Vote for your favourite Geldof!

Friday, February 01, 2013


Just kidding. It's about my hair. Again.

I decided to grow the pixie crop out for Blonde Bridesmaid's wedding, because we were wearing long, floaty, purple gowns and I didn't want my head to look like a peanut perched on top of an aubergine. Understandable. So I grew it longer, into a short bob, and since then it has grown even longer, into a straggly mess.

Now it's getting beyond ridiculous. It badly needs cut. But the trouble is, I'm torn about which way to go. Pixie or bob? Bob or pixie? It's a DILEMMA. And I need your help.


PIXIE PROS:

Zero maintenance on a daily basis, which means a few minutes shaved off my morning routine, which means I can get to work that little bit earlier. HA. Not really. Sleep, precious sleep, I want moooorre.

I know it suits me. Nobody ever in my life complimented my cheekbones before I went for the crop. There's a reason the cut is called a pixie: it's a little bit magic.

According to this wonderful piece on short hair by Joan Juliet Buck, "short hair removes obvious femininity and replaces it with style," which can be both daunting and exhilarating. I try to aim for the latter.

PIXIE CONS:

High maintenance on a long-term basis. In other words, twelve weeks between cuts isn't going to fly, unless I want to rock the alpaca look.

Increased risk of looking like a middle-aged woman. Or a man. Or a lesbian. Or a middle-aged male lesbian (Eddie Izzard, I'm looking at you).

Also according to Joan Juliet Buck, "short hair requires you to keep your weight slightly below acceptable levels." Bear in mind she was the editor of French Vogue, so we can only imagine what her idea of an "acceptable level" is. Fear this could disrupt my current cheese-eating schedule.



BOB PROS:

Change of scene. The trouble with a pixie is that, once it's on your head, it doesn't really *do* anything. It just sits there, being short. It gets a bit repetitive. I haven't had a full-on bob for nearly two years - time for a change?

I swear a bob makes you look French. Especially the all-one-length, jaw-skimming ones I've had my eye on. That could be because all the pictures I've been pinning are of French women, but surely that just proves my point? And everybody knows looking French is a key consideration in all matters sartorial.

Ponytails. I miss ponytails.

BOB CONS:

My hair is pretty fine, so the longer it is, the flatter it looks. When I used to have proper long hair, it basically looked like I'd draped a hair-coloured tea towel over my head.

 What, you mean I actually have to style my hair? Like, with a brush? What do you think I am, some kind of hairdresser?

Is a bob just the poor man's pixie? Is it for people who are too lazy to grow their hair and too scared to chop it all off? Would it be a cop-out? Am I over-thinking this? (Don't answer that last one.)

THIS IS WHERE YOU COME IN:

As you can probably tell from the above, I'm more torn than Natalie Imbruglia (who, interestingly, went for that messy pixie-bob hybrid. A third option? Wait, no, no more options!).

Bob or pixie?? Pixie or bob?? Please somebody just tell me what to do! Vote in the comments!!



Geldofs: Pixie Geldof by Alasdair McLellan for Vogue UK September 2009, Bob Geldof via herePixies: (Clockwise from top left) 1. Credit unknown 2. Mandy Coon by Shawn Brackbill for Wonderland 3. Credit unknown 4. Credit unknown, although Czech Marie Claire says it was in an exhibition at the Paris Musée Galeria. Bobs: 1. Ali Larter by Frazer Harrison via Style Bistro2. Et Pourquoi Pas Coline 3. Christian Dior Haute Couture S/S12 via here (that link is bobtastic) 4. EZGİ Kıramer for Blank Mag

Whew. Do I win some kind of prize?

35 boats moored

  1. I say bob ! So cute and fancy. And they definitely look French-chic now that you say it. Also, Natalie Imbruglia. So many memories, you brought me right back to high school and the days where MTV showed actual music videos.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Sorry real photos needed please!

    Go for bob then you can switch back to pixie easily later in the year

    ReplyDelete
  3. I was going to say pixie, but then I saw the ali larter bob picture and I love it, so my vote is bob! (plus, anything that disrupts your cheese eating schedule can't be good right?)

    The phrase 'hair coloured tea towel' just made me snort my tea. Ha!

