let your hair down
idiom

- to allow yourself to behave much more freely than usual and enjoy yourself

Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary

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WORD ORIGIN

In the Grimm's Brothers fairy tale of the same name, Rapunzel lets her hair down in response to the evil enchantress' command. This has a practical purpose since the witch has no other way to reach the top of the tower other than climbing the "golden stair."

Later, when the "Prince in passing" observes this scene and repeats the line "Rapunzel, Rapunzel, let down your hair, so that I may climb the golden stair," Rapunzel does as she is told. This also serves a practical purpose, but as we discover later in the story she really does let her hair down in a figurative sense and becomes pregnant with twin children.

This would be a fitting way to explain the origin of the idiom "to let your hair down," but we would not be giving credit where credit is due. The explanation is much simpler.

Despite hairstyles that have changed over the centuries, women have traditionally kept their hair long. Some fashions have involved pinning the hair up so that it doesn't hang loose over the shoulders, thus presenting a more conservative look. But in order to maintain it and brush it properly, the hair has to be unpinned and "let down." This is something traditionally done in private at home, especially before going to bed.

Older Hollywood films often show scenes with couples having a discussion in the bedroom before going to bed. While the husband brushes his teeth, the wife sits at the vanity, lets her hair down and slowly brushes it while enjoying the husband's admiring glances. It doesn't take much of an imagination to know what happens next. While this scene may appear old-fashioned today, it does a good job of illustrating how this phrase originated.

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SYNONYMS

rest, relax, chill-out, mellow, unwind, take it easy, loosen-up

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SMUGGLE OWAD INTO TODAY'S CONVERSATION:

"After stressful week, I like to LET MY HAIR DOWN and party with friends."