Emma Watson's cute new crop — can ordinary women pull it off?

British actress Emma Watson, who plays plucky Hermione Granger in the "Harry Potter" movies, recently took her 'do from long-and-lustrous to pixie-short — a look that highlights her flawless bone stucture and lends her a bit of edge.

The cut clearly flatters the drop-dead-gorgeous 20-year-old. But is it at all wearable for the rest of us?

We asked Matt Adams, a hairstylist at Sally Hershberger Los Angeles, to shoot us straight.

All the Rage: Do you have to be young and hot to get away with a haircut this short?

Matt Adams: Not everyone can pull it off. It’s all about the texture of hair. Also about the head shape.

What head shape does it call for?

Soft and round.  

What about face shape?

Diamond-shaped faces, long faces, these are good for that cut.

Who should absolutely not be wearing this cut?

If you’re overweight it’s really hard to pull off. It’s not really a height issue, you can be short.  If someone’s really heavy in the face, you don’t want to take the hair too tight –- it emphasizes the face's heaviness. You would want to modify it to have more height on top and have weight underneath the nape of the neck. 

And someone with a square jaw should be careful with a cut like this. It could make you look masculine.

Is there an age limit on pixie cuts?

Absolutely not. When women let themselves go really white and then they cut it super-short, it's beautiful.

How could you make Watson's style more user-friendly?

You could play around with different lengths and the angles of it. Like, if someone has a long neck you might want to have a slightly longer version. And flat heads can be corrected by building up the length in the back.

-- Emili Vesilind

Photo: British actress Emma Watson. Credit. Joel Ryan / Associated Press

 

 

 

Comments

[Allison]

OMG... I am so sad that she cut her hair... I mean, it's her hair, so she can do what she likes with it, and she still lokks lovely, but I think her long hair was prettier.

[JMH]

I agree that with the beautiful make up and clothes along with the past decade of experience in front of the camera, Watson is beautiful. But what I'd like to know is if those involved in the original casting of her lucked-out that she is now a beauty or if the industry formed the ingenue? Makes more sense for the latter. I don't mean to sound like a hater--just a bit tired of everyone's idol-worship of celebs.

[maz davis]

i think harry potter is the best movie ever

[hannah]

awww y so short i love it long

[hannah burroughs]

emma i apsoloutly loved your hair long why did you cut it soo short !! its super though short but still!!

[tim geyser]

eww. do not want...

[george grant]

Emma: Hello - Like your work in the very first movie but only pieces of the second. Your style really is nice, very good change.

[S]

Yeah.. well I'm overweight and had a natural colored blonde pixie cut last year and it looked great on me. I don't know what this guy is talking about. The basics are correct but every person is different.

Also, Emily Browning has a very round face and rocks this cut so much!! Not to mention this cut started with Mia Farrow and of course way before her... and many women have this cut in "real life". Carey Mulligan also had it recently. Rihanna... I could go on.

[az66]

Wow. Hearing some superficial fop meander about "Harry Potter Girl Gets a Haircut" actually gets more comments than "Pakistani Suicide Bombers". Apparently this society really has it's priorities straight. Really enlightened culture we live in.

[az66]

So some superficial fop writes "Harry Potter girl gets a haircut" and it receives more comments (attention?) than "Pakistani Suicide Bombers". Awesome culture/society we live in, isn't it?

P.S. Tried to post this earlier, but as usual, didn't appear. Happens about 1 in 4 times I comment. Don't know if LA Times is into censoring things that hurt their writers feelings or if their website is just full of glitches. Probably both.

[Joey]

Sexiest British actress alive without a doubt. If I could go on a date with any actress she would be the one.

[Brooklyn]

Beautiful girl, she can do whatever she wants with her hair.

[Tia]

I love this! I actually have my hair cut like this! I got it done the day before Thanksgiving, but it's been growing really fast! It looks awesome, feels amazing, and it is super easy to take care of! I adore it!