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I remember when I was in second or third grade and I looked at a boy that had slightly longer hair than average and thought to myself - that's me! I want that! The desire to have long hair never diminished. It was a long hard battle before I could finally have it. So, I'm curious, how many of you guys wanted it from such a young age? How many only thought of it much later in life? I'm thinking that those for whom long hair is truly an identity would have had this feeling very early on but perhaps it only displays itself much later in life in others.
I'm so glad you asked this question!! I only started growing my hair when i was 14 and in high school. I always thought long hair was cool and i loved learning about the 60's 70's and 80's. I feel like i've always been a long hair at heart. When i started high school i saw how so many people had long hair and i finally got the courage to grow it. Now it is to my shoulder blades 4 years later. I will always have long hair. ; )
Hi Michael,
Always great to see an updated picture posted. It looks like the one in your avatar so that is great and I'm onlt thinking about the people using dial-up.
Cheers,
John.B
I was in 9th grade and decided that i didnt want to cut my hair that month. For me it really did stem from me skipping one haircut, and apparently i decided to stick with it. Although I do remember looking at guys with really long hair when I was longer. I remember that it ment nothing to me. I clearly saw it as a natural step.
Now that I have long hair, I can see why those guys had it........its friggin fantastic!!!!!
p.s. Jason, I didnt get a chance to comment on your last update, but I must say, you truly to astonish us with your hair!!!!
peace
clayton
Hey Clayton,
Thanks for your comment about my hair and update. It's great that we can both appreciate our long hair at this point.
Jason
Hi Jason,
Well it's an interesting point.
For me I always wanted to have longhair since I was a child and I suppose one of my influences was some of the rock bands like Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath as that was what I was listening to at the time. I wasn't always in the right position to have longhair during early working life but now this past 10 years I can't imagine not having longhair and it's still growing.
Cheers,
John.B
The first time I can remember would've been when I was 10 or so, I actually grew my hair out to a small tail, but cut it back to my "normal" length. Throughout high school, I attempted several times to grow it long, but always cut it after a few months. Guess that makes me a longhair at heart, even though I couldn't ever really express it until college. =)
-James
When I was about three years old I used to watch a lot of TV, and I remember I liked to watch a longhaired wrestler and a couple of longhaired singers on TV. I always wanted to have my own hair long too, but boys were not alowed to have real long hair then. I remember some day when I saw a boy with his hair about to his waist and it was the first time I felt envy in my life. I had my hair cut in the same style as The Beatles, but it wasn't enough for me. I wanted it long, really long. Well, it took more than twenty years to have the chance to grow my hair long. I was about 25 when I finally let it grow. At about 27 I had to cut for professional reasons, then I grew it again and again for professional reasons I had to cut it again and again. Now I'm enjoying it long again and I hope I will never have to cut it short again.
Hey Justin, similar story for me...but it was in 6th grade. I think I was 15 when my hair was past shoulder length for the first time. Feels good to be there again at 49. Hope I can make this last for at least a couple of more years...
Cheers,
Max
Jason! My apologies for calling you Justin before...must have been a senior moment...
Salud,
Max
Well Jason as I'm sure you know longhair has been part of my life for a very,very,very long time.And during that time I have NEVER had an urge to go back to short hair.As for who inspired me I just can't remember honestly.That was just too long ago but I do remember longhairs in high school who were always referred to as "burnouts".LOL.I feel fortunate that I was never under the gun to cut it against my will.Great thread Jason as I'm looking forward to others responses.Take care my friend:)
Mark
The desire for long hair started before I was an adolescent. I never went on with it until just recently.
And your story is just almost as was mine. In 3rd grade my best friend was the only in the class to have (considered then) long hair. I promptly grew mine out.........but I didn't stop where his mom and Dad allowed and kept going until the bangs were right at eye level.
I've liked long hair for a really long time. I was a huge wrestling fan when I was really young, around 5 or so. Seeing wrestlers like Shawn Michaels, The Undertaker, and Bret Hart as a kid made me want to grow my hair out. It took me a while, but I eventually got there.
I've wanted long hair since I was old enough to know what a hair cut was... Hated going to the barber with a passion! The more I was forced to cut my hair before it touched my ears the more I wanted it long... Finally got to let it grow when I was 23 years old.. No more hair cuts for me, I'm done! lol
Tom
i remember seeing The Crow when i was 18 and i loved Brandon Lee's long mane! and i said to myself damn i def want long hair now and that influnced me to grow it out ! :)
Well, at 13 it may have crossed my mind, but the idea of actually doing it
didn't hit me until I was 18.
Then, for some strange reason, I didn't grow my hair long until I was 21.
A short while later I experimented with the long-hair-with-beard thing, but it didn't
last for long because my sensitive skin was awfully irritated by some of the most rugged of
hair shaft colors: the blond and red ones.
