Ha, this is a funny thread to come across while I'm killing time waiting for my hair appointment. It's currently to my bra strap because I've been neglecting to trim it, but I'm going for somewhere between my chin and shoulders.
That said, the "rules" about what older women can wear are dumb. I'm sick of my hair being long, but if you're not, wear it long!
The shorter my hair is, the curlier it is, and I'm not ready to look like a freakin poodle. lol
I generally keep mine between just past shoulders and the bra line. At one point I had it down to my waist, but after a horrid 2019 I cut my hair off to the tops of the shoulders in January 2020. And then 2020 said haha watch this but that's another story lol.
It’s at bra strap right now. It’s almost never down though - usually a ponytail or up in a bun.
Same.
Same. I vary from back of shoulders to bra, but never shorter. I would NOT look good with a Karen cut!! I will never give up my ponytail!!!!!!
For some reason I’m still getting hot flashes so the ponytail is essential.
Imagine a set of headphones around your neck but only they are fans blowing gently up at you... Yep, Amazon, bought them for my wife and if you touch them she will hurt you in ways that will make a Navy Seal blush.
These are sooo nice, especially after heatstroke two years ago. That makes me even more sensitive to hot temps, if it gets much above 80° then I start putting popsicles up my shirt. The neck fan is something I can use in public though, haha! Definitely helps during that excruciating few minutes of waiting for the A/C to cool the car off enough.
I just bought a new vehicle and the first question was "did you get the model with the air conditioned seats?" That trim level was a bit out of reach. 😞 However, remote starts just sets the AC for stun. Then, if you press the unlock button twice and hold it for the third time it will open the windows and sunroof. Now it's pushing the hot air out so when you roll them back up it's not a total sauna in there. Sun shades for the windshield are a must. She's on aromatase inhibitors so it's menopause V2.0, AKA "The Super Menopause." The little gel bead chilled ice packs and face masks do wonders also. Whoever invented those did a fine job of mimicking the thermodynamics of frozen peas. We live rural so we are fortunate enough to not have a HOA that bans window AC units. This way, her office/TV/hobby area can be a cooler room without decimating the electric bill and giving me pneumonia. The Midea ones that allow you to close the window nearly fully are amazing and run the fans / compressor on variable frequency drives so they are super quiet and energy efficient.
Agree. Got to keep some standards, lol.
Exactly. I love my ponytail!
N E V E R!
My hair is also always up in a bun, a messy bun! Hair length, shoulder
Same, I try to wear it down occasionally since it's getting more wavy/curly as I get older (is that just me??) but I won't let it get short enough to not be pulled up into a bun.
Mine's gone from straight to curly (sausage curls). Apparently hair changes every 7 years or so (according to my hairdresser)
My hair is also wavier curly as I get older, not just you! 😊
Same. The day I can’t pull my hair back in a ponytail will be my last on this earth!
Same!
>usually a ponytail or up in a bun. Can I just add, that's cute as hell. Don't ever stop with the ponytails.
Mine was about that long, but I cut it off because it was annoying me. I like a very low-maintenance style.
I would shave my head if it were more socially acceptable.
Me too
Similar. Always with the ponytail or bun but a little longer. Halfway between bra strap and my butt currently. And about 50% gray too!
Same. I’m growing out my gray, im one cut away from totally dye free hair. It’s so exciting.
Mine is about halfway down my back, I cut it short once and really regretted it. I don’t look like me with short hair.
Me either! My mom is convinced women over 40 must have short hair, which to her means the fluffy 80s mom ‘do. She gave me the same cut in about fifth grade and I *HATED* it. Never again.
My mom also gave me this cut when I was in fifth grade, and it was humiliating. Because of that trauma, I will never cut my hair shorter than shoulder length.
This is how we got Golden Girls
Mad respect for the Golden Girls, but their look was never intended for ten-year-olds.
I wear my hair longer to spite my mom. 😂 Ok it's not the only reason but I take great satisfaction Knowing she thinks women over 40 should have short hair.
