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EveryHairstyle

Cuts

The bob, pixie, crew cut, undercut and layers: shape made with scissors and clippers. 58 hairstyles on EveryHairstyle so far.

A cut is a hairstyle whose shape comes mainly from cutting, with scissors, clippers or a razor, rather than from braiding, pinning or setting. Good cuts work with the way hair grows and falls, so they can be washed and worn with little styling. They range from the buzz cut, all one short length, to the precise geometry of a bob and the many layers of a shag.

How cuts are made

Stylists build a cut from a few choices. Elevation, the angle at which hair is held from the head, decides whether the cut is one length, graduated or layered. A guide, the first section cut, sets the length that the rest follow. Clippers with numbered guards make short cuts, fades and tapers, while point cutting, thinning and razor work soften lines and remove weight. Many cuts are made wet, then refined dry.

Cuts and their eras

Short cuts for women, such as the bob and the Eton crop, became a sign of modern life in the 1920s. Men's cuts were shaped by armies, from the crew cut to the high and tight, and by music, from the mop-tops of the 1960s to the fades of hip hop. Recent decades brought back the shag, the mullet and the undercut. Most people's hair is a cut, worn with little else.

Famous cut hairstyles

Shingle bobThe short cut of the 1920s and the 1960sPixie cutA very short crop for womenCrew cutShort sides, slightly longer on topBuzz cutAll one short length with clippersUndercutShort sides under a long topShagMany choppy layersMulletShort at the front, long at the backLayered hairLayers for lift and movement

Further reading

Hair typeStraight hairWavy hairCurly hairCoily and kinky hairFine hairThick hairAny hair
Worn byMostly womenMostly menAnyoneChildrenBrides and weddingsFaith and religious ordersUniform and workSubcultures and music
OrderBest knownA to ZOldest firstNewest firstBy length
WorldBangs Strands of hair cut to cover the forehead and fall over the eyebrows.Cut · Any hair · 1880 🇫🇷 France and 1 moreBob cut Short to medium haircut ending at the jaw or shoulders.Cut · Any hair · 1909 🇷🇸 Serbia and 4 moreBuzz cut A very short, uniform haircut made with clippers.Cut · Any hair · 1890 WorldPixie cut A short hairstyle with a longer top and very short bangs.Cut · 1953 🇬🇧 United KingdomPageboy Straight hair hanging below the ear with an inward turn.Cut · Straight hair · 1950 🇯🇵 JapanHime cut A Japanese style with straight cheek-length sidelocks and long back hair.Cut · Straight hair · 1970 WorldShort hair A general category for haircuts kept above the shoulders or chin.Cut · Any hair · 1920 WorldLob A medium-length haircut falling at or just below the shoulders.Cut · Any hair 🇫🇷 FranceTitus cut Short layered cut with curls from late 18th-century FranceCut · Curly hair · 1791 Eton crop 🇬🇧 United KingdomEton crop A very short, slicked-down women's cut from the 1920s.Cut · Any hair · 1920 🇯🇵 JapanSeiko-chan cut A feathered Japanese idol hairstyle from the 1980s.Cut · Straight hair · 1980 🇺🇸 United StatesThe Rachel Voluminous layered cut popularised by FriendsCut · Straight hair · 1995 Butterfly haircut WorldButterfly haircut A layered style blending short and long sections for volume.Cut · 1950 WorldWings A layered cut where side hair flips out like wings.Cut · Wavy hair · 1830 WorldDido flip A short, choppy hairstyle with uneven strands flicked to the side.Cut · 2002 Octopus haircut 🇰🇷 South KoreaOctopus haircut A layered cut with short top sections and long, fanning bottom sections.Cut · Straight hair · 2022 Big chop 🇺🇸 United StatesBig chop Cutting off chemically treated hair to start natural growthCut · Coily and kinky hair Bixie cut 🇬🇧 United KingdomBixie cut A short hybrid haircut blending a bob's length with a pixie's cropped layers.Cut · Any hair 🇫🇷 France and 1 moreShingle bob A short haircut with a tapered nape and curled sides.Cut · Straight hair · 1920 Densinkran 🇬🇭 GhanaDensinkran Short Ashanti mourning cut for royal womenCut · Any hair

Photo credits on this page

The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.

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