26 of the Best Short Haircuts in History
Photo: Stephen Shore, Edie Sedgwick, 1965-1967, Courtesy of the artist and 303 Gallery, NY
Edie Sedgwick’s name never fails to pop up when discussing the all-important topic of historical short hair cuts. The Factory Girl, born seventy years ago this weekend, wasted no time becoming an overnight hair icon when in 1965 she chopped off her long, mousy brown hair into a bleach blond, and sometimes silver spray-painted crop cut. Women cut their hair for all different reasons, from film roles (Rooney Mara) to liberation (Emma Watson) but the chop feels as fresh and bold today as it did fifty years ago, with similar versions now back in the limelight on many young stars, from Miley Cyrus to Anne Hathaway, to Michelle Williams.
Short “boy” cuts tend to fall into two distinct camps: the pixie and the tougher, partially buzzed version. Actress Jean Seberg can be credited as one of the earlier adopters of the pixie (chopping it off in 1957 for her first film role as Joan of Arc), but her look became most iconic in Goddard’s Breathless. Audrey Hepburn’s enviable crop in Sabrina continues to inspire gamines everywhere. Click through the slideshow to see Rihanna, Agyness Deyn, Tilda Swinton, Mia Farrow, Demi Moore and all the women you’ll want to use as short hair inspiration this spring.
Edie Sedgwick, 1965 The celebutante cut her long brown hair into her trademark blonde crop shortly after becoming a regular at The Factory, Andy ...
Edie Sedgwick, 1965 The celebutante cut her long brown hair into her trademark blonde crop shortly after becoming a regular at The Factory, Andy Warhol's NYC studio.
Photo: Stephen Shore
Carey Mulligan, 2010 The actress had to bleach her hair peroxide blonde for a role in Public Enemies, which damaged her hair so...
Carey Mulligan, 2010 The actress had to bleach her hair peroxide blonde for a role in Public Enemies, which damaged her hair so badly she had to cut it all off in 2009.
Photo: Hubert Boesl/© Corbis. All Rights Reserved.
Janet Jackson, 2011 The singer debuted the shorter style mere days after her 44th birthday. Mid-life crisis? Photo: RD/Kirkland/Retna Digital/Co...
Janet Jackson, 2011 The singer debuted the shorter style mere days after her 44th birthday. Mid-life crisis? Photo: RD/Kirkland/Retna Digital/Corbis
Shirley MacLaine, 1954 The actress has had short hair since her Hollywood debut in the Hitchcock film The Trouble With Harry.
Photo: Bettmann/Co...
Shirley MacLaine, 1954 The actress has had short hair since her Hollywood debut in the Hitchcock film The Trouble With Harry.
Photo: Bettmann/Corbis
Winona Ryder, 1997 The actress was mistaken for a boy in middle school because of her short spiky hair, luckily she didn't have that problem when...
Winona Ryder, 1997 The actress was mistaken for a boy in middle school because of her short spiky hair, luckily she didn't have that problem when she debuted a shorter crop in 1996. Photo: Mitchell Gerber/Corbis
Anne Hathaway, 2013 The actress cut her hair in 2012 for her Oscar-winning role as Fantin in Les Misérables. Photo: Splash News
Cate Blanchett, 2010 The actress debuted this edgy asymmetrical cut in 2010, although this isn't her first time with short hair...she shaved her ...
Cate Blanchett, 2010 The actress debuted this edgy asymmetrical cut in 2010, although this isn't her first time with short hair...she shaved her head in 2000 for her role in Heaven.
Photo: Walter McBride/Corbis
Vanessa Hudgens, 2011 The actress hacked off her own hair to play a pregnant, homeless teen in Gimme Shelter. Photo: Jen Lowery/Splash News
Michelle Williams, 2013 The actress cut her hair for ex-Heath Ledger. She once even said, “The one straight man who has ever liked short hair and...
Michelle Williams, 2013 The actress cut her hair for ex-Heath Ledger. She once even said, “The one straight man who has ever liked short hair and I wear it in memorial of somebody who really loved it.”
Photo: Splash News
Keira Knightley, 2004 The actress cut her hair short to play a model-turned-bounty hunter in the 2005 film Domino.
Photo: Lisa O’Connor/ZUMA/Corbis
Jenny Shimizu, 2009 The model made waves in the fashion industry - with her androgynous looks and short hair - after appearing in CK1's popular u...
Jenny Shimizu, 2009 The model made waves in the fashion industry - with her androgynous looks and short hair - after appearing in CK1's popular unisex fragrance ads in 1994. Photo: Martin Roe/Corbis
Mia Farrow, 1965 Although her pixie cut is widely attributed to Vidal Sasoon's handiwork in 1967, Mia actually cut her own hair with a pair of fi...
