Have you ever drastically changed your appearance?

I haven’t had a haircut (except occasionally trimming split ends) since 1996. the only reason I can think to cut it in the future is if my arms get too old to handle it (probably at least another 20 years or so). At that time, I’ll probably maintain the shaved bald look.

First I had long light brown hair—my natural hair color, then I got blonde streaks and cut it, now it’s back to my own color, and I like it short.
And in another occasion, I started using eyeliner, I don’t anymore because I was going a bit too heavy on it and decided to stop, now I only wear mascara.
As for my clothing style, I guess I never really changed it, I’ve always dressed the same; rock-ish.

I once dyed my hair red. It was pretty cool, especially after a while when my hair grew out. Oh, and I will go through a huge change in a couple of months after having a gastric bypass i.e reducing my size with 40% the first year :)

I had hair down to my butt, and had it cut super short. The cut was similar to Halle Berry’s hair at its shortest. It was such a big deal that everyone in the salon stopped what they were doing to watch! People were shocked, but loved it (all except one of my daughters… she cried). More importantly, I loved it. It was a wonderful feeling to have all that weight off my head, and I looked 10 years younger. In the end, though, I couldn’t afford to get my hair cut as often as necessary to maintain that style. Right now it’s about shoulder length.

I had shoulder-length hair for a couple of years, until I shaved it all off around March of this year. It was the third time I had grown my hair out to that length, but the only time I shaved it off to go skin bald. I had to get rid of it after I started going to the gym more regularly; shampooing and drying and combing and all that other haircare stuff was just taking up too much of my time.

My new look was universally praised, with people telling me I had shaved off 5–8 years (I guess that’s good at 28 years old). The only person who hated it was my mother, and she still begs me to grow it out again.

@augustlan @drdoombot

See, I think my longer hair actually made me look younger (well, that might just have to do with the fact that I was younger when I had it). Here’s what I looked like (this pic is from 2004/2005) in case anyone was curious: http://i242.photobucket.com/albums/ff293/Onnajanai/Dominic38b.png Try not to laugh or cry too loud…lol…what was I thinking?!!

And then of course my brother cut his hair really short around the time I started doing it and he always had longish hair. Copier.

I’ve both chopped off my hair and dyed it drastically.

It’s been bright red, bright pink, sort-of-blonde, black and natural red.

I initially dyed it bright red because I was worried about the reactions of classmates to the length—like @augustlan, it was Halle Berry short. The red worked extremely well. I got tons of compliments on the color of my hair (rather than the normal “Are you a lesbian?” comments).

In the future, I look forward to piercing my nose (a la Death) and getting multiple tattoos.

I had a afro. I’m not joking. It was like a basketball sized ball of hair.

So I was 17 and was drunk with a girl I fancied. I asked her to be my girlfriend. She said she would if I cut my hair. The next day my sister gave me a #4. Six months later I had sex. Totally worth it.

I constantly change my appearance from the way I dress to my hair and with three pregnancies even my body weight. I get bored with the same hair style and of course fashion changes, while I don’t necessarily believe in wearing what’s hot I do go for what I like now. I think it keeps lovers/partners on their toes never knowing what you might look like next and for me when the change is good it gives me a new attitude. Of course when it doesn’t work out like I hoped I know it will grow back.

Hi. I think people usually respond well to change and are complimentary but guys rag on each other for everything. So your boys may give you a hard time but don’t let them stop you. You are at a great age to experiment. Try everything- new hair styles, clothes, new music, even different types of classes, or new groups of friends. It’s fun and you may learn a little about yourself. Plus someday you will be old like me and crazy changes will just seem silly and/or inappropriate for your job.

My barber cut off all my hair yesterday leaving me bald and beautiful. Not exactly drastic but not mainstream either. I’ve received a few compliments that the lack of hair makes me look younger and that in itself makes me feel right nice.

You mean like when it is nothing to do with the witness protection program?

I dyed my hair black for Halloween one year and it made me so pale that people told me i looked like the walking dead. I also had long straight hair and cut very short. I still keep it short, easy to work with.

@Bluefreedom and the fact that it feels sooooo good to run your hand across the ‘smooth as a baby’s ass’ cranium of the recently shaved.

