Oh mothers, or "I think I can dress myself, Mom"

[Venus193]

Mine hated my long hair and was forever trying to get me to cut it shorter.   I don't know whether this was about her memories of having braids when she was a child or about the idea that long hair was for young women, but she never could stand it when I had waist-length hair, which I kept well past graduation.

I wear it just below shoulder length now, which would still bother her.

[Coley]

Mine hated my long hair and was forever trying to get me to cut it shorter.   I don't know whether this was about her memories of having braids when she was a child or about the idea that long hair was for young women, but she never could stand it when I had waist-length hair, which I kept well past graduation.

I wear it just below shoulder length now, which would still bother her.

The weird thing with my long hair was that it didn't just grow that long by my decision. I mean, when I was a younger kid, she could have taken me to get a haircut, and I couldn't argue about it. She never did. If I ever had a haircut, it was because she cut a bit off the ends or trimmed my bangs. I had long hair because she didn't do anything with it. Then there came a point in my teenage years when my hair was a problem for her. Suddenly, I wasn't doing anything with my hair. And then came the PA comments about it.

I do wonder now if she thinks my hair is too long for my age. I will never ask her opinion about it , but I do wonder. She asked my younger brother (age 42) recently when he plans to get a haircut. It just doesn't stop.

[Venus193]

After that disastrous haircut when I was 11 I fought harder.  The only thing I can recall her really going bats over was a pair of sandals I had when I was in high school.  They had long thong laces that went up the leg.  She hated those so much she forcibly cut the laces one day when I was putting them on.  I never found out what that was about because in later years she denied remembering this.

[LadyClaire]

My mother had a "friend" who was a hairdresser and I had to suffer a similar haircut when I was 11.  I cried all weekend and wouldn't take off my scarf in class on Monday.  I was made to remove it.

I burned all photos taken of me that year.

My Mom made me get that same super-short pixie cut when I was about 12 or 13. It turned out very badly in that it looked like a man's haircut. I was already very boyish in figure, and got mistaken for a boy several times while the haircut was growing out. It looked so, so bad on me. I cried for days and my Mom kept insisting the haircut looked pretty. It wasn't until years later that she admitted the haircut was awful. She never made me cut my hair again after that, though, which is how I ended up with waist length hair in my late teens.

The pixie cut eventually grew into the oh-so-popular "Rachel" hairstyle all by itself, which was funny, since it grew out like that right when Friends came out and before the cut became popular.

[gingerzing]

I am so grateful that my mom was cool with most of my clothes when growning up.  Then again, I tended toward preppy or jeans and fun shirt.  My grandmother tried to take me clothes shopping a few times.  Sometimes it worked well, but when I was about 13 we had a trial.  Fortunately, my grandmother's sister was with us and for every item that I deemed "No way", Great Aunt would find something that was cool.  Funny that this particular great-aunt was not known for her fashion sense or being modern.
The worse was actually my junior year.  I had a date for the Sr/Jr prom (Didn't end up going, but that is another story).  My folks had already planned to go to VeryBigCity over a weekend, so Mom said I could look for a dress down there.  Great!  Especially since all the dress shops in our little town and the nearby BigTown were all fluffy and pastels.  I look like death in pastels.   
While shopping, Dad - who had been very patient - found a dress he wanted me to try on.  Fluffy white sweetheart with an overlay of white with little red hearts.  (Think Scarlett O'Hara)     Um, no.  Mom talked me into trying it on.  Dad realized that while lovely, the fluffy dress was not a good idea on his already slightly fluffy daughter. 
I got a beautiful red satin dress. Fire engine red.      

By the time I hit kindergarten, my mom and grandmothers decided that I would have short hair. I was taken to my grandmother's hairdresser.  You know the ones who "set" hair.  Evelyn was her name and she decided that not only did I need my hair cut short, but every time she cut it, she would also shave the "duck tail" along the nape of my neck.  My mom said that she is pretty sure that Evelyn rarely had sharp blades in the razor.  I still hate when hairdressers use razors on me.
At one point (1-3 grades) I had Dorothy Hamill cut.  (I swear that cut ONLY looks cute on Dorothy) 
I do remember the last time my mom tried to cut my hair.  I asked for layered hair.  She tried, but instead of layers, she had blocks of hair.  Like stairsteps.  It was the one time that I threatened never to go to school over my hair.

In college I grew my hair out and mostly have had long hair as an adult.  Granted it is usually in a braid, ponytail or in a mock bun.

[Coley]

After that disastrous haircut when I was 11 I fought harder.  The only thing I can recall her really going bats over was a pair of sandals I had when I was in high school.  They had long thong laces that went up the leg.  She hated those so much she forcibly cut the laces one day when I was putting them on.  I never found out what that was about because in later years she denied remembering this.

