Men with long hair discuss clothing

Forget any canon about conservative business dress, OCD, single monks, double monks, or whatever is the new normal. A real and persistent uniform is the short hair most men feel obligated to sport, leaving their noggins strait-laced while letting their baser impulses run rampant across the rest of their clothing. Rainbow colored socks or skull and crossbones ties are considered merely "playful," so long as the head is kept clean.

Not so for the man with long hair, whose joie de vivre is manifest in his locks and from which springs an unflappable exuberance.

ITT, we discuss how long hair plays into your clothing life. Contributions expected from Parker, Fred49, et al.

Do you keep your outfits subdued, letting your hair do the talking? (Fred49)
Or is your hair an expression of your free-ranging, omnivorous attitude? (Parker)
Are you just a groovy guy? (gnatty8)

Opinions, vociferous or otherwise, are welcome.
With apologies in advance to those follicly challenged.

Short hair (at this time) here ... but from my point of view this holds potential to be a good thread.

Edit following Post 8: This place has gone downhill even further since my return following a seven months absence.

Do you keep your outfits subdued, letting your hair do the talking?
Or is your hair an expression of your free-ranging, omnivorous attitude?
Are you just a groovy guy?

Click to expand...

d) Long hair adds versatility to your look.

Elegantly Wasted said:

d) Long hair adds versatility to your look.

Click to expand...

...curious to know why you were on that site.

This thread could get some momentum...not a bad topic.


...

2 years ago (and for 20 years before that) I sported a military cut. Today I have hair just below my shoulders. For my dresswear I keep it in a ponytail. For my streetwear I wear it down only in cooler months. During summer I have it either in a ponytail or pulled back and clamped. No other way to deal with heatwaves. With suits it has to be kept pulled back and ponytailed or else it just doesn't work. I also wear a lot of hats in the colder months mainly to keep it from blowing into my face. I feel, at least for myself, long hair works far better with streetwear.



Man Of Lint said:

Spoiler: Warning: Spoiler!

2 years ago (and for 20 years before that) I sported a military cut. Today I have hair just below my shoulders. For my dresswear I keep it in a ponytail. For my streetwear I wear it down only in cooler months. During summer I have it either in a ponytail or pulled back and clamped. No other way to deal with heatwaves. With suits it has to be kept pulled back and ponytailed or else it just doesn't work. I also wear a lot of hats in the colder months mainly to keep it from blowing into my face. I feel, at least for myself, long hair works far better with streetwear.

Click to expand...

So you hair doesn't look like this?:

I like longish hair, and wish I could sport it, but I'm balding...

Elegantly Wasted said:

Man Of Lint said:

Spoiler: Warning: Spoiler!

2 years ago (and for 20 years before that) I sported a military cut. Today I have hair just below my shoulders. For my dresswear I keep it in a ponytail. For my streetwear I wear it down only in cooler months. During summer I have it either in a ponytail or pulled back and clamped. No other way to deal with heatwaves. With suits it has to be kept pulled back and ponytailed or else it just doesn't work. I also wear a lot of hats in the colder months mainly to keep it from blowing into my face. I feel, at least for myself, long hair works far better with streetwear.

Click to expand...

So you hair doesn't look like this?:

Click to expand...

hehe....naww my hair looks like that model Fabio,



only my body is more like The Donald.


Scary huh...ok not that fat.

Sorry, RSS. I feel compelled to intervene to get the ball rolling again.

For me, shoulder length hair is too long, but to each his own. You're right, I think it would be extremely hard to wear in an "MC" context if you have Fabio hair.

I think longish is good. I am speaking of a Southern European approach. What follows are my observations; I stick to a more austere style. Of course there are regional differences.

Since bland crewcuts are the norm in US/UK (the dominant regions on this board), having a bit more to work with gives a definite élan and instantly separates you from the pack, no matter how austere your attire. This is excellent, because hair is every bit as expressive as a fancy outfit but more subtle and integrated into one's whole. You can be the goofball in the Donegal suit, or you can be the plainly dressed but relaxed, fun-loving, long-haired guy. At least for me, there is no need to gild the lily in terms of fancy style and in your face details or colors when a rakish head of hair will do.

I am thinking of our friends Luca Cordero di Montezemolo and Roberto Mancini, whose likenesses are so often reposted here.
I think this length and style (with a loose part, pushed back) is the perfect expression of the idea and contributes in large part to their sense of presence.





Long hair is rakish. Women love it, and pencil-pushing accountants fear it. It commands a room -- not with the cold militarism of the crew cut, but with warm savoir-faire. But, you have to have the effervescence to live up to the style (have you seen Montezemolo give a talk?). No one wants long locks covering a joyless toad. Small wonder then that the style appears so often in Italy, where people have an expressive and effulgent attitude.

