# How should I wear my hair to the office?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-should-i-wear-my-hair-to-the-office/681055>\
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion\
**Created:** [February 11, 2014, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-should-i-wear-my-hair-to-the-office/681055 "2014-02-11T13:31:53Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![Sam\_Lowry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e95f7d/32.png) [@Sam\_Lowry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Lowry)\
**Post date:** [February 11, 2014, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-should-i-wear-my-hair-to-the-office/681055/21 "2014-02-11T20:35:09Z")

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> [@even\_sven](#):
>
> I work in an office. It’s not quite a “suits every day” office, but it’s not far from one either. I am a very snappy dresser.
> 
> But my hair isn’t. Wearing it down seems unruly, so I put it in a ponytail or in a half-assed banana clip updo. But honestly it’s not really professional or attractive. FWIW, my hair is straight-wavy, just below my shoulders, and on the thin-fine side.
> 
> I see great hairstyles on others, but they all seem to rely on thick, luxurious hair, which I don’t have. I’ve seen some really cool updo tutorials online, but all that I’ve seen skew young and casual.
> 
> Do you have a favorite office hairstyle? Know of any relevant tutorials?

I have shoulder length hair and when I need to put it up, I usually do a bun. I gather my hair in a ponytail, then holding the hair against my head, I wrap the ponytail around into a bun, then secure it by using an elastic hair band and wrapping it around two or three times. I don’t know if my explanation makes sense, but it’s easy to do. I mainly do it since it’s simple but I’ve been told that it’s a good look for me. It’s not super tight, so sometimes I might need to take the elastic band off and redo it, but that just takes a minute.

But also I’m an engineer and looking polished isn’t high on the requirements so I often just wear my hair down.

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**Author:** ![CrazyCatLady](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dfb087/32.png) [@CrazyCatLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CrazyCatLady)\
**Post date:** [February 11, 2014, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-should-i-wear-my-hair-to-the-office/681055/22 "2014-02-11T21:33:20Z")

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> [@even\_sven](#):
>
> But my hair isn’t. Wearing it down seems unruly, so I put it in a ponytail or in a half-assed banana clip updo. But honestly it’s not really professional or attractive. FWIW, my hair is straight-wavy, just below my shoulders, and on the thin-fine side.

As someone who has reasonably thick but nearly baby-fine hair, I’ll just tell you flat-out that it’s damn hard to get fine and/or thin hair looking attractive and professional when it’s longer than just brushing your shoulders. It just is. That much weight sucks all the body out, and it tends to look limp, skimpy, and kind of straggly, no matter how good a condition you keep your hair in. Some people can manage to keep it flattering and professional through extensive styling and product use, but given the job and new baby I don’t really expect that’s a route you honestly want to go.

You need to find a hair stylist that will do a consult and look through some of their style books with you to find something that suits your hair type, your face shape, your lifestyle, and your aesthetic.

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