You just reminded me ... When my brother and I were in high school, he had one of those "tails" at the nape of his neck. It was the '80s, and lots of boys at our school had them. My mother hated my brother's tail. It had grown to be about six inches long. One day, she just sneaked up behind him and cut it off. I was right there, and I couldn't believe she did it. When he got upset about it, she said, "Oh well, it's gone now." Ugh.

[Yvaine]

At one point (1-3 grades) I had Dorothy Hamill cut.  (I swear that cut ONLY looks cute on Dorothy) 

I had this for a while too. Oddly, it was at the behest of my father--the one who ordinarily hated short hair--but it had gotten to be a tangled mess and it was decided to just cut it short instead of deal with it. I was about 10. It looked awful with my facial shape, and it was also way out of fashion by then--he could wax on about Dorothy Hamill all he wanted, but this was about 1988 or 1989.

[Kariachi]

My hair's like that too, except I was also cursed with a sensitive scalp. My parents never understood why I wanted to bob my hair, because "it looks so pretty long!" Yeah, and you have to spend twice as much on shampoo and conditioner for me, because I have to clean it in stages. Every time I go to the stylist, I have to get it cut and twice thin it. By the end, what's come off could keep a small animal warm in winter.

Scary thick waves over here. Thankfully I live in a cold area, so I just have my sister do an overhaul in early summer so I don't overheat and by winter I pretty much have a insulating coat. Kinda like a sheep.

Actually, my hair is the closest thing I've had to family giving me trouble about my appearance. For some reason my grandmother (who has slightly thin hair like my sister) feels that I should be overjoyed at having extremely thick hair because so many women want it. No. They don't. They want 'thick waves', not 'hydra hair'. When you spend hour in the bathroom washing, drying, and brushing your hair, no styling involved, your hair is too cotton-picking thick! 

 

[gwennan]

Kariachi, would I be revealing myself as too much of a geek to say that I 1: love your sig line and, 2: know it's source? (and did you know that "Digger" won a Hugo?? squee! )

Looking back, I can feel a certain sympathy for my Mother - she wanted a girly, frilly daughter to dress in pinks and lavendars. She instead got a tomboy wanna-be who wanted to dress in oranges, golds and browns.  It wasn't until I went to college that I realized that she was a "Spring" and I'm an "Autumn" - I look AWFUL in pastels!   

[Thipu1]

He'd hate my style sense.  If I can't find a matching pair I'll wear one of one design and one of another.   Ie Green with blue heel and toe on one foot, blue with green heel and toe on the other.  Mismatched socks are better than none at all.

He'd have a pink fit if he met DD1. She wears mismatched socks on purpose, and they're knee high.

It's nice to know we have so many people here who choose to honor Dobbie. 

[Piratelvr1121]

Heehee...good ol' Dobby. My mother, when she saw my mismatched socks once wrinkled her nose and asked if I didn't have a matching pair. I joked that the dryer steals one of each pair, leaving me with no other choice.

[ladyknight1]

I usually wear two different holiday socks for Halloween and Christmas.

My aunt made my cousins get buzz cuts in 1973 - 1980. They were the only boys without long hair in their school.

[Yvaine]

Kariachi, would I be revealing myself as too much of a geek to say that I 1: love your sig line and, 2: know it's source? (and did you know that "Digger" won a Hugo?? squee! )

Looking back, I can feel a certain sympathy for my Mother - she wanted a girly, frilly daughter to dress in pinks and lavendars. She instead got a tomboy wanna-be who wanted to dress in oranges, golds and browns.  It wasn't until I went to college that I realized that she was a "Spring" and I'm an "Autumn" - I look AWFUL in pastels!

I loved pink but looked bad in it. But my dad was obsessed with red, white, and blue clothes, which I also don't look great in and don't like. We had some epic rows when I didn't want to wear that stuff. Later I discovered purple, which weirded out my mom for some reason, and green, which thankfully no one ever gave me trouble about (probably because it's my best color according to every fashion expert in existence; I'm a strawberry blonde with green eyes).

[shadowfox79]

My dad had a violent aversion to fringes and any form of ponytail on girls.

The ponytails/plaits/bunches etc he had to get over, as my hair was so long and thick that I had no other choice but to tie it up (though I loathe my hair up and never do it now). But I still wonder what I would look like in a fringe and have never tried it, even though he's been dead for ten years.

[Venus193]

I don't get the whole "season" thing.  Does it depend on your color preference, your skin, hair, and eye color, or something else?  I don't like pastels and prefer jewel tones.