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Am I the only one that has no clue how long my hair has been growing? I see posts all the time by people who have reached a certain number of months or years, and I'm happy for them. They have my congratulations on reaching their milestones. But for some reason, I never bothered to note when my last haircut was. It didn't seem important at the time, so I really don't know. I measured milestones by events, like when my hair first touched my collar, or when I could finally produce a true ponytail. I think maybe the reason I don't remember is because I was never too regular about getting a haircut in the first place. I would get a haircut when I thought I needed one, which varied from weeks to months. I know men and women alike who get a haircut every paycheck like clockwork. I'm not like that. So, when I decided to just let it grow, it had already been some time since my last cut, and my irregularity in the matter kept me from knowing exactly how long it had been. Since I didn't know then, I didn't bother to keep track. I can't even tell you approximately how many years I've been growing my hair out. It doesn't bother me, but I do wonder if there are others like me that just don't know.
You're definitly not the only one, Michael. I know that my hair has been growing for 2+ years, but I didn't count the months and I only noticed the milestones months later after I reached them!
I measure the time of my hair's growth's in every half a year and I'm about to hit the 2 and a half year mark, but this is a very vague statement. We have something else in common: When we both decided to grow our hair, it was some time after our last haircut, because we didn't regularly go to a hair salon (or barber) like other people do.
I've had store clerks and such ask me "how long did it take for your hair to grow that long" sometimes. They never get an answer because I never really started from some short length and measured the time it took to grow. I've pretty much always worn my hair long-ish, anyway, and over various periods wear it longer.
It's kind of odd. Guys seem to me more concerned about how long it takes to grow hair than women. I suspect women almost never hear this question.
My last major haircut was probably in 1988 or 89, because I moved out in 1990...but I couldn't tell you closer than that. Prior to that my hair had been getting gradually longer since my teens, with intermittent cuts. I generally just say it has been more than 20 years since my last cut. Fair enough...the longest hair on my head is probably about 8 years old.
Men tend to watch the growth closer at shorter lengths, but women also get grilled over how long they have been growing...the divider seems to be when you get past the average or the social norm.
No you're not the only one. I started growing my hair long
in 1964. Many years later it was waist length. During those
intervening years I had too many other things to worry about
then to track my hair growth progress. I just knew I wanted long hair, I knew I wanted to keep it long, and every time I got
complaints from school administrators and teachers I was even
more determined to keep it long. During those years I had too much enjoyment in growing my hair long and wearing the clothes I
wanted, I also thoroughly enjoyed ticking off school administrators
and teachers by finding all sorts of ways to violate the dress code. But throughout all those years I successfully kept my long hair long.
Of course it also doesn't help that i'm now 59 years old and the
1960s were alot of years ago.
Let me be the next to tell you that you're not the only one! (Guess you're getting the idea by now...) Although I do hear a number of stories here about guys who buzzed their hair off and then stopped cutting altogether, so they have an exact date that they began their hair growth from zero, I think just as many are not growing their hair in such a direct fashion. When I retired from the US Air Force, for the first year or so I still went for a haircut every month or so, although each time I instructed the barber to cut a little less. Then a friend's daughter was attending hairdressing school and she needed 'heads,' so I went to her for a few months and it gradually got still longer. Then finally I began letting it go for longer periods of time, trimming it back from time to time but always trending longer.
I too remember the first time I was able to gather my hair in a rudimentary ponytail. I was shopping at the BX at the Air Force Academy and behind me I heard a woman say twice, 'Excuse me, Miss, you dropped something.' When I realised she was talking to me and I turned around, she was apologetic.
Since I moved to Australia I've been more-or-less letting it grow freely (had one 'end trim' that took off a good 4 cm and haven't let anyone touch it with scissors since) and it is around shoulder length now. People ask me how long it's been growing and, like you, I don't have a straight answer to give them.
Don
I can't really answer that question directly either. I had my last professional haircut around December 2009 when my hair was short and spikey. By May 2012, nearly 2 1/2 years later, it had reached the length in the pic. But since then, I had a major trim in November last year and a minor one a few weeks ago (to get rid of straggly ends). It still hasn't got back to the length it was in May 2012. But it's getting there - yayyyy!!! :)
So it's sorta fits and starts, not a straight run.
Damon
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Hi Michael,
As I don't really have what I would call long hair yet, I can't really comment here. However, I have had people ask me if I'm ever going to cut my hair again. I simply tell them not any time soon.
But on another note, I will say that you have some very nice looking hair in your avatar photo. I really like the dark color and shine it has! Also the waviness gives it a good amount of personality! Please keep it growing my friend! I will have to report back to you when I get some decent length under my belt! Pun intended!
Ted
To be honest, I only know when I stopped cutting it because I've got some photos taken around the time I decided to let it grow, and I had to look them out to check the date.