An American woman breaks the record for the longest ponytail in the world

(CNN) — Tammy Manes is officially the woman with the longest ponytail in the world because of her short front and long back hairstyle, which is about 173 cm long.

The last time he cut his hair was on February 9, 1990, according to the Guinness Book of World Records.

“A lot of people only notice it when I turn around, so most of the time they don’t realize how long my hair is until they look back,” Manes said in a video released by Guinness World Records this Thursday.

“It was the ’80s and everyone wore rat tails,” he said, adding that he was first inspired to grow his ponytail long after watching the “Voices Carry” music video released on Tuesday.

“The girl had a mouse tail, and I had a huge desire to have one,” Maness says.

After cutting her ponytail in November 1989, the Tennessee resident immediately regretted it and decided to grow it again the following year. Since then, he has never cut it again.

Manes usually ties his hair into braids, and when he rides his motorcycle he puts his tail in his pocket.

One of her friends says she braids it once a week, and the ponytail stays that way until you wash it again and dry it with paper towels, “because otherwise it will stay wet most of the time,” she says.

The short-in-the-front, long-in-the-back hairstyle, usually associated with the 1980s, has a history dating back centuries: even the Greek poet Homer wrote in the “Iliad” in the eighth century BC. C., refers to spearmen with “cropped bangs and long hair in the back.”

For Manise, this hairstyle has made people identify with her even for over 20 years, and has been a topic of conversation among her friends and family.

Last year, she placed second in the volleyball class at the 2022 USA Short Front and Long Back Championships and won the accompanying prize of $300, an experience that emboldened her to apply for the Guinness World Record.

After a lengthy process, which included having his hair photographed to show its length, Manes received a package on his balcony telling him the official record.

“When I opened it, I said, ‘This is amazing,'” he said.

CNN’s Leah Dolan contributed to this report.