Until recently, if you’d asked what Victoria Beckham and I have in common, the answer would have been nothing. Admittedly, there was the time when, in my first job at the Daily Mirror, I was branded “posh” by an apoplectic reader who, having rung to complain about a story, instead became incensed by my “offensive” accent. After a lengthy rant about how the likes of me ought to stick to point-to-pointing “or whatever else it is birds like you are bred for”, he slammed the phone down, promising to transfer his allegiances to the Daily Star. Ah, yes, that fine organ: where women occupy their proper place (ie, naked except for a tacky pun) and where any female with more than one GCSE is known as “toff totty”.

Otherwise, me and Mrs B: chalk and cheese. And then she went and got her hair cut. Nothing unusual about that, except she got it cut exactly the same as mine. Short, gamine, a bit pixie-like. Admittedly, the effect is rather different on the sylph-like Beckham. Still, dammit: the one hairstyle you might have thought completely WAG-proof ruined for ever.

My own short hair came about more through necessity than fashion. By my early twenties my hair was thinning rapidly (perhaps something to do with being shouted at by angry, sexist class warriors), so I went for the chop. Since then, I have grown to love it. Short hair is easy, quick, reliable: crop till you drop, that’s my motto.

As to who can carry it off, well I would argue almost everyone, given the right cut. And short hair is certainly a darn sight more forgiving than last year’s craze, the fringe. It draws attention to your features, rather than hiding them. It’s especially good at bringing out the eyes; and it’s not true you need killer cheekbones – although, if you do have them, framing the face will only emphasise the fact.

Crucially, a crop can take years off you. Only the most high-maintenance woman finds it easy to make long hair work much beyond 40. It doesn’t matter how much omega-3 you swallow, it’s still less thick, less glossy, altogether less swishy. Lopping a bit off takes the weight out and puts back bounce.

Cutting it short makes a real statement and works especially well if you have white or grey hair. Wear white hair in curls, and you’ll look like a granny; crop it neat and tight, and you’ll look fabulous whatever your vintage.

There is only one hard and fast rule: get it trimmed every six weeks. I get mine done by George Northwood at Daniel Hersheson in Mayfair (020-7434 1747). George has many excellent qualities: he doesn’t natter inanely, he’s not an egomaniac and he’s fast. Crucially, however, he understands that far from looking boyish, short hair can be extremely feminine – and he knows how to make it so.

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