Mmm, how long is a piece of string!
I was asked this question the other day at a celebration for my Mother-in-Law's birthday. In fact, I was asked lots of questions about my hair and somebody there recognised them as Sisterlocks (Yes!).
But back to this question which, I found a little odd; needless to say, because nobody ever asked me this when I had relaxed hair. In the past I have mainly worn my hair at shoulder/just below shoulder length as this was versatile and could be kept up when it was hot and kept my ears and neck warm when it was cold. I have also worn it very short, for ease of maintenance and had some great mid length styles. At this moment in time I have no idea how long I will grow my hair and I don't think I have ever had clear ideas where that is concerned; when I want to grow my hair, I do and when I want to cut it, I do. Obviously, things are a little different at the moment and the length of my hair is being determined by the process I am going through, to achieve the style I want. But after that, who knows...
I'd be interested to hear your thoughts on this. Have any of you made definite decisions on the length you'd like your hair to be or are you going with the flow?
10 comments:
I have a post sitting in draft that addresses this as well...
I don't have a definite answer. I have never had hair longer than shoulder length in my adult life, and not really since I was a small child because I do love to cut it and I always experimented so much once I became a teenager.
I was always cutting it for fashion or cutting it to recover from damage and start over.
But I do want long hair now. I have wanted long hair for the last 5 or 6 years, but I always found some reason to cut it.
I am already thinking of cutting it now, but I am linking my decision to lock and go through the process and stages of locking with a promise to myself that I will not cut it (unless it just looks very bad in some way) for three years.
I am not starting with relaxed ends and I'm not bunching. Though they are not sealed, my ends are finishing off nicely, so at this point I cannot forsee that I will HAVE to cut my hair in that time, unless my layers just start to look strange because of the uneven way that my hair grows.
I want to see what my hair looks like in 3 years and then I will decide whether I will keep it at that length or continue letting it grow. I have no idea how long it will get or how quickly.
Right now I know I want it to be long enough for elaborate updos (though not quite with SO much hair as in your posted pic). And I know I want it to be longer than shoulder length - like mid-back or to my bra strap/bottom of my shoulder blades.
After it gets that long, I will re-evaluate. Once I reach that goal, I may find that I liked it shorter.
People talk about having hair that they can sit on. Right now I don't think I'll ever want it that long.
Recently I saw a man and a woman who both had locks that reached past their knees! And they were TALL people too! She was about 5'8 and he was almost 6 ft.
I KNOW I DON'T ever want it that long. Can you imagine retightening and washing? And it's just too much. All the way around. Seems like it would HAVE to be heavy and burdensome. Wouldn't it get in the way of EVERYTHING?
I don't think there's anything you can do with them at that length but let them hang or pile them on top of your head, and for me that defeats the purpose of having long hair. I don't want to have long hair just to PROVE I can grow it past my booty. I want hair that I can style. I want freedom and options.
So, although I have vague ideas of what I do and don't want, I'm pretty much gonna do with the flow.
Oh goodness, prior to locking I just knew that I wanted hair down to my butt and would settle for no less. I also admit I would get heart palpations at just the thought of cutting my locks
and scour at others who cut their long flowing locks.
Well boy have I come a long way baby in regards to cutting my locks. Long locks are gorgeous but also more maintenance for retightening, washing, conditioning, drying, curling, etc.
Shoulder length for me probably a definite. Beyond that --
who knows.
Some days I don't know rather to be offended, intrigued or take it for what it is when folks ask how long I will grow my locks.
I guess it depends on how much sleep I got that night.
I do believe there is this underlying assumption that when you grow locks, of course you
will let them grow to your ankles.
But now that I'm actually walking the walk, I know why this assumption may not be the case
for everyone.
Also for the record, I refuse to buy into the argument that black women are the most obsessed with wanting long hair.
ALL women are obsessed with wanting long hair. It's our patriarchal society that dictates this.
I will say that black women probably resort to the most unhealthy ways of achieving long hair.
Now with my SLs, I don't have to resort to unhealthiness no more!
I guess since I have never in my adult life had long hair, I would like to see how long my hair can grow while in locks.
I have been amazed about my growth in three years of being a loose natural.
I haven't had any thoughts except to see how long it can grow. I guess it is more out of amazement and astonishment when it does begin to grow. I have never really been offended if someone asked about how long I will let my hair grow.
I am just going with the flow, with no intentions of cutting in the near future.
I've thought about this too. I was thinking bra-strap length, but we'll see when I get there. This morning my hair got trapped in a tee shirt I was putting on, and I was reminded why I like chin-length hair!
Well I've always had long hair past my shoulders. For my sisterlocks I plan to let my hair grow in a shoulder length bob style. I don't think I will let it grown any longer than that.
Having gotten to the waist-length milestone, I'm still not sure what I'll ultimately do with it. I always wanted long hair, now I have it and right now, I'm just going with the flow. I like it, but I can acknowledge that sometimes, it's a pain in the ass and it does get in the way. Does it get in the way so much that I think I need to cut it? Not yet. When that time comes, I'll reconsider.
Must go with the flow...
Congrats on your 5K mark!
blessings~
Thank You all for your honest comments :-)
For me this will definitely be a 'we'll see how it goes' process; I also think a lot of practical issues wil come into play; many of which you have mentioned.
I know I am late in the conversation but I wanted to add my 2 cents....right now I am going to say bra-strap, and then see what happens :)
CV, it's never too late to give your opinion :-) Surely, you must be at that length or very close already?
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