Later, I cut my hair and didn't grow it long again until Feb. 2002
I wanted long hair when I saw the Beatles in 1964. And the rest, as they say, is history.
It's now past waist length.
I don't know my exact age at the time my dad first took me to a barber (maybe around 3 years old?); but, i DO remember very vividly, screaming and crying and kicking the barber's chair!
A year or so later, my dad bought a "Home Barbershop Kit", --- which I hated even more; but, was given no choice in the matter of my dad cutting my hair and controlling me and my brother's hair length.
I was born in July of 1953. My older brother being 4 years older, some of his classmates and friends had Elvis-style Pompadour hairstyles and such, --- which I greatly envied! When I first heard about The Beatles, and then saw their "long" hair in their pics, that was when I was about 10 years old, --- and then there was no doubt in my mind that long hair was what I wanted!!!!
- Ken
I have wanted long hair ever since I was old enough to think
about hair! Unfortunately I had to wait until I was living on
my own to really start growing it.
Actually, I have no idea.
I remember that I used to dream about having long hair when I was 16. And the idea was possibly born when I first got into metal. Though I have always liked long hair!
When i decided i wanted to grow it out this time, it was when i became friends with josh, the guy i always used to talk about.
Bit of a sahme that now he only has the same hair length as me...
In about 1967 when I was 16! In the UK then there were mixed views on men with long hair in some social groups and it was not done. However as the teens went to University they did grow - as I did and strangely parents very rapidly accepted it.
I then kept long hair through the seventies but it gradually got shorter (ears never visible though) until 3 years ago at the ripe old age of 53 I decided to grow it back to a tail. I have achieved this although hair growth is slow now (age I guess) but my tail is OK and very gradually gets better.
Jason was a remarkable influence with the struggle he had and that partly convinced me that i should ignore any comments - I work in a very senior capacity in a professional environment. Doubtless some mutter behind my back but it has worked out fine and nobody should be discouraged because 'They might ob ject'.
Just go for it and keep it - whatever your age.
Hi Jason,
My first wish to have long hair was around 1970 or so, when I went all summer without a haircut, and thought it would be cool to grow it longer. I had fairly long hair most of my life starting in 1971 (not super long), and started to grow it a lot longer in the 1990s. I had one period of short hair again from late 1999 to early 2004.
David
I wanted since I was 16 I guess, when I first learned about renaissance braids.
Still, I always loed long hair, I grew up with a very long haired cousin and always loved her hair.. never tought I would be so close to her lenght now =D
I can't say for certain when the desire first struck, but I know that it struck early -- and it struck hard. There was constant friction between my family and I as I grew up about the length of my hair, and that never really died down until the elder members of my family passed away (one of whom ticked me off to the point with verbal abuse that I never saw him again).
Through grammar school I fought tooth and nail to even let it touch my ears, and by the time I graduated from secondary school I'd managed to browbeat my family into relenting to the point where my hair was collar-length (a scandal for an upper middle-class white-bread family!).
Once I fled the parental nest at 18 (and I sincerely thank my father for giving me the final gentle push) I pretty much let it grow with an occasional trim for when it got really ratty.
In 1985, I made the mistake of cutting it short (almost corporate-short) for a (now ex-) girlfriend. That was a stupid mistake -- dumb, dumb, DUMB. If they don't love you -- long hair and all -- and try to exercise control, walk away; it's easier that way in the long run. Actually, no, don't walk, RUN.
And it's been happily growing since. Once in a dog's age, I'll let my wife blunt off the terminal "V" (which is just a touch past waist-length), and once in a while will go after split-ends, but it's pretty much on its own now, and I couldn't be happier.
So, in short, I suspect that I've *always* wanted long hair. The happy ending is that I've had it consistently now for better than 20 years. And I don't think of looking back all that often.
Up until my early/mid-teen years I really didn't think much either way about hair. Mom gave me the typical "boy's cut" and that was pretty much it. But around 14-15 I began noticing guys my age with longer hair. I admired guys with shoulder-length hair in a style like was typical in the 17/1800s. I only admired, however, and didn't consider growing out my own hair until within the last couple years. It was kind of like a light bulb switched on and I went "hey, I can grow my hair out!" So here I am, doing just that.
Joshua
I have always liked long hair on both men and women, however I am of a generation where boys always had close cropped hair ("crewcut" every summer) and really did not think much about it. A military career followed with the military haircut being part of the uniform. When I left the service, I let my hair grow, but it was extremely curly and I did not like the look. About 5-6 years ago, I was at the shaggy stage and liked it. The thought crossed my mind to let it grow. Doing a google search brought me here. I asked the forum if someone my age should attempt longhair....."Baldy the Eagle" strongly encouraged me to go for it.......so here I am today.....a really old longhair.....and loving it. If you are out there Baldy, THANKS !!
