Thursday, October 4, 2012

The Pioneer's Of 90's Pixies

Welcome Back To The Pixie Revolution,


This post and topic has been long overdue.
Even as a kid growing up in the 80's I was drawn to blonde's, and women with short hair.
The 80's seemed to usher in many short styles that where in direct contrast to the long shaggy styles
of the 70's.  Sure there was big teased out hair, or as we on the Northern part of East Coast would call it "Mall Hair" back in the 80's.
But the 80's seemed to bring in alot of short styles for women. From blunt bobs, to short razored looking styles,( Joan Jett, Oliva Newton John, Sheena Easton; to just about every tv sitcom mom in the 80's) to even mohawks and side buzzed looks ( see Cyndi Lauper)
One of my first childhood crushes was Mallory from Family Ties. By season 3 she had a cute collar length bob, but I can remember clearly when she returned for Season 4 she debuted a short gelled  back, layered short cut very simular to Madonna's cut around the same time. This was about 1985-86
 and Mallory aka Justine Bateman was the first in many of the crushes I've had on short haired women.
 
                                                     Justine Bateman on Family Ties

Below:  Season 4 of Family Ties the debut of Mallory's short Madonna like cut


While the 80's saw a resurgance of short styles for women, it was the early 90's that took it to a whole
other level.
Within the first year of the 90's, a new short style began to emerge that seemed to be come very popular very quickly. It had pixie elements, yet had a bowl and wedge element too.
I'm pretty sure I know who had it first and that person beat all of them by about 3 years and that is none other then Pheobe Cates who debuted the look in 1987 in the little known but cult classic movie Date With An Angel, but within the year of 1990, Demi Moore, Josie Bissett and Chynna Phillips of Wilson Phillips all had the same cut and seemed to popularize it and make it go main stream.

Below a collection of photo's of the women who wore this great style
                                                      
                                                                     Pheobe Cates

                                                                   
                                                                      Josie Bissett
 
 Demi Moore

                                                     Chynna Phillips of Wilson Phillips


By 1991, Lecy Goranson who played Becky #1 of the tv show Roseanne debuted a bowl/bob buzzed nape cut as well. Which is another cut I instantly liked and immediately began to have a crush on Becky. I had thought Becky was cute before, but once she had the bobbed haircut with that buzzed nape she went from cute for me to hot. I also remember while I was in 10th grade a russian girl who was new to the U.S and our school came in one day sporting Becky's buzzed nape bob cut. She even looked like Becky. I had the pleasure of being in the same home room and sat several seats away and got to stare at her incredible haircut, I also remember we lived a block away and on several occasions walked home chatting.
I never got the courage to ask her out, but I always look foundly on The Becky Cut

 
 
 


While the 80's introduced me to short haired women, it was the early 90's that introduced my young adolescent mind to women with buzzed napes, and my love and fascination has never ceased.
I cant remember who I saw first with a buzzed nape with a bowlish shelf line and the longer eye grazing bangs, but I know how I felt when I saw it.
I immediately began to fanatise about other female celebrites hoping they would get this cut.
I would also imagine girls in my high school and classes with this cut.
I would draw artwork and comic book female characters and give them this haircut.
Something about the longer neatly combed hair almost all one length, and then a drastic length change of a buzzed nape and an exposed neck that made me find it very attractive.
It was also in my opinion a precursor for my future love of angled bob's with buzzed napes.

I only can find it fitting then that I feature this style and the women who wore this cut as pioneer's of the 90's pixie cut and who in my opinion set the stage for buzzed napes a decade later. I can only hope that this look will come back in some new incarnation in the near future. Until then to steal a line from Wilson Phillips, I guess I just have to "Hold on for one more day"

Until next time..



7 comments:

wayner222 said...

Hi Mac
This was also my favorite era of hairstyles. I've always loved a short nape and these cuts with a drastic length change really did it for me. I'd really like to see a comeback with a modern twist. Mrs 222 got a great cut yesterday, little longer on top with a bit of a line cut in just above the nape, kind of like we're talking about. The nape is cut quite short, all one length with a sharp hairline. Loving it!
Wayner

Enzo and Anna said...

I was never a big fan of Family Ties, so I kinda missed out on Mallory"s short cut.
However, I was a huge fan of Melorose Place, primarily to see Josie Bissett, and couldn't get enough of Chynna Phillips. But the queen of the 90's haircuts had to be Lecy Goranson's Bob with a buzzed back. I had a huge crush on Lecy, but unfortunately, she soon left the show after getting her hair cut.
One other notable cut from the 90's came from Chloë Sevigny in the movie Trees Lounge. In it,she has an awsome bob with a buzzed nape, similar to Lecy Goranson.

Boss said...

Have you tried to gillette?

Boss said...

i mean have you tried to shave with a gillette?

Perfect-Cut said...

Guys,

We must all be similar in age because Mac hit one several of my all-time favorites - Josie Bissett in early "Melrose Place" and Chynna Phillips of "Wilson Phillips" and of course Demi Moore in "Ghost" (but I do consider her a two-hit wonder as her only other great haircut was in "Indecent Proposal" and that was a Pageboy).

One that you missed was Kimberly Foster who played a love interest to JR Ewing in Dallas - Google Images for (Kimberly Foster Dallas). She had a fluffy short blonde cut that was shorter at the nape, styled forward and swirled to the side. Verrrrry hot.

Anyone remember her and agree?

Perfect-Cut

tsp1boy said...

I remember seeing loryn locklin in taking care of business.she looked nice!

Anonymous said...

Perfect-Cut you forgot Demi's wedge-cut from "A Few Good Men!"