How can you grow out a pixie cut — without looking unprofessional?  Reader L wonders:

Last fall I cut my hair in a pixie cut and although I love the low maintenance cut I’d like to have longer hair again. As you know growing out this cut can be painful. Do you have any suggestions for keeping hair professional during a grow out? Are hair scarves ever Ok? Is it acceptable to get extensions?

This is a really interesting question, and one I don’t have a lot of experience with — the shortest my hair ever was was after I did the post-wedding chop and donated to Locks of Love.  I can see how growing out a pixie would be a challenge in a professional setting, though.  I poked around Google a bit and found some great tutorials from the bloggers at at Unspeakable Visions, Maybe Matilda, and Hair Romance (studying Carey Mulligan’s pixie cut growout)– these ladies did it right and looked great while growing out their pixie cuts! That said, here’s my $.02 for a corporate setting or other conservative office:

• Keep it short in the back until the front and sides have grown out a bit.  As all of the above bloggers noted, you want to avoid the mullet, and keep it looking neat.
• Be careful about drastic changes that aren’t easily understood by your bosses, like extensions or frequent color changes.  If your bosses are, say, men over 50, this may mean something totally different than if your bosses are women in their 30s, so know your office.  But: getting a pixie cut is clear-cut; your hair is getting chopped off.  Getting extensions is less so — you leave one day with short hair, and come back with long hair. Is it a wig? Is it glued to your hair? Is it woven in?  They don’t know and they’re going to be distracted by it, which distracts them from your work, and may even cause them to associate YOU with distractions in general.  I’d say the same for frequent, drastic color changes.  One drastic change (brunette to blond) is acceptable, I think.  Multiple drastic changes (blond to brunette to red) may be received as another distraction.  Highlights, lowlights, shade changes — all of that is fine.  It’s even ok to make a slightly wild shade (a bright red, say, or a platinum blond) your signature color.  For my $.02, though, I would avoid regularly changing from color to color. As always, though, I’m curious to hear what readers say about this.
• Know your office when it comes to hair accessories.  A scarf may be the chic option for bloggers, but your office may respond better to a boring old headband.  Do try to avoid anything “little girl” (or, hey, Drew Barrymore in the 90s, such as a bobby pin with a flower glued on one end of it (pictured)).

Readers, have you grown out a pixie cut, or worked with someone who did?  Any best practices or tips? 

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