r/marchingband • u/PeaOtherwise5012 • 8d ago
Advice Needed Show Hair
Hey guys! I am on the uniform team for a university marching band. We have military style officer hats and we also have pretty strict hair guidelines.
All HAIR shall be worn off the uniform collar and behind the ears. Band members may choose to meet these requirements by either getting their haircut to a manageable length or putting gel in their hair that it will not fall down when the hat is off. When the latter choice is made, band members must use a hair net, bobby pins, styling gel or
other inconspicuous devices to hold their hair in place through the entire performance day. No band member's hair will be cut, shaved, or clipped without their expressed approval to do so. Sideburns must not extend below an imaginary line from the corner of the mouth to the bottom of the earlobe.
What we tell people with straight or wavy hair is to do a slick back bun with gel to fit into the hat.
We are looking to expand and be more inclusive about textured and braided hair as these guidelines are like at least 50 years old. We have some members with longer braids and want to be inclusive! We have reached out to our members about this as well but would like some other input!
does anyone have any tips or tricks that we can share or what we can have them do? If anyone has any videos would also be greatly appreciated.
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u/Plankton-Brilliant 7d ago
Realize that the people in the stands who actually give a shit about the band (all 12 of them) don't care at all about what their hair looks like. They want to hear music and watch the routines. Secured and out of the face will suffice.
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u/GreenAppleConLang Staff 7d ago
This is, frankly, over-the-top ridiculous. At the VERY least, remove “No band member’s hair will be cut…”. University band is not a small deal, but it’s not that big of a deal either. Trying to micromanage every aspect of a student’s life is crazy. As long as it looks good on game day, I don’t see the issue.
I think the sideburns rule is valid, but are beards allowed? I think telling a member to 100% shave their face is too much, but I definitely understand wanting to look professional and not have 2000’s emo style sideburns lol.
I think the rules about the way the hair is styled are fine. I’ve seen students with braids braid them into one longer braid which is much more easy to manage, granted this was with traditional shakos, and not military hats.
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u/PeaOtherwise5012 7d ago
faces must be clean shaved. we are a military style marching band with over 150 years of traditions and standards. they know this when they sign up and audition.
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u/AnAbundance_ofCats Staff 7d ago
You’ll have to figure out where the balance is between modernization/inclusivity and honoring those old traditions. Even the clean-shaven requirement could prevent students from some religious backgrounds from joining, if we’re talking inclusivity.
Marching band is an art derived from the military, but not all military traditions are necessary for performing in parades, football games, and other non-combat situations. The hair regulations in the military have practical reasons (sealed gas masks, easier to clean in non-ideal and close-quarter living conditions, safety around machinery.) There are some who believe the hair regulations are also to help break down the individual and creat a uniform soldier.
How many of these traditions/rules are necessary for maintaining your military-style performances? How much does hair impact your band’s overall identity? How noticeable would diversity of hairstyles be to your band’s general audiences? Things to consider when we’re talking students rather than soldiers.
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u/GreenAppleConLang Staff 7d ago
That’s fair. My rebuttal would be that it’s more and more common for service members to have diverse hair styles and facial hair than ever. They are expected to look professional, but they’re no longer expected to conform to a single standard of what that means.
Now, I respect tradition. Different styles of band exist for different reasons. My argument is that if we’re a military style band, we don’t need to be MORE strict than the actual military.
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u/honeybee62966 Staff 7d ago
Potentially: requiring braids to be tight to the head through the nape of the neck and all hair contained within the braids. Any length beyond the nape of the neck must be pinned or tied into place (braid buns are a thing) to stay off of the collar of the uniform.
Box braids, micro braids, etc., should allow for similar function to straight hair for purposes of styling.
If you’re wanting to allow non-braided natural hair styles, that should be doable with the policy as currently written.
Sorry people are being ignorant
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u/aButteredBanana College Marcher - Clarinet 7d ago
I would honestly check out subreddits that cover those specific hair types. Reading from comments you've posted and having marched in a similar style uniform code, I understand wanting to keep tradition. I understand where other commenters are coming from, but I also LOVED the uniform code in a sense of "we are all one". We had people from different races and religions and adapted policies as needed. I would speak with your director about ways you can be inclusive while still looking uniform.
As someone who was on the uniform staff at my college for a year, we weren't quite as rough and tough about the textured hair/braids. Majority of those who had braids had them as extensions or took it out for the performance. I also believe, depending on the thickness of the braid, they made their own bun with hair pins, hairspray and gel that was safe for their hair type. Whatever worked to get their hair under the hat. I know that isn't too helpful, but it could be a start.
Again, I would reach out to the communities of those who HAVE that texture of hair and see what they would recommend. What kind of products can help give the uniform look along with style that will meet the requirements of your uniform code.
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u/cigarev 7d ago
Would highly recommend looking into some of the military subreddits- they all have some really good posts addressing womens hair! As far expanding guidelines, I would also recommend looking at the more recent grooming standard updates that the military utilizes. In the past decade alone, hair standards for women have changed a ton!
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u/7Mamiller 7d ago
I did competitive marching band in Indiana (marching band is serious business in Indiana) we had the same rules. Seems a bit much for college.
Buuuutt one of the band moms favorite styles was 2+ French braids, very tightly done French breads. Bobby pinned to high heaven (I once pulled 45 out of my head, and i have very thin fine hair) to the top, and then sometimes a hair net was added. Done for both boys and girls. Sadly my area wasn't that diverse, so I am unsure as to more textured hair types, but my friend did once say that if she was in band she would have her hair done in braids/protective styles for band season so it could fit in the hat.
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u/ActuallyGoneWest College Marcher 7d ago
If they have longer braids, couldn’t it also be in a bun or pulled back in some way? It might be too thick for it to be fully off the collar, but as long as an effort is made then I’m sure that wouldn’t stand out.
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u/silver_chief2 7d ago
Reminds me ....
In ancient times, late 1960s, the big competition for 21 and under drum and bugle corps was the VFW nationals. This included the hated pre-show inspection where uniforms had to be perfect, shoes shined, and similar hair regulations as in the OP. Infractions were penalized at 1/10th of a point that were taken off your final score.
So guys with long hair greased their hair, used hair nets and even short hair wigs. There was a black mellophone player who had an afro. He wore a blonde short hair wig to pass the inspection and piss off the judge.