Here are some photos of Michelle Williams going into the Ed Sullivan Theater last night, about to appear on The Late Show with David Letterman to promote Oz the Great and Powerful. Michelle’s suit/dress thing is Dior – it’s cute and conservative, but I think it’s got built-in hip enhancers or something so that size-zero ladies look like they have Kardashian hips. Weird. Anyway, the real story is that Michelle seems to be growing out her beloved pixie cut and that her hair is currently in sort of an awkward stage (IMO).
Unlike Miley Cyrus, Michelle Williams is destined to go long again. After rocking a famously admired blonde pixie for years, the Oscar-nominated actress, 32, is growing out the locks, she told E! News.
“I think I’m ready,” the Oz the Great and Powerful star, whose locks do indeed appear longer, said. “It’s on its way, slowly but surely.” Williams added that the short-to-long process has daunted her for years.
“That’s why I’ve stayed with short hair for so long,” Jason Segel’s love said. “The mid-stage is insufferable. It’s really hard on your self-esteem.”
One person who may cheer William’s longer tresses? Daughter Matilda, 8.
“What Matilda would love is for her mom to grow out the cropped hair, though that’s unlikely to happen any time soon,” Williams told ELLE back in November 2011. Indeed, it seemed that Williams’ Twiggy-like look was a tribute to Matilda’s late father, Heath Ledger.
“Straight men across the board are not into this hair!” Williams told ELLE. “I cut it for the one straight man who has ever liked short hair and I wear it in memorial of somebody who really loved it.” Ledger died of a drug overdose in January 2008 at age 28.
Whenever I’m bitching about bangs, inevitably some bangs-defender trolls me (on every single post), writing something like “I don’t understand why you hate these bangs so much? Why have you never explained that?” Because I explain it all the time. Because bangs rarely look good on adult women (but there are SOME exceptions). Because too many women get bangs that are too thick, too long or too short. And because of what Michelle is describing so perfectly – it’s insufferable HELL trying to grow out an unflattering short-hair or bangs look once you’ve realized you’ve made a terrible (bangsy) mistake. I’ll admit that I’ve often thought about trying a shorter haircut (not as short as Michelle’s, but still- short). Then I remember the last time my hair was cut above my shoulders (more than a decade ago) and I remember what a terrible time I had growing that crap out. I’m not saying all women should have long hair (definitely not), but I wish more women would be realistic about how long it’s going to take to correct a bad haircut or styling choice made on impulse. Think of how awkward Michelle Obama is going to look as she tries to grow out her midlife-crisis hair.
Photos courtesy of WENN, Fame/Flyet.
I’m doing the same thing. It is completely a nightmare. I figure 3-6 months, it will get looking like I am not growing it out anymore.
While I love pixie cuts, I only love them for about a month, and then I want my old hair back.
Michelle has such an incredibly beautiful face, she can wear any hairstyle.
My Dad sent me to his so-called hairstylist when i was 13, and he chopped off my hair..it was two inches long. My brother told me he did this on purpose, so no one would bother with me in high school. Very traumatizing.
Yu Ya, I hate to be the bearer of bad news but it took me 7 months to grow my pixie cut to a length where it could be sliced into a one length bob to keep growing. Now, my hair was SHORT, so waiting for the top layers and shortest parts to reach past my jaw line was what took so long.
No one tells people cutting their hair short just how awful it is growing it out. The back tends to look longer than the front, that combined with my naturally wavy hair, I sported an Owen Wilson look for all of last summer.
3 months was long enough for me to transition from pixie to a longer bob. Everyone’s hair grows differently and the growth rate changes as you age. My hair grows fast, which makes me a little too eager for drastic change haircuts.
I’m growing out a pixie too. It’s been about six months and it’s still agony. Another six months and I’ll have a decent bob but the process is painful.
Just got through growing out a pixie this past year and oh lord, was it torture. Felt like a blob head most of the time, and had to invest in many bobby pins.
The crazy thing is, this is about my 4th time, as while I miss having longer hair and playing with it, putting it up…as soon as it gets longer, I start missing the pixie, how easy it was to maintain…sigh.
