Friday, August 1, 2008

STEPHEN TAKES ON THE PONY TAIL

I always love chatting with Stephen, so when we started a heated conversation about the ponytail I realised I needed to share his story and his take on the ponytail.



The Pony Tail for the Ladies Who Lunch

I was meeting my good friend Jim and one of his best gal pals for dinner one night at a fabulous Chelsea bistro last fall. When I walked in Jim’s friend was wearing a fierce dress with a plunging neckline but sporting her gorgeous long blonde hair in a pony tail. Far be it from me to ever critique anyone’s appearance unless expressly asked, so I simply sat down and joined in the festivities. Now my dear friend Jim is not as tight lipped as I am so he brought up the idea of the pony tail and asked my opinion. I remained as diplomatic as possible until his friend asked for my true opinion as apparently there had been a debate about the matter prior to my arrival. I informed her that her hair would be much more appealing, especially to any man walking in the room, if it were down and flowing from behind her ear towards her well-exhibited cleavage. On the rare occasion where I have taken advice from my father, who believed that if you have it, flaunt it, I informed our attractive female companion that flowing hair naturally draws the male eye to a woman’s face and beyond.

While I am not the greatest fan of the pony tail, I do believe it has its place in a woman’s repertoire of hair styles. Sadly many women have expanded this limited role of the pony tail to areas where it should never make an appearance such as an evening out with a gentleman caller, parties and other important social functions. I am not even a fan of the pony tail at the office. It screams “I don’t care what I look like today”, which is never a good signal to send to colleagues and clients. Some women have even used the pony tail as an excuse for proper styling and grooming of their hair. Trust me, there are very few looks that are less appealing than dirty hair pulled back in a pony tail. You are not fooling anyone.

Some of the times and places in a woman’s life where the pony tail is appropriate include the tennis court yoga studio, aerobics class, boating, etc. A pony tail is a wonderful look on the ski slopes, whether you’re a snow bunny or are really good at the sport. There is also something very attractive about a woman sporting a pony tail while she is dashing off to meet her girl friends for lunch or a day of shopping, especially on a hot summer day. When wearing a pony tail be sure that all of the hair is tied back and the pony tail sits high in the middle of the back of the head. Leave the peasant look to Andie MacDowell, although I believe even she has abandoned this style. Women seem to forget that most straight men like long hair on women so remember, that if a man is involved in your immediate future, unless sports are involved, the pony tail needs to stay home.

One final piece of advice to all women is that if you ever wear a pony tail, never tie it back with a scrunchy, unless you are from some hellish place in the wilderness of Georgia.

Stephen is a guest writer with an opinion like the rest of us. I am so happy to give him a platform to share his views. So stay tuned for more "good stuff" from him and PLEASE wite in with your views, he would love to hear from you!

15 comments:

Anonymous said...

I am the friend of Jim and Stephen's who wore the ponytail that night and I have to say Stephen's conversation changed my life. After 10 years of messy buns, "loops" and ponytails (mainly messy), I no longer wear my hair up.

Read my version of the story on my Website on beauty.about.com

Anonymous said...

Finally, a man who isn't afraid to tell a woman the truth. "oh no honey, it looks good"........thanks

Anonymous said...

A in Oak Park here. I go with the guys. I am of an age where I remember my mother's adage,"There are only two ways your hair can be "up"; like a princess or like a washer woman." Claudia S. in your photo is not "dressing down" her evening gown, and why should she want to? - If she didn't want to dress up, she shouldn't have worn an evening gown, or she could have stayed home and watched tv instead. Her hair looks like a washer woman. Did I read it right that you had your hair in the pony tail? Well, blonds usually have more hairs, but finer hairs. I don't consider myself to have "good hair" and from the looks of your photo on your blog, you don't have great hair, either - it looks like it's fine and takes a lot of work to give it volume, so I can see why you sometimes opt for the ponytail. And a quick nudge, since I'm typing, people who don't have "good hair" look even worse when they go out with it wet (even though it is not "gross" - just unattractive), but it is the gross factor not the unattractive factor that bothers you.

