Pre-dreading hair length

[janellemarlee]

I took out my synths last week because I missed natural hair. Not dreadless hair-- I miss that somewhat desperately. Anyway...

My hair is about 2 inches past my shoulders right now. I guess 8-12" since it's kind of layered. (I haven't had it cut since September, eep!) What should I expect if I were to dread it right now?

I know my husband dreaded a friend's hair once. It was mid-back pre-dreading, then it shortened to just below shoulder length, and within a couple months, it was a bit longer than her chin. She ended up trimming them to be about 4-5" longer after a while because the ends were chunky and the dreads were skinny.

I just feel I'm going to look stupid with short nubs. Plus, I need to be able to pull my hair back and look "conservative" for school and work (nursing). I mean, my synths were no prob, but I wore them in an updo of some sort always.

Pros, cons, pics, please!!!

[punicorn]

My hair was down to my lower back, almost to my butt when I dreaded it. They shrunk to be about shoulder length at the shortest.
I don't really have pictures to compare, but there's a few pictures of my dreads and how they shrunk here:

viewtopic.php?f=41&t=359&start=0

and

viewtopic.php?f=41&t=359&start=25#p39882