69 Comments

Do not even get me STARTED. First- I have forever loved your signature bangs, and I will, I am certain, love your long, swept-back bangs. You have fabulous hair, now and historically. The truth is, hair changes as we change; when I hit menopause prematurely (at 40, thanks Mom), my hair, which has been an odd combination of frizzy on the right and wavy/straight on the left (thanks Dad) suddenly refused to grow in any other way than out, as opposed to down. I love the idea of slightly longer hair, but it stopped working for me in my thirties, when I finally cut it short, sometimes *very* short. The problem is, not a lot of stylists know how to cut short/fine/wavy/curly hair, and when I moved to Connecticut from NYC, every stylist I went to tried to turn me into Dina Merrill (blonde, very sprayed helmet hair, an environmental bio-hazard). It took me 20 years of living here to finally accept the fact that I'm a short hair person, and a wonderful stylist (thanks to you) to give me a great haircut. So, I've said goodbye to long(er) hair forever. I've also finally accepted the fact that I will never stop wearing horizontal stripes, even though I'm 5'1" and zaftig, and have been warned against this (Mom).

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Aug 4, 2022·edited Aug 4, 2022Liked by Sari Botton

The joys of the Third Quarter (50-75ish) is knowing who you are now - and saying a loving goodbye to the rest. Whether it's hair, husbands or houses. Transitions are tough for some, joyful for others. I'm a sucker for change, my husband prefers stability. And i think a wardrobe of lipsticks, perfumes and anything else that reflects multiple facets of self are fun to flip through. We hold multitudes. Age is about flaunting more of them!

Dump the bangs! And celebrate.

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Red hair. It's a struggle not to just dye it back after a covid hiatus when my silver came out. Totally conflicted.

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Aug 4, 2022·edited Aug 4, 2022Liked by Sari Botton

I learned that bangs were called “the devil’s haircut” by Christians during my medieval research and am pleased to stick with the devil’s haircut and grow them occasionally into their longer “curtain bangs” version until I get sick of brushing them off my eyes and cut them back again. I like that my bangs are a warning to men (and some women) that Im not gonna be what they think of as “normal.” They’re my red flag, my douchebag filter, my superhero costume.

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Whenever I want to change something, no matter what it is , it happens the same way: I employ the jumping-into-freezing ocean-water-fast approach otherwise I’d never do it.

When I decided to let go of my ‘signature’ brunette hair that I’d been coloring for decades (actually I was tired of the having to do it and the expense, the color was fine.) I lasted about 3-months in the grow-out phase before I pixied my own hair one Sunday night (remarkably easy, just follow the white line 😂) That was 4 years ago, and my new signature look: white hair.

I have another signature I’ve had since my twenties that I’ll never give up: red lipstick, forever and always ❤️ 💄

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As a 57-year-old man, that had "the 2nd longest hair in my graduating class of 1982", watching the bologna patch get bigger and bigger was terrifying! The pandemic saw the end of it, and now it's 3mm all over. But WTF with all of this old man hair sprouting in the weirdest spots? ugh! Also, I shaved off my mustache for the first time in decades. I've had it since I was 18.

You are so right - this change is Terrifying yet Freedom. I don't use terms like reinventing myself. I like myself. I just want a new look now and then. I say go for it~

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I started cutting my own hair during the pandemic. It’s quite curly and heavy, so I’d just randomly shorten up a curl here and there, which would alleviate the heaviness some and release the curls to be springier. But after a while it became clear I was developing something of a mullet because I couldn’t reach the back. So, I asked my 19-year old to help me even out the back with the front, which left me with the boring bob I had for years that I was avoiding. SIGH. I’ll probably start hacking at it soon again and the cycle will begin anew.

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Aug 4, 2022·edited Aug 4, 2022Liked by Sari Botton

Yeah, I mean look at that essay by the person who’s disappointed at the difference between how she was perceived when she looked androgynous and butch and how she looks now! I like to make it easy for the fools to know what they’re dealing with, and save me some energy. I only try to look”normal” when I am undercover. Besides, what am I gonna do, grow it all out and do a Mrs Herman Munster? I can’t afford regular haircuts. If I could afford short hair I’d have short hair. I’d love to sit in a hairdressers chair every few weeks and have them clean up my neck hair but alas, I have other, more pressing financial priorities right now. The bangs are also a cheap way to have a low maintenance hairstyle.

