22 March 2007

To pixie or not to pixie?


That might just be the question.

Cutting your hair as pixie-short as Elisha Cuthbert, Michelle Williams and the woman I saw exiting Andre Chreky at the corner of 16th and K at around 6:15 yesterday evening is tantamount to declaring to the world, "My face is flat-out gorgeous."

And in their respective cases, they're right. They are that pretty. And Natalie, Halle, Sienna, Charlize and my fedora-adoring friend C? All of 'em, forget about it, they'd be gorgeous completely bald.

While I'm confident enough to know I'm not stuck in Kirsten Dunst, Jennifer Aniston or post-Good Will Hunting Minnie Driver territory, I also know my limits, and when it comes to hair, that's about two inches below my ears. Any shorter, and I'm right back in that chair at the JC Penney salon in Lansing with trainee stylist "Gessica," a boy's bowlcut (complete with side-buzzing) and a tear-stained picture of Demi Moore from Ghost I had carefully torn out of YM magazine and constantly, though unsuccessfully, reminded Gessica to reference throughout my 11 minute cut.

Michelle (pictured below) claimed the decision to chop was made for her -- a role in an upcoming film required it. Equally practical, Elisha (above) said it was the years of styling damage that finally convinced her to trim a good nine inches off her long-ish bob. Unfortunately, I didn't ask the woman I spotted yesterday why she had taken the Mia Farrow plunge, a decision in retrospect based on how comfortable she seemed with her daring 'do. A woman who's just followed through on a decision most of us think about but never really take seriously when our stylists ask us, "So...what are we doing today?" depending on the outcome, either wears the proud but giddily excited look of a woman who's just returned to work after an on-a-whim hour-long "lunch" in room 416 at the Mayflower, or she looks like an eight year old who's lost her Mommy in a Super Wal-Mart: trembling lip, tear-brimmed eyes and in a state equal parts disbelief, remorse and abject fear.

This woman wore neither expression. She just looked pleased. It was clear she had gone in for a touch-up, not a lop-off. She wasn't particularly well-dressed, nor was she memorably striking, but as she strode out the front door of my salon, I had to quickly skip from "Ode to..." to Ralphi's Hot Freak remix of "Don't cha" so I could stop and admire the confidence behind that haircut with just the right soundtrack. If successfully executed, I imagined myself walking about town making every man who passed me nod in admission that they did, in fact, wish their girlfriends were hot like me.

Still, there is the potential, even with a trusted stylist, for all this to go very, very wrong.

When it comes to love, I've always been a proponent of holding off on making important decisions when the two of you are still in that face-to-face-three-times-a-day, saying-"I-love-you"-every-10-minutes-and-meaning-it happy bubble. Yesterday, upon seeing this woman, I realized that same logic applies to dramatic haircuts as well.

So instead of showing up for the appointment I have with Rodney after work today armed with these two pictures of Elisha and Michelle, I'm going to postpone my trim a couple of weeks and see if my fondness for boy-hair is sincere or simply a passing fancy brought on by listening to too much god damn Snow Patrol.

14 comments:

Anonymous said...

I'd support you, of course, if you went super short, but only if it was for the right reason -- because you felt like it, not forced into it by your need to change the way you look. It might look super cute, but you need to see a REALLY good stylist. I'd ask around for the best short-haircut stylist in the city. Chances are, it's not your guy. Pay extra for the expertise. If something goes wrong, it'd be tough to fix with only an inch of hair on that pretty head :-)

Gosh, Elisha looks SO much better with that cut, doesn't she?

Anonymous said...

I dunno, JC...you're not the cutesy type. Never have been. Isn't there a short haircut that's more sophisticated and less "adorable" you can come up with?

You're concerning me with this potential decision. Despite what most men think, I know women don't subscribe to the belief that hair is just hair. You're waiting both of those 2 weeks, right? Tack on one more for me, okay?

Anonymous said...

You have the pretty face and the facial structure for short hair, but as someone who has rocked close to no hair, very long hair, and currently the in between mod look BE CERTAIN you trust your stylist and know EXACTLY what you want.

Or else you may discover who my love affair with hats first began.

Anonymous said...

PVD- a pixie cut can be glamorous with the right face and the right style.

I think JC would look less Tinkerbell and more Va-Voom than most women would with the pixie. I believe that we brunettes have the advantage on this style.

Anonymous said...

AnĂ³nimo No Mas:

You're very right, she *does* have the face for it and she probably wouldn't look as cutesie-pie as these 2 in her post. I guess I'm just hesitant to immediately throw my support behind this cut because last I spoke with our beautiful editrix she told me she was growing her locks out "Monica Bellucci style." I'm just a bit concerned this is a rash decision.

But then again, rash decisions sometimes turn out to be the best ones.

Anonymous said...

Go for it!

But I agree with everyone here, find the *right* stylist first.

Anonymous said...

That would be incredibly sexy on you. Even the Michelle Williams cut. I'm behind you 100%, doll :-)

Anonymous said...

Whoah, I think I'm going to be the one voice of dissent here. Your hair is too pretty to cut. And you like doing all sorts of styles with it. This short, you can pretty much only wear it one, maybe two ways. Think it over, but I'm gonna vote "no."

But I still love you!

Jenifer said...

I admire both your courage to consider such a cut (as I never could with my curly locks) and your down-to-earth sensibility of enforcing a waiting period. I truly hope you wait the full amount of time. A rash decision with hair can be a devastating one, especially when it's that short.

Good luck!

Johanna said...

Thanks for all of your feedback, dear readers!

To those concerned, I totally appreciate from where y'all are coming. I do tend to make impulsive, feels-great-in-the-moment decisions, but up to this point only with my love life, not my appearance. This would truly be new territory for me.

I promise to wait out the entire grace period. And, if I *do* decide to take the pixie plunge, good or bad result, I'll post a high-res photo here for you guys to envy/pity.

In the style of Regina from "Mean Girls" -- "kiss kiss, love ya".

Anonymous said...

I think it would be perfect for summer. And if you decide you don't love it, it'll have grown out quite a bit by fall. You've definitely got the sweet little face for it.

Yes, *sweet*. I bet that pisses you off, doesn't it?

Anonymous said...

Do it. DO IT.

(said with Ben Stiller's accent from "Starsky & Hutch")

Anonymous said...

Yes, I concur, DO IT! I'd love to, but I don't have the face for it. Too round, too cheeky. Let me live vicariously through you :-)

John said...

Gold as an investment Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The most traditional way of investing in gold is by buying bullion gold bars. Nowadays, gold certificates are still issued by gold pool programs in Australia and the. Two of the most serious problems are the massive banking crisis that has Japan on the horns, and huge budget and trade deficits that are endemic to the USA Best Mutual Fund Options Islamic Investment Malaysia. Investing in Islamic unit trusts/mutual funds in Malaysia. Syariah compliant, safe and proven to be highly profitable.