There was a strong sense of nostalgia on this season's catwalk as retro hairstyle trends got a modern makeover. So what is the knack in keeping these styles looking modern?

According to top hairdresser Errol Douglas, "It's all about the individual - you need to adapt a style to suit your personally. Don't just copy a style, take one or two elements and make it your own by giving it a fresh and modern twist".

ON SHORT HAIR First there was Sienna Miller's portrayal of Eddie Sedgwick in "Factory Girl"and now is model Agyness Deyn encouraging us to ditch longer hair and go for the chop. Short hair dos are can easily take on the retro look. Go for a short and and sharp cut with blunt ends for a modern, directional finish, leave it longer on top so that you can wear it mussed-up with texture, or smoothed down and elegant with wide side parting.
image source:flickr©1971

They are everywhere you go, everywhere you look: pixies. And I don't mean the mythical creatures but new funky short hair style!

Return of the pixie.
But is it really a new trend? If you open one of old issues of any gossip magazines you will see the pictures of Demi Moore, Sharon Stone, Winona Ryder and Natalie Portman among many others, with short spiky hair. First world wide famous beauty with short style was Audrey Hepburn herself! Pixie, other known as the crop or the cap or even a chop have been recently reintroduced by ubercool supermodel Agyness Deyn.

Can you be a pixie?
Think twice before you chop all your hair off - it does take ages to grow it back (been there, done that). And even extensions won't help as your hair has to be at least 6 inches long in order to apply traditional hair extensions. So make sure that you can pull off this look before marching to hairdressers.

1. Short hair style leaves nothing to imagination. If there is something you don't like about your face like pointy or too big ears, pronounced nose or bad skin, remember that short style will expose/emphasize these features. On the upside, pixie may accentuate your beautiful eyes and smile!

2. Your face type is something to consider before getting any cut, but I think it’s especially important when it comes to short styles. Stylists don’t recommend getting pixie if your face is square (cut will highlight the “squareness” in the jaw line), round (your cheeks will seem even rounder) or heart shape (pixie may accentuate the width of your forehead area). So who looks good with short hair? The oval face shape is ideal, but rectangular or inverted pear shape may look just as good.

3. Consider your hair type. Short cut works best on medium hair: not too thick and not too thin. Both wavy and curly hair (if the curls are not too tight) make a good pixie.

4. If you REALLY, REALLY WANT IT then GO FOR IT! Regardless of your face shape ;-)


Pixie "how to's".
1.Short cut is easy to maintain though if you want to keep the desired length, trips to the salon every few weeks are unavoidable.
2.Pixie looks great as "wash & go" but for a big night out you might want to give it an extra edge. When styling short hair use mousse or light styling wax in spray rather than gel (it makes your hair look sticky).

To wrap up, a piece of advice from Sinead O'Connor: when you can't go longer, go shorter! "'I've been trying to grow it [hair], but someone came up to me and asked if I was Enya. I was so shocked, I shaved all my hair off.'"