An observation mostly for those still in school, though of course anyone may share their opinion.  ;):

Since school started, I've noticed that a lot more girls seem to have longer hair, many around waist-length or even longer. I can think of only two or three other girls in my school who had long hair last year, but this year there seems to be many more. I wonder - is long hair becoming the new trend?

But on the other hand, it seems like it can't really be a 'current fashion' thing, because it takes so long to accomplish, that considering the avg. length of most people's hair, most of those girls with long hair would have had to make the decision to grow it out a few years ago.  (wow, what a great run-on sentence  ::))

Either way, it's encouraging to see, and I feel like I fit in a little more now. Not that I mind standing out; I never really felt that out of place to begin with, but it's still a nice feeling.  :)

Anyway, I'm wondering...has anyone else noticed this trend in their schools, or is it just mine?

Oh! I noticed that today too!  Theirs averages about BSL here though.  It's becoming more and more "popular" around this area, it seems, from what i observed this past summer (at work, mainly) :P

i think that the "trend" started slowly, so more girls had time to catch up, but watch, Spring's always brings scissors and dramatic cuts...

I noticed that the girls in my school that have long hair are the ones too lazy to get it cut. LOL! I haven't noticed much long hair though.

I'm in college and I've been noticing a lot of long-haired girls at my school. I don't know if it's a growing trend or I'm noticing it more because I'm working on growing my own hair out (and partially out of jealousy, lol). It's like when I got the perm...I noticed whether people's hair was straight or curly constantly. Before I was barely aware of it, and suddenly I saw curls everywhere!

But that's just me. For all of you who have been growing your hair for awhile, you're probably noticing something for real.   ;)

Ella

hmmm im going to test this theory when i start back at college in october....but i go to art college so there are a lot of funky mad hair do's!

I think, slowly, but surely, I'm starting to see more women over 40 with longer hair, too.  It used to seem
that once you got past 30, you couldn't have long hair,
but now I'm seeing women in their 40's and even 50's
with below the shoulder length hair and in some cases
even very long hair.    Most women my age have short
hair in this area of the country, though.   I still hear
the "women over 40 should have short hair" from some
of my friends and family.  (do they mean,ME?).  I  think
some of the celebrities with long hair over 40 have
started to change minds.    

wrote on Sep 2^nd, 2004 at 12:29pm:

I don't know if it's a growing trend or I'm noticing it more because I'm working on growing my own hair out (and partially out of jealousy, lol).

I hear ya!  I believe alot of it is just becoming more observant as you get more interests (i.e. long hair in this case)  I know when I got my hair cut, everyone's seemed so long :P

Some schools I've worked at I've see a surprising amount of long hair, but the school I'm at now, there is very little. I'm thinking maybe (here, anyway) it has something to do with diversity - where a lot of refugee and immigrant girls have long hair, it seems the white girls do, too.

That's an interesting thought, eKatherine. There aren't a lot of immigrants at my school, but the trend is pretty much across the board as far as ethnicity goes.

I live in a very image- and beauty-centered town, where young people all have their own flashy cars and get manicures twice a month and are always up-to-date with current fashions. Needless to say I'm not in that group, nor do any of the other (longer than BSL) long-haired girls I've noticed at school seem to be among the "popular" crowd.

I'm sure this thought will raise some objections, but I'm taking a psychology class and am thinking with this frame of mind...I wonder if, among teenage girls, having long hair has some connection to social status among peers. I think people with certain personalities are more likely to have long hair, just as people with certain personalities are more likely to be trendy or "popular" among their peers. Is there a connection there? I don't know...I'm just rambling. I'll shut up now.  ;)

A lot of kids nowadays have more money than what they know to do with, thanks to the generosity of Mommy and Daddy. Girls spend it on hair, makeup, and clothes. The more money you spend on your hair, the more often you change your style, the more damaged it is, and the shorter it is. So if you're a dedicated follower of fashion, you don't have long hair.

Although it's certainly possible to damage your hair at home for little or no money... ::)

With no intention of offending anyone, here are a couple of my "theories".

Theory one:
Young people follow what they think is "cool".  "Cool" styles are shown in fashion magazines and shows.  The models used in fashion shoots are typically undernourished.  Being undernourished slows hair growth.  Fashion models then end up with short hair.  So the kids desire short hair.

Theory two:
Today's society is basically lazy and will tend towards the "easiest" way to do anything.  If you can buy it instead of working for it, then buy it.  Long hair takes patience and time.  Short hair just takes money.  People will try to buy their "good looks" because it is easier.  

Theory three:
People with long hair are viewed as "lower class" because they "appear" to not have the money to cut, color and style their hair.

Theory four:
A few of the trend setters needed a new look - and chose long hair.  Long hair takes too much time, so extensions were found.  Now people are trying to imitate the long hair, either with or without the extensions.  (Yay for us who already had a head start on growing our hair!!)  

I agree with you, BB  :)

wrote on Sep 3^rd, 2004 at 10:58am:

With no intention of offending anyone, here are a couple of my "theories". Theory one: ...The models used in fashion shoots are typically undernourished.  Being undernourished slows hair growth. Fashion models then end up with short hair...

Actually, my understanding is that not only does hair growth itself slow down, but the quality of the hair that does grow is bad. It is thinner and more easily damaged. So models like this aren't even going to try to grow out their hair, as it doesn't have the potential to look good. Plus, they have stylists on staff to do whatever needs to be done to get their hair style suitable for the shoot of the day.


Quote:

Theory two: Today's society is basically lazy and will tend towards the "easiest" way to do anything.  If you can buy it instead of working for it, then buy it.  Long hair takes patience and time.  Short hair just takes money.  People will try to buy their "good looks" because it is easier.

