Restoring Curls To Bleached Hair?

My boyfriend convinced me to go blonde because he loves blondes.  I have naturally curly hair so I decided to honor his wishes. 

I went to a hairdresser who didn't seem to know what she was doing and my hair was very blonde but I couldn't do anything with it other than blow dry it straight.  Then it still looked dry and frizzy and the roots started growing in quickly.

Now I can't get my curls back.  My hair, if I don't blow dry it, sticks straight out but there is no curl or wave. 

I have tried letting my hair air dry or diffuse dry but that just results in a clump.  I also tried the duckbill trick of lifting the top hair which used to help with my natural curls but now it doesn't at all.

I went to a different stylist who told me that the bleach striped the natural oils out of my hair and caused my natural texture to decompress.  She told me to cut my hair (which is shoulder length) super short and then just conditioners and let my bleached hair grow out and start over.

Can that be right?  Do I need to start over?

Unfortunately bleach can be very harsh on hair and you most likely will have to start over to get hair back to the curl pattern you want.