MovieChat Forums > Steel Magnolias (1989) Discussion > Shelby's reaction to haircut

Shelby's reaction to haircut


I just dramatically changed my hair. It used to be down to my butt. I've had it like that for 15+ years & decided I was long overdue for a change. It's now cut to just past my shoulders w/long layers. It wasn't as drastic as Shelby's cut, but when I looked in the mirror, my eyes just started welling up. I couldn't help it. It was pretty shocking.

Now everyone says my cut is much better than the way I had it before. Some even say I look younger! My husband loves it too which is good. He's the reason I kept it so long in the first place! Now I wish I hadn't waited so long.

Anyone else cry over a haircut?

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Heck yes, and I wasn't a diabetic about to go under the knife to get a new kidney either.

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Oh yeah. I'll never cut my hair that short again. I can laugh about it now, though.

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Heck yes, and I wasn't a diabetic about to go under the knife to get a new kidney either.

HA that make me laugh so ugly!! haha

I don't blame her for crying, it was a terrible haircut hahahah

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Not cry but often it took me a while to warm up to it. I don't blame Shelby for crying, though. That was quite a drastic change.

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IMO, Shelby was being a bit of a baby over this---she was a mama's girl, and had to get out of her chair and go to Mommy to get her reaction. Shelby may have gotten in a snit, thinking M'lynn was a control freak, but I think she really liked it, deep down.

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I did well up for a moment when I went from long hair down my back (ever since high school), to a bob cut up to my ears (in my late twenties). And when I got home I stared in the mirror for a minute, just trying to get used to the change. I really looked like a completely different person!

But I agree with beetiesmom about Shelby. I didn't make a stink about my hair like Shelby did. I thought, "Meh, if I change my mind, it'll just grow back out." I felt like I had chosen the cut, not the stylist. Every time I see this scene I think Shelby is rude, poor Truvy clearly thinks she did a bad job as a stylist!

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[deleted]

I think it was more that by then she thought her mom would tell her how she really felt about it. Not that I don't think she was lying!

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I respectfully disagree.

So, Shelby needed reassurance from her mother- who doesn't? This family (specifically mother and daughter) were very close. Heck, the town was very close. They were all like family to one another.

I, personally, look for reassurance from people I love and trust, especially when it comes to something that alters my appearance so dramatically. I wouldn't think - or I at least hope, that this doesn't make me a baby. A little insecure maybe, but not a baby.

Shelby's reaction has many levels of insecurity and fear, I believe its absolutely spot on.

1st - Shelby and M'Lynn were both going into a have major surgery - life and death for both was on the line.

2nd - Shelby had been fighting for her marriage, this is partially why she fought to have Jack Jr. against her doctors (and mother's) advice. By changing her hair, she has the worry that Jackson wouldn't like it.

3rd - Yes, she was a strong woman, but she was still raised by M'Lynn. Who seems to run her house with an iron fist of control (as you said). And yes, M'Lynn was a "control freak", we can tell that from the opening wedding/salon scenes, but that doesn't mean Shelby didn't completely love her and trust her opinion.




"When a day starts like this, it's all uphill from here."

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Yeah.... I went from 20 years of long hair to short. And it wouldn't have been bad, except (true story) the stylist had just gotten hooked on meth and my haircut was the horrific proof. Like if Carol Brady got attacked by Edward Scissorhands. I cried for 2 months.

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Yes!

I have extremely, extremely thick hair. I have to keep it long so it flattens out at least a tiny bit. If it's short, it looks like a pyramid.

But many times as a kid my family convinced me short was better. I would cry in the chair.

Now that I'm an adult, never again.

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I really don't ever remember ever seeing anyone with that hairstyle back in the 80s....for such a short cut, it. Looked like it would've taken a while to style it, especially since Shelby specifically mentioned that she wanted to be able to just run her fingers through it and go.

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The welfare of all the people has always been the alibi of tyrants. Albert Camus

LOL "it looks like a pyramid" Thanks for the laugh!!!


I almost cried over a haircut. I always kept my hair long and my mother was always pestering me to "just get a trim". The week before high school started we went to my aunt's house (she was a hair dresser, beauty technician?). I compromised with my mom and agreed to get my hair layered. Well...my aunt did things her own way and gave me a real short shag. They were popular back then. I was in shock when she turned me to face the mirror. Couldn't stand it. I tried to ignore it and hardly touched my hair expect to wash and brush it. It seemed like forever for that stupid shag to grow out. Hair dressers and their scissors make me nervous.

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I've cried over a bad haircut experience, but in terms of getting a dramatic haircut, it's sort of the opposite for me ... I like growing my hair really long and then chopping it all off to donate. Every time I do this, I have to deal with 100 questions from the stylist regarding my preparation for the extreme change. I totally get why they do it, but I still can't help but get a bit annoyed. Especially after I've done it so many times.

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I didn't cry about the haircut itself...but I sure cried buckets when it GREW OUT.

This is a bit long, but bear with me!

I have very thick red hair, and it was even thicker back in my very early teens(around 13 or 14).
All my life, I'd had hair down to just short of my butt. It made me scream to comb it (my mom helped me even then), hated washing it. One day I just decided to cut it to my shoulders.

To this day, I'm not at all sure why I waited sooo long to do this!
Anyhow, my head felt about 7 pounds lighter! It looked great! I loved it, even the kids at school who teased me about my red hair laid off me for a few days! 

But the next year, I was at the hairdressers with some of my family (they knew my hairdresser as a close friend), and were discussing the merits of short hair.
The ease, the snappiness.

So, I guess I decided to try it out (I don't remember honestly, but I must have).
My hair was cut a little shorter than Shelby's.

It was a bit boyish but I liked it. I also LOOOOOVED how easy it was to shampoo & to comb!

Then.....I tried to grow it out. The nightmare began. How could I possibly know that my hair would grow out in an AFRO. For YEARS, I resembled Ronald McDonald...then a young David Bowie. 
The kids had a field day teasing me, but there was nothing I could do but wait it out. It took until JUNIOR YEAR of high school before it resembled nice hair again.

Now, I keep it at just about shoulder-length. Looks good.
Advice: Stay with what works for you, ladies. Variety aint always what its cracked up to be.






I'd say this cloud is Cumulo Nimbus.
Didn't he discover America?
Penfold, shush.

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When I was 12, I used to have very long hair long like you. When my bio mom took my to her hair stylist for it to be shaped for my 6th grade graduation, he was busy talking to another hair cutter and he cut my hair so much, that after he was done I looked like a boy. Infact, when I would go out, people would say to my parents, that their son(meaning me) was very cute and well behaved. I was mortified. The kids in school would call me pinhead and Qtip. This was almost 35 years ago, and I still remember it like it was yesterday.

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Oh yeah! It was not as dramatic but I was around 14 and I told the hairdresser I wanted a trim. He cut off 10+ inches of my hair and I was sitting in the chair tears running down my face. My Mom was with me and she is NEVER outspoken. It was probably the only time in my life that I remember her speaking her mind. He was so arrogant ... I remember him saying something that my hair was dry and he needed to cut more. Yeah ... not sure decision. If that client wants a trim, respect her opinion.

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I had a similar experience. It was just after high school and I had been living abroad for some time. Of course I didn't get my hair cut when I was gone. So when I came back I went to a new stylist and asked for a trim and some shape and he asked me how much I loved my hair? I said " A lot" and he cut about 8 inches off. He said it wasn't healthy. I was so livid. I cried and made such a fuss that they didn't charge me. I hate to admit that it did look okay, but I certainly wasn't looking for that big of a change all at once.

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