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Professional Hairstyles: Do Ponytails Count?

Being Girly· Business Casual· Fashion Gaffes· Looking Young· Office Hairstyles: Our Best Advice For Professional Hair· Professionalism | · ·

Professional Hairstyles - Ponytails at Work | CorporetteDo ponytails count as professional hairstyles? Which are the best ponytails for the office?  Do you think 50s/cheerleader ponytails are no-gos for the office, or is any neat, easy hairstyle inherently professional? 

Have you guys been watching AMC’s Better Call Saul? It’s the prequel story to Breaking Bad, chronicling the path that small-time con-man/lawyer Jimmy McGill took to become everyone’s favorite drug lawyer (later known as Saul Goodman). One of the story lines involves Jimmy working at his brother’s BigLaw-esque law firm, and one of his main friends is Kim Wexler, played by Rhea Seehorn. Kim’s story is similar to Jimmy’s — she started in the mailroom, went through law school later in life, and is now working as an associate — but unlike Jimmy she’s squeaky clean. Without giving away too many spoilers, it’s so inspiring to see her efforts to make partner, including a long montage where she calls every single person she knows to try to bring on her own client. In another scene, she does so well on her first court appearance that the opposing counsel tries to hire her. In general, she’s a rockstar lawyer. She dresses professionally, too — but something I’ve been pondering is her hair: her most frequent look is a ponytail. Not just the low, harried ponytail many of us throw our hair into when we’re working in our office and want to keep our hair out of our faces — hers is curled, and part of her all-day look.  And while it isn’t super-high, it isn’t super-low, either. (In general, I think a lower ponytail is vastly better for being taken seriously.) Part of her character is that she’s earnest and kind of new to this world of BigLaw — so is her hair supposed to convey that as well? (Ah, here’s a picture of her ponytail from the back, below. And apparently the same actress wore the same hairstyle on another show where she also played a lawyer, but I’m not familiar with that show.) Maybe I’m biased against ponytails that feel too pageant/cheerleader as professional hairstyles? 

professional hairstyles ponytails

In the past, we’ve collected easy office updos (which included some ponytail looks), as well as discussed how to style long hair for interviews, but let’s discuss ponytails, ladies — what makes them appropriate (or inappropriate?) for the office or other big meetings? Are there different rules for women in their 20s, 30s, and 40s? 

Some thoughts from poking around the Internet: The Muse gives ponytails an enthusiastic thumbs up for professional hairstyles, and Buzzfeed has this niceish twisted ponytail for work, which I like so much I’m adding it to our Work-Appropriate Hair board on Pinterest.

twisted ponytail for work

Psst: My apologies to everyone for linking to the offensive Buzzfeed post re: ponytails/intelligence — I remembered seeing it years ago and agreeing with the basic idea behind it (low ponytails=better for being taken seriously), when I hunted for it in 2016 I recognized the graphic (ponytails in pencil) and didn’t pay any attention to the verbiage used.  I sincerely apologize.  Kate was good enough to swap out the link for one to Manrepeller since I was away from the computer when I saw the uproar; I’ll just remove the Manrepeller link altogether too.

Comments

  1. Cat

    Hopefully this doesn’t come out as harsh but… how is this a topic? Ponytails are a popular hairstyle in every workplace I’ve been. I haven’t seen anyone with an “inappropriate” ponytail (which I agree, a super high, teased, bouncy style isn’t appropriate, but I have yet to see anyone attempt that style in the workplace).

    I feel most polished with my hair loose and blown out, but if it’s a rainy or humid day and I have meetings, my favorite style is to (1) do a side part (helps avoid the “I threw my messy hair back” impression), and then (2) sweep everything back into a ponytail and use a large barr3tt3 to clasp. JCrew has a great selection in store (black, tortoiseshell, metallic, etc.) that I love.

    • Jordan

      I switched to a double jaw clip a while ago after my hair got longer but that was because it hurt my head to have a ponytail in. But now, I feel like ponytails are for working out and the clip is professional. Not for everyone though, just me.

    • Ellen

      I agree. I LOVE to wear a pony tail in the summer b/c it is hot out, and usueally the manageing partner does NOT care, but when I go into court the JUDGE insist’s I look like a lady, so I put my hair down the way he likes it. The ONLEY time I do NOT like it is when the air condition is NOT working in the court, which is usueally ALL summer. FOOEY!

