Some women cannot wear "nice" long hair because of health problems, sometimes caused by illness, sometimes caused by poor nutrition. Other times it's because they've never learned to use certain products or styling appliances to make it look as nice as possible.
My hair tends toward frizzy because it's both fine and wavy. When I use a flattening iron or hot rollers, I get decent results.
Sometimes just washing, conditioning, letting it dry and putting it in a braid and atop one's head is the best you can do. And maybe it's best for the hair in the long run.
I understand that short hair on women has been the norm after the age of 40 since the 1920's. But prior to that, all women had long hair, young and old. How one styled one's hair had to do with age and state in life. Young girls wore it down ... older girls (teens) began wearing it up as they became more mature ... and there were various ways of braiding or fixing one's hair ... but it was up in most cases.
Today's older women associate aging with short hair. So many ladies diminish their looks by some of the hair styles they choose as they get older. So many are very unflattering. I sometimes imagine them wearing a nice bun and think that for most their faces and profiles would look better.
God Bless,
MrsZ