The Long & Short Of It

I noticed that the ensembles she would wear looked more modern and sharp - the core ingredient for that came down to a short haircut. Now, I have a nightmare story to tell you! When I was 15 years old I saved up $50 dollars/200 SAR, which was a lot of money to me and took time to build up. I was in a mall in Washington DC and walked in confidently to a hairdresser to get my shoulder length hair cropped to a garcon cut. I remember thinking I would leave looking like Linda, but ended up channeling Fido Dido from the ’90s 7UP commercials. It was hilarious. That was my first brush with taking the cut. 

I didn’t attempt cutting my hair again until late 2009. I finally secured an appointment with Garren in NYC, who had famously done a lot of strong short haircuts (at the time most famously for doing Posh Spice’s cut). Now, I may grow it from time to time, but having done short hair correctly, I am true Deena with a short cut. I don’t think my face is beautiful enough for short hair but I’m comfortable with the fact that it’s just my face, and the prop of long hair is not required for me. In my case, short hair makes dressing successful.

Do You Take The Cut?

My advice to anyone considering a sudden short hair cut is this. First, you will suddenly feel ten pounds heavier if you have never done it before because you no longer have something to balance out the rest of you. 

Second of all, if you depend on your hair a lot - and a lot of women do - you all of a sudden don’t have something to play with. That can be overwhelming so some women do it and never do it again. Christy Turlington did it and she never cut her hair again - it didn’t work for her. So how do you know if you are going to be a Linda or a Christy when taking the cut? You don’t have to take the risk. I recommend trying on a very well made wig.

Thirdly, not every head shape actually suits short hair. It’s extremely important to consider. Thankfully, the hairdresser assured me I had the perfect head shape for it. Which I never even considered - it genuinely hadn’t occurred to me. I still felt like I had taken a risk. 

Finally, be aware of outfits that do not suit long flowing hair, but where the look works with tied-back hair or short hair. It keeps things modern.

Bravehearts

Halle Berry, Toni Braxton, Winona Ryder, Audrey Hepburn, and Julie Andrews. I loved Catherine Deneuve who looked stunning when she had short hair… she was mesmerizing on screen. It’s interesting because if it works, it looks forever iconic. A lot of women tend to cut their hair when they are going through a major life change, whether it's a divorce or they’ve been through trauma. I don’t know if I buy into that because I’m not a psychologist! But I’ve witnessed it many times. Mistakes get made if you do a radical change as a knee-jerk reaction to life events rather than in keeping with your true style.

Just remember, above all, it’s not for everyone and it’s not for the faint of heart.

READ Deena’s Fall 2024 editor’s letter on the new chapter for Deenathe1st