The person choosing a simple cut may be choosing easier days rather than less interest in themselves.

Simplicity in how someone keeps themselves is often read as a loss of interest, when it is usually a decision about mornings. A style that takes five minutes survives illness, small children, early shifts, and bad weeks. Choosing it can be an act of self-regard rather than a retreat from one, since the person has decided what their limited attention is for. The mistake is assuming that visible effort is the only measure of care.

If you have been reading someone’s plainness as giving up, ask what their mornings actually contain. Then extend the same generosity to your own choices.