OMG I went through that twice, once when I was 15 and again when I was in college. I went from a short pixie to below shoulder length. There’s a certain length it reaches while it’s growing out where you can’t do ANYTHING with it. All you can do is suffer through it until it grows past that stage. Then you can style it any way you want.
RIGHT?!? I feel like THAT length is the length you have to keep your hair at for awhile. That way the shorter hairs on top of your head catches up with the hairs around the bottom half of your head. I call it the ‘mom bob’ stage.
This is exactly why I will never, ever cut my hair short again, no matter how tempting it might be.
IMO it takes a good year to go from a pixie to a decent length. 365 days of trauma, no thanks!
Growing out my pixie too after over 5 years! Started letting it grow in November and just this month was able to have it cut “Louise Brooks” (1920’s silent movie star) style, which will allow my hair length to grow on out. It means bangs though, but I was used to bangs of a sort with the pixie. It’s a great cut to get through the mid-length stage, very chic and there are many pics available of it shorter or longer via Louise Brooks.
Fianlly! At long last. Good choice Michelle, the short hair phase really was starting to drag on.
I’m assuming Marshall is behind this.
I <3 Marsh-mellow
That is so bad. It looks like Kate Gosslin’s hair.
I think it looks really cute on her.
I think looks good, too. When mine grows out it’s nowhere near as cute.
She looks great- very fresh.
Wow – I love her hair, her dress, her shoes, her legs. She looks incredible!
I looove her shoes!!!
I also love those shoes. I bought Steve Madden Beasst (over a year ago) which are very similar because I can’t afford $800 shoes. They are just as cute.
Methinks someone with bangs stole someone’s boyfriend. Kidding. I think her hair looks good and Michelle’s Obama’s bangs look good on her. A global bangs ban seems a bit much. Bangs do look good on some grown women.
I think bangs work on many women of all ages. I rarely see bangs that I don’t like.
I get why a lot of people don’t like them, but I don’t get why so many people act as if bangs are a crime. They’re just bangs, not the personal attack that many people seem to percieve them to be.
She is one of the few that can pull off short hair. She has a pretty face and she still looks femminine, and that outfit is nice too
In the second photo she looks like Kelly from vampyvarnish.com .
omg you’re right! you need to tell kelly that 🙂
Things like this don’t usually bother me… but. When I read her statement about cutting her hair for a guy, I cringed. Hell if I would ever change anything about myself to please a man.
She’s never had really long hair though..even on Dawson’s she had shoulder-length or shorter and that was way before she started dating Heath.
I get what you’re saying about not wanting to change your look for a guy and I totally respect that but I also think that it’s ok to want to please the man that you’re in a relationship with–and it goes both ways. For instance, if I dated a clean-shaven guy for 3 years and he suddenly started growing a porn ‘stache, I would have something to say about it.
Her hair was always pretty short, you’re right. Jen rocked the short hair when short hair wasn’t really a thing. She was a rebel.
I like her hair, think it suits her. Not sure if longer hair will.
and you wanna talk about bangs trauma, try having bangs with curly hair-it is the worst look ever. well, on me anyway..
Marie-I HAD curly bangs! I have naturally-curly hair and in the 90s I had curly bangs swooped to the side. It was SO AWFUL. I wish I could do an impression for you-long curly bangs that swooped across half my forehead, basically eclipsing my eyebrows.
Oh man…I wish I had a Delorian so I could go back in time and slap some sense into my 13-year-old self.
haha, I’m right there with you OKitt. I look back at most pictures and have no idea what I was thinking..
the last time I tried to cut bangs (years ago) I cut them too short and holy crap I walked around with a fluff puff connected to my forehead for months. I have never had bangs since, ha ha it was bad.
I may be reading it wrong but it sounds like she cut it as a memorial not bc a guy wanted her to cut it.
Yes. She said when she cut that it was”in memory” of Heath. It sounded odd, since he was already dead.
No it would be weirder if she kept cutting it and he was alive and they weren’t together and she knew he liked it like that….
What do you think ‘in memory’ means?
Actually, it sounded like she said she cut it for a guy….. and then continued to wear it as a memorial. I think?
She still looks beautiful to me. Of course, I’m biased because I love her. Big fan of MW.
Lover her too! She’s a bit too thin though.
