Confession time.
I feel terrible admitting this, seeing as how we only recently met, but I need to tell you that I haven’t been completely truthful with you. Not outright lying per se… more like withholding the truth.
Because, you see, I don’t really look like this:
Why, you ask?
Well, two weeks ago, I chopped off a good seven inches of my hair. Hair that had looked the same for the last 8 years.
It wasn’t a decision I came to lightly. In fact, ever since Christina Applegate was on Samantha Who?, I’ve had a hair crush on the cute and sassy curly bob. I hemmed and hawed over whether or not to cut my hair like Christina’s. In the end, I chickened out, but since then, any time I’ve seen a celebrity with a cute curly bob, I had a bit of hair envy.
The kicker was when The Avengers came out and Scarlett Johansson (who normally annoys me) TOTALLY kicked butt and looked super awesome with her curly bob. I was sold and decided to go for it.
With these three gorgeous inspiration shots in tow,
I headed to my stylist who agreed that it was time for a change. She thought the cut would flatter my face shape and was excited to get to work.
I should tell you that the first time I chickened out was because I ultimately thought the cut and style was too mom-ish. And I swore that even when I became a mom, I did NOT want to succumb to looking like a soccer mom with that “mom chop.” (Just as I swore I would NEVER wear holiday themed sweaters with long denim skirts even though I’m a Kindergarten teacher.) Don’t get me wrong, I would love to be a soccer mom, I just don’t want to look like one. And I know that soccer moms have come a long way (Hello, Victoria Beckham!), but I can’t get over the short hair/high-waist pleated pants/minivan-driving image that has been ingrained in my head since the early 90s.
So, I would be lying (again) if I told you I wasn’t nervous and worried the entire time I was getting my hair did. And I would be withholding the truth (some more) if I told you I wasn’t feeling regret with every snip and that it was as though with every inch I lost, I was taunted with whispers of “soccer mom…soccer mom…soccer mom.”
After everything was done and there was no turning back, here’s what it looked like:
But, instead of feeling cute and sassy and Black Widow-ish, this what I felt like. Specifically, like the Rachel Dratch soccer mom. Especially because since the cut, it is as though the scales have fallen off my eyes and I see this cut and style everywhere… only on women over 50.
Do you think I should get my mom jeans in acid wash or stone wash?
Oh, and to make matters worse, when I asked Lil’ CB what he thought, he said just about the worst thing he could. He told me I looked like my mom!!! I gasped and he patted my head and said, “But, it’s okay, Mommy. You handsome.”
Sigh. Just what I was going for.
I know, I know, it’ll grow back. And I know, I’m being melodramatic and delusional about looking like a mom, because the fact is, I am mom, which, by definition means I am what this mom looks like.
But I still won’t touch a minivan with a ten-foot pole.
What are some mom-ish things you’ve sworn to never do?
coconut / 8681 posts
I don’t think that you look like “that” version of a soccer mom AT ALL! I really think that this cut is gorgeous on you!
grapefruit / 4120 posts
I LOVE YOUR HAIR!
blogger / nectarine / 2010 posts
I think your hair looks great in both styles! But if you do need to buy some mom jeans, my vote is for acid wash. If you’re going to go mom, you’ve got to go all out. Add a maroon mini-van with cheerios already stuck between all the seats to your list. And better yet, make those acid wash jeans a pair of knee-length shorts. All out.
pomegranate / 3225 posts
I actually am a little worried about this kind of thing. But you look great with both styles! You can pull off the shorter style…
GOLD / wonderful coffee bean / 18478 posts
It looks great, you crazy!
wonderful pear / 26210 posts
That looks awesome…now share your styling tips!!!
pomegranate / 3383 posts
Your curly bob looks amazing! I agree…share your styling tips! I have always found shorter hair more difficult to manage.
