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Not to make this about me, but over the past year or so, I’ve been having a hair-related identity crisis. My hair, once a mullet, then a sort-of pixie cut, is in a weird in-between place, and I don’t know how to wear it. It doesn’t help that I asked my partner to cut my fringe in the near-darkness while we were both exhausted, which has now left me looking like a wonky-looking bowl. All of this was very stressful, of course. Until I found the perfect haircut, that is – I’m talking about the ’90s bixie cut, a style which has become all the rage in London this summer.
The bixie is exactly what it sounds like. Half-bob, half-pixie, the vibe is casual and undone, like a grown-out pixie cut, or a choppier, more mussed-up bob. Pixie Geldof has the most perfect bixie cut, in my opinion (hers used to be a pixie, but she let it grow out), as does our October 2024 cover star Florence Pugh and British model Jourdan Dunn. But the style was also huge in the late ’90s and early Noughties, which is probably why it’s so popular right now. Think: Cameron Diaz and Meg Ryan circa 1997, or else Halle Berry circa 2002. Essentially, these are pixie cuts that are long enough to rake your fingers through and tuck behind your ears.
Hairstylist and groomer Charley McEwen, who has styled everyone from Alexander Skarsgård to Lily Allen, has also noticed the bixie “having a real resurgence right now”. He thinks that this is partly because of its versatility, as well as its throwback appeal. “It’s short enough to feel fresh and liberating, especially as the weather warms up, but not so cropped that it’s a drastic change for most clients,” says McEwen. “It brings together the structure of a pixie with the softness and layering of a bob, which makes it really wearable.” As for why it’s so popular currently? “It carries a bit of that late ’90s elegance, which always circles back in fashion but never feels overly trend-led,” he says.
Fortunately for me and everyone else who plans on getting a bixie cut this summer, the style isn’t hard to look after, either. “One of the strengths of the bixie is definitely how well it adapts,” says McEwen. “If someone has fine hair, I’d work with the Aveda phomollient styling foam or the Living Proof full volumizing spray to give it body at the roots. For coarser textures, I might use a smoothing cream or leave-in conditioner to help the shape sit cleanly,” he adds.
When it comes to drying this sort of style, McEwen tends “to blow-dry it using a small round Babyliss brush, focusing on lifting at the crown and keeping the ends neat; something that gives it that effortless shape without too much fuss. To finish, I might add a touch of styling cream through the layers to define the texture without weighing it down.” All in all, you want this hair to feel styled but not overdone. As McEwen says, “A good cut like this should do most of the work for you.”
