(CNN) — Tommy Manis is officially the woman with the longest ponytail in the world, as her short in the front and long in the back hairstyle is almost 173 centimeters long.
The last time he got a haircut was on February 9, 1990, in a Guinness World Record.
“A lot of people notice when I turn around, so most of the time they don’t realize how long my hair is until they see the back,” Manis said in a video released by Guinness World Records this Thursday.
“It was the ’80s and everyone was wearing ponytails,” she said, adding that she was first inspired to grow a ponytail after watching Dill Tuesday’s “Voice Carrie” music video.
“The girl had a rat’s tail, and I wanted to keep it,” says Manis.
After chopping off her ponytail in November 1989, the Tennessee resident immediately regretted it and decided to grow it back the following year. After that, it was never cut again.
Tommy Manis is from Knoxville, Tennessee. (Credit: Wade Payne/Guinness World Records)
Manis usually wears his hair in braids, and when he rides his motorcycle, he tucks his tail into his pocket.
One of her friends braids her once a week, and the ponytail stays put until she washes it again and dries it with paper towels, because “otherwise it’s mostly wet,” she says.
The short front and long back hairstyle, commonly associated with the 1980s, has a history going back centuries: even the Greek poet Homer wrote about it in “The Iliad” in the 8th century BC. C., refers to spearmen with “carved bangs, long hair behind”.
For Manis, this hairstyle has made people recognize her for more than 20 years, and has provided a talking point among her friends and family.
Last year, he placed second in the “Femullet” category of the 2022 USA Short Front Long Behind Championship and won a $300 prize with it, prompting him to apply for the record at Guinness.
After a long process, including filming to show the length of her hair, Manis received a package on her front porch informing her of the official registration.
“When I opened it, it was amazing,” he said.
— CNN’s Leah Dolan contributed to this report.
