True shoulder length
Posted by Carlos on December 09, 2001 at 01:16:32: Previous Next
Hey Guys:
This may see like a dumb question and i'd never think i'd ask it but...I was playing pool tonight and my friend said my hair is shoulder length. I don't think it is. He said it is because it is touching my shoulders. It's just the very top of my shoulders the hair is barely touching. I thought shoulder length is when the hair completely covers the shoulder blades? Am I right or wrong. Thanks.
--Carlos
Re: True shoulder length
Posted by Jarujo on December 09, 2001 at 02:43:37: Previous Next
In Reply to: True shoulder length posted by Carlos on December 09, 2001 at 01:16:32:
I don't know how others define it, but I'd say if it's touching...it's "shoulder length." I mean, that's where your shoulders are! :-) Congrats! Next comes "below shoulder blades" then "mid back" in my book. :-)
Re: True shoulder length
Posted by Ryan on December 09, 2001 at 03:14:51: Previous Next
In Reply to: Re: True shoulder length posted by Jarujo on December 09, 2001 at 02:43:37:
Hi. As a lady with hair about 3 inches above my waist and havin long hair all my life I can tell you that shoulder length hair is when your touches your shoulders, not when it is past your shoulder.
Measuring hair length
Posted by Bill on December 09, 2001 at 11:27:46: Previous Next
In Reply to: True shoulder length posted by Carlos on December 09, 2001 at 01:16:32:
: This may see like a dumb question and i'd never think i'd ask it but...I was playing pool tonight and my friend said my hair is shoulder length. I don't think it is. He said it is because it is touching my shoulders. It's just the very top of my shoulders the hair is barely touching. I thought shoulder length is when the hair completely covers the shoulder blades? Am I right or wrong. Thanks.
You're thinking of that magical point at which, to society, you become a longhair. We don't have a single word to describe that length. I've usually referred to it as "hair falling upon the shoulders", implying that your hair is not merely touching your shoulders but is in significant interaction with them. People probably notice this point as a milestone because now you not only have hair upon your head, but also upon part of your body.
I'd agree, though, with your friend that if your hair is touching your shoulders it is shoulder length.
Talking about how long our hair is is always somewhat confusing. If we use inches or centimeters, we have to decide which one, and from just where we'll take the measurement. By the time we're done, we've used way more words than we wanted to, to just describe how long our hair is. Therefore, what longhairs have done is come up with a few common benchmarks we work off of. These cover the range in which most longhairs have their hair:
As our hair moves between those benchmarks, we may use measurements, such as saying, "It's within four inches of my waist." Or we may use non-numerical descriptions such as, "It's a bit below mid-back."
References to one's anatomy don't make exact comparisons with other longhairs' length, of course, because our bodies are not the same size. Some of us have longer necks, longer torsos, etc., yet anaotomical references work for describing how our hair looks because it is with the surrounding anatomy that those viewing it will compare it.
If you are going to describe your hair in inches or centimeters, or use such measurements to track your growth, the most accurate way to do it is to measure the length of strands that fall out and you recover from your comb. It is tough to get an accurate reading of hair strand length from your head, especially if your hair is curly. The accuracy you get won't be satisfactory to you for tracking growth progress.
Occasionally hair growth contests are held, and it is then necessary to measure hair while on the head. Most of them have forsaken any attempt to measure individual strands and instead measure from the forehead hair line down to the tip of your mane. This is a tough measurement to make yourself if your hair is straight, and impossible to make yourself if it is curly, so it doesn't work well for frequent tracking of your own growth. Most such contests are of women who have straight and very long hair (it usually takes straight hair to win such contests because straight hair grows longest), and that scheme works for them. It doesn't work well as a benchmark for a group of men, such as ourselves, because:
If you have curly hair you also have to deal with how long your hair is when you pull down on it versus how long it is when you let go:
Bill
With 19-inch-long mid-back hair, three inches below the nips when I pull down on it, two inches above 'em when I don't. :-)
Re: Measuring hair length
Posted by Baffled in Bermuda on December 09, 2001 at 16:25:28: Previous Next
In Reply to: Measuring hair length posted by Bill on December 09, 2001 at 11:27:46:
>ones, and this system gives ludicrous results at shorter lengths - a >man with a buzzcut is told he has foot-long hair.
Could someone enlighten me on how a buzz cut is a foot long?
On what planet is this measurement taken?
Re: Measuring hair length
Posted by Bill on December 09, 2001 at 21:53:57: Previous Next
In Reply to: Re: Measuring hair length posted by Baffled in Bermuda on December 09, 2001 at 16:25:28:
: >ones, and this system gives ludicrous results at shorter lengths - a >man with a buzzcut is told he has foot-long hair.
: Could someone enlighten me on how a buzz cut is a foot long?
: On what planet is this measurement taken?
If you have a buzz cut and you measure starting at your hairline right above your forehead, going then over your head, and then down the back of your head to where your hair stops in the back, you will get about a foot.