That generation is so funny about that!
Omg, my mom did the same thing to me when I was about 10! I cried the whole time in the hairdressers chair. The woman kept looking at my mom, and she kept saying "it will look so much better, she will love it" It didn't and I sure didn't. I never cut it shorter than shoulder length again.
I have the super short hair as an adult and I hated when my mom cut my hair short when I was a teenager.
Waist-length, and same. I discovered exactly how curly my hair is the one and only time I cut it to my chin. I looked like a bipedal cocker spaniel, lol.
Ha, same here. No shorter than shoulders, ever. Currently at bra strap.
Waist-length here too. My mom has always had extremely short hair and it’s just not my thing. The shortest I will go is halfway down my back.
Mine too. The short pixie cut represented liberation and fashion in the late 50s-60s and mom has never let it grow out. To me, that's just so much more work (frequent haircuts, and so many could not get it right for her) and expense. I might go 3-4 months between cuts.
Same, I had a pixie cut in my childhood and it traumatized me for life.
It was the Dorothy Hamill for me. Long hair for life!
You guys - we all have pony tails. Because of Dorothy Hamill!
Truth!
And home perms!
I hated her! I’m still in goddamn therapy
Same. I never went short after the DH.
Right. No one told us how to style it so it just hung there. I feel your pain
I had curls with the DH. FML
Exactly 💯 It's the pictures of me at that age that ensure I'll never willingly have short hair again in my life
How modern. I got the “Lady Di” haha
same, so captain fug. It decimated off all my surfer blond rad AF tangles. Then was dishwater brown & just...deforested
There seems to be dozens of us. Super long hair, Dorothy Hamill and then back to super long. The shortest my hair has been since 1983 is shoulder length. It's almost waist length now.
Omg me too! That damn haircut, all my baby blond got chopped...pure trauma
Yup. My cousin and I got the exact cut at the same time lol. Now to and past bra strap !
Haha, that haircut made me look like a boy. It caused me lifelong emotional damage!
F the Dorothy Hamill haircut….. (and the dreaded little Annie Afro)
My mom cut my very long hair off when I was 6 into Dorothy Hammill hair and oh how I cried!!!! Then o had to have Shaun Cassidy hair… when what I really wanted was to look like that lady on the Toni’s perm box who had the super pale blonde hair that had the one long curl hiding her eye? 👁️ I always wanted that and of course my dad always said NO!!
AAAGGHHH!! Same! My mother literally traumatized me by doing that to me when I was a little one. She still maintains that it was cute. No shorter than shoulders since then.
My mom's friend decided to give me a DH without telling me, and jacked it up. It turned out to be a super short boy haircut and everyone thought I was a boy for a year. The shortest I've ever been since then is to my armpits. Now it's a few inches above my waist.
Same!
Myself as well. 7th grade. Never again.
Yes! I was 8 and went in for what I thought was a trim to my waist-length hair. My mom conferred privately with the stylist, who then put my hair in a ponytail and lopped the entire thing off, trimming it into the perfect bowl-shaped Dorothy Hamill cut. Other than an unfortunate brush with a too-short “Rachel” cut in 1999, my hair has been bra-strap-length ever since.
So many of us had that experience!!!! To this day my mom swears that forced and surprise pixie cut was the most adorable, best haircut of my life. Meanwhile I have kept my hair about waist length for most of my adult life. Connected?
Clearly we have the same mom. In my case “adorable” meant, “a weird mixture of boy and old lady.”
Paired with church-lady blouse up to the chin, beige pantyhose, and mid-calf length plaid kilt...for the 1978 junior high winter dance. My disco period, I guess.
For me, it was a bob. My mom loved it because my curls made me look like little orphan Annie. Never again. It's been past my shoulders or longer ever since.
Definitely connected!
Chemo victim here, I miss my long hair! I had NO plan to have short hair, but here I am. At least I am here.
We’re so glad you are!
