What is the 'wixie' cut?

The softer take on short hair explained

BEAUTYcrew Beauty Editor / April 19 2023

The pixie cut is a timeless style. Regardless of the decade in question, there’s an iteration of the short haircut etched into the fabric of popular culture. 

Last year, the bixie haircut caught our attention for the way it allowed us to ease into the idea of short hair by slowly relinquishing our bobs an inch at a time. 

And if the start of 2023 is anything to go by, short hair trends aren’t losing any steam. 

Bobs are getting shorter à la Hailey Bieber’s slob haircut and we’re embracing a laissez-faire attitude when we step into the salon — after all, it’s only hair right? It’ll grow back. 

The trick is to select a style that looks effortless as it grows out, and that’s where the ‘wixie’ cut comes in.

What is the ‘wixie’ cut?

Coined by Oribe’s Global Artist, Adam Livermore, “the wixie cut is a combination of elements from a pixie cut and a short shag”.

“You have the short top and bangs of a pixie cut, and the longer fringier edges of a shag, which is the winged part,” Livermore explained to Byrdie

“I love a cut that works on people of any gender, and this truly does,” he went on to say. “With a few adaptations, you can make it more masculine or more feminine, or you can have both.” 

“The remix to the pixie; it’s much choppier and with more texture and shaggy edges," said hair stylist Gilbert Muniz in the same interview.

If the wixie cut looks familiar, that’s because it is — “fashion and trends repeat themselves.”

“We had the Meg Ryan cut in the ‘90s, the Dido look, and later on, the Posh Bob in the ‘00s,” he explained. “You get the adrenaline rush of a short cut with the inviting familiarity of some softer, longer, feminising elements.”

Image credit: Getty

Image credit: Getty

Image credit: Getty

“[Hair trends] are always inspired by something that has previously been done and then altering it and putting an edge or twist to make it trendy for today’s time,” he continued. 

“The pixie cut has always been a symbol of nonconformity, bold[ness], and empowerment” a sentiment that still holds true today. 

Want to get a wixie cut but intimidated by the styling challenge? This is how to style short hair, according to a pro.

Main image credit: Getty

Briar Clark got her start in the media industry in 2017, as an intern for Marie Claire and InStyle. Since then, her keen interest in fashion and beauty has landed her gigs as a Digital Content Producer and Beauty Editor with titles like Girlfriend, Refinery29, BEAUTYcrew and beautyheaven. She loves the way seemingly innocuous topics like skin care and style have the ability to put a smile on people’s faces or make them think about themselves a little differently. A big believer in self love and experimentation, Briar has made a point of becoming the Australian beauty industry’s unofficial guinea pig for unusual treatments and daring hair trends. When she’s not testing out the latest beauty launches, Briar is big on broadening her horizons, mostly in the form of food but she’s also partial to travelling to new destinations both near and far (and of course, allocating an extra bag to bring their best beauty offerings home with her).