Jason, I believe it was 1968. I was 16 and had just bought The Beatles "White Album". When I opened the gatefold and saw the 8x10 glossy pictures of John Lennon and George Harrison I was quite taken by how different and cool they looked. I wanted a pair of Lennon's "Granny Glasses" too!
peace, jonalbear
I remember when I was in second or third grade and I looked at a boy that had slightly longer hair than average and thought to myself - that's me! I want that! The desire to have long hair never diminished. It was a long hard battle before I could finally have it. So, I'm curious, how many of you guys wanted it from such a young age? How many only thought of it much later in life? I'm thinking that those for whom long hair is truly an identity would have had this feeling very early on but perhaps it only displays itself much later in life in others.
I believe the 1st time I wanted long hair was summer 2003 when I was 15 years old. I started growing my hair then until march 2004 when I was pressurised into cutting my hair for the May ball. Ever since that hair cut in March 2004 I have been growing my hair. I would say that musicians have definately been an inspiration for me growing my hair, there were also guys at my school with long hair who I thought looked very cool. So I decided that I wanted to look "cool" and grow my hair long
I never really WANTED long hair. I was just going along way back in gradeschool and suddenly realised, "Hey, i have pretty long hair." =3
since i hadn't cut it in awhile, it was down pretty far past my shoulders.
Guys, when you say "when I was in third grade" it hurts my head trying to work out how old you were, and please remember that no-one outside the US has any idea WTF you are talking about atall!!!
Having had my little rant, i suppose that the very first time I wanted long hair might have been when I was very small (certainly no older than four, so maybe 1961 or earlier), because my best friend (and neighbour) was a girl (Hi, Lynn!) and she had what seemed like quite long curly hair, although I suppose it wasn't much over her shoulders, and of course I thought it was unfair that boys couldn't have long hair, quite naturally, because it was.
I probably didn't think much about it again until the Beatles got to number one in 1963 with "I Want to Hold Your Hand". Woolworths sold plastic Beatles 'wigs'. I put that in inverted commas because it was more like a plastic toy hat, very similar to toy Roman helmets that I think they also had! Of course they looked hilarious, but I remember one boy wearing one at school for 'dress-up'. I believe that was Phillip Sliney, usually known as 'Slimey' of course.
I don't think it had yet occurred to any of us that we could grow our own hair that long.
I got Beatles wallpaper in my bedroom, though, so I was totally surrounded by John, Paul, George and Ringo. I used to read someone else's copies of the Beatles' fan club magazine as well.
Cut to about 1971 or so, and I was the only boy in school with short hair, or it felt like it. That was just the beginning of a long series of battles with my parents to grow my hair out. Long hair was cool, and went together with rock music and motorcycles, so of course parents were totally against it!
After what I've been through to get long hair, you'd have to kill me first to get it cut short. I'm not sure how common a perspective that is, but I'm sure a lot of you don't get where I'm coming from, which is OK, a lot of you don't belong to the same generation.
That was just the beginning of a long series of battles with my parents to grow my hair out. Long hair was cool, and went together with rock music and motorcycles, so of course parents were totally against it!
John: That is interesting - whilst I would not say I had battles at that time. there were certainly mutterings although there was an early concession without approval when I was at University. Yet five years later my mother quite openly said that she preferred it long and 'told' me NOT- and continued to do so until her death in 2001.
I wish I could say my parents liked my hair now, but they don't. They probably don't even like my son's hair, LOL! Mind you, they haven't actually said anything about his hair, so far. It's not as long as mine, though.
My dad is 80 and my mum is 78. I'm 50, and my son is 14. I also have a wife and a daughter with long hair, but I doubt if they would ob ject to theirs.
Right after I got out of the U.S. Army in 1980.
When I was in third grade there was a boy who had hair going way below his eyebrows. He told me that his doctor told him to cut his hair, because it is unhealthy to have long hair... I told him to not cut his hair because what he told him was bullshit...
later, in fourth grade, there was this tv show called partridge family. Who remembers this??
David Cassidy was my hero. He had his hair so long. I just kept dreaming of it... He looked so good...
Now I have hair longer than i could think of at that time. Still, i think he made me wanting to have long hair for the first time in my life...
Oh go on you know you want to!
Cheers,
John.B
I will.
--Tom
That's a very interesting question, Jason, thank you for posting this. Particularily for me it's interesting, because I don't really know the answer which makes my reply different from most others.