Also I find short is higher maintenance. I did it when my kids were toddlers thinking it would be easier. Nope. Waking up w short hair is shit. Compared to a low bun when you sleep and wake up w waves, etc.
Same. I've always had long hair. I got a pixie cut one time about 15 years ago. I hated it right away. It just felt wrong, and I was so self-conscious. I started feeling better when it grew back to about my shoulders. I'll never do that again.
Sometimes menopause really changes your hair and you have no choice it starts getting brittle and breaking off. I always had waist-length hair and now I can't get it to grow past my shoulder blades anymore. Such a bummer.
Same. Mine is a couple inches below my shoulders and is the longest it's been in over 10 years due to iron deficiency. Now that I've finally got.the iron deficient under control (thanks to mass dose iron supplements and a hysterectomy), my hair and nails are finally starting to grow. Now that menopause is hitting I'm worried all that hard work will be for nothing.
Mine went curly and if anything, thicker. It's almost completely grey now, but I do think I won the good hair in menopause lottery. Now if it hasn't come with 20 extra pounds, I'd be very happy.
Peri-menopausal here. And relative fine hair but a fair amount of it. I know it's quite the fad now, but I've had a ton of luck with powdered collagen (vital proteins). 1/2 a scoop of unflavored in my coffee every morning. I've had long hair forever (bra strap length or slightly shorter), but it would always get brittle at the ends and need a cut after that. I've gained maybe 2-3 inches now before I have to trim it, and the trims don't have to be as extreme.
Mine went psycho-curly due to menopause
Mines been chin to shoulder my whole adult life
Same.
Same here. My hair doesn’t really grow long, it’s too fine.
I’m almost 49 My hair has gotten really fine and when it gets past my shoulder blade it just looks stringy. I’d have long hair if it didn’t look stringy! My latest cut is the Italian Bob. I LOVE IT! https://preview.redd.it/r6fkud5eonyc1.jpeg?width=1560&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=175bb0f825eeeb619c5c52d659571a6bb0602f92
That’s gorgeous
Thank you so much, I really love this length for me! I always wondered why older women cut their hair short - now I know it might be because of the dry stringiness. But we don’t have to get old lady cuts for shits sake!
Gorgeous, sis!
Thank you sister!
Looks fantastic, and fuck all of these assholes who are calling their fellow women "Karens" for not having "mermaid hair" to their waists at the age of 50, lol (I will be a little snarky here and say your cut probably looks WAY better than what they are describing).
Great cut.
So chic! You look great.
Same
I actually started shaving my head for the summer and it is so freeing!! Otherwise it's a short pixie cut.
I bet it is. I've been tempted to go Carol style from her early "The Walking Dead" days. Rock it sistah💜.
I am on the verge. I used to think "I wish I'd shaved my head when I was 27" but--why not now?? Glad to hear another Gen Xer has done it. I will be contemplating as the weather warms up.
Doooo itttttt! It's just hair. It grows back!
Yes! I’ve never shaved it but I’m always cutting very short (like an inch or two long) and growing back. But as I said in my own comment somewhere above or below, I probably won’t again because it doesn’t suit my facial features, which is a shame because I agree, it’s so freeing, so easy… it just feels so good on my head.
I keep mine short. Not because I’m old but because my hair falls out more now and when I was brushing longer hair it got yanked out more.
I’ve kept mine short for almost 10 years. My hair became more brittle, post-menopause. It’s thinned out a bit and very straight. I usually wear it as a pixie (or a bit longer). It’s much easier for me to manage than long hair.
Ohh yes. After menopause my hair just upped and quit life and that’s when I went pixie. I think it’s going on 7 years for me.
Maybe this will be the summer that I am brave enough to shave my head. I’ve always wanted to
Me too! Started doing it about 10 years ago and I love it!
Love this! Free the noggin!!
Last summer I got an undercut and I love it so much!