(scarjo annoys the heck out of me too!)
wonderful olive / 19353 posts
I think you look great with the short hair!!
bananas / 9628 posts
looks great!
blogger / pomelo / 5400 posts
I think it looks super cute! At least you went for it! My hair is getting so long, and I need to do SOMETHING.
kiwi / 691 posts
I love that hairstyle, especially on you! I’m sure lil CB was giving you the best compliment he knew of!
coconut / 8279 posts
you look amazing!!
I’m contemplating a serious chop myself.. I’ve got really long hair and I’m 1. sick of not having time to dry/style it and 2. sick of DS trying to eat it every waking moment.
Your cut is so gorgeous, you make me want to head to the salon immediately!
honeydew / 7504 posts
I similarly chopped my hair 4 years ago after my sister’s wedding. I kept it short for 3 years, and finally started letting it grow after my wedding (I know!). Now it’s super long again, and I like it, but I’m willing to bet I’ll want to chop it all off once baby comes. I liked the shorter cut, and I think it looks great on you, too!
cherry / 226 posts
You are so cute! I also cut my hair, but now that I see yours, I’m wanting to go a few inches shorter.
hostess / wonderful honeydew / 32460 posts
You look great!
pomegranate / 3053 posts
I think it looks cute! Great summer cut! I’m TOTALLY too chicken to chop off my hair b/c I like to be able to tie it back at anytime w/o any hair in my face. And I’m way too boring to do anything different than to put some layers and thin it out (I have a lot of hair). The boldest thing I will do is cut 4 inches.
blogger / nectarine / 2687 posts
@Running Elley: @sloaneandpuffy: @Andrea: @Alivoo01: @mrs. bird: @ninja: @Teachermama: @chopsuey119: thank you, friends… you are too sweet!
@Mrs. Stroller: alrighty, i’ll meet you at tyson’s next week and we’ll go shopping for mom jeans together, k?
@kml636: @erwoo: so glad to know i’m not the only irrational person with an emotional attachment to my hair! i just keep telling myself that it will grow back. and that hats are in style.
@looch: @Sammyfab: as iffy as i am about the cut, my stylist did a great job making it easy to manage. it’s actually permed with loose waves, so on days that i wash my hair, i just let it air dry a bit, scrunch with a light gel, and go! super easy!
@rachiecakes: @eiko2010: yup, it getting in the way was definitely a big factor it finally getting it chopped. i never really liked the way i looked with my hair up, so this way, i can just clip half of it back or throw on a headband. the fact that i kept shedding these ridiculously long strands of hair was also another deciding factor. since it’s been cut, it definitely sheds less and i save on shampoo! (still trying to look at positive points here, so this pep talk is as much for me as it is for anyone else.
)
wonderful pear / 26210 posts
@Mrs. Cowgirl: oh permed! so smart. I am going to have to look into that for my super fine hair.
GOLD / wonderful apricot / 22646 posts
LOVE LOVE the cut and waves!
honeydew / 7916 posts
Your cut looks super cute – not soccer mom at all! And the loose wave perm thing is a great idea, thank you!
grape / 86 posts
your hair is cute ! If you prefer it longer, I bet it would like super cute once it gets past the shoulders and wavy !
(I also get annoyed by Scarlett Johansson … i dunno, maybe because she is always playing a homewrecker in her movies – maybe not her latest roles, but her past roles for sure ! ;p)
blogger / nectarine / 2687 posts
@podomama: exactly!!! but also something about the way she talks that annoys me. i sound so catty!
pea / 7 posts
A. You look great and not like someone that needs pleated jeans at all.
B. I did the same thing and felt the same way!! I foolishly thought “Oh, the baby is pulling on it. I should cut it so that he can’t do that anymore!” as if making it impossible to put my hair into a ponytail is the right solution to that problem! I am more foolish than you, however, and took my lovely locks to the local salon ACADEMY and told them, like an idiot, “Just make it more manageable!” They proceeded to cut patches out of one side and carve the rest into a sort of shag/mullet monstrosity. The baby is 18 months so that means it took me 15 MONTHS to grow that bad boy out!! My husband gets this deer-in-headlights look whenever I suggest I might go get a trim now. I guess it’s good to keep him on his toes?