That sounds good to me, I am at 23 inches and hope to be
near 30 at the end of the year. Elbow length is exactly what I
want but it will need more than 30 to get there but it will be a great
start. How long do you want it?
Karen I know texture has a way of disguising the length. I am african American and I am natural. My hair grows up and out, it looks short but when i stretch it for the most part it is past my shoulders. This is only 10 months worth of growth. So my question is, since certain textures can be decieving and lets say it was to my waist (which it could be one day) how would u classify curly or extremely curly hair if someone was to give u a picture to put in the gallery by length?
I'm just going by your list of classification and was just wondering about that. Hope I'm not causing any problems in here.
Thanks Karen and Dave, well I measured again the way they said on here and it is 23" , now to me this is Long...and gettin longer I love the support on here it is fantastic and all the great tips. I agree Karen to me your hair is loooooooooooong, but then when your growing it out it can never be long enuff, I say I want mid back but I know IF it will , I want it longer. So thanks for the welcome and all the help!!!
Edited by mysty
Cindy
8 months to *Mid-Back*..give or take!
DaveDecker
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Again...it is all subjective. When I am talking to
Dave Decker on the phone I feel like I have a crewcut because his hair
is sooooo much longer than mine, he has been growing it longer AND he
is taller.
You are too funny, Karen. Your hair is NOT short! It is not only long, it is very long!
Welcome Mysty/Cindy! I agree with Karen that "long" is a subjective term.
I often have to categorize the images in our galleries...so here is what I use as a general rule of thumb for defining hair lengths:
1. No hair - bald 2. Fuzz covering - fade or fuzz covering 3. Hair that covers the head but generally above the ears - very short 4. Hair from the ears to the chin - short hair 5. Hair from chin to the top of the shoulders - medium length 6. Hair from shoulders to the bra strap - bra strap length aka BSL 7. Hair from BSL to the waist - waist length long hair 8. Hair from Waist to the bottom of the derrierre - Classic length long hair. 9. From derrierre to mid thigh - thigh length 10. From mid-thigh to knees - knee length 11. From knees to mid calf - calf length 12. From mid calf to ankles - ankle length 13. From ankles to the floor - floorlength 14. Floorlength + inches - floorlength plus
When it comes to what is considered long...it is all relative. It is sort of like how high is up or how hot is hot?
A lot depends on your height, your weight, your hair texture (curly and wavy hair will not stretch full length w/out help) and your attitude.
I remember when I was first growing out my hair I went to a long hair salon. The woman making my appontment asked how long my hair was. I proudly proclaimed that it was at the bottom of my bra clasp. I was so excited. She said...oh I can book you because we have time for a short hair at 11:00 am. I almost cried.
But then I got to the salon and the walls were covered with women with floor length tresses. Arggghhhhh.
I think when describing your own "long hair" you need to describe it how you feel comfortable. My own hair is approximately 5" below my waist and would probably be considered "classic length" but sometimes I feel a light brush against the top of my thighs. What a thrill. But anyway, I usually say....x inches below my waist. It feels the best way for me.
Again...it is all subjective. When I am talking to Dave Decker on the phone I feel like I have a crewcut because his hair is sooooo much longer than mine, he has been growing it longer AND he is taller.
And then there is Lady Godiva (hey LG) who has awesome hair that is wayyyyyyyyyy longer than mine will probably ever be. So to me, I have relatively short hair, but to everyone here at HB.com they talk about my super long hair.
Find your own comfort zone and chill out there. :-)
Best wishes, karen
Edited by Karen Shelton
That which doesn't kill you makes you stronger or drives you totally insane. :-)
I get my "personal" classes of hair length from the general population and what I see there. Given the vast magority of women have hair bra strap or shorter I'll start with that. Bra Strap of longer, to me is REALLY long. Bra Strap to 2 or 3 inches below shoulders is long. From there to mid neck is medium. Mid neck to 2 to 4 inches long is short. Pixie is very short. Just my thoughts.
(1) Please don't feel badly. I don't have terribly much (quantity
of) hair beyond the point where it was 3 years ago -- because the last
12-15 inches are quite thin.
What are you gonna do with your next 3 years' growth? Keep it, and enjoy it?