Never get these people who think she used his death for PR – I think she handled the whole media frenzy with grace and decency and I think he was the love of her life. Which doesn’t mean that Marshall couldn’t be the next love of her life 😉
Liv-I don’t generally get defensive about celebs-I know everyone has their opinion but I have trouble containing my anger when people try to say that she used Heath’s death.
She handled his death as privately as she could-a class act. Besides the fact that she is a very talented actress in her own right.
She looks like Shiloh Jolie-Pitt.
+1 lol
She’s getting more and more beautiful every year.
But she’s cutting the one side short. That’s not really growing it out, is it?
Gah, I want her legs!
Egads! Me too!
They are lovely. Perfect length skirt and heel height to show them off.
Those muscles are insane! I know she’s really into yoga, I wonder what moves gets calves like that (also, not having much fat to cover them up in the first place probably helps!)
She has amazing legs! Who cares about her hair?
OMG me too! Her legs are ridiculous. However as far as her allegedly feeling pressure to grow her hair out…”a woman’s hair is her glory” days should be a thing of the past. We should not continue this notion that hair length makes the woman.
She’s very striking here. I think she’s adorable.
I guess it’s not her style to use extensions to get her through the awkward stage like some celebrities have done.
I hope she just leaves her hair alone. Weaves could ruin it completely. And I confess to some morbid curiosity concerning certein celebs and how much real hair they actually have under all those extensions.
First thing I thought as well! Please stay away from the weaves (unless you have to for a role). There are enough Breck girls/ women and mermaid wanna bes in entertainment…seriously!
Oops…this reply was for @kitkerenina says
My hair is in a similar stage.
It looks better tucked behind the ears on both sides otherwise it looks a little Gosselin. WOW her legs are fantastic.
I think she looks absolutely adorable! ♥
I’m an almost universal bangs hater too. I always cringed when I heard her speak like the “Widow Ledger” since she an Heath had split long before he died. And the hair in memorial thing was just too much on that count. It was verging into Courtney Love territory. I’m glad she’s with Jason and seems to be moving on at last!
They split in september, he died in january. 4 months isn’t that long. And it always seemed like she kicked him to the curb because of his drug use and not because she didn’t love him anymore.
He was living with an Olsen twin and had banged half of Hollywood (including Lilo) by then. The relationship was over.
@Sirsnarksalot
You do not have much experience of life, do you? It’s almost natural that people who struggle do reckless things like sleeping with Lindsay Lohan. I think he had problems and Michelle didn’t want to get her child involved. If you ever loved someone then you know, that you can be seperated but still love each other very much.
Liv:
Firstly….
“…people who struggle do reckless things like sleeping with Lindsay Lohan…”
LMFAO!!!
Secondly, you are so right. Michelle couldn’t have known Heath was going to die in 4 months. Kicking him out was protecting their child, and I 100% applaud her for putting the baby first. She probably hoped it would wake him up, but he went the other way.
So 4 months of drugged up post-breakup banging on his part means there was no love between them? That’s ridiculous.
I can tell you, if I had to suffer the heartbreak of kicking my spouse to the curb in an attempt to keep my child safe from their demons, having them die 4 months later would be utterly devastating. I may not know that that’s how it went down between Michelle and Heath, but that seems more likely to me than your theory.
YES. Hair is hair. It GROWS. A cut or color is not permanent. Props to people who take risks and switch it up, no matter how “awkward” it may look. We need more people to break out of the safe hair zone. Who cares if bangs or what not look goofy — you can clip them back. I’m sure the “awkward” phase if and when Michelle Obama decides to grow them out is the last thing she’s worried about as First Woman.
+1
It’s just hair. If you have confidence, you can make any crappy grow-out situation look great.
For instance, take Michelle Williams here. She’s beautiful.
But thick bangs are hard to grow out. The ends of mine kept poking my eyes during the sheepdog phase. And pinning back looked like mini pigtails. Blach! So glad I’m in a good hair place now. Took forever.
that hair just fitted so good to her petite figure, i always loved that look on her.
i know a lot of men who like short hair, the problem is that not many women look good with short hair and i will never understand that typical reaction of women always claiming that short hair is gorgeous. yes it can be, michelle is an example but it can also be really ugly.
how many women like guys with long hair and how many guys look good with long hair? thats almost the same thing, there are some who pull that off nicely and others just look like bums.
