History Main / LettingHerHairDown

-->''And I see you... In a different light\\

In my mind.... you're a beautiful sight\\

Just the way I saw you, last night''

* ''Fanfic/DoingItRightThisTime'' sees [[Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion Asuka Langley Soryu]], [[PeggySue after getting a chance to do things over]], decide to no longer wear her A10 neural connectors as barrettes, since she has decided to no longer allow herself to be defined purely by her role as an Evangelion pilot.

* At the end of ''VideoGame/MetroidOtherM'', Samus is seen out of her Power Suit and Zero Suit, and into what looks to be a uniform, hair let down and rather [[RapunzelHair Rapunzel-ish]]. Though she ties it back into a ponytail after a while, the dialogue and her expression easily convey her feeling of peace and coming to terms with [[spoiler: [[HeroicSacrifice Adam's death]]]] and the resolution of the Bottle Ship incident.

* ''Fanfic/RocketshipVoyager''. As the eponymous RetroRocket doesn't have ArtificialGravity, the female crewmembers prefer updoes or [[SciFiBobHaircut bobcuts]], but this changes once they're underway and the thrust of the rocketship creates pseudo-gravity. Captain Janeway likewise decides to let her hair down from the Bun of Steel, but this happens just before a dinner she's having with Space Commander Chakotay to try and mend some bridges with him, so this trope is implied.

* Artemis Crock spends most of ''Young Justice'' 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'').

* ''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 [[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]].

** Inverted with Nanoha. She loses her tight little pigtails as she grows up, and is shown wearing her hair out, but her personality doesn't change at all, since she was already very mature. She's back to wearing it tied up in the third season, albit looser and in a single ponytail.

* Setsuna of ''Manga/MahouSenseiNegima'' not wearing her hair in a {{Samurai}} style side-ponytail in the later chapters once she starts growing out of her intensely serious, [[TheStoic near-deadpan]] demeanor.

[[folder:Web Comics]]

Often, when a female character is particularly serious or uptight, her hair will be serious and uptight too -- [[PrimAndProperBun pulled back in a tight bun, or something of that sort]]. When a woman gets a love interest and starts to loosen up a little (as such characters almost inevitably do), she will start wearing her hair down, or at least in a looser style.

** Then in ''WesternAnimation/FrozenII'', Elsa undoes her trademark braid and makes a ponytail when crossing the Dark Sea. When she reaches the cavern, she completely unties it.

Sometimes the letting down is actually done expressly to make the character look more attractive, with existing admirers having their desires heightened while those who hadn't noticed them before suddenly find them to have been Beautiful All Along. This is likely related to the medieval notion that long hair was an indication of the owner's sexual prowess and concupiscence, and in fact incited others to arousal if it were not hidden, concealed, or worn up in some fashion.

* In ''Series/{{Cheers}}'', Lilith letting her hair down led to Frasier kissing her for the first time.

** Then in ''Disney/FrozenII'', Elsa undoes her trademark braid and makes a ponytail when crossing the Dark Sea. When she reaches the cavern, she completely unties it.

* In ''Film/HowToRobABank'', Jessica removes her black wig once she knows her cover is thoroughly blown. Under it, her naturally brown hair is pinned up to allow her to wear the wig over it. When the power to the vault is turned off, she lets her down, showing how at ease with Jason she now is.

* Princess Jasmine in ''{{Disney/Aladdin}}'' is shown with her hair down after the "Whole New World" sequence where she and Aladdin have fallen in love, and she's truly happy for the first time in the film.
* Belle too, from ''Disney/BeautyAndTheBeast'', after the Beast rescues her from wolves. Also, after the Beast defeats [[https://sphotos-a-ord.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash4/1001738_10152137696029097_465538097_n.jpg Gaston in battle.]] In both cases, the hair being down happens at a moment when she's more vulnerable.

* In ''Disney/{{Frozen}}'', Elsa first wore her hair in a tight braid which she put into a bun (symbolic of her tightly wound, suppressed nature). After letting go of her anxiety and deciding to no longer hide what she is, she tousles her hair and lets her braid hang over her shoulder.

* In ''Disney/TheLittleMermaidIIReturnToTheSea'', Ariel wears her hair tied up in a bun whenever she is on dry land, symbolizing how much more stern and strict she is. When Triton transforms her back into a mermaid, her hair comes undone and falls loose freely. After the ordeal is over, Ariel is shown wearing her hair down as a human to reflect her change in character.
* Twice inverted in ''Disney/{{Tangled}}'', since it was after a long time with Flynn that she put her hair up, and let it back down [[spoiler:after returning to Mother Gothel]].
* Jane Porter from ''Disney/{{Tarzan}}'' is only seen with her hair up at the beginning of the film. After her friendship with Tarzan starts, it's almost always shown down. This reflects how she's becoming accustomed to the jungle.

* In ''Disney/FrozenII'', Elsa undoes her trademark braid and makes a ponytail when crossing the Dark Sea. When she reaches the cavern, she completely unties it.

* Angela Drake in ''Film/BrewstersMillions''. When the movie begins, she's purely professional with her hair up, but near the end she sports a lady 'fro.