Coronavirus haircut

[Scott]

I used to see people with really, really long hair and thought it was an achievement. When they cut their hair, it seemed like they were throwing away years of work. But then I went for a long time without a haircut and it was eventually long enough for a ponytail, and once I started tying it back it was the easiest thing in the world and I quit thinking about it. It got longer and longer and I didn't even know how long it was until I saw a picture.

Then with the pandemic, I was home all the time and was in bed a lot and all that hair started to annoy me. It started getting hot again and I decided to cut it. I ordered some electric clippers online. 

So. It was frightening. I took two or three hours to do it. But I gave myself sort of a caesar. Cut it one inch long all around. 

A co-worker with a second job told me that his co-workers have been showing up with their heads shaved. The poor devils have been trying to cut their own hair, botching the job and then cutting it all off. 

I think it's because young people today have never had a bad haircut. They're oblivious to the possibility of failure.

I went from age 8 to about age 27 without ever having a good haircut. Every haircut was another humiliation. 

So, anyway, just having it come out looking normal seemed like a great personal triumph.

[Shane]

I've only attempted a DIY haircut once, back in my early teens. Youth can be really dumb. It could have been worse (nowhere near the point of needing to shave my head), but it was bad enough to discourage me from ever trying it again.

It's now more than 3 months since my last haircut, and it's getting a bit shaggy. Had to trim my fringe and a bit off the ears, otherwise I would have ended up looking like an Old English Sheepdog. That's as much as I was willing to risk. It's getting pretty curly at the back.

Luckily the barbers have reopened, so by next week this mop is going to be history.

[Stormwatcher]

I used to wear my hair long, like halfway down my back long or longer. Then someone (a very creepy individual at work, to be precise) told me to never 'dare' cut it, so I immediately got it hacked off to just about shoulder length. (I do have a contrary streak, yes.) Along with it, I got bangs again, which I hadn't for a number of years. I liked it and it's been easier to take care of, so I let it grow out a bit in the winter and get it chopped again in the summer to keep things cooler.

Cue the virus. : p Now my hair is halfway down my back again, it's getting rat's-nest tangles, and we're hitting 90+ every day. I cut my bangs myself; I'm trying to think how to persuade the Other Half to chop the rest off for me. I'm not having any luck, though- he's afraid of making me lopsided, and what's more, he likes it better long. :sigh: Ponytail time, I guess.

[mamabear]

I never learned how to cut hair, because I've never wanted to cut my hair. Never in my 29 years have I had a haircut, DIY or otherwise. Yes, I sit on my hair. Yes, other people sit on my hair. But I'm used to it and it's fine enough that it's not too hard to comb through every day, so i have no plans of getting rid of it. I kind of like it.
However, I must say it might be a handy skill to have, haircutting. Especially with a husband and two boys who prefer their hair short, especially in the summer. But I'm slightly terrified to cut their hair, so I guess we're stuck paying someone to do it. Fortunately, they had haircuts just before everything shut down, so they didn't need another until just recently. Now that the barber is open again, it wasn't a problem.

[Scott]

I had my hair tied back and just hacked off quite a bit of the ponytail. I don't know how it looked but people were too polite to say anything.

Wasn't there a scene of Mia Farrow cutting her own hair, giving herself a pixie, in Rosemary's Baby? I seemed to remember it but couldn't find a clip on YouTube. May be confusing it with the scene where she eats liver. They would both be scenes where viewers couldn't comfort themselves with the thought that it was a special effect or a stunt double. The audience reaction would much like that of Rosemary herself when she says, "THIS IS NO DREAM! THIS IS REALLY HAPPENING!"

Contrast that with Yentl. We see Barbra Streisand just starting to cut her hair then they skip ahead to a shot of her with a $300 coiffure. 

[mamabear]

Haha, I think they probably understood if it looked self done. A good chunk of them probably did their own--or seriously considered it--during quarantine.

[Stormwatcher]

There was a video I caught on YouTube- professional hair stylist watching people give themselves home cuts and commenting on 'em... it went surprisingly well, actually. The one that stuck out for me was the boyfriend who used a woodworking level to help him get his girlfriend's hair even all around. :grins: Dedicated fellow.

[mamabear]

Lol! That took a lot of trust from her! 😆

[Shane]

DIY haircuts: Vision vs Reality.

The vision:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=rx3EgBbJ5Vg

The reality:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=gMMW9M-VPQ4

[Scott]

The reality is grim, but the vision is no picnic, either.

I looked at a lot of hair cutting videos before I did mine and was shocked. Does everybody shave the sides of their head now? Every haircut is a crew cut now.

I was acquainted with a guy, a musician by trade, who started using electric hair clippers. He would just run it over his head now and then. He didn't care. But one day he picked it up and started to run it through his hair and it didn't feel right. He looked at it and realized he picked up the wrong ones. I don't know why he had two, but he had just shaved a small patch of his head and had little choice but to shave it all off.

This is one reason people should have a couple of hats on hand. He was a jazz guy and a beret or a pork pie hat wouldn't have hurt anything.

[Stormwatcher]

That just reminded me of a bit of one of James Herriot's books... the local barber would cut his patrons' hair in the pub, for the price of a pint; the only trouble was that after a certain number of pints, one would end up looking quite peculiar. By about the ten or twelve pint mark, they'd end with the 'felon' buzz cut, which, James said, 'Necessitated wearing a hat, tightly pulled down, for several weeks.'

[Scott]

One time I was working for a place and we were delivering a small piece of furniture to a guy. He opened the door and had almost no hair----just a little patch in front. I don't know how the conversation turned to that, but he said he went to a barber who gave everyone the same haircut every time. He asked for something slightly different and the barber was so insulted that he did THAT to him.

[mamabear]

Well these stories have been entertaining lol. 😂