SHARON STONE explained that the reason she got her short crop a couple of years ago was because she had naturally fine, straight hair and was tired of all the work required to achieve any fullness or curl in whatever style she wore.  No only did she abandon her longer locks, but for the most part her hairstylist as well, quite often cutting her hair herself (which would explain a few pictures I've seen of her).  Well, apparently, she has, for the time being, tired of the pixie.  She had been allowing it grow for a while and decided what she wanted was a blunt cut.  So, she sought out a protégé of Vidal Sassoon to give her "the perfect blunt cut".  You can see the result in the "after" picture, longish top layers falling to eye/ear level with some length left in front of the ear and the back cut close to the head.

And thanks to Dan P. for the scan of the first photo.

FLEA'S CALL:  This figures.  When Sharon first adopted her signature super short style (shown at right) a couple of years ago, I, like most of you was shocked and dismayed.  However, over time, I, again like many of you, went from grudging acceptance to actually finding it quite flattering on her.  So, now that I and most folks like it, the obvious thing for her to do is change it again.  As I said, it figures.

First, let me say, that if this is a perfect blunt cut, then I'm a 78 year old nun.  Which I'm not.  It's essentially a plain old layered bowl cut, not unlike the one popularized in the late 80s by KIMBERLY FOSTER on the TV show "Dallas" (see picture at left).  Not all that different, is it?  In any case, I'm not saying it looks unattractive at all, and I actually like it from the front, especially the bangs.  But the profile and back need work.  If this isn't the first step to growing her hair back to a bob-ish style then I'd say that the sides should be angled up toward the occipital bone in the back and the tapering taken up to that point.  But, as Dennis Miller says, that's just my opinion, I may be wrong.

COURTNEY THORNE-SMITH got a haircut.  I could elaborate on that statement, but that would be getting into FLEA'S CALL too soon and we can't have that here in the purely subjective part of the review.  So, what I can say is that this is probably the result of Courtney's desire to continue to go shorter.  When she first cut her long hair short last year, she said in an interview (that yours truly included in my March '99 column) that she had to restrain herself at that time from cutting even more.  I had thought that desire had possibly been extinguished since she had not only not shortened her style at all, but had actually grown it out a bit (as you can see in difference between the two before pictures).  Well, apparently she got the green light from the "Ally McBeal" producers and the end result is this almost platinum colored pixie, with the only semblance of remaining length being the short fringe covering her hairline in back.

Before (with the second pic being more recent)
 

After

And thanks to Dan P. for the scan of the second "before" and third "after" photos.

FLEA'S CALL:   Ok, now I can elaborate.  Courtney Thorne-Smith got a major, though not entirely awful, haircut that was styled horrendously at the Golden Globes (where all of the "after" pictures were taken).  If you've seen recent episodes of "Ally McBeal", you'll know that she has recently gone to much shorter 'do.  However, if you're thinking that this is the exact same cut, just styled wrong, you'd be mistaken.  This cut is even a bit shorter than the version she is sporting in current episodes.  I found THAT style (the one in the "Ally" episodes) rather attractive after I got over the initial shock of the shearing.  THIS (the Golden Globes) version, however, is not good.  She was right on the edge of how short she could go with the other crop and she's gone over with this one.  Plus, the styling does nothing to help her case and I'm really not sure what she was thinking.  At minimum, she should let it grow back out a bit just to change the look from ragged back to shaggy and at best, grow it back to the vicinity of the "before" pictures, since I think those are more flattering than her long hair was anyway.  

Though, thinking back on what her long style looked like just before she cut it, I may have to reconsider that...

Snippets

You probably saw pictures of MEG RYAN on a magazine cover and in ads for her new movie "Hanging Up" with rather long hair.  Well, in both instances, Meg was wearing extensions, but, in what I'd consider a rather surprising move, she HAS been letting her hair grow.  As you can see in this picture from an "Entertainment Tonight" interview, she's allowed her shaggy bob style to get all the way to her shoulders.  Though I thought Meg looked terrific back when she used to wear her hair long, this just doesn't quite look right.  It may be simply because it looks like a too long version her regular 'do.  Hopefully, if she continues on this path, she'll interject some actually style in her new long locks 
v Continuing on the subject of blondes letting their short styles grow, CANDACE BERGEN has added quite a bit of length to her previously short "Murphy Brown" look.  Whereas Meg's growth was a bit iffy, this is just, well, not good.  The "heavy bang/hair in the face" style is jut not for Candace.  If she lightened up the front section, or, heck just moved the part, to alleviate excessive weight of hair across her forehead, it would make a big difference.  However, it would cost her that lucrative side business of being a Martha Stewart impersonator.

If you're a "Sports Night" fan as I am (and if you're not, darn it, you SHOULD be), you'll remember TERI POLO as the woman with the red bob who was pursued by Dan.  Well, as you may not have known, Teri is actually a blonde.  Since leaving the show after her brief guest stint, she's not only returned to her natural color, but grown her hair out quite a bit, as you can see from the bad picture to the right.  And if you're wondering, those are Ben Stiller's lips to which she's attached.  Though I liked the red bob, I like the longer blonde 'do even better v Just so I'm reporting on an even number of blondes in Snippets this month, here's a photo of JENNIFER JASON LEIGH at the premiere of "Magnolia".  And before you ask, no, I have no idea why she's wearing this over curled, platinum mess.  As one of the posters to the message board asked, what the heck happened to the terrific, thick, dark blonde hair she had way back in "Fast Times at Ridgemont High"?

Well, apparently some government official read my plea in the last column and contacted COURTNEY COX ARQUETTE, because she's actually done something with her long hair other than just let it hang there.  She's added quite a few long layers, especially below her chin in front.  Heck, she's even allowed a bit of her natural wave to show through, giving the layers a bit of a flip throughout.  All in all, a tremendous improvement.  Now, I just wonder what it would look like with a side part... v  I've said before that you don't have to make a major change to make a major difference.  Jodie Foster's recent bob, for example, was only a trim of a couple of inches, but those changed her look entirely.  On the opposite end of the spectrum, we have GILLIAN ANDERSEN of "The X-Files".  Lengthwise, Gillian has only trimmed off about an inch or so, but, unfortunately, she also added more layering on the sides and ends.  So, where the previous style fell just to her chin and was full on the sides and back, the new style is about to her mouth with all of the volume snipped out, which also makes her hairline in back appear ragged.  Style wise, this iteration is very close to the previous version, just a bit shorter.  However, that additional loss of length and excessive layering is the difference between a terrific shag/bob and an unflattering, overly layered, flat, hair helmet.  Now, don't you wish I could have found a picture? 

And finally, a sentence I never thought I'd write: I have a photo of MARY KATE and ASHLEY OLSEN.  Yup, you read that right, the Olsen twins.  Apparently now that they've reached their teenage years, they no longer want to look exactly alike.  So, with the help of their stylist (yet another credit that has to look good on a resume), they've each adopted their own look, one a bit shorter than the other. 

I must admit that both look cute, though I prefer the longer of the two, since the shorter style isn't as suited for their round face shape.  I won't pretend, however, that I'm actually interested enough to have gone to the trouble to figure out which is Mary Kate and which is Ashley in the picture.  So sue me.

Sharon Stone pictures courtesy People Magazine and Reuters, Courtney Thorne-Smith pictures courtesy Fox, People Magazine, and E!, Teri Polo picture courtesy TVGuide Online, Meg Ryan courtesy Entertainment Tonight, Jennifer Jason Leigh picture courtesy Hollywood.Com, Candace Bergen picture courtesy "The Rosie O'Donnell Show", Olsen twins picture courtesy Hollywood.Com

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