I don't often think about the way my characters keep their hair, but it occurred to me that it can be a part of the culture of wherever they came from. For instance, while long hair on a guy may seem odd to some of us, it's been fashionable in the past. It could be a symbol of class, too. Perhaps short hair is a sign of the rich, and the poor and slaves are forbidden to cut theirs. Or the other way around, and the only people with long hair are the rich and powerful. So has anyone ever given any thought to this?

Generally traditions like these have some root in practicality. For instance, the Chinese thing of not trimming the pinky fingernail (practiced by those who are not manual workers) comes from the fact that if you can afford really long fingernails you obviously aren't working hard with your hands. That shows you are of a higher class. Long hair (at really long lengths) is terribly impractical, so it'd probably be an upper class thing, too.
EDIT: Apparently, from those with more extensive experience than myself, long hair isn't actually impractical. I guess I should stick to what I know with my 4.5 inches...

Well, I don't think really long hair is impractical, I used to have it, once upon a time. However, I think this is an excellent point, Leandra. One of the classic examples of this, I think, is the Star Wars Saga. When you look at Queen Amadala's hair, verses Senator Padme (same person, just different ranks), the hair/head dresses are so different. As a queen, Padme had elaborate, huge head pieces that would give someone a concussion. Once she becomes a senator she now has pieces that are less big and bulky and are closer to the head.

I typically write my characters as having long hair - the girls anyways - and I don't put much thought into it either I'm afraid. Usually, I just give my girls long hair because I think it's purty. And...my boys usually have short hair. I suppose, if I felt the need, I could write about the hair being part of the culture, I just don't feel very much need, I guess. Though, now that you mention it, I think I will come up with something, it sounds like a fun thing to develop in a world.

Bethany Faith

Perhaps extravagant chignons, large volume and teased hair, long curly hair, and wigs are part of those who are wealthy.

(Well, I have really long hair, and I don't think it "terribly impractical", but then I am more upper class than many people in the world.)

In my story, an important subplot is centered on my MC girl's hair. In Charse, the village where she grows up, the women have straight, silky hair, and never cut it, unless it gets longer than their height. When girls are little, they wear their baby hair down or in two braids. When it gets long enough, they wear it in one braid.
When a girl "comes of age", she starts dressing like a grown woman. Women wind their braid into a bun, to keep it more out of the way. (I know from experience that a long braid gets in the way. When I bend over, the end of mine touches the ground.)
In Agrotha, women have thick curly-curly hair. It doesn't get as long as the Charse womens' hair does, and also, it is so curly that it looks half as long as it actually is.
Upper-class Agrothian women wear their hair down with headbands, and lower class women wear it in ponytails or loose buns. They use a special hair gel to make hair slippery for combing, and to control and define the curls. Little girls wear their hair out, but, to keep it out of their eyes, they have little braids on each side of their faces, with beads on the ends.

I'll make another reply about men's hairdos later.

That's really cool, Aemi! I love that idea.

Well, hair played a slightly important role in my novel. My MC has to disguise herself as a boy, so her hair was cut short. I imagine men's haircuts to be clipped fairly short, but long enough to look scruffy. However whilst her hair was long, generally I imagined it had the sides braided around her head, joining up into one at the back and running down over the top of the leftover hair. (similar to Danielle D'Barbarac's style in "Ever After")

My understanding is that while women would have longer hair in times past, they would keep it up in a simple, but effective fashion. But the upper class would have longer hair than the lower class because even braided or bunned, long hair can be impractical (and crown braids like in the movies can take half an hour to put up - if you're a servant in a high household, you probably don't have half an hour to put your hair up. And maybe not a mirror either.)

That being said, I survive with my hair being well past waist length, simply ponied... though I'm always dragging it in paint at work...

Since my world is medievalish, the hair on women is very long and has lots of braids and or buns. The men's hair is usually not styled very much and is usually shoulder length since without scissors getting a hair cut is painful.

