History Main / LettingHerHairDown

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Amphibia}}'': In the third season, [[Characters/AmphibiaSashaWaybright Sasha Waybright's]] new hairstyle is left loose and longer, symbolizing her being no longer a ControlFreak.

** The first time Finn took off his hat (season 2 episode "To Cut a Woman's Hair"), it was played as a gender-swapped version of this trope, with a specific focus on the majestic beauty and length of his golden locks.
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Amphibia}}'': In the third season, Sasha's new hairstyle is left loose and longer, symbolizing her being no longer a ControlFreak.

** ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'': For the first two Books in the series, Katara was known for her "hair loopies", though they often [[SlipknotPonytail came undone]] during fight scenes. Come ''"Book 3: Fire"'', she finally decided to simply wear her hair long as part of her disguise, while they were in Fire Nation territory. Interestingly enough, this was a conscious decision on the part of the writers, who, during commentary for "[[Recap/AvatarTheLastAirbenderTheWaterbendingMaster The Waterbending Master]]" episode, [[WordOfGod admitted they preferred Katara's look with her hair down]]. Which they cited as the reason for usually having her hair unravel during her fight scenes.
** ''WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfKorra'': Korra gets her ponytail knocked loose a few times. The first is in "Harmonic Convergence", where she's flung from Oogi's back. She spends the rest of the finale with her hair down. The second is in the Book 3 season finale, where she loses the ponytail along with her shoes, skirt, and armband when the Red Lotus chain her up in preparation to poison her.

* In ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'', a brief variation of this shows up in the episode "Sisterhooves Social". Rarity normally has her mane curled, but near the end of the episode, she goes out in the rain to play with Sweetie Belle, and her mane gets straightened by water. While it's unintentional on her part, it still fits, as it's an indicator that she's been willing to relax her desire to keep up appearances in favor of spending time with her sister. Rarity's mane gets straightened by the rain again in "Magical Mystery Cure" and "Rarity Takes Manehattan".
* ''WesternAnimation/TheOwlHouse'': In "Through the Looking Glass Ruins", Amity dyes her hair from mint green to lilac and she has her bangs cut, as opposed to them being longer and tied back in a ponytail, no longer resembling her mother's hair, reflecting that she's further cutting herself off from her mother's toxic influence.

* In ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' episode "Homer Alone," Marge treats herself to a spa visit but is too worried about her family to relax. While taking a long hot bath, she finally unwinds, allowing herself and her towering hairdo to gradually sink beneath the surface of the water. When she comes back up, both she and the hair have loosened up.

* Misty/Kasumi from ''Anime/PokemonTheSeries'' normally has her hair tied into a small pigtail. While she is indeed a cute girl, her appearance [[BeautifulAllAlong changes]] dramatically every time she puts this trope to practice.
* In ''Manga/PokemonAdventures'', following [[spoiler:the rather traumatic incident with N at the Nimbasa Ferris Wheel]], White keeps her hair out of its usual ponytail, signifying her depression. She ties it back up when she somewhat comes in terms with herself. Incidentally, fans agree she looks much prettier with her hair down.
* Played very unusually in ''Anime/PuellaMagiMadokaMagica''. Originally, [[spoiler:Homura]] has her hair done up in twin braids, but eventually lets it down. This doesn't signify her becoming more relaxed in the slightest, though; in fact, it marks her transition ''into'' being serious. So you could say it's inverted, only it's also played straight, because the character was previously shy, so it signals a growth in confidence. On the other hand, it also seems to represent the loss of her innocence. So it's hard to classify where this one lands.

* Phyllis Jaraba in ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWarsOriginalGeneration [[Characters/MasouKishin Coffin of the End]]'' normally has her hair braided up and also wears glasses. She takes off her glasses and lets her hair down [[spoiler: after she's BrainwashedAndCrazy by the giants of La Gias.]]

* ''Franchise/{{Batman}}'': Harley Quinn is shown to wear glasses and have her hair in a bun prior to meeting The Joker. When she goes crazy and springs him from Arkham she loses the glasses and begins to wear her hair in pigtails.

* In ''Film/GoodbyeLenin'' the main character notices that his love interest wears her hair down when she is happy and up when she isn't. This acts as a convenient visual aid for the viewer later on when they have an argument.

* Magda in ''Theatre/TanzDerVampire''. Human!Magda has a skinny red braid. Vampire!Magda has voluminous, cascading red tresses.

* In ''VideoGame/BarOasis 1'', Desree Mboshi lets her hair down after a series of late night duties, looking to relax at the titular bar. [[spoiler:That also happens to be the very same night Vic sleeps with her.]]
* [[ShrinkingViolet Noel Vermillion]] of ''VideoGame/BlazBlue'' as of ''Chronophantasma'' after two games of keeping it tucked under her beret.

* ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfHeroesTrailsOfColdSteelIV'': Juna Crawford usually has her hair tied up but in her swimsuit DLC costume, she has her hair down. She also has it down in [[spoiler:the true ending route of the game]].

[[folder:Visual Novels]]
* ''VisualNovel/ABridgeToTheStarrySkies'': In the OVA adaptation, Koyori does this as a way to disguise herself while [[DatePeepers spying on Kazuma and Madoka's date]]. She also does this in the visual novel as part of her [[spoiler:efforts to explore her feminine side as she starts crushing on Kazuma]].
* Inverted with Juniper Woods of ''VisualNovel/PhoenixWrightAceAttorneyDualDestinies'', who wears her hair in two braids in casual clothes but lets it down at school, when showing her more serious and professional side as a student in the Judge course and StudentCouncilPresident.

