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5 Women’s Hair Lengths Explained (Charts & Diagrams)

Women's hair length chart - Illustrated

I like the above chart because it’s far more helpful than the more common terms which are short, medium-length and long hair.  Some people may even say “very short” or “very long” but again, one person’s view of what’s short hair may be totally different than someone else.

The charts above and below use anatomy to give some absolute definition to hair length which helpful.

Below we define each hair length as referenced to women’s hairstyles.


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1. Very short = Above the ear or shorter

We acknowledge that some people may consider very short buzz cut only.  We get that, but we also include close-cropped cuts like pixie cuts in our very short definition for women.  For men, very short would only be a buzz cut, for women, it’s not out of the question to include a short pixie cut.

Very short ear-length women hair illustrated chart


2. Short = Chin and Above

Some people might consider above chin length to be short and not just very short.  Again, defining hair lengths isn’t easy and there’s room for interpretation.

Short ear-length women's hair chart


3. Medium-Length = Shoulder-Length

Shoulder length is a fairly true representation of medium-length hair length.

Medium-length-shoulder-length hair chart for women


4. Long = Armpit length

Armpit length or longer is definitely long hair.  Some might suggest armpit length as long, but we believe that’s medium-length in the big scheme of things.

Long armpit-length hair chart for women


5. Very Long = Mid-back or longer

Mid-back and longer is definitely very long.   This is not a terribly common hair length relative to the other lengths, but it’s still done.

Very long mid-back length hair chart for women




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Lily James was at the "Cinderella" World Premiere at the El Capitan Theater on March 1, 2015 in Los Angeles, CA. She wore an elegant and stunning gown that paired perfectly with her sandy blonde low bun hairstyle with a slick finish.

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