I haven't thought overly much about hairstyles in my world, except for for the phantoms. Young phantom girls leave their hair down, occasionally half-ponying it if they need to keep it out of the way. Women wear theirs in any sort of braid (french braid, normal braid, ten braids, two braids, crown braids, half braids - and any other thing they can think of) that they want, but their hair is always at least waist length. Young boys braid their hair; usually ends up being a 6 inch, very thick braid. When they become a man, their hair is cut shorter, and they wear it in a short pony. (btw, for any of you who've seen my drawing of Kai - his pony there is not an accurate judge of how long a guy's hair is in their community... Because Tirzah cuts his hair for him, and he spends so much time away from home (or because I forgot how long I was supposed to make his pony... head/desk) so at that moment, in that drawing, it's twice as long as it should be. )

Zaciré, my MC, has hair down to his shoulders. He is of the wealthier class, though, so that would explain, perhaps. Enclave men value their hair. Samsvar, being of a somewhat lower class, and traveling a lot, taking guard duty more, etc, has cut his to a more practical ~two inches or so. Numaryá, my female MC, has hair midway down her back...somewhere. I'm not sure exactly how long it is. *makes note to ask her*

eru

How fun.
Actually, my halfelven (that's not the correct term for them, however, it sounds odd if I call them my children. Long story.) are very picky about hair. Men wear their hair in a long braid down their back, and it's considered a symbol of honour. Usually, for practical reasons, it's no longer than the waist. A woman wears her hair loose and long, which isn't much of a burden because it doesn't get too hot there. (Trust me, long hair can be hot when it's 30 degrees Celsius every day.) If however, a woman is going to battle, they too would braid their hair. Otherwise, to braid your hair, as a woman, is considered as taking a man's place, and shameful.

Other than that, well, merchant men wear their hair in a short tail at the nape of the neck. When they're small, they put it in many small braids that run from front to back of the head. Women wear it about mid back.

I'm not sure about elves, I only know that they disdain the halfelven for their womanish braids.

It's certainly an interesting idea with many ways to make it unique. Many people don't pay attention to the hair unless you point out the importance.

Most of my characters have short hair (even the women) because most of them are either in the military, paramilitary organizations, or adventurers where long hair could get caught in nasty traps and get you killed.

We're not going to smack Reiyen for not knowing, being a guy , but like any lifestyle choice, long hair is not an impediment if you're used to it. I wear my long hair down with only a headband most days, and it rarely gets in my way. I don't need to pull it back to keep it behind me, probably because of my posture. I've just trained myself to deal with it, so I'm used to it.

The only exception is if I'm outside on a windy day...

Specific hairstyles is something I need to develop more in my world. This thread has given me a lot of ideas.

Highly intriguing, Lady E! You've developed the culture of their hairstyles well.

This thread made me realize that I hadn't taken the time to detail the hairstyles of any of the cultures in Erde. I got an idea for the Volk (the people group I'm currently working on) and their hairstyles, and the article ended up almost 2 pages long.

viewtopic.php?p=91595#p91595

I won't clog up the thread with all the details, but it wasn't hard to come up with because I launched off of another element of their culture. I decided that naturally curly hair was rare, which led to the idea that they might value curly hair. If that's the case, perhaps they take time to curl it, and so on... The article managed to reference both funerals and courtships, so that gives me a lot of material to develop later. It's going to be fun to write when I get into the book!

What's interesting about this article for me is that I don't agree with the way the Volk treat hair. I'd never do that to my own hair. So it should be very interesting to write...

I get to cheat on this in Flight. The main nation in my world has an "equivalent time period" of the early to mid 1800s, and the hairstyles go accordingly.

My mermaids. . . they shall be interesting. They're steampunk mermaids, so their "equivalent time period" would be the Victorian era. However, I'm not even sure if they have hair, and if they do have hair (or something hair-like) the styles will be affected by their living in water.

*speed reads entire thread so she can reply to Reiyen*

Long hair is actually highly impractical. It takes a ridiculous amount of time to brush and maintain, depending on your social class. No, no one argue with me, my dad gets impatient waiting for me to finish just one braid. When you're used to taking about ten seconds on your hair having to spend ten minutes is just ridiculous. There are a variety of situation in which it could be problematic as well.

However, if you've grown up with it long you're used to it. Just like wearing skirts. Guys ask "How in the world can you do X?" and the only response is... "I learned."

And to top off that, I have a true story for you. One of my managers at Dominoes last year had once had hair like Rapunzel. It literally dragged on the floor behind her. It was blond, so she had all kinds of trouble keeping it clean. Her father wouldn't let her cut it and she told me story after story of the problems she had with it... people stepping on, sitting on it, it gave her horrible headaches because of the weight, etc.