  2. Senior Attorney

    I actually think the Better Call Saul pony tail looks a lot more professional than the twisted one.

    Also: I love Better Call Saul so much! I’m not caught up this season but loved the first season and what I’ve seen of Season Two!

    • Cat

      Agreed as to the relative professionalism of the ponytails — the first says sensible / polished / preppy, the second as shown, more “I wish I could be living in an Anthro store right now” — but I still wouldn’t care if one of my colleagues styled her hair like that for a regular day.

    • January

      +1. That’s a very polished ponytail the Better Call Saul character is wearing. And I wear my hair like that to work sometimes.

      The twisted one is pretty, but I agree that’s more of a casual/weekend look.

    • Lyssa

      Agreed. I love BCS, too, particularly the portrayal of Kim. I think that it’s one of the best portrayals of what it is like to be a female attorney that I’ve ever seen.

    • Jordan

      I almost want to hate Kim’s story line because it’s too good and too close to home. Sort of how I felt at the beginning when Jimmy is hustling out of the back of a nail salon.

  3. Comfy Black Flats

    I always think of Anna Kendrick in ‘Up in the Air’ – a well-styled, appropriately “tamed” pony is 100% acceptable. Full stop.

  5. Nati

    I love her ponytail. I think it’s totally professional. If I could make my hair look like that, trust me, I would!

    • EnchantedRock

      I covet her perfect pony. I would wear my hair like that every day if I could pull it off.

  6. Anonymous

    Sometimes I think this s!te makes a huge deal out of something that is not actually a big deal in the real world. As long as women have long hair, we will be wearing ponytails.

    • Wildkitten

      And so, like how as long as we have bodies we will be wearing clothes, it’s helpful to talk about which ones are professional and which ones are casual.

    • Nati

      I agree in this case. Why do we need rules for ponytails? Whether you’re 20, 30, or 40, the primary concern should be that your hair looks neat and that you feel comfortable and confident.

      • Ponytails for life!

        Exactly. This is a none issue IMO. If someone has long hair, a ponytail is one of the hairstyles they are likely to wear.

    • TBK

      An identical post several (six? eight?) years ago on this s!te was why I wrote it off for a long time. I came here, read a bunch of people seriously questioning whether a ponytail was appropriate for work (I wore a ponytail almost every day at the time) and was like “noooope!” Not sure what brought me back years later, but yeah, ponytails are fine. Now that I’m in my late 30s instead of my late 20s I tend not to wear them to work, but still think they’re totally fine.

        • cbackson

          “A ponytail higher than your ears may be questionable.”

          I will never forget it.

          • Anonymous

            Idk I still think that advice has some merit. A middle-head pony is more or less level with the top of your ears, like in the picture above. A pony tail on the crown of your head reads a bit more casual, maybe even leaning young, as does a bun at the same location.

            Pulling your hair back directly behind your head = no nonsense. Piling hair on the top of your head = pretty.

          • JJ

            Ehhhh…..I always wear a ponytail higher than my ears. I’m also 6′ tall, a size 16, and a former litigator. No one will think I’m a shrinking violet because I have a ponytail that’s above my ears.

    • Anonymous

      Is long hair professional for work?
      ^I just wrote that as a joke in response to your post, but I think that question has also been asked around here.

      “Is my water bottle professional?” #NEVERFORGET

      • JJ

        That’s still my favorite thread here. At the time, my office “water bottle” was a giant cup from the movie theater with all the Twilight characters emblazoned on it. And all the male partners I worked with loved it and thought it was hilarious.

    • Pancakes

      100% agree. I agree with Kat on a fair amount of stuff, but there are a number of topics that pop up every now and then (this included) that I make me wonder if it’s an April Fools post. Why is this even a topic to raise?

      • Anon

        I assumed that the questions are from those new to the workplace or a conservative environment, and the detail-oriented, perfectionist tendencies that helped get the job are applied to minor issues such as water bottles.

  8. cbackson

    Kat. Love you, but the ponytail thing has always baffled me. It’s 100% fine. This is, respectfully, an issue you have that I’ve literally never seen raised elsewhere and would never have thought about had you not raised it.

    • CX

      A coworker once admitted she’d have huge fights with her mom about the fact that her mother thought a ponytail was not office appropriate. So clearly, some people care. (Sounded like her mom thought she should be busting out the hot-rollers and looking like an extra in the Mad Men secretarial pool.)

