Remember when Anne Hathaway had long hair? Here she is, regal as all get out:
Then she got a pixie cut for her role as Fantine in “Les Miserables” (which PB cannot WAIT to see!):
Let us thank Miss Hathaway for introducing this conversation on Really Short Hair. Really short hair can be chic, sexy, androgynous, femmie, or anything you want it to be. It is part of your overall look and should be something that you think of as an accessory. We do not cut our hair short simply so that it will be “easy,” as this is usually the first line of thought that contributes to frumpiness. “Oh, I’ll get a cute short cut and that’s all I’ll need to do. Wash and go.” In Part One of this conversation, I fussed about “invisble make-up.” Here I’m fussing about a related phenomenon: expecting one’s cute, architectural haircut to do all the heavy lifting in the crafting of one’s public image.
Sure, you could do that. But you’re going to be unpolished if you do. The simple fact is that a woman with long hair that she has twisted up in a lovely, simple chignon or tiny braids (I’m thinking of my sisters of color here) can get away with a tailored outfit and no make-up but a pop of lipstick and still look pretty well put together. The hair alone, styled in a way that creates a visual connection to the Archetypal Feminine (don’t barf, I’m serious here!) does a lot of the heavy lifting for a woman in leadership. Her posture will be better. Her neck has a more elegant line. If she adds a pair of earrings and a strand of beads or pearls, she’s more than halfway to making an impression. I’m not suggesting we all need to have long hair, I’m just making an aesthetic judgment.
Women with very short hair immediately read as casual and sporty. If they don’t do something to dress up their look and make it somewhat more sophisticated, their hair can limit their ability to look appropriately matched to, say, ornate vestments. I see this so often and it makes me cringe. “Nice miter over that wash-n’go hairdo!”
Here’s Miss Anne Hathaway again, working the gamine look. I don’t think it suits her but that’s not the point. The point is that, believe it or not, she is wearing a full face of make-up. Very short hair functions as the perfect frame for the face. Anne knows that, which is why she has made sure to have her make-up artist provide her with perfect, dewy skin, lovely, shiny lips, long eyelashes and neat, striking eyebrows.
A very short haircut is a chic accessory. Getting a pixie cut and then just leaving it with no further thought to your look is like wearing an Hermes scarf over a sweat suit. Why would you make the investment in such a classic, luxe accessory and then announce the fact that you have no idea what to do with such an elegant item?
Here’s a cute hipster gal with a pixie cut. She’s not a religious leader so this isn’t any criticism of her, just an example of how much like a kid a grown woman can look with short hair. Fine and fun for our gal here, but not a look any religious leader wants to cultivate:
Here are some women with pixie cuts who understand that very short hair creates the perfect frame for a striking face. Miss Audrey, for example. Look at those brows and those lips! She didn’t roll out of bed looking like that.
In the “Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night, Hello No I Ain’t Gonna Be An Old Washed-Out Woman With Short Hair” Category, we have these fabulous ladies:
Miss Chita is all about the bold lip. She’s a Broadway star and that’s how a Broadway star does it. You can, too. Just be sure you have the charisma or presence to stand behind those lips.
Iris Apfel is all like, “I’m a fashion model, darlings, and I am so not afraid to make you look twice.” Okay, I admit she’s cray-cray. I think that’s actually MONKEY FUR, and her specs are crooked. But you know what? Miss Apfel is a force to be reckoned with and because I know that, I would not think this look disastrous if I saw her in person. I would be fascinated and appreciate her as a walking work of art.
I’ve seen some women ministers who think they’re a force to be reckoned with attempt a look that is almost this, um, creative, but the sad truth is that they don’t have that innate sense of bearing and come across as goofy eccentrics. That’s sad.
Miss Chloris Leachman is a veteran actor who isn’t retiring any time soon, and thank ye gods for that. Chloris isn’t the glamorous type, so she’s wearing totally neutral make-up but still looks ready for her public appearance.