(2) Actually, I've never had that problem. Somehow I've managed
to avoid it. But I do occasionally get hair in odd places.
Always pulling it out of the laundry, both after the washer and the
dryer. And it does tend to pile up on the floor in places - get
the toes wrapped in it and I'll hear the occasional "snap" sound 'cause
I'm stepping on the other end with the other foot.
Back to the topical question, I certainly don't consider
shoulder-length or a bit below (on women) as being "long." I
consider that to be "medium." To me, "short" is chin or
shorter. Long is at least mid-back, and super-long (to me, on
others) is below waist-length. Even that is biased toward shorter
lengths. Given the extent of my strands, and similar (but
opposite) bias of the styling industry, I might consider my hair as
super-long, knee-length as long, "classic" length as "medium," and
waist-length or less as "short." Pretty funny, right? Goes
to show you how ridiculous the styling industry's definitions are.
enfys
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What the salon industry considers long is different from what we'd consider long, that's for sure. Now, among those of us with long hair, our definitions can even differ, too.
For me, long begins at about BSL location for women and men (if they wore 'em), which is slightly shorter than midback to my eyes. Then, very long begins about tailbone/classic length, and super long begins about knee length.
As for which measuring system to use (body markers or measuring tape), both have value. The former is easier to picture and provides natural goal lengths, while the latter provides a more technical system for charting growth rates and projecting goal achievements, as well as comparing lengths on different individuals for scientific purposes like calculating averages. Body markers just can't be as accurate, because a 5' short-waisted person's hair will be noticably shorter than a 6' long-waisted person's hair, which actually will be much longer, while both are at the same body marker. For myself, I've learned to provide the inches and immediately note where that falls on my frame, which provides the most complete answer, if someone asks (which they often do).
Jennifer Eve
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It also depends upon the person's history to me. If a short-haired woman grows it out, then I consider shoulder blades "long". If someone goes from waist-length to shoulder blades, I'd call it "medium". One lady cashier at a convenient store who had waist length hair with plenty of body did just this the day before Easter. She told me the hairdresser asked her if she was really sure, and she replied she had to get rid of "damage". Man, if her hair had "damage", everyone needs a haircut! But anyway, to me, this woman no longer has "long" hair. If other organs weren't holding it in place, my heart would have fallen to my toes! Bob
Duke...I could almost hear you saying....DUDE....it certainly gave me a good chuckle.
I often receive photos from photographers for review and they will mark them short, medium, long. WHOA. The long is often just to the shoulders and I am like rubbing my eyes going. HUH? To the outside anyone with hair below the middle of their back is consider to have VERY long hair. It is pretty amusing what people w/out long hair lust considers the longer lengths. :-)
That which doesn't kill you makes you stronger or drives you totally insane. :-)
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Thanks for all your replies everybody!
I got a good average on what people thought and now I know where I stand next to you guys who know so much on all this long hair stuff.
~A
Hair is BSL+ as of 9/15/05
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Long is certainly long in relation to the individual person. Here are my (arbitrary but based on how I interpret societal standards) rules of thumb:
Men: if hair covers the ears but is still shaped all around, and is above the collar in the back, it's still, I think medium length. If it gets much longer or is in a bob, that is about the begining of long. Midway between these standards would be "longish", and a mullet is difficult to classify. Sort of half-half.
Women: hair more or less just touching the shoulders "longish". Several inches down the shoulder is the begining of long (I'd say about the tip of the shoulder blades is very clearly so) but not very long.
So few people have hair down to their waist and it is already such a length that I would call that really long already, even elbow length would satisfy this.
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Ooh, my first post on the jazzed up site. Long time no see guys!
I consider BSL+ to be long personally, but when I'm with friends I use past shoulders to describe "long" because to them that *is* long. They think me and my classic length locks are insane/just plain ridiculous (n.b., these are my friends, and they do mean that affectionately )
"Constrast to the person" for me too. I still don't feel
longhaired, but the point where I noticed the ends of my hair were
further from my chin than the length of my face - was where it first
started to look "long" to me. (But maybe that's just because of
my long face).
Making metal barettes/concord clips hair safe, long hair style how to: http://alonghair.wordpress.com
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