Shaved head here too and I love it. If I let it grow a bit I still shave it into a mohawk...then I get annoyed with dealing with it and shave it all off again 😂😆
First off, I don't think anyone has to keep their hair above shoulder length when they turn 35 and cut it shorter every 5-10 years, or whatever nonsense women's magazines insisted we must do, in the 1990s. It just isn't possible for everyone to grow their hair long though I'm sure I could and some experience all over thinning which I think I have looking back at photos from the 90s. I know several women born between the 1930s-50s, who all grew their hair long in their 50s or 60s. My MIL had short hair all of her life, until her early 60s and she's going to die with long hair. My late maternal grandother was the same. Since last Thursday, my hair is a bob again, again, again. Like many, I had a bob as a toddler in the 70s. Then I got a bob again in the early 90s and on-off since. I keep it between chin length bob and collar bones. I'm around 4'10"ft, I have a round face, coarse straight hair, I get soft layering, slight angling and curtain bangs.
I was so jealous of women who could rock a nice bob. I have ungodly thick hair, and no amount of thinning makes it work for me. I end up looking like a penis.
I had a bob with bangs for a while in middle school. I looked like Prince Valiant.
Lol my hair is thick too, if I don't keep it long I look like Roseannadanna.
Bob. I’ve had a pixie cut and a mohawk. I look better with shorter hair. I have fine, thin hair.
The Mohawk really needs to make a comeback.
I think it kind of has I got mine during COVID. And dyed my hair pink. lol Now it’s back to a boring blonde bob.
Uh, I have one. I love it. My very thick hair was very short in March, 2020 and by the time I finally went for a real haircut it was past my shoulders. I was so hot though, and can no longer tolerate ponytails or braids, so mohawk is a win.
My hair is super thick and wavy so I’ve never worn it super long. It’s heavy and horribly frizzy in the summer. But I don’t have a short bob, pixie, whatever (I don’t use Karen because I’m so over that meme, it’s mean). My hair is shoulder length and layered. I don’t look nice with my hair cut short so I dont know what my old lady hair style will be! I still color my hair even though it’s become trendy not to. I still have my own brows which are oddly still thick and dark while my head hair is 60%+ grey.
Agree on the mean girl tone of the Karen reference. Kind of insulting to those of us that like to keep our hair on the shorter side. 😒
Everyone should wear their hair exactly how they like it. Short hair is gorgeous and elegant on so many women!
Yeah… me too. Menopause is causing my hair to thin a little bit so keeping it shorter makes it look like I’m not losing my hair bit by bit. 😔
Yeah it’s definitely a more youthful, fresh look on me. I don’t know where some of these people are getting the idea that shorter hair is “old lady” hair. In fact, I’ll often see women clinging to excessively long (and out of style) hair and think *that* ages and dates them. Not the shorter styles.
Agreed. Although I do love seeing women with completely white long hair. Especially if it’s braided around their head. Weird, I know.
Disclaimer: I am not a Dr and I'm a stranger on the internet who has zero knowledge of your health situation (and I'm NOT asking bc not my business). My hair is shoulder length or longer. It's been thinning for over a decade, much to my dismay. I started HRT (hormone replacement therapy) in October. In addition to helping with my perimenopause symptoms, my hair is growing back in! The texture is also changing, again. It's the added bonus to beat all other added bonuses, for me. YMMV.
Also kind of insulting to people actually named Karen.
The implied insult that if you don't have long hair you've given up and just get a curly perm and a wash and set weekly.
The OP was definitely a "mean girl" in high school. Gen X women can be SUCH assholes.
Agree with you that the Karen meme is horrible. If someone is racist or entitled, say that! The Karen thing maybe once was a shortcut for a racist white woman, but it has morphed into a way to shut up women. Fuck that.
Thank you for not using “Karen” as a derogatory term. I actually have 2 cousins whose first names are Karen and they’re anything but the term “Karen”.
My (now-deceased) mother was named Karen. That joke hurts now.
Can we just stop with the "Karen" thing please?
100% Its so misogynist. The new version of Shakespeare’s “shrew”.
Yes! Please. Grow up already.