[[folder:Webcomics]]
* The uptight Necr... sorry, Croakamancer Wanda Firebaugh in ''Webcomic/{{Erfworld}}'' becomes a lot sexier (and much more open towards the protagonist) when she does this late in the comic.
* Tavatiana, of ''Webcomic/GeneCatlow'', inadvertantly does this by [[http://www.genecatlow.com/comics/20010420.gif dunking the back of her head]] [[http://www.genecatlow.com/comics/20010423.gif into a fountain.]] She doesn't realize it, however, [[http://www.genecatlow.com/comics/20010511.gif until she gets back.]] But then, she does ask Cotton if she should leave it like that...
* In ''Webcomic/GunnerkriggCourt'', after Annie messed with Jack's half-recovered brain and he in return messed with her, she let the hair down and took a deep breath before saying she's sorry. Combining it with a subtle case of PuppyDogEyes made the apology absolutely irresistible.
* In one ''Webcomic/LeastICouldDo'' storyline, Rayne pursues a woman simply because she wears glasses and he wants to complete a mental "Sex Bingo" card. Issa demonstrates how pathetic Rayne is by getting the woman to [[http://leasticoulddo.com/comic/20040122 do this]], completely infatuating him. After beating up his friend Mick to try and impress her, Mick is upset...[[http://leasticoulddo.com/comic/20040130 until she does it again]].
* ''Webcomic/MagickChicks'': Callista is introduced with her hair done in a [[TomboyishPonytail tomboyish]] [[http://www.magickchicks.com/strips-mc/deadeye ponytail.]] But, once she and [[spoiler:Cerise]] start dating, she convinces Callista to [[http://www.magickchicks.com/strips-mc/a_little_something let her hair down and bleach the fringes of it]], [[spoiler:as part of her scheme to reshape Callista's image]].
* In ''Webcomic/NightmareFactory'', Emai's braid gets loose during her confrontation with Phirre. Kreyul braids it again because he says she looks like a ghost. It switches from braided to loose for the rest of the series.
* A sort of reverse example happens with Vaarsuvius in ''Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick'' when the elf cools down after their rampage of insanity, admits their mistakes and ties their EvilMakeover-induced WildHair into a ponytail. With thier Headband of Intellect.
[[/folder]]

* ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'': For the first two Books in the series, Katara was known for her "hair loopies", though they often [[SlipknotPonytail came undone]] during fight scenes. Come ''"Book 3: Fire"'', she finally decided to simply wear her hair long as part of her disguise, while they were in Fire Nation territory.
** Interestingly enough, this was a conscious decision on the part of the writers, who, during commentary for ''[[Recap/AvatarTheLastAirbenderTheWaterbendingMaster "The Waterbending Master"]]'' episode, [[WordOfGod admitted they preferred Katara's look with her hair down]]. Which they cited as the reason for usually having her hair unravel during her fight scenes.

* At the beginning of ''WesternAnimation/ThePowerpuffGirls1998'' episode "The Mane Event", as the girls wake up from their sleep, we get to see Blossom with her hair down.

* Deb Whitman does this in an episode of ''WesternAnimation/SpiderManTheAnimatedSeries''.

A Sistertrope to ImportantHaircut, TheGlassesGottaGo.

A SisterTrope to ImportantHaircut, TheGlassesGottaGo.

* In ''Series/{{Cheers}}'', Lilith letting her hair down in "[[Recap/CheersS5E4 Abnormal Psychology]]" led to Frasier kissing her for the first time.

* ''WebComic/MagickChicks'': Callista is introduced with her hair done in a [[TomboyishPonytail tomboyish]] [[http://www.magickchicks.com/strips-mc/deadeye ponytail.]] But, once she and [[spoiler:Cerise]] start dating, she convinces Callista to [[http://www.magickchicks.com/strips-mc/a_little_something let her hair down and bleach the fringes of it]], [[spoiler:as part of her scheme to reshape Callista's image]].

** One of the {{Rule 63}} episodes features Fionna removing her hat and revealing her ''very'' long hair while singing with "bad little boy" Marshall Lee.

* Artemis Crock spends most of ''WesternAnimation/YoungJustice'' with her hair tied back in a ponytail for functional day to day reasons, but can occasionally be seen with her hair down, usually to indicate relaxation (''Salvage'') or vulnerability (''Summit'').

** ''Series/StarTrekEnterprise''. Science officer T'Pol has the standard Vulcan SciFiBobHaircut, but in "In A Mirror, Darkly" she's got long flowing hair down past her shoulders, in accordance with the EvilIsSexy look of the MirrorUniverse. Ensign Hoshi likewise has loosened her hairbun into a ponytail. Both are portrayed as FemmeFatale-types in contrast to their restrained normal personas.

* ''Fanfic/TheBodyReflectsTheHeartTheShadowReflectsTheSoul'': Ann does this for her date with Ryuji in Chapter 37. His brain briefly short-circuits at how nice it makes her look.

* In the ''Literature/{{Spaceforce}}'' series, the culture of the Taysan Empire considers unbound hair to be indecent. When Jay pulls Ashlenn's hair bindings out and forces it to fall loose when he persuades her to elope with him, he might as well be stripping her.

* ''Series/{{Degrassi}}'' character Holly J starts out with her hair in a tight ponytail at all times, letting her hair down once in a failed seduction technique on resident hottie Blue. As she becomes more comfortable with people, and stops being the AlphaBitch, she slowly moves to less uptight hairstyles. Season 9 she wears a series of cute functional hairbands, finally in Season 10 she moved to her hair being unadorned unless for practical reasons for whatever activity is going on. Other characters have done the switch to hair down for BeautifulAllAlong reasons.

* Misty/Kasumi from ''Anime/{{Pokemon}}'' normally has her hair tied into a small pigtail. While she is indeed a cute girl, her appearance [[BeautifulAllAlong changes]] dramatically every time she puts this trope to practice.