The Middy Thread

[atomik_momma]

I know people typically go the standard middy or femme fatale route, but does anyone have the baby or can anyone point me towards a photo of one?

 

[Lenore]

I'm getting antsy again...I want to cut my middy again, but I've been trying to grow my hair out from that horrible bang experiment. The problem is that I have no motivation to set my hair frequently, so I'm afraid I'll do it, and just end up with non set hair all the time. *sigh*

 

[Lenore]

Sooo... I did it. I feel like I just lost about 20 pounds.

 

[Lenore]

Okay.... Newest results. I went back to the first tutorial with only the two pony tails. When I did the four my hair never seemed to lay right. I think I had too many layers, as silly as that sounds.

This is first day hair after my standard "grannie set" as my husband calls it.

This is second day. I <3 it today. I know I posted it in the other thread, but I'm so happy with it, I'm doubling up! LOL

 

[Heather]

How long are the layers on a baby middy?

 

[JessKelly]

Lenore, that length and style complement you perfectly.

 

[olive bleu]

Lenore: That cut is gorgeous. I am having little fits of jealousy at the moment. I had my hair cut about a month ago, and even went with pictures, hoping for something exactly like yours. Unfortunately, it was cut way too short. That was cut from a bob, which also didn't turn out as i wanted. which was cut from a long middy. Which, of course, I regret cutting in the first place, since its been nothing but drama.

CinnamonCinders: I love the ways you are styling your new cut..the pictures with the bow are just precious!

 

[Lenore]

Thank you, ladies. I'm awful happy with it myself.

The longest layer in a baby is only 4". Sorry for the delay, but I had to dig out my Creative Hairshaping and Hairstyling out from under the mess that was my vanity. The only "picture" I have of that style is a drawing from the same book which I'll post as soon as I get to my computer.

 

[Heather]

Thanks Lenore!!

 

[Lenore]

atomik_momma: Ask and ye shall receive. Baby cut revisted with pics

Also, these were the pictures I had been talking about earlier.

 

[Penny Dreadful]

I just had my middy cut again and went as short as I've ever gone, just a few inches below the collar bone in front. At first I was minorly iffy about it because it was just so unusual for me to go that short, but it curls up SO much more easily now. It doesn't take half as long and I don't have odd curls trying to escape.

 

[wahine]

As far as I can judge from the picture, you got a very neat result!
One gets used to shorter hair so quickly, at least that's my experience.

 

[Tenuki]

I was re-reading this thread looking for longer middy pics and apologize for not replyng. I still go to Sibyl Darling at Christopher Salon in West Seattle. She's the bees knees.
Anne T.

Hi Tenuki!
Reading back through this thread, I see you're in Seattle too. May I ask where you got your middy and if they are still there, that you know of?
Thanks!

Meg from the north side

 

[Fräulein U.]

I have serious hair cut envy - but I'm scared. And I need help, please!

I have fine, thin hair. Recently I cut it (myelf) from a long, blunt cut into a U shape with the bangs and nape of the neck both around 12" - but still blunt, as in the hair from the crown being longer and meeting the front, back and sides at the same hemline. I currently wash and set once a week, preserving the set with dry pincurls at night. I tend to wear the front up in rolls or large pincurls and most of the time stuff the back into a hair net because I really like the shorter silhouette in the back, when it's framing my jaw line.

Now I'm contemplating going shorter, probably around 8". That would make the front easier to style and give that nicer silhouette in the back even without the hair net. While I'm at it I'm thinking about getting the real thing and making this 8" all over, every strand, middy style, which of course would give me a lot of layers.

Any words of wisdom if that would be a good idea to do with thin hair? I'm afraid with that many layers there wouldn't be much hair left at the bottom, leaving a scraggly hemline. Anyone out there with thin hair and a middy(ish) cut? Love it? Hate it? Somehow modified it for thinner hair?

Both the 4" middy and longer versions look awesome on Ashley of Lisa Freemont Street who says she has fine/thin hair, but I thought I'd better ask for some more advice over here.

Thanks!