    • Cat

      yes, this. if a ponytail is unprofessional, then I guess 1/4 of my building should be sent home today.

  9. soaps

    I think pretty much any ponytail that is neat looks professional. It’s out of my way, it’s not distracting, and low maintenance. I can focus on everything else at work instead of pushing hair out of my face.

    The ponytail-as-an-indicator-of-intelligence is rude. Even as a joke; it is isn’t funny and it’s just another method of telling women that something mundane and practical can be a way of docking intelligence and professional points on a completely superficial level.

    This is the first time I’ve been so annoyed by a topic here.

    • soaps

      For the record, I love Kim Wexler’s ponytail. That twisted ponytail is a ridiculous attempt to make a perfectly accepted way to wear your hair into a somehow more acceptable way. Why is it more acceptable? Because it took me more time to do? Beauty tax?

      I’ve never felt this need to rant about anything like this before. agh.

    • Reix

      Agree. This “ponytail angle of attack vs intelligence” pictorial is stupid beyond words. Back to work now, with my hair up in my retarded ponytail.

    • Laura B

      +1 to everything soaps said. The buzzfeed diagram is stupid and just makes me want to put my hair in a high ponytail. I’ll use any side-eye I get as an indication of someone who ridiculously uptight.

  10. Emmabean

    Since the actress wore a ponytail as another character, I wonder if she is like me and just doesn’t look very good in a suit when her hair is down? I can’t figure out exactly why, but I always feel as though I’ve got too much going on when my hair is down and I have a suit on, so I inevitably put it up in a bun.

    • Killer Kitten Heels

      Do you wear collared shirts with suits? And/or necklaces? I rock a pixie cut these days, but back when I had hair, I always felt like jacket collar + shirt collar + necklace + earrings (even tiny studs) was just too much when I wore a suit, so I’d also put my hair up when it was suit time.

      • Emmabean

        Nope, I think it’s more an issue of my proportions. I’m big on top, but short, and this sounds weird, but I think I do not have a very long neck? I also have a LOT of hair – thick and lots of volume, and it just splays out over my shoulders. Who knows…

  11. Anonymous

    My hair curls differently than the actress, but my hair is often in a “curled” ponytail simply because it’s day 3 of my shampoo and the curl has held but the roots are too oily to wear down. If someone thinks that’s me trying to be pageant or cheerleader-y, they have wayyyyyyy too much thinking time on their hands.

  12. anon

    But I have curly hair. Do I need to straighten my hair before putting it in a ponytail?

    Man… this site kills me sometimes.

    • Reix

      I know you are not asking this seriously but as a fellow curly woman

      NO, NEVER!!!!!

    • Monday

      +1. And fretting about this kind of thing makes me picture taking a ruler to the back of my head in the morning to measure whether I’m stupid based on where the elastic ended up. (What if doing something like that in itself makes me stupid?)

    • anon

      I love my curly hair but whenever people refer to “as long as your hair is neat…”
      My hair is never neat. It is always a big old curly mess.
      And I prefer my pony on top of my head (definitely above the ears). It’s just wwhere it feels natural for me. And yes I occasionally wear it that way to work.

    • NY CPA

      I find that a ponytail is often the most polished look I can get my curly hair to do (especially when it’s not freshly washed or has been slept on!). The top looks sleek and then I have a nice little lump of curls at the back of my head. They’re not flying around or going in opposite directions or anything.

  13. hair

    Kat–that pictorial from buzzfeed you linked to has an image of a hairdo and the intelligence level is “ret-rded” I think that’s pretty insensitive and not very funny, just an FYI.

    • Thank you

      Thanks so much for saying something. Hate to see a detailed discussion of something so minor (ponytails) letting something so major slide.

      • Cat

        it’s the one linked in the middle of the paragraph (indicator of intelligence), second style from the left. Disappointing.

        • Anon

          Woa! I was in the Buzzfeed link in the bottom paragraph. That is terrible! I hadn’t even read the post b/c I hate this topic in general. So I completely missed this, and that Kat still agrees with it.

    • Anon

      Thank you for raising that. I had the same concern and glad I’m not the only one.

      Kat, there are other similar images that convey the same scale without using the r-word. In fact, I recall seeing a version of the same graphic on this site years ago — and it did not use the hurtful word.

