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Question: at what length does a guys hair move from being acceptable to society to hair that is considered too long for a man. Is it past the collar or ears, or is it shoulder length hair. Perhaps you ould tell me what your experience has been - when did you get nagged at for your hair being too long.
In response: It varies greatly on the individual. Age has a lot to do with it.. I have hair at mid-back and I have gotten negitive comments from some but the great majority of men and women forty and below are open about the length of men's hair.. Older people (granddad age) of course have a conservative point of view in general. The only people's opinion I really care about are employers. I have found that a crap shoot..
I have asked many ones what they think.. I began getting comments when my hair got to the shoulder-- comments vary on how the hair is kept, too..
Ironically, negative comments about hair length begin disappearing as hair length increases, getting substituted with compliments instead. At least that's been my experience. I would categorize hair length in several categories, including:
* shaved/buzzed (I have no experience on the acceptability in the business world)
* conservative short is universally accepted and usually encouraged
* longer short (perhaps just past ears) is less accepted and is more sensitive to messiness. This length begins the unkempt/messy/shaggy appearance which is not appreciated in the business world
* shoulder length to midback is also not accepted universally, and the wearer is typically lumped into the slacker crowd, although manner of dress and style of hair can make a big difference
* longer than mid-back starts being a novelty and serves to distinguish the wearer.
The above has been my experience. I'm sure others have different experiences. I'm fortunate now that my reputation and word of my hairstyle precede me, so much so that I rarely need to be introduced. One day we had a business luncheon at Chili's, and I was about 15 minutes late. I walked into the lobby, and the hostess showed me to my table without my having to introduce myself. It really is a remarkable experience for a complete stranger to recognize you instantly.
In general, any length longer than a crue(sp?) cut is considered too long for a man. In my high school graduation picture, my hair was just above my collar, and my mom thought it was too long. In fact, she'd begged me to get my hair cut for the photo shoot that day, but I refused.
. Is it past the collar or ears...
You're really pushing it to have the hair even this long, but more often than not, most people don't have a problem with it.
Shoulder-length is about the time when comments start getting verbalized and anyone from friends and family to complete strangers start making their view-points heard, whether amongst themselves while you're in earshot, or stated in your face.
I started getting nagged when it got to my collar. This was a few years ago, of course. My hair is just below mid-back now. Victor is right about how you dress in conjunction with your hair length. The better you dress, the less of a problem people seem to have with your hair, and you start noticing less looks of disapproval and more looks of admiration and/or respect.
Whenever I've worn a t-shirt, jeans and my leather biker jacket, people often don't know what to think of me, and, for the most part, their confusion shows. Some, though, think I must be some kind of loner who enjoys defying authority (these people are rare, but they do exist in my area). When I've gone out wearing my best outfit (99% of my wardrobe is black, btw, save for a few t-shirts), which consists of a $170 black single-breasted sport coat with a vent (split bottom in the back) that I bought at JP Todds a couple of years ago, either a black t-shirt or one of my two black long-sleeve dress shirts (one has a traditional collar, the other has a banded collar), one of my pairs of black jeans or black dress slacks, and biker boots, black high-tops, or dress shoes, I get more looks of what I interpret as being respect than anything. I also get more compliments on my hair.
Exampe: I was at McDonald's one night, in my best outfit, getting some take-out, and I saw a couple sitting in a booth to one side of the lobby. I over-heard the guy telling his wife how beautiful he thought my hair was, and wished he had hair my length (his was ear-length), and his wife suggested he grow it out. A lady standing behind me in line commented on how well-kept my hair looked and told me her son was growing his out.
Overall, comliments do vary greatly, and they depend in large part on two factors: How well kept your hair is, and what you're wearing with it. In the long run, if you really want to grow your hair, it's important not to really care what society thinks; otherwise you run into all kinds of problems. The way I see it, it's my hair and they aren't the ones wearing it, so I always just shrug off any negative comments they may have.
As a follow up to this question could I ask one more specific to this site. I am wearing my hair as a chin length bob at the moment and tend to grow this out to around a few inches longer and then get it cut back again to as it is now. I like this site and view it regularly but wonder whether any styling questions I would like to post would be relevant to this group or is my desire to not grow my hair say up to shoulder length or longer mean that no one is interested.