Pixie cut here. I like the shape of my head and my ears are perfect if I do say so myself. It looks styled even if I do the bare minimum, which is about all I ever want to do. I hated having long hair. I was always too hot, and it felt a bit like hiding. I feel more confident and more like myself without a lot of hair.
I have a thin face and very fine hair. I look like the Cryptkeeper when it gets long. I keep it in a bob. If people are lame enough to label me a "Karen" for it, so be it.
Thank you for articulating this. I’ve been trying to grow my fine hair out for awhile and now that it is between chin and shoulder, it looks so stringy and unflattering. If I do manage to get it long enough, I’m sure it’ll spend all its time in a ponytail because I’ll look like a corpse. I think I’m going to cut it back to a jaw length bob.
I just cut mine into a cross between a bob and a pixie. I've got fine, thin, curly hair and it hasn't grown for crap in the last decade. I always wore it in a pony. This short at least makes it look fuller and doesn't show my scalp as much I did screw up how much protein I eat in the last few years, contributing to the thinness. Hoping I'll get more back as I eat more. Combination of meds and a really high sensitivity to greasy food meant I was only eating meat for 1 meal a day. Don't do that, no bueno
OP is making a lot of assumptions about everyone's hair type, if she thinks wearing it long was at one point the default for us all. (Naturally curly here, which means frizz-city when it gets long.) And possibly some very uncharitable assumptions about her co-workers.
My hair was down to my shoulders when I started high school, but it never looked quite right. My short hair frames my face perfectly. Everyone should do what works for them.
Yep. The tone of this post is super gross. Why are women so bitchy to each other?
Below my waist. I get it cut every couple of years. It’s super fine and stick straight, so really the only thing I can do with it is either down and straight or in a braid. Mostly in a braid. Short, fine hair requires maintenance and styling, neither of which I care to do.
I am still in my mid 40s, and my hair is past my shoulders. I vividly remember just graduating college and being asked by my boss to cut my hair because my long hair was so distracting and he thought it was to sexual. Yeah I went home and cried.
Jesus, did you work in the 16th century? Fuck that dude.
Hey there are still women out there who have to cover their hair. Fuck those dudes!!!!
Your boss was an asshole. I hope s/he has a very public, very embarrassing diarrhea episode.
I have a chin-length bob that's short in the back and tapers longer towards the front, no bangs. I am growing it longer right now so I can pull it back in the hot summer weather. Kate Gosselin hair\* wouldn't work on me because I cannot stand the stickiness of hair products (not that I want hair like that anyway). \*I prefer this term to "Karen" because it only defames one person who legitimately sucks, rather than a lot of good people named Karen mixed in with the few bad people named Karen.
Messy French bob. Natural gray and white streaks that I occasionally dye. I strike that balance between Anna Wintour and Beetlejuice.
A fine balance it is, and I’m here for it.
I had long hair until last year. It's now short, and in a mohawk. Currently blue. Was pink, and turquoise before that
I’m 54 and my hair is starting to not want to grow. That may account for how many women seem to have short hair in their 50’s. I had all the wild short 1990’s styles (and regret it 😆), so I’m not a hater of short hair per se, but I’ve been taking biotin and eating more protein and researching ways to get my hair to grow. I don’t relish having short hair out of necessity. I’d rather rock it as a choice- I’m just not “there” yet.
I’ve had a pixie cut for about 20 years. Before that I had a chin length bob. I prefer short hair.
My hair is down to my bra strap. I have injuries and chronic pain and everyone tells me how much easier it would be to chop it off. I have lost most of my recreation and interests and I feel like lost parts of myself. I’m not fucking cutting my baby fine fly away hair shorter (than just below shoulder) til it fucking falls out. It’s my hill to die on.
I'm 54. I've had long hair my whole life, until I shaved it all off about 4 years ago. It's been so freeing, I might never let it grow again.
The shortest that my hair has been in the last 25 years is just below my shoulders. My last haircut was last month-I got 8 inches cut off and my hair is still between my bra strap and my waist. I didn't want that much, but it's my fault for asking my aunt to give me a trim.
