Braids finally accepted...

[diamondlady]

My hair grows great with braids, I get 3/4-inch a month with the braids, and though I try I don't do that well without the braids, but, as some of you might remember, last year when I wore braids for 4 months, my director had problems with it. He made little comments, jokingly, but I didn't have to have a house fall on me to know he didn't like them. I later found out that he said, in confidence, to another employee that my hair style was not professional and even my nice business suits couldn't make up for it. He said that it was a teenager's hair style or something I should wear on vacation. Several other managers on my management team also made comments. There was a lot of negative feelings and it seemed my opinions were no longer respected at the meetings. I finally got rid of braids and things immediately got back to normal.

Well, to make a long story short, my company was sold and only about 90 of us kept our jobs. I recently decided to get braids again, and I'm new boss complimented me on my braids and several of the new people also complimented my hair style. I'm estatic, relaxed and looking forward to additional growth.

 

[Peachtree]

I'm glad that your new boss is mature enough to judge you based on your professionalism & not your hair style. That was really silly IMO.

 

[joyous]

Its a shame that in 2003 that people still can't accept this.

 

[dontspeakdefeat]

Yes, congratulations. It is good that you retested those waters and got a positve response.

 

[sassygirl125]

at your old managers...

Braids are unprofessional in the workplace, but the "comb-over" is okay... Which one looks sillier to you?

 

[Nessa]

WELL THAT IS GOOD.

 

[diamondlady]

Funny you say that Sassygirl, my old boss had thinning hair and grew it real long and added tons of hair spray to cover. It must have taken an hour to style his hair in the mornings. Evenually he got tire of all the efforts and he finally got a haircut. He's almost bald in the top.

When he made his remarks, I told him he was just jealous and I would talk to my stylist and try to get him an appointment. You can imagine the reception that comment got.

 

[Tgirl]

I got my hair braided for the first time about three weeks. It was a cornrow style. My hair grew a lot faster with the braids and I plan on getting them again in a couple of weeks (my neice did it for me, so I have to fit in her school schedule). Fortunately I didn't get any bad comments at work. I got negativity from my husband.

 

[miss_brown]

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Braids are unprofessional in the workplace, but the "comb-over" is okay... Which one looks sillier to you?

[/ QUOTE ]

You all are killing me!

 

[Stormy]

Oh that's terrible! It's a shame that many people will give more credit to your outwardly appearance than what's inside. In your case they cared more about how professional your hair looked than how professsional you actually are and how much of an asset you were/are to the company. Maybe that's why you're still there and they're not. Glad your new manager and coworkers know style when they see it.

I was the first person to ever wear braids in my department. This was years ago when braids weren't so widely accepted in corperate america. I got nothing but compliments. I was always (and still)told that mine look so natural. Once my new growth starts coming in, some people have to get up really close to see that I'm wearing braids.
I always keep mine no longer than shoulder length and I wear the human wavy hair. The one thing I didn't like was telling them how long it takes. They would look at me like I was crazy then! That's when the negative remarks would come. I still continued wearing braids no matter what they said.

 

[SherryLove]

[ QUOTE ]
I'm glad that your new boss is mature enough to judge you based on your professionalism & not your hair style. That was really silly IMO.

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tell me about it......