    ReplyDelete
  4. I love my bob and do this thing where I pull some of the front over to give me a fake fringe. BUT you look ace with the pixie. Acer than ace. Maybe have a bob dalliance and then return to your pixie perfection. In other news I used to know someone who had a massive crush on Bob Geldof and then got to work with him on the Big Breakfast. Apparently he was just lovely, but then she was quite biased. I don't know if that would sway you more towards a Bob or not though.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hmm, a dalliance with Bob... not something I've ever contemplated before, I have to say.

      Delete
  5. Bob bob bob bob bob.

    Those pictures are so beautiful... and Francophilic. And, as Amy says, you can always go back to Pixie later after a dalliance with Bob. And a brush in the morning won't kill you ;)

    However, I am quite cross with you for posting this. I'm thinking I will be going for a BIG FAT CHOP now- my hair is shoulder length and I'm quite bored of it... might steal your photos to take to the hairdresser! Hair temptation! Thanks Kirsty! xx

    ReplyDelete
  6. I have just booked a hair appointment. If this all goes tits up, I'm blaming it all on you :) xx

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Ooooh exciting! Good luck, I want to hear how it goes!

      Delete
  7. The thing about a bob is that, at least for me, I love it when it's just been cut or when I've spent ages styling but then hate it almost all the rest of the time. But that might be because my hair is thick and wavy so it flicks.

    I love your hair in a pixie cut. Sorry!

    ReplyDelete
  8. I think ordinarily I'd vote bob but you just suit the pixie so well I'm going to have to go for that.
    (who else genuinely thought this was about the geldofs? Damn you K and your clever punnery)

    ReplyDelete
  9. I agree with Esme - bobs only look good when you've just had them cut and then they look straggly for a bit and then they do that awful thing where they start puffing out as the hair hits your shoulders.

    If you can pull off a pixie cut, get a pixie cut. Everyone can have a bob (I say this as someone with a bob) but few people can pull off a pixie cut and they look amazing.

    ReplyDelete
  10. I love a good bob (fnar) but if you can rock the pixie, then I would say go all out for the pixie. If I could, I would.

    Or - rock the Bob till we're properly in spring and as the days get longer and warmer - BAM! Pixie it right up.

    ReplyDelete
  11. I declare bias as I have a bob. I really like longer hair but like you, I have very fine hair. I find that my bob is very low maintenance (although definitely not possible to ponytail. And teeny ponytails look stupid I think) but I got a Babyliss Big Hair for Christmas and it makes blow-drying embarrassingly easy as it does that using a circular brush thing for you while you just hold it sans effort or skill. Worth investing in.

    I also think you can wear bigger earrings with a bob without looking a bit Pat Butcher - but I have very little sense of style or cool so please feel free to ignore.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The Pat Butcher point is a valid one. When I got my hair cropped I became all about the studs.

      Delete
  12. I'm voting for pixie.

    ReplyDelete
  13. bob. it really suits you. xx

    ReplyDelete
  14. Stick with the pixie. Not only does it look insanely good on you (I'm just jealous!) but the bob is not all you have cracked it up to be up there (I know.)

    - You can't have a pony tail (too short)
    - If your hair is anything like mine you will try to create the above styles and totally fail. Then be back to the repetitiveness you complained about with the pixie.... but the pixie is cool in itself, therefore stylish! And you DO NOT look like a middle aged woman!

    Oh and my hair grows fast, so I have the same cutting issues with a bob. Desperately in need right now.

    :)

    ReplyDelete
  15. I am currently having the same dilemma. If you go pixie, I may have to ask you for a hairdresser recommendation as mine all keep moving on or putting up their prices. (is that a little overfamiliar, considering I've never met you?)

    I'd vote Pixie, mostly because I find that bobs go a bit crazy towards the back when I'm wearing a scarf (i.e. in any month that isn't June or July).

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I wish I could! My hairdresser just left to go on maternity leave so I'm hairdresserless right now, which has probably contributed to the terrible state my hair is in - I've been putting off finding a replacement because I don't know where to start.

      If I find someone I'll let you know!

      Delete
  16. I definitely think pixie. It looks great on you (not that I stalk you round the internets) and as a fellow pixie wearer, they are so easy to manage and always look reasonably put together. Plus, I have an excellent pixie hairdresser, but in London so not that useful.

