What do you think, I have hair down past my waist,and I have some female friends who say that if your not in your 20’s, you should have short to shoulder length hair, never have long hair past 4o , I have allways had long hair and I disagree, I think any age is ok if you like long hair then you should be able to wear it at any age. And no one but “YOU” should make the decesion weither or not you should cut it short.
What do you think?
Lady G
I think you are absolutely right…
Long hair looks wonderful on certain women.
It’s all in their attitude and how they carry themselves.
The actress Dyan Cannon is an example.
She looks great with long hair and tends to wear very
up to date, stylish clothes that some would consider inappropirate for her age… but it looks great on her.
and I wannabe just like her!!!
The official Blue Book answer is, “no, after 35, cut your hair.” I think this is pretty much nonsense—you should wear whatever hairstyle looks most flattering on you, depending on a number of circumstances: your face, your age, your job . . .
I mentioned in another thread that Joan Crawford recommended you have a friend follow you around and take candid photos of you all day. Brilliant advice! No one really “sees” herself. I used to wear my hair up in a loose chignon, in the delusion that I looked like a Gibson Girl. I saw some snapshots of myself and realized I looked like an aging hippie librarian. *Right *off to the hair salon I went!
Your friends want you to look as old as they do. Don’t cut your hair!
I’m way over 40 and up until 2 weeks ago, my hair hung past my shoulders. It was kinda raggedy - growing out old layers - so I asked my mom to trim it to shoulder length. I musta been shrugging, because I got a chin-length blunt cut. Regardless - I don’t much like it, but my husband does, and since he’s the one who has to look at me, I’ll wear it that way for him. Personally, I’d get it short and layered again, not because of my age, but because it’s low maintenance.
I have a good friend who wore hers to her ankles into her 40s. Then she got bored with it, and the Shriners got a nice braid to make into a wig.
It’s your hair - wear it as you like. As long as it doesn’t show up in my dinner, you’re not gonna bother me with your coif!
Really!
its like theres some unspoken Law.
I assume they are just jealous.
i am over 40 and I do not plan to ever cut my hair.
(I cut it twice a year; an inch each time, thats enough for me).
I’m going along with the Jealous Theory.
My hair is over 3 feet long, I’ll be 40 in… well, soon now, and I have no intentions of cutting merely because current fashion dictates I do.
Long silver hair… 
. . . though, I have to add: the hairstyle that looked good on you when you were 18 might not look good on you at 30 or 50. Not because you’re “old,” but because your looks change (goodness knows!) as you age. Don’t trust your mirror—get those snapshots taken, and some honest opinions. I sometimes see women still wearing the same Annette Funicello or Betty Grable style that looked good on them in 1965 or 1945, and it is scary.
When I saw the first few gray hairs (around age 29), I immediately started growing out my 10-year-old very short cut. My mother and her sisters all have gorgeous silvery hair, and I want a long mane of THAT. I love the cool witchy, hippie, long silver braid/ponytail look. No little-old-lady bluehair perm for me!
When I’m selling my handmade jewelry at festivals, I get sooooo many people saying they love my stuff, but “I can’t wear long earrings.” No, dear – you CHOOSE not to. At least be honest!
Wear you hair the way you like it, and screw the “rules”!
You should not only cut it, but put it in a fluffy perm like my Grandma used to wear. Maybe you could dye it gray, too.
I can’t abide the attitude of your friends regarding this. I think long hair is one of Nature’s beautiful creations, and should be kept at the discretion of its owner.
You know, the only person that I care about pleasing appearancewise besides myself is Mrzania. And he likes long hair so I have longer.
Never ever cut your hair. Ever.
I love long hair on women in general and I think that long hair on older women is still fabulous. That long, shot-with-silver, can be really great.
$0.02
Amen!
I wasn’t even aware that this whole No-Long-Hair-After-40 thing was a “rule” until I was in the Detroit airport with my mom (around mid-May), and a late-30s, early-40s-ish woman walked by with butt-length hair.
My mom commented that she was getting too old to have long hair, and I was like
Discussion ensued. She hipped me to the “rule”.
So now I know that I’m going to be terribly gauche when I’m an old bag. 
Actually, as far as my own hair length goes, my mood changes with the wind, so I very well could have short hair when I’m older (I’ve had it before), but it won’t be because I feel I must snip in order to be age-appropriate. (Except in terms of the fact that I’m already lazy, so the older I get, the more likely I will be not to want to fuck with a whole bunch of hair.)
When did this “rule” go into effect?
another over 40 and long hair (mine’s to my waist), wear it down, too, so there.
drove my mother nuts BTW.
My mom is one of the few women over 50 I know who doesn’t color her once-black, now somewhat streaky hair. She also keeps it long. I think it’s a very classy look for her. More women should have long hair!
As for some rule about cutting your hair after 35–who came up with that in 1952? So what? Talk about a cultural construct! Just because women got used to having short hair in the 30’s, they have to keep it forever?
Well, I’m 10 years shy of 40, but I think that I will always have to have long hair because I have ARF Syndrome (that would be “ass-round face”).
It’s almost to my bra strap in the back now, and has hovered around there for years. I can’t see cutting it short, but I don’t think I will let it get much longer than this. I don’t tend to like REALLY long hair, because the ends look damaged and…old.
Even when I’m 80, I’ll have longish hair, but probably bob-length.
So, I guess my roundabout answer would be yes and no…
In my 30s here and I refuse to follow fashion rules.
If a woman wants to have long hair, by golly she should have it and forget social push.
Most of us women went through that whole idea that we have to dress and look like our friends when we were in junior high and high school. We are independent adults now that should not feel pressured by our equally old friends to look a certain way.
Me? I do with my hair as I please. It’s long and I know it needs cut and I plan on getting about 8 inches taken off. Don’t worry, it will still be at my shoulders.
BTW, as someone else mentioned, Dyan Cannon looks fabulous with long hair as does Cher, Goldie Hawn, and countless other celebs that are over 40.