35 short hairstyles we love – from buzz cuts to jaw-skimming bobs

Dixie D'Amelio has been growing out her pageboy cut after previously cutting her long hair into a short pixie – proof that the “awkward” growing-out phase can actually look very chic indeed. We're excited to see all the other short styles she tries before landing back in long hair territory.

Meanwhile top trend forecaster Tom Smith has pinpointed Le Petit Bob as the chop to watch. It takes the ultra-popular bob cut, but bumps the length up a few inches. “Bob lengths have been shrinking for a while, and this sharp offering might be as tiny as a bob can go before it becomes a totally new shape," explains Tom. “This shape is the sassy sister of the ‘French Girl Bob’ and can be a great option for those growing out a crop as it creates angles and contours, which is exactly what the ‘awkward’ stages of growing out shorter hair lack,” he explains. “The trick to achieving this nano length is to graduate slightly at the nape of the neck,” says Tom. "We have to lift the hair above the natural hairline to allow us to create the shorter length around the face. The shorter the hair, the straighter and more side parted it should become to retain the ‘bob’ feeling,” he adds.

Alongside offering a hard reset styling-wise, short hairstyles give you the chance to trim away hair that may be past its best. “My clients are more keen on cutting way more of the length to keep the hair healthy," explains Kamila Pruszek, co-owner and manager of Blue Tit's Portobello salon.

Both long-term converts and newcomers can benefit from something more drastic, since short cuts are as versatile as they are easy to maintain. And, they're easier to pull off than you'd think, once you find the right shape for you. In fact, there's nothing like pruning back layers of hair to help open up your face and make the most of your features – hello there, cheekbones.

Luckily, tons of shorter cuts are bang on trend right now, from the shaggy bob or bottleneck bob to rad buzzcuts or classic pixie crops. You could dip your toe in with a slightly longer length chop – like a lob, or the short (but not too-short) collar-bone bob.

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If you want to take it up a notch, you could also take the French bob for a spin. It's headlined for the past few years but it's just as popular for 2024. The good news? It's short, it's flirty and it's made for low-maintenance styling.

Or for something more out-there, we love the cropped mullet – a bold choppy choice, which looks especially fierce on shorter hair.

If you fancy something both badass and feminine, a softly chopped crop is rebelliously relaxed but still statement-making. Ditto, the curly chop rocked by one of our fave hair crushes, stylist Rachel Renae Paz, who's taken her own hair from ultra short back down to her collarbone and killed every single length in between. And Rowan Blanchard's nape length page boy cut dusts the style off and gives it a new, alluring revival.

As for choosing your chop, the best way to find your perfect short hairstyle is to pick a look you'd love to copy. Then, consider whether it would work on your shape face and hair type. If you're still unsure, take a picture to your hairdresser, ask them what might be possible and get their recommendations on how to tweak it to work best for you. To help get you started, we've asked hair pro Larry King to answer some of the most-asked short hair questions below…

What are the biggest short haircuts right now?

According to Larry, there's no one-size-fits-all answer as 2024 will be very much about experimenting with hairstyles that are personal and bespoke to you. “When thinking about short haircuts, there is so much variety – from the pixie cuts, to short mullets, to maybe longer at the front, shorter at the back. Think more 2000s haircuts that you saw on Winona Ryder,” he says.

Short hair in general “is going to be big,” says Larry. “I think girls are going to really move forward into short hair. You’re seeing lots of models do it right now, you’ve seen it on the catwalks quite a lot. It gives you so much individuality and makes you stand out – its really striking.”

One style we're continuing to see loads of is the shorter wolf cut, or “cub cut,” which offers a cropped rendition of it's big sis, the wolf cut. It has just as much attitude, only with a fresher, shoulder-baring length and picks up the mood of ultra choppy cuts like the shag and mullet that have been trending over the past couple of years.

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We've seen the style on models like Mia Regan, who's currently channeling a throwback noughties Cameron Diaz aesthetic. “It’s all about creating the size quite short and leaving the length at the back to give it that modern feel,” says Larry. "But it also has versatility because of the fringe. It can be flattering for all face shapes, just depending on where you leave length,” he says.

How do I choose a short hairstyle for my face?

“It’s all about looking at the details,” says Larry. "It might be that you need to keep a bit more length that’s visible from the front. This can really shape the face and give more elegance to the chin. It might be that you want to leave the fringe a bit longer, so then you can move the fringe around and it can give you more versatility through the front. It also might mean you’d want to leave the top a lot longer and cut the back and the sides shorter, so you also have that versatility. There are all sorts of shapes, and lengths to a short haircut. All of these can factor into changing your face shape massively. It’s really about identifying peoples face shapes, looking at little features that they’ve got and enhancing the features with the short haircut themselves.

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We've also lined up the coolest hairstyles for short hair from our favourite catwalk shows, Instagram ladies and celebrity faces. Have a browse, screenshot and get inspired by these short haircuts ahead of your next salon visit.

Here's some of our favourite ways to wear short hair…