 

[virgi]

If your hair is skinny, you may want to let the layers grow out in the back, otherwise it may look too skinny. I let mine grow out and just cut the hair in front of the ears a bit shorter and then graduate it so that it matches the U in the back of my hair. I hope that makes sense.

 

[PoppyHeart]

So, I've been having issues with curling my hair lately and I wonder if anyone has any advice... I don't curl my hair often, so I'm not very practiced at it, but it's cut in a midi, or very close to it, and until a couple of months ago it curled fine with simple sponge rollers - I got something of a 30's style out of it, usually. Now, I tried to curl it again for the first time in a while a fortnight ago, and again yesterday, and what came out was some sort of horrid, wannabe 70's style with some strands half-straight, some curled into afro-like springs and only a few the way they should have been. Something like a more messy version of this:

I don't understand , I did everything pretty much the same as before, why isn't my hair cooperating anymore? I can't pinpoint anything that might have changed, not the weather, not my diet, nothing. Did any one of you girls ever have their hair just stop acting like it used to?
Eh, either way, I have an appointment with my hairdresser on Tuesday, so hopefully a new cut will help.

 

[Fräulein U.]

If your hair is skinny, you may want to let the layers grow out in the back, otherwise it may look too skinny. I let mine grow out and just cut the hair in front of the ears a bit shorter and then graduate it so that it matches the U in the back of my hair. I hope that makes sense.

It does! That's how I usually do it (pretty much a blunt bowl cut with the bang area and nape hair being around the same length). Looks great on me unstyled / air dried, and the front is also lovely with pincurls, but the back just hangs there. Last night I trimmed some very conservative layers into the back (as per C-dot's tutorial version 1). I didn't care for it much air dried compared to my usual blunt U, but I'm looking forward to brushing out my overnight set later.

I'm really not sure if uniform layers were all that much of a must in the 40s on average people. If you have a look at this pic there's a U shape on everyone, but apart from that there's very little layering going on, definitely not as much as a true middy / uniform layer cut would be. Looking at this the lady on the left has that fluff of curls in the back that indicates a layered cut, but the other two seem to have blunt U shapes, and not even deep "U"s.

I'd love to have the back look exactly like that lady on the left in that last picture but it also seems like she's having rather thick hair, and I don't.

 

[virgi]

I think the layer job really is for people who have normal to thick hair. I know I had to let the layers grow because it looked too skimpy in the back. Does your hair hold a curl? If it doesn't you may want to wet your hair before styling, and sleep in curlers. Also, you may want to get clip in extensions (you can make these yourself) to add some thickness to your hair. I used them for several years, but now that my hair is on the reddish side, it is very difficult to find a color to match.

I have had great success in imitating the pincurl look by using these curlers (I use them for the back of my hair). The trick is to roll your hair vertically, and roll them toward the back of one's head I also like these curlers because they are easy to sleep with.


Hopefully, you can find these in germany.

 

[VintageBee]

Poppyheart- I did have this happen as I got older. Not only did my hair go from thick to not-so-much but it also decided holding a proper smooth curl as in the past wasn't going to happen!! I played around with hair product and styling. I found that a wet set now works better, less frizz for sure. I wash and set my hair in the morning (no sleeping in curlers for me!) and dry it with a dryer or let it dry on its own. This works ok for me as I have the time to do this. I retouch the curls if needed with a curling iron the next day (I wash my hair only every 4-5 days otherwise it would be a frizzy mess!!). Also a good conditioner once a month keeps what is now coarser hair a bit more supple.

 

[PoppyHeart]

Thanks for the advice VintageBee, I guess I'll have to accept that my skin and hair are ageing, haha... I'll try some experimenting once I get my new haircut. The problem with my hair is generally that it's still pretty thick, but also awfully straight and stiff, a bit like Asian hair. Nothing but an overnight wet set will force it to curl, and sometimes 10 hours isn't enough for it to dry with the rollers on. Takes forever to put in rollers too, which is why I don't have time to do it all that often.
Anyway, I tried again today with smaller rollers and got something a little less Bee Gees and more Bozo the clown... I'm not sure I can count that as an improvement.