So, while waist length hair might seem perfectly practical to those of us experienced, longer hair might be a serious problem even to those who grow up with it.

Now see, I don't see taking five-ten minutes on my hair and putting the braids, twists, pins, and curls, all in place in fantasy styles all that big a deal... And since I can leave it in for 2 days and it still look fine, I figure my long hair takes 5 minutes a day, excluding the times I spend the extra time to do a really really fancy updo style. And most of you know I create some pretty elaborate hairstyles in under 10 minutes.

I do not, however, want my hair to be so long I have to worry about people stepping on it!!!! I never let my hair get long enough that I had to worry about sitting on it. That didn't make sense to me.

I know pretty much all our characters have hair. Short, long, dark, fair. But are you remembering, in the process of writing, that hair can be a big deal?

I know that we like to give our fantasy girls long hair, often longer than our own. Then, we send them on epic quests and such. In the process, are you remembering to explain how they manage to take care of it?

Hair that is shoulder to mid-back length, left loose, can get by with a brushing every day. The more often you brush it, the less tangly it will be. But it also needs washing, especially if you are "on the trail". Dirty, dusty hair is very hard to brush, and gets matted easily. How does your girl keep her hair clean? What does she use to wash it? Where does she get the water needed to wash it?

One way to protect hair from dirt and tangles is to keep it braided. A braid locks hair into one position, so that it can't slide around, tying itself into knots. Another good way is to keep it up in a bun.

The general rule is that the longer hair gets, the more work it requires. A crew cut can basically be ignored. Chin length hair needs a quick combing. Mid-back length hair needs to be tied up, or frequently brushed. When hair is any longer than waist-length, it tangles and mats easily from rubbing against your back all day, so when on a journey, tying it up is almost a must.

Interestingly, when hair is longer than waist-length, it starts taking less work. I pin my hair up into buns, and because of the length, it stays all day. And I have discovered that I can leave the same bun in for several days, sleeping on it at night, and it still looks decent. But washing my hair is a big deal, and takes a lot of conditioner.

I challenge you: Do your characters have hair? Does their hair appear in the narrative only when you want it to, or is it like real hair: always there, needing your attention?

Good thoughts, Aemi.

Having had every length of hair imaginable, excluding longer than hip length, I can positively say that short hair takes twice as much work as long hair, unless you don't care what it looks like.

It can depend on what your hair is like. I have curly hair, and I frequently do nothing to it, and it looks fine. In terms of length, it's ranged from just past my shoulders to midway down my back. So maybe it's not short, but I don't think it's terribly long, either. *shrug* In any case, that's probably also something worth considering when you think about what your characters do with their hair; what's it like? Straight, curly, thick, thin, fine, easily tangled?

On the cultural side of things, long hair does tend to be a badge of office. I think of samurai topknots, the ridiculous wigs (baroque?) oft associated with judges and the great composers, the queue of some Asian emperors, etc. Lots of fantasy worlds use long hair (topknot, braided, dreadlocks...) as a warrior theme.

Other aspects of hairstyle can relate to status, as well. In Larry Niven's world, a certain style of asymmetric beard was the vogue among high-born in a culture descended from Germany.

An interesting bit of hearsay that might be relevant: The ancient Egyptian priesthood would shave their heads and bodies because hair was associated with animals, and naked skin was more human/more dignified. On the other hand, Hebrew Nazirites were to let their hair grow out for the whole duration of their vow to God. -> Shaving and growing out of hair can be used in religious symbolism and expressing humanity in some way. If one has an already created culture, perhaps one could try to endocosmically imagine what they might interpret shaving/growing out to mean.

On the practical side, I like Aemi's assessment.

WOW. I LOVE all the thought you put into this! Their whole culture centers around hair! Some really interesting customs there too. Thanks for sharing.

The only thing I've done with hair in my story, is the respectable women do their hair up. Harlots are generally known to wear their hair loose.

I read a series where, in one culture, the higher classes shaved their heads. There were certain classes that left the center strip long and shaved the rest, or other things along those lines.

Star Wars had some interesting hair trends, based off of their culture.