Is there anyone in the world who procrastinates more than someone who has medium-length hair and can’t decide whether to cut it or grow it? Jeepers Creeper.
It’s like a curse!
Catch me with any length of hair that ends between the chin and shoulders, and I’ll rave about the pros and cons of having your hair short (“It looks so good when you style it!”) or long, and that’s it. The most boring person in the world. (“You hardly need to style it, and you can even retie it!”) And any advice is greeted with a look of anguish, as if you don’t understand my predicament.
Because it’s true. Anyone with hair that isn’t a middling length doesn’t know how insecure it is to be stuck in hair purgatory, here and there. Wandering through the depths of Hairdo. Those who intentionally chose mid-length are fine. Some people prefer free, easy swings that don’t touch the torso or graze the chin. They are mid-lengths by choice and don’t suffer from a constant sense of indecision like the “passing” mid-length players.
Because that’s what it means. For those who are developing shortcuts. Or, conversely, you may have experimented with cutting your long hair short, but never ended up with a bob. Mid-length is a transitional stage, a waiting room, but you have to stay for so long that you start to wonder if it’s okay to avoid the hassle and head for the exit to get things done. Please cut it all off again. Slice the fringe. Anything – anything! – but suffers from novella-era boredom.
Read: How to grow a bob
Two things: I’m not calling mid-length hair boring, I’m talking about the stages of hair growth being boring. Secondly, I realize that there are more things to worry about in life, that the entire planet seems to be in a mode of destruction and destruction, and that AI is potentially trying to take over the world. However, I will say this. Once again, those who don’t have medium length hair simply don’t understand our plight.
We can imagine ourselves with long, luscious hair, hair that falls smoothly past the shoulders and is so heavy that it hangs down, but at the same time, with a short bob like a French girl. Sometimes I flip through photos of myself and lament my loss of coolness. We mourn the sexy little woman who took a decade off to make our necks look long and elegant. A haircut that gives you a choppy kitten-like hairstyle in about 8 minutes. Different, fresh, and pardon the word – sassy style.
The growth phase between our chin and shoulders leaves us medium-sized people in an almost constant state of oscillation between two options. This is mental pain. How long should I wait? Will you wait and then realize it was all for nothing and should have been much shorter?
It’s the equivalent of the scene in Braveheart where William Wallace rides a nervous army and tells them to “Hold!” Owned! Hold the line! He wants them to wait and not charge right away. He wants them to grow their hair a little longer. Please be a little patient.
(Oh my god, this has to be the worst example I’ve ever used.)
William Wallace doesn’t want to waste all that preparation time and that anxious pep period preparing for battle by suddenly panicking and charging in with all guns blaring. (They didn’t have guns, but I wouldn’t have been surprised if they did in the movie.) Braveheart isn’t exactly known for its historical accuracy. ) If they had jumped forward, it would have been like cutting off all my hair. Left before I had a chance to see what it was like for a long time.
No, no. This all fell apart, this strange little parable.
What I’m trying to say is that if you have medium length hair and you’re growing it short, you tend to spend a lot of time wondering which way to go.
I bring you this spectacularly useless introduction because I had the pleasure of filming with Sam McKnight again last week. Sam McKnight MBE. A super hair stylist, he creates iconic looks (he famously cut Princess Diana’s hair short) and is one of the most prolific and inspirational hair stylists in the world.
We were filming him styling the ultimate ‘supermodel way’ and I had the opportunity to read some of my new books to him (Under the Rock For those of you who have been hiding, this is out – How Not to Become a Supermodel is available here) and gave him the opportunity to entertain me with some of the great stories of the time. I was like Jackanolly in the studio on Friday, I really was.
But the notable part of the conversation was this. Keep in mind, I wasn’t too excited about the length of my hair and went into the studio thinking it would be a bit unfashionable for supermodeling. When I asked him how he would cut his hair if he could do whatever he wanted with it, he simply said, “I’ll just leave it.”
Just imagine! One of the world’s best hair maestros has revealed that the length you used to think of as a “wet blanket” is just right for you. Versatile, he called it. nice. *
Of course, maybe I just didn’t need to take out the scissors. Maybe he thought I would say, “Okay, just cut it!” Then he had to start tediously getting my hair wet and draping the gown over my shoulders. In a way, he gave me the smartest answer. I’m sure there’s no one out there who wouldn’t be happy to be told that this is their current hairstyle. Was it simply the absolute best fit for them?
I don’t care: I’ll accept it. At least it would put an end to my daily ponderings – grow or cut? – and motivates you to learn new styles and techniques. In any case, I managed to get past the mid-length gnarly Lord Farquaad phase, where the hair falls into triangular blocky wedges and looks like a medieval lute player. .
(I wrote a post on my website here about smart tips for growing your hair long. This is one of those posts that should be moved to Substack for easier reference.)
So, I think I may be at a rare truce with hair that is never in place. And I have Sam to thank for this new lease on midlife. Maybe I’m really in a sweet spot – is it…perfect? When I tie my hair back and curl it, it gives it shape and bounce, and when I straighten it, it looks long and smooth. Is it because you can?
I have about 6 weeks left before I have to cut it all out again, but I’ll probably say this instead at my next doctor’s appointment.
“Just fix it up a little.”
Watch Sam create the ultimate mid-length glamor style in this YouTube video.
*I can’t promise if he said anything cool. I had to come up with another word for rhythm and flow.
