Pros and Cons to Having a Fringe (or Bangs)

I remember the moment well. I was 17, just about to move to Brisbane to go to uni, and was visiting my grandparents on the south coast of New South Wales, along with my mum. I said I’d like to get a hair cut, so off we trotted to see the hairdresser, who at the time was my cousin’s wife. I hadn’t seen her in about 7 years so on seeing my teenage self she decided it was time for a ‘grown up hair cut’. After one-and-a-half hours in the chair, a colour, some foils and a whole heap of chopping, my mousy brown long hair was transformed into a choppy layered long bob with a side swept fringe (it was 2002, work with me). I’d never felt so ‘womanly’ in my life. My love affair with bangs had begun.

Ever since that fateful day, I’ve had fringes cut in, grown out, swept to the side and pinned back as a pompadour (if you were around in 2003/2004, you’ll know what I mean). Every time I have it cut, I run through a mental list of the pros and cons, and if you’re considering a fringe, these might help with your decision. (Or not, and in that case a coin toss will work just as well 🙂 )

The ‘I can’t see’ phase

Pros to having a fringe:

• Your hair always looks done. A fringe frames the face and even if you pin back your hair, a tidy fringe will look like you’ve done more than you have with your hair.
• Can provide great coverage for the forehead and eyebrows. A few weeks too many in between eyebrow shapes? A fringe is your friend. 🙂
• It’s a bit different. Fringes are certainly popular in primary school, but as we get older we tend to grow them out in an effort to look older. I say, bring back the fringe!
• They can make you younger and they’re a bit cutesy. Taylor Swift and Zoey Deschanel can’t be wrong, can they?

The ‘just had a fringe trim’ phase

Cons to having a fringe:

• You need to do your hair, every day. There’s no sweeping it all up in a big bun here ladies. Even if you do pin your hair up, your fringe will still be there, hanging out, just waiting for a blow dry and possibly a bit of straightening. And if you’re a gym bunny, you might need to invest in a few headbands.
• Sweat. If you’re a sweater (like me, unfortunately) summer is the bain of your fringe’s existence. You’ll spend a fair amount of time swiping it to the side, endeavouring to pin it up, and drying your forehead with paper towels in the ladies toilets of nightclubs while your fringe-less friends are out drinking cosmos and chatting. Or maybe not.
• Fringes grow quicker than all the rest of your hair put together. Well, not really, but it feels like it. You’ll need to have a good hairdresser (preferably one that provides free fringe trims with loyalty) or be awesome at cutting it yourself. This is especially relevant if you have a straight-across fringe.
• And, strangely contradictory to the point above (I never said I was a genius), growing fringes out takes a really long time. And there will be the awkward, ‘erghh what on earth is my fringe doing’ stage, as well as the ‘why on earth did I have this cut in the first place’ stage. But it will grow back.

Which brings me to my last point: it WILL grow back. If you’ve been considering a fringe or bangs for quite a while, why not just take the risk, have it cut. You might love it, you might not. It will, however, grow back eventually, and if you don’t like it you can always have the ‘oh my, what was I thinking?’ laugh with your friends while looking back at photos (I’m looking at you, black hair dye fiasco of 2009).

Are you considering a fringe? Or have you ever had a hair decision disaster?