      Finally, there’s a difference between looking unprofessional/unpolished and looking “dumb” or unintelligent. A super high pony with a bow screams unprofessional to me, but not necessarily “dumb”.

    • Anonymous

      I don’t think Kat is reading or cares, but just in case…co-signed. Ugh.

        • Nati

          Actually…yikes…in retrospect and looking at the link in question, there’s really no way that Kat could’ve posted that and not noticed the R word. Really bad judgment – a nonsensical link in the first place made even worse. And Kat explicitly said she agrees with it.

          • Anonymous

            Which is less professional: wearing a high ponytail, or posting a link to and explicit agreement with an offensive buzzfeed post in your work blog?

    • Kate

      Editor Kate here. We have removed the link to the image you’re discussing and have made a substitution — the original image was something that Kat had seen in the past and quickly linked to today without remembering that it used that word. Our apologies for including it — and thank you for reading. (As an aside: I actually just heard a story on the radio the other day about a website called “R-word: Spread the Word to End the Word,” where anyone can take the pledge to not use that word, and 600,000+ have so far: http://www.r-word.org.)

      • First Time Caller

        Really, really, really tasteless and out of touch. (Referring to both topic and absurdly rude link.)

        • Nati

          The replacement article doesn’t feature any inappropriate words but still isn’t much better. Why did we even need a replacement for that link? How about we, as women, stop judging one another over something as asinine as ponytail choice? The way you decide to wear your hair does not correlate in any way to how smart (or how anything else) you are.

      • anon

        I see that it was just replaced with no comment/apology/editorial note on the edit. How professional.

      • Anne

        Looks like it’s still the first pin on the Work-Appropriate Hair board. Hope that comes down too.

  14. H

    I really hope ponytails are ok because I wear one every. single. day. This former tomboy has made an effort to wear make up but hair eludes me. To date, I do not feel this has harmed by career. Also, not a lawyer.

    • Anonymous

      Me too and I am an attorney who regularly appears in court. I hate hair in my face and I can’t imagine wanting to blow dry and curl my hair every morning. I’ve gotten compliments on my very low maintenance hair, it takes me less time than a short hairstyle, and I have no plans to change it. If the federal judges in my district are fine with my hair, I don’t care what anyone else thinks.

    • Nati

      I am so sad that we’re talking about this. I know you’re trying to highlight how ridiculous this topic is and I agree.

      The timing of this post is uncanny because I’m currently reading Notorious RBG on my lunch hour. The ponytail seems to be her hairstyle of choice. I think she would tell every single one of us to worry about bigger, better things.

    • Mary Ann Singleton

      Part of me hopes you mean an actual pony. Never to old for buying ponies. (Says the horse crazy girl who’s about to buy a second one)

        • Mary Ann Singleton

          Good luck! When I get to shows I always wonder why I do them (so much anxiety!) but I’m always happy after.

  16. Sydney Bristow

    If ponytails are wrong, I don’t want to be right.

    I always make sure it’s very tidy. It’s much more professional than being down in a way that I’m tempted to play with it.

    • Clementine

      +1

      …Unless you’re rocking full on Pippi Longstocking braids, pigtails, or the cheerleader pony that is one inch back from your hairline with a giant bow, you’re probably fine. Are some hairdos more polished? Yes. It’s actually hard for me to think of any many tidy ways (recognizing that this means different things for different hair types) of keeping one’s hair that aren’t professional.

      To me, it’s about attitude. Just give a hoot.

  17. Anon

    I think ponytails are fine. I never wear them because my hair is heavy and they give me a headache and it takes a lot of product to get my little wispy flyaways (especially after a couple pregnancies. My hair decided to grow, or maybe fall out and regrow, in the weirdest spots) to stay in place so it is easier for me to just spend about 5 minutes curling the ends of my hair and leaving it down.

    • Jordan

      Me same. My ponytails is just a huge bush but I can do a lot with a clip. But that’s just me. I don’t like my hair in my face.

  18. Headbun

    One thing I absolutely do hate is the top of the head bun. Geesh. So unprofessional at work. Esp with a suit.

