Hairstyle

The long and short of hair styles

Published: Tuesday, 10 April 2007 19:07:18
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By LEIGH GROGAN

Go ahead. Let your hair down.

It's not a fashion faux pas. Not anymore. Not even if you're 35. Not even if you're - gasp! - over 40.

As trends go, long hair - roughly defined as hair touching the shoulders and below - is back. And not just on the junior set.

Consider this: At this year's Academy Awards, long hair ruled the red carpet. Gwyneth Paltrow, Nicole Kidman and Celine Dion all arrived with Rapunzel-like tresses.

And then there's Jane Seymour, who once mused on a book tour that she didn't understand "American women and their love of boy hair."

OK, so we're not talking brain surgery here. But we are talking about that unbreakable bond between a woman and her hair.

Pam Ralston of Roseville, Calif., has wrestled with cutting vs. growing her hair since she was a freshman in high school.

Now, at 54, she finally has come to terms with wearing her hair long, and says it makes her feel more attractive, sexy and empowered.

"I had come dangerously close to giving in and conforming with the 'the older you get, the shorter your hair should be' crowd," Ralston says. "Fate intervened. I went from feeling nearly invisible to receiving lots of favorable compliments on my hair - as much for the cut as the color."

At 64, Paula Colgrove, also of Roseville, once followed the rules: She grew up wearing her long hair in a ponytail, but when she had kids, she got a bob cut.

"But I always seem to go back to growing it," Colgrove says. "I love having it long."

Stylist Laura DuPriest, who says she coifs 800 to 900 customers a year in her Roseville salon, says only three of them wear their hair above the jaw line.

DuPriest adds that career women in traditionally conservative jobs, such as lawyers and lobbyists, are just as likely these days to sport long hair as short.

The same goes for women in TV news, where female anchors and reporters traditionally have gone for a more classic look. Now, there is an on-air mix of longer hairstyles, such as Carol Costello (CNN), Alex Witt (MSNBC) and Natalie Morales (NBC).

Still, if long hair is in, how does one abide growing it out?

"I always tell (clients) upfront, it will be a process," DuPriest says. "Like having braces for two years. In the end, you get beautiful teeth. With hair, you get a beautiful look."

You can try clips, pins or shoving your hair into a casual up-do until the awkward, wispy, ugly-duckling stage has passed.

Or there's the more "professional" route - putting in extensions.

Extensions are pieces of actual human hair that are attached to a woman's own hair. Typically, a reusable system is preferable (over glue or weaving), with extensions removed every five to 12 weeks, cleaned and then reattached. Depending on the length of the extensions, the process can take up to several hours, and the cost ranges from $500 to $1,000 or more.

Celebrity stylist Jamal Hammadi, who lives in Los Angeles but does hair all over the world, says extensions are a great way to get a long look without a lifetime commitment.

"There's definitely a femininity attached to longer hair," Hammadi says. "For example, Demi Moore looks amazing (with long hair).

"If you feel comfortable and it looks good, which is key, I don't see an issue with it."

Source: Centre Daily Times