I have drastically changed my hair many times. I have this insane theory/superstition that if something bad happens my problems will grow as my hair does, so I will have to cut it to start over. It got to the point where I would walk in and my hair stylist would say, “Alright, what happened?” It was very therapeutic. So, I have had practically every hairstyle imaginable. And now that I am older I am dying my hair more. As for changing what I wear, I did a big one from 9th grade to sophomore year. Just went from the printed t-shirt to wearing regular clothes. I believe change is an excellent thing, and actually I will be going for a drastic one very soon.

Pulled out my foot-and-a-half long dreadlocks about five years ago, then went to long hair, then to a medium-length bob cut for several years. Just recently I cut it all off; now it’s an inch at the longest part on my forehead. Awesome! I feel like this is how I was always supposed to look, and I’ve only just now discovered it.

When I was young, I’m talking middle school age, I had hair almost down to my butt…natural blonde hair. I had always been scared of scissors near my hair, but decided to get it cut “short” I cut it sort of like Jennifer Aniston from Friends, in that angled cut, still past my shoulders. People definitely noticed. I then stupidly got a “shag” sort of hair cut in 8th grade, it was near my ears. I also started dying my hair blonde because my hair started turning brown.

And then in high school…of boy. I had every color under the sun. Black might have been the most dramatic. But then to get it out, I professionally had my hair stripped and dyed brown. But then somehow bleached it into a sunset of pink, orange and ugly blonde.
My parents allowed me to do whatever to my hair, so that was never an issues.

I finally stopped dying my hair I think around the time my son was 8 months old. I stopped cutting it as well, and decided to see what my natural hair color was, since I hadn’t seen it since middle school. I dyed it a brown professionally that was close to my natural color and just let it grow out. I haven’t dyed it over well over a year and have only gotten one trim.
I’d actually say this has been the most drastic change, me with long natural hair. It has changed the shape of my face and I feel confident with the darker color, even though I always felt more “flirty” with the blonde. But as my husband says…I’m hot with blonde, but sexier with the brown. So, I kept it.

I imagine it’s hard for guys to do drastic changes! What were you thinking of doing to change your look? I soo understand wanting to change it up.

I gave my 14 inch hair to ‘locks of love’. My hair was (and is) so thick that my stylist had to section it off into 6 different sections in order to do it, instead of the normal 1 or 2. I love my short hair now. The weight alone was worth giving it up, not to mention it was for a good cause. I’m trying to decide whether to do it again. I’d love to donate again, but I don’t know if I can handle all that weight again, especially trying to wash it. My neck hurts just thinking about it!

Nope!

I have almost anything you can imagine. at one point I had a pink mullet, though the pink came about by accident.

at another stage I bleached and dyed my hair white and keep it that way for a few months. though it looked great, it cost me a lot of money and work to maintain the look. for one thing, a special shampoo and conditioner (both made by the same people) to bleach the yellow out of my already bleached and dyed hair to make it white. as it grew out it looked bad and acquired the texture of straw. still got a lot of male attention walking around Oakland, though. (they probably mistook me for a prostitute.)

the above does not even mention the other things that I have done.

I had a beard for many years and then shaved it when I had a kid.

I also have various transformations for the theatre, but I don’t think that counts.

And of course last year both me and my daughter had a complete make-over (change of names, ID, clothing and looks) when we went into hiding. I was still able to sing (under a different name) but changed the songs a bit. Anyone who really knew me and came to a show would notice, but then again these would be my friends. My enemies don’t listen to that kind of music anyway. And of course we used a fake picture in the posters (I don’t even know who that guy is! lol).

I’ve had every hairstyle under the sun, but other than that, no.

@DominicX Re that picture…..nooooo. Not you. Too Beatles-like.

Yes. I used to start out with cropped hair and then grow it to waist length, crop it off and start again but now I just cut it into a short bob, less severe. Also, there were a few unhappy years where I gained about 30lbs which is HUGE for a 5’2” person and people who knew me well didn’t recognize me in pictures.

I’ve stayed pretty much the same for years & years. I have the hair style & make-up combination that works for me. Why change? I’m a creature of habit.

Yup cut all my shoulder length hair off in one siting and went short, tried growing it a little longer a couple of years ago but still prefer it short.
Dyed it a few times too

@jbfletcherfan I had to scan that from my 8th grade yearbook. It was on the front of the 8th grade page; a big version of it. I remember I facepalmed when I saw it for the first time because by the end of the year, I had already cut my hair.

