Short or Long Hair?

Garnet/Dagger cutting her hair was the FF equivalent of Grease's Sandy wearing tight-fitting leather, perming her hair, and taking up the habit of smoking.

I got the feeling while I was playing it that she was doing it to fit in with Zidane's world. Cutting her hair made her appear feistier, more akin to Zidane. Garnet's adopting the name 'Dagger' was itself a sort of homage to Zidane, and her fascination with him is a key influence in her decision to cut her hair, I'm sure. She does also cut her hair with Zidane's dagger, I think. In fact, Zidane's little dagger keeps popping up for Garnet's most important moments. :-)ahmed: That's not what I meant, guys! Although there is that too, I guess!)

I guess there was more to it than that though, in that Garnet had much to gain from cutting her hair personally. Her long hair was a symbol of her comfortable aristocratic life as a princess. Garnet was beautiful, and her long hair formed a part of that beauty. However, it was also a burden. Garnet would have to spend a long time washing, combing, and stroking her hair and making herself look presentable with these impressively long strands which reach her bottom. Garnet decides to rebel from that life, and in cutting her hair, she has less hair to worry about. Garnet also can be more carefree as a result, and creating a new identity for herself can make it easier to deal with the trauma of what happened before.

It might also be worth thinking about various traditions on our own real life planet where cutting hair can be a ritual display of grief and mourning. When Garnet was cutting her hair she was still mourning the death of Brahne and all of the other people Garnet believed she had let down. In part, it is possible that some of the hair cutting was done in their honour as well as for herself, or for her infatuation with Zidane's dagger.

As for which I prefer? Both versions of Garnet are beautiful in their own ways. I did prefer the longer haired form of Garnet, as I do prefer longer hair in women. That's just a personal preference (and not entirely thought-out or an exclusive thing). Both of Garnet's hairstyles fit her personalty at the particular moments when she has them.

EDIT - I guess in the end none of it mattered.. I think she grows her hair back to its long length for the ending scene. With Kuja gone, Garnet slips comfortably into her royal life again.
 
I think she's damn beautiful either way. I find things like hairstyle look best when they make the person sporting them happy; the happier a person looks and is, the better they look, because let's be real, happiness is attractive. The Princess is very elegant and regal with long hair and with short hair and neither hairstyle is superior or inferior to the other.
 
I think Garnet looks more proportionate with her long hair. If her short hair was cut more to a different style than just a hacked off version of what she had (which would have conflicted with the story and reasoning I know) I think it would have looked better. Personally, I always thought her short hair looked a little awkward.
 
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