Now, just to show you that famous gals don’t always get it right even with years of experience and pro make-up artists at their disposal, here’s Miss Leachman in 2009, looking totally frumpy in a very outdated hairdo (oof, those bangs!) and terrible outfit. We still love her,and she doesn’t care what we think, but if she did we’d have to tell her that her beads and top are definitely not working in her favor. She looks like an aged camp counselor or like someone working the front desk at a Boca Raton motel, not like a world-celebrated artiste!
The moral of the story, chickpeas, is that a very short haircut is not something you get so that you don’t have to style your hair. You still have to style your hair with just as much care and intention as you ever did, but differently. And you need to think that much more carefully about what kind of face you are putting out into the world, since with your hair that short, folks will be noticing that face a lot more.
My favorite person with a short haircut….Jamie Lee Curtis. And as soon as I find a wig that looks like her haircut, I’m putting it on and never taking it off.
Michelle Williams also rocks the short hair like nobody’s business. I so wish I would wear my hair like this but it would look completely ridiculous on me. I think generally one needs to be a small boned person to effectively carry off this look – which is one of the reasons it does not look good on the otherwise lovely Anne Hathaway.
http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=michelle+williams&view=detail&id=80F36A8C24D6025ECE47F1E800DA12765AAF71EC&first=1
Amen on the fact that short hair does NOT mean it’s easy! People look at my short hair and comment, “Oh, it must be so easy to take care of.”
Well … true, it doesn’t require a lot of special treatment. But I still blow it dry, put product in it, and I wash it every day since it has product in it (when I wake up in the morning it sticks straight up like a mohawk).
And having short hair means more trips to the salon – it’s important to maintain the structure of the cut.
I also needed to pay more attention to my jewelry choices – earrings seem so much more prominent when there is no hair covering the ears! And it shifted the lines of my clothing. I always liked more tailored garments, but with my hair so short, it really called for clean lines.
Going super short was a really good decision for me – and a bit scary at first b/c my partner loves long hair.
And furthermore, if people think they can actually “wash and wear” a haircut like this, they are sadly mistaken. Short hair definitely has to be styled, and it definitely requires product, and if you towel-dry and go, you’re going to look like a MAN. (Which is fine if that’s your identity, but if it’s not, then it’s a problem.)
I noticed when I cut my hair into a short pixie cut, I instantly felt bolder and more feminine and began wearing a bit more make up to highlight my features. And several people made interesting comments about my face no longer being hidden behind my hair.
But this raises a question I have been meaning to ask for a while now: I almost always wear lipstick or a pretty gloss because I feel washed out without it, but I have just recently been ordained into a tradition where it is customary each Sunday to kiss the gospel book after proclaiming the gospel. At this point in the service, I am standing in the middle of the congregation, so there’s no chance of sneaking in an air kiss – people do watch closely to make sure I’m not cheating!! I dare not wear lipstick because I am terrified it will rub off on the pages. I’ve looked back through the archives a bit and see recommendations for long-lasting lip colour, but not necessarily for lipstick which really truly stays put when kissing books (or the altar, for that matter), and I find some stains still rub off a bit once the balm is put over them. Do you – or other readers – have any suggestions? (Apologies if you have posted on this before and I’ve not searched blog properly.)
As a long-time reader and first-time commentor, I want to thank you for your wonderful ministry here. I have so appreciated your words of wisdom over the years and no doubt will continue to do so as my own ministry evolves.
Very timely since I’m cutting my lox off this summer.
Dear Sister-Altar-and-Gospel-Kisser-Kate, I kiss them with my nose – I bring the book to my face and when it touches my nose I air-kiss it. I also place my forehead or nose on the altar and air kiss. Alternatively I place my hand on the Gospel/altar and kiss my hand. I do wear lip stains that stay in place through preaching, communing, eating and lecturing, but I don’t want to risk the linens or pages either. I use Stilla which does not come with a balm. (I just test-kissed a white paper towel and nor rub off.)