Mia Farrow, 1965 Although her pixie cut is widely attributed to Vidal Sasoon's handiwork in 1967, Mia actually cut her own hair with a pair of fingernail scissors in 1965, while working on the TV show Peyton Place.
Photo: Bettman/Corbis
Tilda Swinton, 2012 The actress has grown out or worn wigs and extenstions for film roles, but this closely shorn look with the stylized fo...
Tilda Swinton, 2012 The actress has grown out or worn wigs and extenstions for film roles, but this closely shorn look with the stylized forelock is a Swinton signature. Photo: Splash News
Rooney Mara, 2011 For her breakout role in The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo the actress traded in her long hair for a severe cut. Photo: RD / Orc...
Rooney Mara, 2011 For her breakout role in The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo the actress traded in her long hair for a severe cut. Photo: RD / Orchon/Corbis
Jean Seberg, 1957 Seberg got her big chop at the Saint Joan screen test in 1957.
Photo: © Corbis. All Rights Reserved.
Rihanna, 2012 Ready for short hair again (she sported a shorter style from 2007-2010), Rihanna unveiled her new pixie cut at the 2012 MTV Video M...
Rihanna, 2012 Ready for short hair again (she sported a shorter style from 2007-2010), Rihanna unveiled her new pixie cut at the 2012 MTV Video Music Awards
Photo: Frank Trapper/Corbis
Emma Watson, 2011 The Harry Potter actress didn’t get to experiment with her hair like most teenagers because of the films, so after filming wrap...
Emma Watson, 2011 The Harry Potter actress didn’t get to experiment with her hair like most teenagers because of the films, so after filming wrapped she made headlines with her newly shorn locks.
Photo: Rune Hellestad/Corbis
Kate Moss, 2001 Perhaps to transition out of her cocaine-chic look during the nineties, she cut her long hair into this pixie cut in 2001.
Photo...
Kate Moss, 2001 Perhaps to transition out of her cocaine-chic look during the nineties, she cut her long hair into this pixie cut in 2001.
Photo: Grant Delin/Corbis
Mary J. Blige, 2010
The singer is constantly changing her hair length and color, but always seems to revisit this shorter style. Photo: Nancy K...
Mary J. Blige, 2010
The singer is constantly changing her hair length and color, but always seems to revisit this shorter style. Photo: Nancy Kaszerman/Corbis
Audrey Tautou, 2006 The French actress sported a tousled pixie in 2002, which she grew out only to revert back to the gamine cut in 2006.
Photo:...
Audrey Tautou, 2006 The French actress sported a tousled pixie in 2002, which she grew out only to revert back to the gamine cut in 2006.
Photo: Hubert Boesl/© Corbis. All Rights Reserved.
Ginnifer Goodwin, 2013 The actress first cut her hair in 2009 and loved it so much she now has a wig clause written into every one of her contrac...
Ginnifer Goodwin, 2013 The actress first cut her hair in 2009 and loved it so much she now has a wig clause written into every one of her contracts.
Photo: Splash News
Ashlee Simpson, 2011 Jessica's little sis cut her hair into an asymmetrical pixie in 2010.
Photo: RD / Kirkland/Corbis
Twiggy, 1966 The model got her famous cut in 1966 when celebrity hair stylist Leonard was looking for models on whom to try out his new crop hair...
Twiggy, 1966 The model got her famous cut in 1966 when celebrity hair stylist Leonard was looking for models on whom to try out his new crop haircut. Photo: BOB DEAR/Corbis
Agyness Deyn, 2007 The model rose to fame with her trademark peroxide crop, but she's had short hair since her teens and even shaved her head at ...
Agyness Deyn, 2007 The model rose to fame with her trademark peroxide crop, but she's had short hair since her teens and even shaved her head at 17. Photo: Corbis
Demi Moore, 1990 The actress cut her hair into a slightly rounded, supershort boy cut for her role in Ghost.
Photo: ©Paramount/Courtesy Everett ...
Demi Moore, 1990 The actress cut her hair into a slightly rounded, supershort boy cut for her role in Ghost.
Photo: ©Paramount/Courtesy Everett Collection
Chloe Sevigny, 1995 Raised in a rather conservative Connecticut family, Sevigny cut off her long brunette hair into a roughed up pixied in the ea...
Chloe Sevigny, 1995 Raised in a rather conservative Connecticut family, Sevigny cut off her long brunette hair into a roughed up pixied in the early aughts. She's since flip-flopped between long and short but has recently returned to her cropped, rebellious roots. Photo: Copyright © ©Shining Excalibur Pictures / Everett Collection
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