Carolina Herrera has always had style opinions that get people talking, and this time was no different. Although the phrase is not new, it started circulating again as if she had said it yesterday: according to her, women over 40 should not wear long hair because “it doesn’t look elegant.”
The designer reportedly said in an interview with Daily Mail that “only classless women wear long hair after 40.” She also criticized those who, from her point of view, try to look too young with long hair or certain clothes, as if age came with a mandatory manual on how to dress.
Obviously, the phrase landed terribly. For many women, the problem is not just the comment about hair, but that idea of putting an expiration date on how someone can look. As if turning 40 meant starting to ask permission to wear the length, color, or style you feel like wearing.
And that’s the part that makes the most noise. One thing is having an opinion about elegance, and something very different is telling other women when something stops “belonging” to them. Because long, short, gray, dyed, or whatever kind of hair should not depend on a rule imposed from the outside.
In the end, the comment sparked controversy again for a pretty simple reason: many women are no longer here for being told how to look according to their age. And even less for accepting that “class” depends on hair length.