Dame Judi Dench and Annie Lennox also have short hair that accentuates their look-and both accessorize beautifully!!
I got my hair cut into a very short pixie for the first time last year. I also started using product and styling my hair for the first time. I couldn’t believe how many people noticed and commented on how much they liked it. Plus, like Kate, I felt bolder and more feminine at the same time.
Ellen Degeneres provided the inspiration for me. I actually took my phone to my stylist with a picture of Ellen I found on a website and said, “would that look good on me?” My stylist was really, really happy because in the past, I’ve never offered any help at all in figuring out what to do with my baby fine hair.
Also, Peacebang, thank you, thank you, thank you for posting the pictures of stylish older women who are really showing their age. I love being able to see the beauty of women of different ages. Wrinkles and gray hair will come into all of our lives. It’s great to see women who embrace them and shows us their beauty not in spite of, but through them!
Thank you, Mtr. Gafney! So far my “solution” has been to serve a snake-belly-low parish that would be *horrified* by my kissing *anything* during the liturgy , and when I take my stole on and off I just air-kiss it. But the nose and hand techniques sound useful!
I concur that even the long-lasting lip products that PB recommends most highly, while they do a good job of keeping color on my lips all morning, are not fail-safe enough to risk touching other peoples’ expensive paper, linen or brocade!
Dear Gillian – *guffawing* and *chortling* at “snake-belly-low parish.” We at the African Episcopal Church of St. Thomas (the first black Episcopal Church, 1792, Absalom Jones) are so high that we wear copes 10 mos of the year, have a couple dozen acolytes, 2 crucifers and an 8 person Gospel procession on a regular Sunday along with smells and bells – sanctus bells *and* chimes. A festival would mean a second thurifer and triple figure-8 procession that could take 15 or 20 minutes. Did I mention we’re a black episcopal church? Mass is 2-21/2 hours. We rock. (If I do say so myself and fans of our Gospel choir’s CDs say so too.)
And I am Fr. Wil because I will not let them call God and the male priests one thing and call me something else. When they can call God/dess “Mother” then they can call me mother. And given that choice they call me Father, fervently. I love them.
Thanks, Fr Wil, both for the suggestions and the recommendation of Stilla. I shall have to try the nose-to-book trick on Sunday and see how it goes (and I will also have to visit your church sometime because it sounds amazing!). It’s so reassuring to know that I’m not the only one who has this problem and that there are other women who have successfully negotiated similar tricky territory and who are happy to share the wisdom they have gained!
I’ve always, always had short hair–all my life! (Except two times, and the Biblical exigesis of those particular instances would take too long to relate here.) I am tall and not small-boned. And I have a fairly long neck, so I make sure that my stylist always leaves long-ish wisps of hair along my neck so I don’t have that chopped-off look. One thing no one has mentioned so far is what kind of hair you have to have for a good short cut. Mine is very thick and pretty straight, maybe with just a bit of a bend here and there. I have seldom permed or colored it, so it’s healthy; my stylist always comments about what great hair I have. (And of course I have oh so many features about my own body that I’m not wild about, but I do agree that I’ve got great hair.) Nevertheless, it calls for product. I have finally found something I like: Bumble and Bumble “Bb Hair (un)Dressing Cream.” Works on damp or dry hair, doesn’t need to be set in with a blow dryer. If I don’t use it, I look like I have a roadkill on top of my head.
I took the Judy Dench pix in with me. My hairdresser said, “So you’re going there?” I said, “Yep.” She said, “Then I’ll take you there.” And off we went. One of the best decisions hair-wise I’ve ever made. And yes it does take work to keep up with the Dame. [Stop teasing and send me a pic already!! – PB]
Thanks for this! I was struck by your comment about how short hair can’t do all of the heavy lifting for a look. These days I wear very sculptural, noticeable glasses with my short hair. I hope that my look comes off as intellectual!!
Working on the pic!