Business professional hair

Katiwei's recent post about business casual for women had me thinking about hair. What counts as business casual hair? I tend to air dry my hair, which means that it's got a frizzy halo. The top part of my hair is straight with a slight frizzy wave, whereas the underside has a stronger wave. As a result, it sort of looks messy, even when I brush it.

Is it expected that women with this kind of hair straighten their hair? Or tie it back if it's long? I imagine that if it's obviously curly, then a bit of gel suffices. For women of colour, I'm guessing that longer natural hair left loose is frowned upon, even though I wish that weren't the case.

9 years ago

Dressing

5 replies

Latest reply was from catgirl

rachylou

Veteran

Heh, it's what I don't have! I think business hair should look 'tended.'

9 years ago

rabbit

Veteran

I usually air dry my hair too. I found cutting it above my shoulders made it a lot easier to keep 'tended' and cooperative in a low maintenance way, but for longer hair, I'd find a really good smoothing cream and put a tiny bit on top to smooth the frizzies after it dries. I use BC bonacure smoothing cream. Or do just a little blow-drying on the top part and let the underside air dry.

I also use a volume boost dry shampoo spray by the same brand that lets you kind of hand-mold/brush your hair into the shape you want once dry and it kind of stays that way.

9 years ago

Sara L.

Veteran

Hmm, I see a lot of different hairstyles - long, short, curly, etc. I think as long as it looks "tended", like Rachylou said, anything goes. Bedhead or wet hair would be frowned upon. I work in a conservative industry so I don't see much wildly colored hair (blue, purple, pink, etc).

9 years ago

DonnaF

Veteran

IMHO, it's all a balance: Wild color in conservative style. Wild style in natural color. Adventurous clothing in conservative color. Very colorful in classic cut. I suppose Big Law in certain departments in NYC has to go conservative all the way, especially if one is a young associate. In general, I think if one is on the younger end and has to *prove* oneself in a male-dominated non-artistic environment, it is probably better to err on the side of conservatism. But I am really against African American women feeling they *have* to process their hair with harsh chemicals; that should be a personal choice.

9 years ago

catgirl

Veteran

I work in the legal field and have several hair pics posted here, especially as I've grown out my grey. The only thing I'd consider a deal-breaker would be unwashed hair or a cut that covered your face or was really out there. I think it's good for people to see a variety of everything in the field - the profession should reflect reality to a degree.

9 years ago

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