    Bobs are super cool, esp for a Francophile, but I find the work involved in keeping them looking cool really too much. Plus, I think you have to live up to them more, clothing wise, than you do with a pixie as otherwise it can look less-than-intentional.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oh, innnnteresting! See, I always felt like I had to think harder about clothing when I had the pixie. 60s styles worked really well, as did more tomboyish looks, but all my nipped-in waist dresses and anything too pink or girly looked weird. Maybe that's why JJB thinks you need to be slimmer to pull off a pixie, because it's easier to flatter curves in more feminine styles?

      Delete
    2. Abi Cowley/Harwood1 February 2013 at 17:06

      Yes definately easier to flatter curvy girls in more feminine styles. I adore 60s Tomboyish clothes but just cannot pull them off AT ALL.

      Delete
  17. Ooh, I love the pixie (possibly because it's something I could never pull off in a million years unless I was going for the moon with a toupee look).

    But....I think you should go for the bob and then at your next cut you can go back to pixie if you decide that it's not for you.

    But....then again, only the first of your pixie cons is actually valid for you.

    So, to sum up that unhelpful bout of indecision. Pixie is awesome on you, bob would look good too and is a "safer" choice but neither is the wrong one xx

    PS: Chortled at your "tea towel" description xx

    ReplyDelete
  18. I *adored* the pixie cut on you! it's ADORABLE. but I totally get the whole bob thing. I've been rocking some version of the bob for years - with the intermittent pixie or boob-length venture. but I always end up veering away from it. the length is just weird - you can kinda put it up in a ponytail, you can do half up, but nothing else. it's kind of a tease length.

    and sod all that nonsense about pixie rules. you have the perfect hair texture and body structure for it! could you learn to cut your own hair, or maybe have a friend do it? I mean, it would only be touch-ups, right?

    ReplyDelete
  19. Pixie. Now, if you could make the same decision for me, that would be a huge help. All these scraggly bits have to go.

    ReplyDelete
  20. Abi Cowley/Harwood1 February 2013 at 17:03

    The Pixie/Bob Hybrid sounds like a good idea to me.... I have grown and grown AND grown my hair for last 2 years from short bob to past the shoulders... and now, I am BORED... I keep thinking of getting it all cut off (I love Frankies from the Saturdays hair...but she has a very pretty, slim face) I think I a bit too chunky for that... I will just keep growing it until I decide what to do. Maybe back to a bob? mmmm

    ReplyDelete
  21. I am a complete numpty and have left you bizarre comments on Pinterest! Anyway, my vote is bob til the summer, then go pixie again :)

    ReplyDelete
  22. I vote for bob! I don't have much justification for why you should take my opinion, but I do offer it with exclamation points!!

    ReplyDelete
  23. I adore pixie cuts, and I think you look great with your hair uber-short. However, in order to satisfy your indecision, go for a bob, then decide in a month whether to go shorter.

    For further consideration- if you aren't interested in styling your hair, then a bob really isn't much of a change in scenery- thus canceling one of your "pros."

    ReplyDelete
  24. Usually I would say bob - but so few people can carry of the pixie, and it looks so freaking cool on those who can. Plus - hello - no maintenance? Why would you ever abandon that?

    I've always wanted to go uber-short - but I fear my round face/big bust/not exactly skinny combo lead to the whole middle-aged lesbian vibe rather than the french androgynous vibe.

    ReplyDelete
  25. I say bob, if you hate it or get bored styling it you can still get it cut into a pixie cut. Once you've got the pixie you need to wait for it to grow, might as well make the most of your hair now you've grown it?

    Lauren
    www.livinginaboxx.wordpress.com

    ReplyDelete
  26. This pixie-haired lady votes pixie for you, my dear. You look so cute with one!

    ReplyDelete
  27. Wow, everyone is totally split on this! I love the bob, and think it would look ace on you. However, the pixie looks great on you, so maybe you could rock a bob for a while, then get it cut short when you get bored of it? That's totally not an answer is it?

    ReplyDelete
  28. My biggest fear is the middle aged woman look. I think with a pixie cut you have to be quite careful what you wear and sometimes I am not.....Also how to grow a pixie cut out??!! My hair grows so fast but I just can't get to the point where it looks alright!

    ReplyDelete
  29. Pixie. Everybody can have a bob, but only cool chicks go pixie.

    ReplyDelete