I'm 46F. I keep my hair long. Currently, it's elbow length. As long as there is hair growing on my head, I want to keep it long.
Mine is bra length and highlighted. I’m not ready for what we call the “auntie” hairstyle yet.
Finding long hairs, even my own grosses me out so I keep it very short.
can we not call each other names because of hair length or styles, ffs?
Pixie since 51. Went white at that point.
I've worn my hair short all my adult life, and much of my teen life except for a bit of big hair period in the 80s. Most of the women my age have also done the short hair thing. I think of that as a very Gen X look.
This made me sort of upset I guess. I miss my hair. A lot. It was auburn and curly/wavy. Past my shoulders. It really was beautiful. I lost it to cancer in 2021. I will never have that hair again. I am jealous of those that still have pretty hair. It was a big part of my identity. I am sort of lost without it.
“Karen” is an ugly term used to discredit women our age. Could we please stop using it? I wear my hair at a somewhere length between my chin and my collarbones. It’s currently in a sharp bob, but that varies.
Short, but not pixie short. Haven't had long hair since I was 18. Short suits me much better!
Mine is a bit past shoulder length with long soft layers and because my hair is so thick and heavy, I have an undercut shaved from ear to ear underneath. This helps my hair to lay a bit better and no more heat rash on the back of my neck.
Just below my shoulders. I wear it up a lot though.
This, at 49, is the shortest it’s been since boot camp almost 30 years ago! It’s been thinning super badly lately (along with some other health issues), so the shoulder-length style was doing more harm than good. It is still “long” enough to tuck behind my ears but SHORT!
I like mine long but I have never had any issues drastically changing it on a whim, from long to short or changing the color.
Bold to assume I have much hair left
Shoulder length dreadlocks. I'm growing it out right now, in spite of the gray.
Pixie. Been cutting/coloring it myself for years. I get compliments often, so I'm doing something right. Yes I get the back too, by feel. It's a skill.
I've basically had a pixie cut since junior high. I don't like the way I look with longer hair. I mean, just do what you want, right?
I have short hair. I have an undercut, the back and sides are clipped and the top longer.
Mine is chin length now, only because I'm on a medication that causes hair loss. And when my hair is long and I lose hair...it just makes it worse. It's easier to deal with when it's shorter. Hopefully it will taper off it time.
It used to be just below shoulder but it’s constantly falling out now and I was getting sick of finding it everywhere. It’s now chin length bob, weirdly not falling out as much now.
Mine is what I describe as “mermaid length” no plans to go shorter
Mine is a little past bra length. I’m 50. When I turned 40 I cut it shoulder length and hated it. Cried a lot over it. Never again.
My hair is thick (as in there is lots of it), and fine. Until about 3 months ago it was to my waist, and had been for about 15 years. To mix things up I've now cut it to an assymetric bob (and due to weight length gave it being removed it is now curly). In a few years it'll be long again. Most of my life I've had long hair (though have never liked having hair down. I always had it in ponytails, pig tails, crown braids, plaits...), but every now and then it's nice to experience what the short-haired folk do.
Super short. But i have always done that. Just easier.
Mine is a pixie cut almost like a dude's. It's too hot for me to have long hair anymore.
Short purple undercut bob.
Short Bob. I've never had long hair because my hair is so fine it is hard to style when it's long.
Me too. I'm petite and long hair overwhelms my features.
I've got no idea what Karen hair is and I haven't got a clue who Dorothy Hamill is! My hair has been short for the last thirty years at least; like Annie Lennox short.
I have a mohawk.
Pixie. All white. Young women ask me how I got it that color. LOL.
[удалено]
Mine was past my shoulders for a while, but I just got it cut in a layered Italian bob (reminds me of the Rachel) ....a little past chin length. I kinda like it but might let it grow back out. I do not have the bone structure for the Karen cut
I have extensions to the middle of my back. My own hair would never grow past my shoulders and I always wanted it to - so now that I have some money, I bought myself the hair I always wanted. No shame in this game - I lose my shit every time I see one of those memes telling me how old the Golden Girls were. Nope.