I have dufficulties remembering a particular moment where I had the _definite_ desire to have long hair (apart from now, lol), but I think, subconsciously I'm a "long hair at heart" since my young childhood. I remember drawing (or trying to draw) Obelix with his two long braids when I went to the kindergarten, I even remember that it was on green paper if I'm right. I was maybe 6 years old back then. But I was not like growing out my own hair or having the idea to do so until I was, I think, 17. That's very strange because afterwards I remember a lot of moments in my youth sympathizing with long hairs, for example a mate of mine who had blonde shoulder-length hair then (he still has longish hair, but a bit shorter than then. I sometimes called him and another guy who also had/has blonde long culry hair "Goldlöckchen" which could be translated as "gold curly", that was rather meant as a funny compliment than anything else) or several guys I met at parties who have/had long hair which I admired. Anyway I only remeber a handful of moments I argued with my father about my hair length, I usually gave up very quickly. That was very frustrating, but I didn't care too much about it then and always got my occasional hair cuts when "neccessary". This ended when I shaved my head in October 2005 (I had a "short back and sides cut" which I was unused too and became uncomfortable because it started to grow out...my father was in holidays, so I decided to "try something out"...I don't regret it at all, but I won't redo it either. Jason would say "it was a really cool feeling"...I totally agree ;) ) and kept it growing from then on. I don't remember having had the intention to grow it long at the beginning, although at that time I knew that I won't have to cut anything for a long time. But the longer it became, the bigger became the desire to grow it long. First I decided to grow it out for a year. When I achieved one year of growth, I liked the result and I decided to go further. Since last summer I'm considering to grow it down to my terminal length.
My long hair became a very important part of myself and I want to keep it on my head for the rest of my life. It's a kind of expression of my freedom, I think. I also think that anyone can wear long hair if he wants. I even make plans to make sure that it remains on my head after my death, lol.
I have to complain that I became somewhat paranoid towards myself and my hair...not always, but sometimes. I hope this decreases when I'm a long hair for a longer time. I just passed almost 30 months, so I'm not too long into it.
Sorry for OT, but does being a long hair become more naturally for someone the longer he has it? Sometimes I have big worries according to my hair, I sometimes think that possibly I don't have it anymore one day. I hope this will never happen. Or should I say "This will never happen!"? I don't know...which attitude is the best? Or should I say "I'll give my very best to achieve this"?
In earlier times my hair was never such important for me, I didn't really care, often I even prefered the buzz cut before anything else because it's quite practical and doesn't have to be redone for a longer preiod. But my fascination for long hair more or less was always there and now I am a long hair myself which feels great. So I think I more or less always wanted long hair subconsciously since my early childhood but consciously want it since my (later) youth. There are also a few photos from my early childhood where I have longish curly hair and I look quite happy on them. So maybe there's some truth in my theory...
Greetings from Germany, Herb2992
P.S.: I know, you havn't heard anything from me for a long time...explenations will follow in my next update being released soon. I have troubles getting any pics on my computer, so soon can mean "a while"...sorry.
When I was younger my hair was always in a style my parent had chosen for me and every few weeks my parents took me to get a cut to maintain that style. Can't remember if I wanted long hair at that time.
At age 12 I did my first attempt but that failed after 6 months. My hair style changed a few times but all of them were rather short. I thought about growing it long now and then, but always went to get a haircut when it got to long. 7 months ago (I'm 22 right now) I finaly got the courage to try it again, it's now longer than ever before in my life and it will only grow longer.
I enjoyed reading of your various experiences of when you first started wanting long hair. Very interesting.
It started at the age of 11 in the 60ies. I saw the first young men with long hair down to his shoulders and I found it cool. It took a couple of years and fights to let my hair grow. When I was a student I let it grow for 5 years and I could sit on my thick blond curly hair one day. For a job reasons I was forced to cut it by a hairdresser who was very happy to get the opportunity of chopping off such a mane of 95 cm. Today, my hair is quiete short because of strong balding. Nevertheless, I was very happy about such long hair experience because it will not be possible to grow it out again.
Frank
I was a freshman in college, 17 years old, back in 1984, when I first had the desire for long hair. It was the first time in my life that I had met long-haired guys (I went to a private high school with a strict dress code that forbade long hair for boys).
In my very first class fall term freshman year, one of the TAs for my physics lab had a spectacular gorgeous mane of WAIST-LENGTH red hair!
By the end of my first year, I'd met several guys with longish hair. Our floor's RA was a jock with short hair, but some of his teammates had long hair. That was a new concept for me: jocks with long hair. Even my freshman year roommate started to grow his hair in 1985/86.
I also signed up to work on the college year book, designing page layouts (this was before it was all done by computer). Many pictures of guys with beautiful looking long hair passed through my hands, fueling my desire.
To make a long story short, during my college years, I made several abortive attempts to grow my hair long. I never got past the messy stage.
After I graduated from college, I moved back to Hawaii and entered grad school. In Hawaii, short hair was the norm all throughout the 1990s. I actually wanted short hair during this time.
It wasn't until around 2005 that I started to remember how badly I wanted long hair during my college years, so I started to grow it out, and now here I am, 29 months later, at age 41, with slightly thinning hair, but halfway down my back!