Instant gratification as a virtue, yes.

Laziness + instant gratification = trendy, expensive, high-maintenance hair, which, in turn, cures laziness, but doesn't do a thing for the health of the hair.


Quote:

Theory three: People with long hair are viewed as "lower class" because they "appear" to not have the money to cut, color and style their hair.

Kids have bragged to me about how much money they have available to spend (on their looks and other things), and how much better it makes them than people who do not have this much money or do not choose to spend money on things that we might term 'superficial'.

Kids in middle school have no conception that their parents are not going to support them in the lifestyle of their choosing for the rest of their lives. Are they going to be in for a shock!

Cairn, throughout junior and high school for me, those with influence (or otherwise quiet confidence) were those girls with the longest hair. They tended to be the most emotionally secure. Now I have the longest hair of most of my friends and all of my relatives. so I can definitely feel the difference in influence and confidence.

I definitely believe long hair sightings depend on the location and the socioeconomic class... Although that has little to no say on the care and time that one puts aside for hair. A couple days ago I saw at least three women in Walmart with hair past waist length. Only one looked like she'd been taking gentle care, and the others looked like they didn't bother cutting (or washing it) for three years. Most of the longhairs in my area are of lower socioeconomic class or are foreign. Either it's a moneysaver, or it's a cultural remnant. (Isn't this awful? we have a high percentage of those living in poverty, and yet all the observations I can make are about their hair) There are obviously exceptions to the rule, like my friend CG, but just a general observation of mine... we have plenty of people from Eastern Europe, who have very well-cared-for pretty hair, and they love the snood thing... I might try it soon... But my town is a lower-income lower-cost of living town, despite the fact that it is a University-oriented place. but.. broke grad students and all... Short hair still costs money.

And I wouldn't worry, long hair shouldn't be on the list of trends... for long. By the time their hair gets damaged they'll cut it again.

Anais

there are a few kids at my school with long hair - not many of them have hair longer than mine - a lot of them wear it up like me though so it's hard to tell sometimes - there are two teachers at my school though who have really long hair - i know they are both below waist length but i can't remember at the moment exactly how far

One of my professors last year had (and still has, of course!) knee-length hair.

Other than the ends, which were very uneven and needed a bit of a trim, I thought it was GORGEOUS. And I agree about the quiet influence thing. The shorter my hair is, the more self-conscious I feel. I never felt that with long hair. (except that I didn't care for it very well, which I felt a bit self-conscious about.) And my teacher last year was the same way. Just this calm aura of authority. She was awesome.

The more I listen to you guys, the more I want to have long hair now.  **sigh**  Ah well. I must be patient.

Ella

Funny you should mention that.. my friend CG, the chick I mentioned earlier, has classic length hair that is slightly browner than FB's... kinda like Avril Lavigne color. It was gorgeous and often post-braid wavy. We had a lot of bonding time when we used to paint together in a storage room (she oils, I acrylics) and she once said, "I somehow feel superior to other girls because my hair is longer than theirs." It was a completely innocent comment; she hadn't heard of this long hair = social influence thing.

wrote on Sep 3^rd, 2004 at 10:11pm:

...she once said, "I somehow feel superior to other girls because my hair is longer than theirs." It was a completely innocent comment; she hadn't heard of this long hair = social influence thing.

That's interesting, because based on most of what I've read about people's attitudes towards hair, it seems that most people seem to connect a more confident personality with short hair and think that long-hairs are more timid and "hide" behind their locks. At least, that's the general trend of thought I've gotten from most articles and surveys I've read.
Yet you could argue that having a short 'do is part of the mask that self-conscious people put on in order to feel and appear more confident, while people who are already comfortable with themselves don't have that need. So I guess depending on how you look at it, it could go either way.

I know I feel superior to people with crappy short hair styles. 8)

i must admit that when i redo a bun or something in a public place, i feel superior when i notice people looking at the length of my hair  ::) im so vain  ;D

It's okay to be vain about your hair, FB. It's soooo pretty  ;D

I used to feel like that when I would put up my hair for marching band, people would watch me...and it was Miami, and I was blonde, and everyone else was Cuban, so I created quite a spectacle. People wanted to touch my hair. It didn't annoy me at all...I've read people here getting annoyed when people want to touch their hair, but I loved it.

**sigh**  Wow, I miss my long hair. This thread is a little depressing.

I'm cheering myself up with the thought that my hair should reach BSL by the time I graduate college, even with trims...it grows very fast and college graduation for me about 2 years and 8-9 months away. I want to graduate with hair long enough to be labelled "long".  ^_^  So, I'm looking forward to that right now.

I'm hoping to be at one length and past chin-length by the end of this school year. That will be the most frustrating part to wait out, because I'll have to keep trimming layers to get it to one length...eurgh...but, I can definitely get there by the end of April, when the year ends.

Anyway. That was a tangent. But, I listen to you guys talk about your hair and I miss mine so much...I've been trying to grow it back out for the last couple of years and just kept damaging it over and over, and it's frustrating. But now I know what I'm doing!  ^_^  Finally!

Ella

FB, even though mine's not hitting waist length yet, I'm vain about my hair too so don't you worry...  :P

thanks for letting me know im not the only one!  ;D

but we have a right to be a bit vain...we all take good care of our hair so we should be proud!

and thankyou too Leia!!!  :-*

ya - i love my hair - it's not quite waist length yet but getting to it - i'll admit it's vain but i like to keep my hair up most the time for school - but once in a while i'll wear it down - and i just love it when people are amazed when they realize how long it is  :)