I like how we have really been tackling the tough topics today. Never let it be said that DCIB shrinks from controversy!
Bangs! When I was 5 through 15, I had bangs. Long hair in back that I put in a ponytail scrunchy, bangs in front, braces, glasses, typical middle-class American white girl of the 90s. Oh, and I also wore a lot of jumpers (American meaning, dress with straps that you wear over a shirt or blouse, I guess “pinnafore” in British English?), and overalls. And then when I was 15 I started growing them out which was a painful time consuming process and inspired me to learn how to French braid just to get them OUT OF MY FACE.
I look back now and think the bangs I had then were truly hideous. Appropriate for a little girl, and for the time period, but I would never want them again now. Just this strange unnatural chop across my forehead, totally unrelated to what the rest of my hair was doing.
Mostly when I hear about bangs it is people impulsively getting them and then deeply regretting it. I think maybe it is just not a think our hair is intended to be doing? Or am I wrong?
Has anyone hair gotten and liked bangs?
Have you gotten bangs that aren’t really bang-y bangs and therefore liked them?
Have you made your children have bangs because it is adorable?
Does Preity Zinta look better like this:
Or this:
Or this:
dontcallitbollywood 
Not many thoughts except OF COURSE Preity looks best in the third picture!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Well, it’s also the youngest picture, which seems slightly unfair. But I agree, I like to see her forehead.
On Mon, Sep 7, 2020 at 8:28 PM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
>
LikeLike
Bangs don’t have to be all or nothing. Tapering down the sides can give you a lot of versatility. You see it on a lot of Indian women in movies. It’s hard to pull off the straight across bang look. Plus, it takes a lot to maintain – you’d have to get them cut every 2-3 weeks to keep them looking sharp. Also, I think really long hair with short bangs is a major no-no.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yes! Long hair with short bangs is just WEIRD! except for the very few women where for some reason it looks perfect, and then they trick everyone else into trying it.
On Mon, Sep 7, 2020 at 8:44 PM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
>
LikeLike
I don’t understand this American idea that fringes are a huge, scary thing. With anything fashion related, it’s always my opinion that there is a right way for everyone. You just have to get a good cut that takes into account your face shape. I look good with almost any kind of fringe, and have had them all. I’m looking to get a post-quarantine haircut and will probably get a new shape then!
LikeLike
HA! I never thought of it as an American thing! Big cars, oversized food servings, and a fear of bangs. I like this view of our country, truly you cannot see yourself clearly until you see yourself through others’ eyes.
But yes, bangs are terrifying. If they are bad, they can be sooooooooooo bad, and there is nothing you can do to fix them.
On Tue, Sep 8, 2020 at 1:08 AM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
>
LikeLike
I see people say that, but have you ever seen someone irl and been like “wow what a hideous fringe! that person truly looks terrible”? And I mean where it is the fringe which makes it ugly. And even if it is that terrible, it only takes about two to three months to grow out.
American ideas of fringes and what they symbolise and say about the wearer (adventure! risk! change! or something?) are so much more powerful and extreme than even the worst look can ever actually be. But it’s such a weird specific cultural hang up.
LikeLike
I had to wear a headband when my hair was longish without bangs. I don’t recall it looking very flattering.
And I think bangs were okay with the short cuts I had during much of my adolescence , too
LikeLike
Oh, and also: For a while there I think I wore bangs to hide the psoriasis on my forehead. Though that’s a report-edged sword as well: It means the skin gets less of the sunlight it needs to regenerate.
LikeLike
That’s the other reason I don’t like bangs, it just feels nasty somehow to have your forehead covered up like that. I don’t know why, it doesn’t mother me to have hair on people’s necks, but something about heavy bangs makes me think of grease and dirt and things building up.
On Tue, Sep 8, 2020 at 5:08 AM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
>
LikeLike
I had terrible straight bangs almost all my childhood. As soon as I could decide I got rid of it. Later, during my university days I visited a random hairdresser and she advised me the bangs but assimetrical ones, and it was the best hair cut of my life. Nobody had never complimented my hair before, but this cut was great, suited me very well and people liked it. Unfortunately I don’t have even one photo from this period. Later I visited the same salon, but the hairdresser was different and the cut much much worse. Every few years I try to recreate the look with better and worse results.
LikeLike
YES! This is related to my last post about styles. If you have a really great styled haircut, that’s great for that magical moment, but then you are left questing to recreate it for the rest of your life. Just such agony.
My Mom got the best hair cut of her life in 1976 and I think has now managed to more or less recreate it over the past few years. But there were a good few decades there when she didn’t have it.
On Tue, Sep 8, 2020 at 10:02 AM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
>
LikeLike
I guess in that case it’s lucky for me that I wasn’t really into the one magic cut I got that one time. I was questing for the right style and had splurged on a pretty fancy salon. With the result that everyone loved my haircut, and I could acknowledge that it looked great – it just didn’t feel like me. That was almost as traumatic as getting makeup done by a friend – really well – and hating the person in the mirror. Though my next visit to the same salon resulted in the Vassos of the style I wear now. So I guess there was something to their reputation, after all.
LikeLike
YES! That was my problem when I had short hair! It didn’t feel like me, without my long hair I wasn’t “Margaret” any more. I thought I had to get rid of the ridiculously long hair as part of growing up and stuff, but turns out being a grown up means you can do whatever you want with your hair.
On Tue, Sep 8, 2020 at 1:01 PM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
>
LikeLike
I love my bangs, which are generally cut a bit jagged across my forehead, either right above my eyebrows or shorter if I can get to the US and visit the stylist who can do this without making me look like one of the Three Stooges. Obviously this is off the table now, as is frequent hair appointments, so I’ve now got sideswept bangs which I also like. They draw attention to my eyes and hide my forehead and the wrinkles thereon. But, yeah, when I got them 30 years ago my stylist questioned me closely about whether I REALLY wanted them and made me wonder about all my life decisions. But they worked out and I’ve never looked back. I put the rest of my hair up in a bun and I think I have a sort of Emily Dickinson/Victorian maidservant situation happening.
LikeLike
HA! Confirmation that Americans are weird about bangs!
I like my forehead, I think. I’ve never thought particularly about it, but yes, I think it is a good forehead, I am not ashamed to have it out there unclothed.
But on the other hand, that Emily Dickinson/Victorian Maid Servant look might be better for me. I’ve got the bun (or braid), but it’s a little harsh to have nothing in front.
On Tue, Sep 8, 2020 at 10:23 PM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
>
LikeLike
I’ve had bangs and long hair for most of my life and this works well on me. A few times, I’ve grown the bangs out and it does not suit me at all . My hair is very straight and naturally falls in front of my face; I can’t see a thing unless I pin it back, which looks awful (I have a high forehead and with my hair pinned back, I look bald). It looks great loose for 5 minutes, but it immediately covers my eyes so I look like Cousin It. And I don’t like wearing it short.
For those of you who think long hair with bangs is a travesty, look at Dakota Johnson, or Cher back in the day. It’s all about wearing your hair in a way you like that suits you.
I don’t like prescriptive rules about appearance. We’re often told that women over 40 should wear their hair short, which is rubbish. It depends on your face and most important what you like. Personally, I plan to enter cronehood with long flowing witchy grey hair !
LikeLike
I’ve been worried about that over 40 rule! I’ve only got 5 years left, and I definitely don’t want to cut my hair
LikeLike