Long hair looks simply boss with sunglasses. Consider the man with neatly cropped hair. Sunglasses, generally a sharp, high impact item, go on top of the already sharp head and it's all too much -- the effect is pure Kianu Reeves, the businessman ready to do business, confronting the world in his Ray Bans. On the other hand, sunglasses become a symbol of sun-soaked exuberance and (somehow) ageless, timeless style when paired with long hair. They become softer, while still cool, and the whole thing has a holiday-on-the-Riviera loucheness to it. You see long hair and sunglasses and think, Ooph, there is someone on his way to have fun. And we usually are!

Men's EX and the ubiquitous Pitti images are a constant source of inspiration in this regard. Japan and Italy, two places certainly not immune to fun -- in fact, they have a monopoly on it -- know how to wear this style with ease and sophistication. Of course, the Pitti photographs suffer from that nasty issue of everyone wearing too much ridiculous bullshit, but they are a great object lesson in hairstyle. Maybe this hairstyle is inherently freeing and invites them to go a little crazy. Personally, I find that the hair is already so expressive that loading up on too much fancy stuff in the outfit just creates a clownlike effect, so I go for boring, classical clothing. But voila! The most banal and stereotyped of outfits becomes instantly worldly and fun when you have long hair -- the elegance of classicism, shorn of the dreary British stiff upper lip. Classical clothing worn in this way loses its mannered qualities (there is certainly too much of that around here) and begins to seem au courant, approachable, etc.

You know what else looks good with long hair? Tweedy odd jackets and gentle, earthtoned plaids and patterns. It's the perfect outfit for the happy sybarite, just at home in society as in nature.

We need input from the forum members mentioned in the OP. I predict Fred49 will give a one-word reply and Parker will somehow integrate graphic design into his thesis.

I have hair at mid-back length (although on the short side, reaching just below my chest in front if I keep my head straight). Outside of home I mostly wear it in a ponytail.
As sprout2 said, long hair makes classical clothing look less stiff. As I am a student, even wearing chinos and a tucked-in shirt in casual situations is often seen as overdressing. I think long hair makes such outfits look less "boring office worker" or "preppy".

irgendwas, do you ever experience headaches from having your hair in a ponytail? My hair is just past my shoulders now and I either ponytail it or clamp it at the back for a short hair effect. Either way, the weight of it is starting to pull on my scalp and is causing me discomfort.



Man Of Lint said:

irgendwas, do you ever experience headaches from having your hair in a ponytail? My hair is just past my shoulders now and I either ponytail it or clamp it at the back for a short hair effect. Either way, the weight of it is starting to pull on my scalp and is causing me discomfort.

Click to expand...

I am surprised by this. I too have worn my hair in a ponytail in similar circumstances for many years and have experienced no discomfort whatever. Are you pulling it too tight? Women seem to cheerfully as well without complaint.

I used to have longish hair, like the left guy in the examples shown by sprout2, for the very same reasons - I wanted to attract women. It was reasonably successful (I also received some hate from other men, mainly from the anglo-saxon culture).

But when I realized I understood exactly what women mean when they talk about a "bad hair day", I also realized it was time tfor a hair cut. The bad hair day problematics may disappear with even longer hair, but then it would get impractical if you won´t have it in a pony tail. Which I wouldn´t.

GBR said:

Man Of Lint said:

irgendwas, do you ever experience headaches from having your hair in a ponytail? My hair is just past my shoulders now and I either ponytail it or clamp it at the back for a short hair effect. Either way, the weight of it is starting to pull on my scalp and is causing me discomfort.

Click to expand...

[COLOR=FF00AA]I am surprised by this. I too have worn my hair in a ponytail in similar circumstances for many years and have experienced no discomfort whatever. Are you pulling it too tight? Women seem to cheerfully as well without complaint.[/COLOR]

Click to expand...

It is possible that I may be either pulling too tight or not being a cheerful enough woman.

Man Of Lint said:

irgendwas, do you ever experience headaches from having your hair in a ponytail? My hair is just past my shoulders now and I either ponytail it or clamp it at the back for a short hair effect. Either way, the weight of it is starting to pull on my scalp and is causing me discomfort.

Click to expand...

I only experience headaches if my ponytail is too tight. I became accustomed to the heavier weight of my hair.
What do you mean with "clamping it at the back for a short hair effect"?

Ponytail wearers of Styleforum, which hair ties do you use? I mostly hair ties about 5mm thick that seem to be made of round-knit fabric with the edges curled inwards, lacking a separate core. I have them in black and brown.
Ribbons as hair ties seem too much of a costume to me. The only people I've seen who wear ribbons as hair ties are old men who appear that they don't give a ****. However, as I have no problem with being the only one wearing a bow tie, my view might change.
By the way, I seriously want to learn about the history of hair ties. Unfortunately, I could not find a sufficient resource (preferably with visual examples).

Edit: It seems the question has already been answered.