So I’ve always had naturally pin straight hair, and I used to wear it just below my shoulders. Recently I’ve grown it out a little longer, closer to my waist. It’s soooo beautiful right after I brush it, but it gets super tangled and annoying to deal with during the day.
I feel like in movies and TV from the 70s, lots of actresses/celebrities have really long straight hair that just looks perfect. Was this ever a thing normal women did? And if so, how did you guys manage it?
My mom says I need to get out the ironing board and iron it like clothes 😂 was that a thing?
by CleoDawns
40 Comments
They didn’t cut it.
And guys loved long hair.
Edit 1: my wife had long hair which I loved. She came home one day with the Dorothy Hamil hair cut. Hated it, she could tell. Not grounds for divorce, lol, she grew it back and has long hair till this day.
hair grew longer before the internet
They didn’t cut their hair
People just started growing it out, for something different (’cause 60’s hair was shorter and more sculptural until the last few years of the decade). Long hair became glorified and exalted, and people who had it were considered extra striking.
Your mom is speaking about what people used to do (they really did). Choose a tool designed for it instead, and a heat protectant product.
Herbal Essence shampoo and we never cut it. I can smell it now ☺️
cher had everyone in a chokehold with this hair.
I was still a kid, but my sisters had long hair. Theirs was naturally straight and there was no trick to it. We used herbal essence shampoo. Once a year they’d get the scraggly ends trimmed and they’d routinely look for split ends and cut them off
https://preview.redd.it/tswx8duyyf0h1.jpeg?width=512&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=334117083ec95074eec38feb7009b0ac772d2e60
Country singer Crystal Gayle.
A combination of genetics and a whole regimen of conditioners, hair oils, regular trimming (to remove split ends) and regular brushing with detangling combs (designed to untangle the hair while doing minimal damage).
As was the style at the time.
they just werent frying it with 400 degree straighteners every morning lol
Not saying regular people didn’t find ways to make it look good, but TV isn’t really a good barometer on how hair will look all day long. Shows have stylists that will fix hair between takes.
I had a friend that said the worst part of her super long hair was accidentally sitting and peeing on it
no heat damage and way less bleach lol
Women would iron their hair to make it flat and straight. I do mean iron as in literally lay their hair on an ironing board and use a hot fabric iron.
This is why everyone had combs in their back pockets! Combing all day long. But seriously, when I was a kid in the late 70s, the bottle in the shower said cream rinse not conditioner, so maybe that’s part of it? And I remember ladies getting a lot of hot oil treatments. VO5? you put the little bottle in hot water and then rub it into your hair.
I used to have waist long hair in my late 20s. I have natural straight hair which is very sturdy and bold. I wore it in public most the time braided to a bold braid or bun. Due to the heavy weight of the long hair no waves existed they would instant straight down. Maintenance was just pantene shampoo and conditioner. Drying it over night no hairdryer. From time to time cutting the last 5-10 cm.
Wearing it open became a thing mainly at home at downtimes. As soon as you tried to do stuff your hair tangled everywhere. Since the bun did not hold long due to its weight for activities like sports only braids would work out. Also having such long hair open in summer is insanely sweaty. Your neck and back will be damp and sweaty because you sweat underneath it. I finally cut it after a few years because I wanted to wear my hair open again but that was near impossible with that length. Also you constantly roll and lay on it at night if you sleep restless then boy it will tangle. Having it open at day also gives you a goid times of having some strands constantly ending up in your mouth by accident. Chocking on such a long hair strand is… Awfull.
In theory its nice but if you dont have the genes and life for it you will not enjoy it.
My wife wears her hair like this. To her butt. She uses a flat iron when she wants it to be really straight. And I wear mutton chops and long hair, but then, we are artifacts from the 70s.
Crystal Gayle has entered the chat. 😄
They started growing it in the 60s.
I’m just distracted by the third image. It’s from the weird short film “Possibly in Michigan” in the early 80’s
i have waist length hair and have for years and contrary to all these comments, i give it a good 2-3 inch trim every few months and i swear i blink and it’s back to pre-trim length. only wash a couple times a week, brush and oil your length and ends daily or every other day, wear protective styles often like braids, don’t use heat on your hair more than once or twice a month and voilà, you too can have long hair
Pictured you have long and straight hair. For a decline in this trend I blame the “big” and wavy hair of the late 70s and 80s, and I’ll note that long and straight is a lack of maintenance type of hairstyle typical of the hippy generation in opposition to the “beehive” era. “Let your hair down”.
Yes, we used to iron it with a real iron on an ironing board!
Urm it grew??
Married a lovely long haired woman at the end of the 1970’s. Magical.
Regular trimming of split ends, weekly deep conditioning, leave in conditioner on ends only daily, silk pillow case or silk bonnet.
You know when you get your hair cut, right? That makes is shorter. What these people did is they did not do that.
By these means, their hair was long.
Well you see, it grows
Everyone had long hair back then. Heck, even I had big hair in the 70s. It was too thick and curly to grow past my shoulders, though. (Me in a play, 1979.)
https://preview.redd.it/zy14fqrg4i0h1.jpeg?width=1024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=3a9f37e650d0556d117fb6b9ea03c381244c419a
I’m a bloke and my hair is long as that now 🤷😂
I have super long hair and spend the day running my fingers through it constantly, it generally keeps it untangled unless exposed to wind. If it’s getting blown around it goes straight into a braid
They didn’t get it cut… and brushed it like Marsha did – 100 times a night.
They didn’t dye / bleach it constantly. Their hair was probably a lot healthier. Nothing quite as bad as feeling a hay bale growing from someone’s scalp
Riding horses topless was big in the 70’s, and ya gotta have something to cover up your bits.
Don’t quote me on this, but I think if you don’t cut it, it grows this long.
I’m no expert, but I suspect they stopped cutting it.
My nieces have hair that long now. Not sure what the big deal is.
The great 70’s scissors shortage
Believe it or not if you don’t cut it the hair just keeps growing