Anonymous said...

A woman should be able to sport her hair any way she wants to. Granted I prefer the ponytail high on the head, as opposed to low. The ponytail does not say, "I do not care what I look like, today", it says, "I am independent". Stephen and Jim need to get a clue on women.

Anonymous said...

Ponytail makes a woman look as if she doesn't have hair at all especially if you look at her from the front. It also makes the face look thinner. But i have curly hair, and if I wear a ponytail, i don't think it will say "I don't care". Instead, it 'll say "This woman is too busy to do something better about her hair". It is hard to wear the hair down all the time, it takes a lot of time and effort for many women.

Anonymous said...

Men are also not cursed with hot flashes! I have to wear my hair in a ponytail so that I will not perish from the heat and horrible sweat that my hot flashes produce!! Men do not have a clue about what we women go through in an effort to look good. They want us to look good, but they don't understand how much time it takes or about any hormonal changes our bodies might be going through. I wish I could wear my hair down and I don't really like short hair on women, so what is my option? A ponytail!!!

Anonymous said...

Interesting, very interesting. LOL. Gives me insight about my often used ponytail. With long thick blond locks, it is often imperative that I wear a ponytail (trust me sweaty hair that has died from being in the heat isn't attractive either) but I LOVE that Stephen points out "there is a time and a place..." Ponytails can be great if you don't have time to do a complete do, but you still have to make it looked polished if you are going anywhere but the dog park or hiking. And even then I usually wear a baseball cap to keep the evil sun off my face. ;-)

Anonymous said...

I live in "hellish" Georgia
and I resent the implied comment that we are fashion backward. We have more culture and class then most of New York.
Not to mention manners.

Anonymous said...

A young lady once told me that girls only wear ponytails when their hair is dirty. Not a fan of the dirty unkept ponytail, but I think a ponytail really shows off a female's neck. Besides, I love sporty girls. Maybe its a throw back to the days of cheerleaders, but give me a girl in a ponytail anytime! Sexy!

Anonymous said...

OK, what about a sleek, low "side ponytail"? If it's perfectly groomed, that says I care, right?

Anonymous said...

To me, a ponytail means that the woman has retained her beautiful long hair. I'd rather see long hair worn in any style if the alternative is a short haircut. So don't complain, Dudes.

Anonymous said...

Actually, I had put in, "Never trust a woman in a pony-tail" and this Blog came up. I'm a woman, but when I think of women I know who wear ponytails at work, they are the women with whom I have difficulty getting along. Now, I must explain that as a hospital nurse, I've known literally thousands of women.Perhaps they are independent as one commenter wrote. Especially inappropriate is a young female MD in a ponytail. The patients want to know that they can trust their doctor...but when they come in with a pony-tail and a "hoodie" sweatshirt- does that evidence great knowledge & competence?

Unknown said...

A woman should wear her hair however she wants to. Everyone on this board has valid and logical points. Thank you Anonymous from Georgia for speaking up for your state. Just because a person doesn't live on a coast doesn't make her clueless or unconcered. Any man who is that concerned about a head of hair that isn't his own isn't someone that's worth my time. Ponytail, no ponytail, dog park, drinks with friends or a date; it's my hair and how I choose to wear it is up to me because....well, it's my hair. It can say whatever it wants.

Anonymous said...

Ponytails make you look smart. It's better than tangled, dirty, sweaty hair that drags around everywhere and gets i to people's way.Imagine eating at McDonalds and you see this lady with long long draggy hair sit beside you, and everytime the wind comes by her hair flies into your food and her face.Ponytails keep your face free of stray hairs. Which is why I use ponytails.

Unknown said...

Please keep posting all your ponytail comments. Its very helpful.

AFG