I had short hair when I met my husband and he has always been partial to me with short hair even though it is much longer now.
Back then (15 years ago lol) I was younger and thinner. I think I pulled the short hair off better then than I would now.
I think when you’re younger short hair can be edgy and fresh.
But then when you’re a lot older, it can seem like giving up. I see too many old ladies with severe short hair, like my mom, and I always think a short bob would looks so much softer and take off a few years of aging.
I don’t see this universal reaction where women are proclaiming all short hair is gorgeous. If anything, I see and hear the opposite all the time – that all women look better with long hair.
It’s such an individual thing. It depends on your features, and it depends on your personality. Some people can rock the short hair, and others can’t. I personally think Anne Hathaway needs longer hair to balance out her features and her rather outsize personality. I don’t think short hair particularly works with her look.
I don’t think it’s age dependent, though. There are women of a certain age (Joan Baez/Helen Mirren) who really look great in short hair and others who work the longer look better (EmmyLou Harris!)
Men with long hair – not that I do think is age dependent. Some younger men look very good that way but it is almost universally unflattering on men over fifty.
I think Michelle’s hair looks very cute and not awkward at all. Now if this was ME trying to grow it out, it certainly would look awful, but then I don’t have professional hairstylists at the snap of my fingers and I’m too lazy to do much to it myself.
She has the most amazing legs, holy crap….
Love her shoes!
I think she looks great…..I’m in the same boat, growing out my pixie cut…I have to keep getting the back trimmed or I’d look like I have a mullet. Like Beavis or Butthead 🙂
She looks great. Wasn’t her longer hair limp and thin looking?
Ladies, I’ll tell you the secret to growing tour hair out fast: GNC Prenatal Vitamins. (You don’t have to be pregnant).
I swear, I took them and my hair grew like a weed!
Nevermind waify Michelle, the lovely curvy woman next to her in the adorable blue coat with the fur collar–I want one. Love it.
It’s almost like a fresher version of Victoria Beckham’s bob that she was rocking back in 2007. I think she looks fantastic all around.
It’s funny that your such a bangs hater because I think most woman look better with side swept bangs. For me, it frames my face nicely and I don’t like my forehead so it breaks that up a bit. They are definitely a pain in the ass though. You need to maintain them properly.
Michelle looks nice here and I normally don’t find her attractive. I think this style suits her. Is she still with Jason Segal?
Yeah but if no one ever cut their hair or got bangs things would be so boring. Everyone would cling to their safe boring shoulder length or longer hair and in some cases never change at all. And that can really date a person!
Michelle has one of those very fortunate faces that looks good with almost any hair style. She’s rocking out the growing out phase.
I’ve had 2 memorable short cuts: a pixie (I was 7, shut up), and a sort-of reverse bob.
Since my hair’s grown out, it’s been ass-length or longer.
Growing out hair truly does suck.
Ugh! It drives my crazy when people complain about hair – it’s hair, it will grow. Yes it can take a while, but 3-7 months is not really that long. I have gone from ultra short to shoulder length and back many time in the past 6 years – get over it people.
First thing I thought as well! Please stay away from the weaves (unless you have to for a role). There are enough Breck girls/ women and mermaid wanna bes in entertainment…seriously!
Oops…this reply was for @kitkerenina says
she is so beautiful.
Amazing legs.
I hope she has some high profile meaty roles coming up in 2013 (not this silly OZ movie)
She is a legit acress….much prefer her over Chastain…but Chastain wants the “movie star” more than Michelle it seems.
Shes one of the only people who can pull off the pixie cut and still look feminine and beautiful. She has the face for it. Long or short she is pretty.
Is making a positive comment about bangs considered trolling? I like bangs. They happen to suit me. Non-bangs look great on many people, but an all out bangs-hate makes no sense to me. That said, it’s personal opinion. I’m not a fan of the real housewives hair that so many celebs and non-celebs choose.
I liked Michelle’s pixie. I thought it was the thing that set her apart. Everyone has long hair & most of Hollyweird seems to be in a bit of a blur.
She looks cute with her length the way it is now, too.