It seems like most changes involve the hair. But I can understand. For me, a person’s look completely changes if they go from long to short hair or vice versa. I don’t really seem to be attracted to long hair, but if they cut it, suddenly they can become more attractive to me. I guess it’s because if a guy has long hair, they look too much like a woman to me… :P

I like to change things often I guess. I lost 80 lbs, got a tummy tuck and a boob lift. That was pretty drastic. Mostly positive reactions except for my son. He gets mad when his friends say his mom is hot. (he’s 25)
I have been blonde for over 20 years and recently switched to my natural brunette (sans gray)
my mother in law actually said, “I hate, I mean absolutley HATE your hair!”
I have been a bl

I can’t edit out the last line. My iPhone is going haywire!

@DominicX well, don’t face-slap yourself anymore. Short hair is definitely the way to go. :-)

@jbfletcherfan I agree. My boyfriend has hair the same length as me. And that’s only part of why people think he looks like me.

@DominicX LOLLL…got it.

My most drastic changes have been hairstyle changes – it’s been as short as 1” long and the longest has been down to about my bra strap in the back. Blonde to dark Auburn. Pin straight to spiral curl perm.

The funniest reaction was when my son was very young. I had grown my hair out while I was pregnant, since it grows in thicker and faster then; but it was unmanageable and wouldn’t hold a perm because I was breastfeeding. Then my son started grabbing and pulling at it – OUCH! So I got it cut very short, and when I came home, his father was holding him, and my son (he was just under 1 year at the time) pulled away with a confused look on his face because he didn’t recognize me.

@hearkat That’s too funny. I didn’t have long hair when my son was little, but recently watched a very young child (16 weeks) and she kept pulling on my hair! I was thinking, if this is what I have to look forward to..I may cut my hair again! lol
Oh and I went from blonde to brown when my son was around 8 months old. It definitely confused him. He now has a very strong preference for brunettes! Blondes seem to scare him, and he’s a little blondie.

When I had our first daughter, my hair was half way down my back. It didn’t take me long to decide to cut it. Those little hands can really pull when they want to. Having those little fine hairs at the nape of your neck pulled almost brings you to tears.

I went from having medium-length long hair (down to my chest, about where a chest pocket is on shirts) to about ½ inch. I surprised everyone, but it was summer and was really hot and I was so totally over all my hair.

Honestly, I loved it. It was so easy to care for (other than having to get my hair cut regularly), and even though it was not my best hairstyle and I looked like a boy, the girlies seemed to loooove it. So.

Forgot to add I lost a good bit a weight two years ago for a “photo shoot.” That was pretty drastic. Wish I could go back to that.

@Facade: Why the quotation marks?

Because I don’t feel it was a real shoot, that’s all

Reminds me: I haven’t had any pictures of me taken in a professional studio since last year. I want to do that again…it was so fun…

There is a Seinfeld episode where Kramer starts wearing an eyepatch and tells Jerry that the reason is because his look is “stagnating”. Perhaps I need to do the same.

I have had many different lenghts and colors of hair and idfferent shape, size and color of glasses, but the latest change has been the hardest to get used to, because it was so unexpected.

I had salt and pepper hair down to my waist. Then I had a severe allergic reaction to some medication and my hair started falling out in huge clumps and clogging the plumbing, so I had to cut it all off. Within one week, I went half bald, and what was left turned all while. It took me months to get used to it.

when I was a teen I had hair down to my waist, I shaved half my head
like that?

I went from darkest brown hair, my natural color, to blonde using
HYDROGEN PEROXIDE high school and it came out by the handful. Yup; dried up and fell out.
I lost 25lb using Fen Phen; loved it. Could barely eat. lol

My appearance drastically changed itself a couple of years back when I had a bad reaction to some medication. Half of my hair fell out, and the rest turned pure white. The funny thing is that now, some of it is growing back in, black, so now I’m starting to look like Cruella De Ville

I had hair down to my waist and shaved it all off. Most of my friends and acquaintances liked the look, some were shocked that I’d get rid of so much hair. A few openly disliked it because they liked my hair so much. My mother didn’t speak to me for a couple of weeks other than to tell me I looked terrible and my father took it philosophically.