  19. Parfait

    Here’s what baffles me about ponytails, and why I seldom wear them. I see all these women wearing them with a couple of strands of hair that have escaped, and on them it looks intentional, curling around their face and accenting their best features. When hair escapes from mine, I just look bedraggled. Is it something in the way they get their hair cut? I just can’t make this happen, and if I try to do my pony so that nothing can escape, it’s so tight it gives me a headache.

    • Cat

      My hair is the same way, and I use hairspray to solve it because no escaping hair is better than cowlick escaping hair. I pull my hair up and then do a light misting of spray (partial to Sheer Blonde), then quickly run my fingers through my hair back towards the ponytail — this breaks up the shorter sections and allows them to “stick” into the longer, successfully-wrangled hair.

    • NY CPA

      My favorite tip for my flyaways that are not so much wispy as curly (and therefore particularly loathe to stay put) is to spray with harispray — I find the pump bottle kind works best but aerosol would probably be fine as well — and then comb them down using a toothbrush (just get one of those super simple 99 cent ones for this purpose. And voila! They stay perfectly put!

    • Anon

      I was actually just coming here to say that if I could get a ponytail that looked anywhere this good, i’d wear them far more often. But I have this halo of baby hair… it escapes and looks messy in a ponytail, so i usually resort to half pulled or half pulled low back.

  20. Pretty Primadonna

    OFF TOPIC: Has anyone else read the article on racked dot com “Why your Facebook feed is filled with women selling essential oils and press-on nails”? An interesting take on MLMs is that it is “another outlet for female ambition, for ‘leaning in’ and ‘having it all.'” Also, I didn’t realize the connection of some MLM companies with the church. Link to follow.

    • lucy stone

      Thanks for sharing, this was an interesting read. My husband belongs to a conservative church and his pastor’s wife makes sufficient bank selling Mary Kay that they have two Escalades from it, which I think is hilarious. Women at his church often comment that I should do that instead of being a lawyer because it’s somehow perceived as a more family friendly job.

    • Anon

      You should post this in the afternoon’s thread.

      For me, the women I know selling it are of one very specific socio-economic set. The idea of lawyers stepping away from their jobs to sell boldly patterned sundresses seems incongruent to me.

      • Pretty Primadonna

        As to your last sentence, yes, me, too. O_O

        And I will post this in this afternoon’s thread. Thanks for the suggestion!

    • Idea

      Thanks.
      A friend invited me to an online party for her microfiber rag business.
      I am not kidding.
      They have a 68-page catalog. No. words.

    • Anon100

      Really interesting read. I had never made the connection between conservative Christianity and MLMs until this article. Most women I know doing MLMs are of that set, but one is a high-powered ambitious woman with a full-time career, so I’m not sure what her motives are, other than extra income

  21. Lyssa

    I think that her look is lovely and completely professional, but I also think that, at least for me, a nice ponytail like that would take a lot more effort than just leaving my hair down and making it neat and professional.

  22. bridget

    As long as it is neat and held in place with a professional-looking band or clip, what’s wrong with a ponytail? To me, it always looks like “I care about looking polished, but am not spending a half hour in the morning on my hair. Let’s get stuff done.”

  23. Killer Kitten Heels

    Putting aside Kim’s hair, I actually found the scene Kat calls “inspiring” (where she’s calling her entire contact list and everyone she’s ever met to find a client) really sad – I just want to shake her and shout “YOU DON’T HAVE TO BE WHAT THEY WANT YOU TO BE!” every time she starts in on some course of action that’s designed to appease the a$$hats she works for.

  24. AJD

    I have a case pending for years in front of a well respected federal judge and she rocks a ponytail at least 50% of the time I am in front of her. Sometimes she uses a plain ponytail holder, sometimes a barrette; there may have even been a scrunchy one or two times. It is more often a mid level pony and just sometimes a low pony. There are also many pictures of Hillary Clinton and Supreme Court Justice Ginsberg with ponytails. How many more powerful women need to wear ponytails before we can shut this topic down?

    • N.J.

      Scrunchies are never professional. They are bulky, ugly and extremely out of date at this point.

  25. Cat

    I don’t think there’s been this much violent agreement on thiss!te since the great DC to NYC: Amtrak or Plane? non-debate several years ago. Ponytails FTW!

  28. MissDisplaced

    Yes, it’s perfectly appropriate if you have long hair. Be you man or woman.
    And gosh, Kim is such a great character on BCSaul! But she is hardly squeaky-clean. ;-)

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