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Carey Mulligan. |
The pixie sticks
Tired of boring bobs or, worse, hair extensions, Hollywood starlets are cutting it all off
It was a gamine Michelle Williams, staring out coyly from the October cover of Vogue, who finally drove the point home: the pixie is back.
Traditionally associated with the impish likes of Audrey Hepburn and a circa-“Rosemary’s Baby’’ Mia Farrow, the pixie - a super-short, choppy haircut that borrows its name from similarly coiffed fictional sprites - has gone supernova this fall, gracing the high-profile noggins of everyone from Ginnifer Goodwin to Carey Mulligan to Rihanna.
The look first blipped onto celebrity-rag radars last year when Katie Holmes went from a bang-heavy flapper bob to a shorter mop during her stint on Broadway. The trend picked up steam this summer when Halle Berry returned to her signature, super-short ’do and Ciara dramatically unveiled an edgy, asymmetrical boy cut.
Now Christina Ricci has chopped off her locks and is sporting a style vaguely reminiscent of ’70s skating star Dorothy Hamill. (Google her, kids.) Mulligan, the much-buzzed-about young British star of “An Education,’’ is also rocking a boyish crop. Other women across the pond, meantime, continue to request “the Aggie,’’ the homage to model Agyness Deyn’s peroxide-blond ruff (though lately the model has been sporting a slightly longer, Ramona Quimby-like bowl cut - dyed black).
Marc Harris, chief executive and lead stylist of Salon Marc Harris, says the resurgence of short cuts is the inevitable reaction to the bob that dominated heads and fashion headlines for several seasons.
“You’re either going to grow it out or get extensions, or you’re going to cut it,’’ said Harris. “It’s a natural progression.’’ Indeed, pixie chicks Goodwin and Rihanna both came to their current look gradually, working their way from long, luxurious locks to above-the-shoulder bobs before unveiling the final cut.
Williams first debuted a pixie at the 2007 Independent Spirits Awards, but her new style boasts longer sideburns and more layers, which Harris says is typical of the cut’s most recent iteration.
“There’s a lot of texture,’’ said Harris. “It creates a high level of pliability.’’
Still, he doesn’t foresee this latest celeb follicle trend - a look most flattering to long-necked, high-cheekboned members of the populace - trickling down to every head of the hoi polloi.
“Eight out of 10 women who walk in the [salon] door still have longer hair,’’ he said.
© Copyright 2009 Globe Newspaper Company.