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I don't have bangs, but I have had the same haircut for the last 20 years. A friend once told me that if you're a man past 50 years old, your hairstyle doesn't matter. I also tend to wear a "uniform." Khaki pants or black cords, gray or black t-shirts, and Blundstones. I just turned 55 today, and maybe it's time to change my look? But I also like the comfort that comes with not having to decide what to wear every day. Maybe add some color? But then I'd have to think too much. Maybe in the future I'll just wear a one-piece jumpsuit? 100 SPF and fireproof. There's also the nudist colony option.

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I love this. My bangs are driving me nuts right now. 😂 I’ve had and then grown out bangs 3 different times in my life and they are a pain to grow out!! But it can be fun to create a new look. So if your bangs are long enough to tuck back, I say keep going ! Try hair combs?

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Aug 4, 2022Liked by Sari Botton

I had bangs for years and years and years. Then I went gray and said goodbye bangs and so happy!!! You can always cut again!! go for it!!!

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Aug 4, 2022Liked by Sari Botton

i've always been a bit of a chameleon, which gets in the way of continuity when it comes to drawing myself in autobiographical sequential art. i have a difficult time keeping a hairstyle from one month to the next, i get so bored! but i've been trying hard to look like my last professional author's photos, since i don't want to show up to events looking like a different person, and i DON'T want to spring for new ones. so i guess i have the opposite problem!

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Your bangs and or without bangs tell the story of you and your world, revealing or secreting away a wonderful face, and a forehead revealed is powerful and bold, expressive and open. I always thought your bangs were so you, but we do change, and it may be that those animated bangs are reacting to climate change, external and internal. The only time I had bangs was in kindergarten--also the only time, for some crazy reason, my hair was straight and blond. Since then dull brown, curls, frizz, some times lucky waves. Covering gray happened before chemo induced bald times. When my hair grew back, on my surprisingly round head, it was darker (no gray!) and curlier (no frizz!) than before. It felt like a final fuck you to cancer, as well as the luck of the draw. I did not mind being bald and kept my hair really short for years, but like others, the cost became prohibitive. The gray returned, and now I waver every few months about the dye job, sometimes reluctantly giving in, but then feeling relief when I do. Then the cycle starts again. Maybe after menopause the cycle of our hair is a gauge of forever hormonally engaged bodies? Recommendations of good hair people in the Hudson Valley? Hudson? Kingston? Red Hook? Rhinebeck? I have tried a few, but not found one that likes to work with waves and curls.

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Aug 4, 2022Liked by Sari Botton

I don't know you in person, so have never seen the totality of your face and hair, but IMO, go for it! Ditch the bangs and don't look back. As others have noted, you can always cut. them again. I personally love hair swept back off the face, which is elegant and timeless.

When I want to change my life, I start with my hair. During the pandemic, I fought the urge to shave my head (um, Zoom calls with colleagues?!), but kinda wish I'd gone for it.

I buy beautiful barrettes in the checkout line at Nordstrom Rack. Hundreds to choose from!

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Aug 5, 2022Liked by Sari Botton

For most of my life, I’ve attempted to to make my very thick hair sleek and smooth. I thought that big frizzy hair was tacky. Cut to age 40 (now)- The massive amts of hair I lost after my 3rd pregnancy is growing back gray and curly! So, now, I’m attempting to lean into this new texture and embrace the frizz/volume. But, I still jump at my reflection.

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Aug 5, 2022Liked by Sari Botton

I got a totally different haircut once while I was away on holiday years ago, pre-Covid, and it was a relief to get comfortable with it before arriving home. I think the regular people who know me can get just as locked-in to how they think I should look as I might do, and it was liberating to break away from expectations. So periodically I switch things up, just to stay flexible.

Right now, it's growing out my bangs and wow has that been frustrating. Wispy hair in my eyes all the time, barrettes that slide around or get caught and break off hair, headbands that get too hot. But I've persisted and am pleased I did.

I wish it wasn't so 'important' but hair matters to how I feel about myself. I don't mean perfect hair. Hair that looks sporty, willing to take a chance, experiment with colour, a different way to part it or hold it back . . .

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