# Purpled-haired seniors **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 20, 2004, 6:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/purpled-haired-seniors/255960 "2004-07-20T06:26:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![kevja](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/aeb1de/32.png) [@kevja](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kevja)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2004, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/purpled-haired-seniors/255960/21 "2004-07-21T02:46:43Z")
Slightly purple? A blue rinse? Yeah, those colors have been around for a long time. Yesterday I saw a woman who was at least 75 years old with white hair and a patch of magenta right running right through the top of her head. Think Cindy Lauper. It looked cool. Get down Granny! ---
**Author:** ![DaToad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@DaToad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DaToad)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2004, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/purpled-haired-seniors/255960/22 "2004-07-21T15:22:09Z")
When the flocks of snow birds return for the winter, we get lots of the blue, but we also see purple, orange, pink, magenta, and occasionally, green. And **cher3** , you’ll be delighted to know their car of choice seems to be full sized Buicks. ---
**Author:** ![Palikia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e95f7d/32.png) [@Palikia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Palikia)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2004, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/purpled-haired-seniors/255960/23 "2004-07-21T15:56:36Z")
It is important to remember that as people grow older, they eyesight fails and they can’t see colors very well. So maybe those old ladies think their purple hair looks pretty good with their red shirt and orange skirt. ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2004, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/purpled-haired-seniors/255960/24 "2004-07-21T16:20:47Z")
I was wearing a lavender outfit today, and one of my coworkers complimented it then joked that I should dye my hair the same color as her grandmother’s so it would match. Her granny isn’t the only purple-haired senior in Japan, either. Like **jovan** , I’ve seen quite a few around. Mostly women, but at least one man, and the color is usually a bit deeper than pastel-haired old ladies I’ve seen in the US. After reading **Eve** ’s posts, and **nonpolar** ’s reference to purple-haired Pakistanis, I developed a hypothesis. Currently, fashionable Japanese people tend to dye their hair brown – dark brown for the more conservative, lighter or reddish for the more bold. I know that until fairly recently any hair color other than black was considered pretty “out there”, but people do like to mess around with their hair. This is pure speculation, but perhaps a few years (or decades) ago it was fashionable to use a purple rinse to add a little “something” to naturally black hair. My dark-haired sister intentionally dyed her hair purple as a teenager and was disappointed that the color only showed up as highlights in the sun, but for someone who wanted a new look that was trendy but not too radical this could be done intentionally. Time passes, and people keep using their old purple rinse even though their hair is becoming lighter and lighter. Eventually the purple is no longer a subtle highlight over black hair, it’s the dominant color over white hair. ---
**Author:** ![jellyblue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e480ec/32.png) [@jellyblue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jellyblue)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2004, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/purpled-haired-seniors/255960/25 "2004-07-21T16:40:51Z")
> [@DaToad](#): > > When the flocks of snow birds return for the winter, we get lots of the blue, but we also see purple, orange, pink, magenta, and occasionally, green. And **cher3** , you’ll be delighted to know their car of choice seems to be full sized Buicks. [Hijack] What is it with the older folks and the Buicks?! Does \*anybody \* under 70 buy Buicks? Is this an evolutionary thing, as in all people begin to pine for enormous ugly cars at a certain age, or are Buick executives watching in horror as their only marketshare becomes extinct? Thoughts? [/Hijack]. When I get to be an old lady, I am considering full-on, un-ironic Manic Panic blue on my flowing tresses. It will go nicely with my screen name 🆒 . ---
**Author:** ![Beauty\_Personified](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e480ec/32.png) [@Beauty\_Personified](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beauty_Personified)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2004, 10:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/purpled-haired-seniors/255960/26 "2004-07-22T10:46:27Z")
I’m surprised nobody’s mentioned Marge Simpson yet. She’s only in her mid-thirties (34?), and has been dying her hair blue since she was at least ten. And I wouldn’t be surprised if “Blue Dye #56” is the only dye she’s ever used. Anyhoo… ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2004, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/purpled-haired-seniors/255960/27 "2004-07-22T17:57:24Z")
I had a great aunt whose hair at one time or another was blue, purple or green. I never saw here with white or gray hair. This thread reminds me of ta song by country & western comedy act Pinkard & Bowden. They did a parody of Willie Nelson’s _Blue Eye’s Crying In The Rain_. Their parody was about getting stuck behind an old lady in traffic: “In the lane ahead I see her Blue hairs driving in my lane…” ---
**Author:** ![tanookie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/48db29/32.png) [@tanookie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tanookie)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2004, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/purpled-haired-seniors/255960/28 "2004-07-22T19:32:35Z")
> [@Dung Beetle](#): > > Actually, it’s when I get to be that age that I’m planning to do those sorts of experiments. What’s my other option, to cut my gray hair short and get it done in tight curls like everyone else? > I also plan to liberate some of the freakiest clothes I can find from the Goodwill, and whack people with my cane. I’ve been saying for years that when I go grey I’m going to try the rainbow of colors in my hair. I have very dark hair and don’t want to bleach it to color it. That’s just too much processing and upkeep for me. I like the freaky clothes idea 🙂 I think I’ll get one of those 7 foot walking sticks instead of a cane though! ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2004, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/purpled-haired-seniors/255960/29 "2004-07-22T20:47:14Z")
> [@Eve](#): > > [Ask and ye shall receive](http://www.hairarchives.com/private/archive2/paris/paris.htm). Though the color I’m thinking of—when applied to white hair—is a bit lighter and pinker than in these photos. [Phyllis Diller](http://www.qis.net/~jimjr/pics/diller.jpg)? ---
**Author:** ![Beauty\_Personified](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e480ec/32.png) [@Beauty\_Personified](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beauty_Personified)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2004, 5:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/purpled-haired-seniors/255960/30 "2004-07-23T05:44:39Z")
> [@tanookie](#): > > I like the freaky clothes idea 🙂 I think I’ll get one of those 7 foot walking sticks instead of a cane though! And at least a half-dozen crazed cats! 😃 Anyhoo… ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2004, 12:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/purpled-haired-seniors/255960/31 "2004-07-23T12:32:34Z")
:smack: I forgot the cats! ---
**Author:** ![tanookie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/48db29/32.png) [@tanookie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tanookie)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2004, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/purpled-haired-seniors/255960/32 "2004-07-23T13:13:57Z")
I already have 4 cats … eeek! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/purpled-haired-seniors/255960.md?page=1)