2011's best haircut: the pixie-swish?

Emma Watson and Justin Bieber are the proud owners of the year's most influential haircuts, according to the Wall Street Journal.Bieber's trademark "swish" style topped the list for men, while Watson's pixie cut was apparently women's most wanted look in 2011.

"Hairstylists are being inundated with requests," the Journal reported. "The enthusiasm plays out online, where the fastest-rising searches for celebrity haircuts on Google are for Ms Watson and Mr Bieber."

Style watcher's note that the actors' haircuts are actually quite similar but Watson's pixie cut marks a drastic turnaround in women's hair fashion. As the Journal commented, crop tops have been out of favour with fashion-conscious women for quite some time.

"This is more of a change for women - for whom short hair hasn't been trendy since the '90s - than for men, who may justifiably feel sheepish about asking for the cut."

Perhaps after two decades of long, styling-intensive hair, it's the ease and lightness of short hair that is appealing to the world's women.

That was certainly the case with Watson, who described her dramatic hairstyle change to Entertainment Weekly as "the most liberating thing."

"The stylist just grabbed the back of my hair and took a whole ponytail of hair out. It felt amazing. I love it."

"I've wanted to do this since I was about 16, so as soon as I had the chance I was like, 'Right. This is it.'"

smh.com.au