My fringe after 2 years

So like I was at my old high school a few weeks ago to pay for my brother's school fees when one of the ladies in the office recognised me ad said that I looked much different from before. I looked at her and I said, "how so?" She replied to me as "With your hair and all. Now it's all long and 'stylish' with a fringe as well." Which makes me wonder if I've changed that much under like 2 years? I mean, at first my fringe was a side fringe throughout high school and since I've been to vietnam around 2009/2010 I had a front fringe which I thought of out growing it but a friend told me not to cause a full front fringe looked way better. So after that I kepted it. But my question is, if you change your hairstyle to something different like a cut or dying it would you look different from before?