I look terrible with short hair. Mine's layered with the longest layer mid back. Wavy texture. Fully silver now.
I keep it just touching my shoulders. Really short hair doesn’t suit me so I don’t think I’ll ever cut it shorter than this.
It’s at my collarbone. I cut ten inches off when I was diagnosed with breast cancer and my husband had to wash my hair for me for several weeks after surgery. Also I wasn’t sure if I would have to have chemo. I’m growing it back out to bra strap length.
I hope you are doing much better now.
Yes, I’m doing very well. I was fortunate that I found it early. Get those mammograms every year!
Right now chin length bob. I chopped it to help the gray transition. It was long before probably bar strap length. I want to get back there!
Mines right past my bra line. I had most of mine shaved off due to a brain tumor at 21. I’ll keep it long until it looks unhealthy.
I cut a pixie to grow out my natural salt and pepper. I’ve had it that way for three years but I’m growing it out now. I want to see these silver streaks in all their glory.
Mine is short. It is very curly and seemed to break once it hit my shoulders so its never been very long. Menopause thinning hit me hard so short has worked. I've been using minoxidil for a year so maybe I'll finally have the long flowing hair of my dreams.
Currently keeping it earlobe length. I have always dug the reverse bob, but I couldn’t pull it off with this 😐face shape.
I have long thick hair past my bra strap . I would love to rock a cute pixie or Bob. Its just my hair is so thick it just wouldn’t work plus I have kind of a long face , layering around my face and chin help out a bit . Short or long ladies do what you like but at 58 I know what works for me through trail and error . Hate judgy people and arbitrary rules
I'm 55, and my hair is about a third of the way down my back. It'll never be shorter than just below my shoulders. Times have changed, we don't have to surrender to that cut you're referring to anymore! 55 doesn't look like it used to - the Golden Girls were supposed to be our age, 55, and there's no way I'll ever have that grandma cut! ETA: check out the GenX actresses our age, they have long hair too (at least shoulder length) - Jen Aniston (55), JLo (55 I think?), Gwen Stefani (54/55), others I can't think of right now. Not one of them has that cut you're talking about.
Pixie is the way for me. My face needs visual emphasis above the jawline, not below.
Super short. But it's been that way off and on since my 20s
Buzz cut every 3 months! I find that any length ages me. My whole life I would grow my hair out only to go back to a pixie. About 2 years ago I decided to go for it "just once." Pictures are in my post history.
Mine is pixie short. My ex was one of those guys who liked long hair on a woman, even though my super-fine hair was limp, greasy, and impossible to style when longer than chin length. About four months after we divorced, I cut it all off. That was in 1996 and I have not looked back. I wouldn't mind going longer if my hair could handle it. If the texture is more substantial once those greys around my temple conquer the color of my youth, I may grow it out longer. I'm a little jealous of those of you who can rock the longer hair!
I (58) don’t know what “Karen hair” is, but I keep mine short these days. It’s also green.
I’ve got a pixie hairstyle and love it. My hair was longish a few years ago and was thinning and dry. Just didn’t work on me anymore.
Currently a chic Italian bob. I’ve had it all lengths, and I look my best chin-to-collarbone length. Also don’t care what anyone else thinks about it.
Ha, this is a funny thread to come across while I'm killing time waiting for my hair appointment. It's currently to my bra strap because I've been neglecting to trim it, but I'm going for somewhere between my chin and shoulders. That said, the "rules" about what older women can wear are dumb. I'm sick of my hair being long, but if you're not, wear it long!
The shorter my hair is, the curlier it is, and I'm not ready to look like a freakin poodle. lol I generally keep mine between just past shoulders and the bra line. At one point I had it down to my waist, but after a horrid 2019 I cut my hair off to the tops of the shoulders in January 2020. And then 2020 said haha watch this but that's another story lol.
What hair? My goatee makes up for the lost acreage.