15 Messy Bun Looks I Tried on Short Hair
Fifteen messy buns tried on a growing-out bob, and the thing that finally made them work — on short hair the escaping pieces are not optional. Choose which ones escape instead of fighting the ones that do.
In this article · 22
- How I Tried These
- The 15 I Tried
- 1. Pieces Pulled Before Gathering
- 2. Pieces Pulled After Gathering
- 3. Low Messy Bun at the Nape
- 4. High Messy Bun
- 5. Half-Up Messy Bun
- 6. Messy Bun with Pinned Sides
- 7. Claw Clip Messy Bun
- 8. Two Messy Buns
- 9. Messy Bun with a Headband
- 10. Messy Bun on Freshly Washed Hair
- 11. Messy Bun on Second-Day Hair
- 12. Messy Bun with Texture Spray
- 13. Messy Bun at Chin Length
- 14. Messy Bun at Collarbone Length
- 15. A Neat Bun on Short Hair at 5pm
- What Worked Best
- What I Would Do Differently
- Mistakes to Avoid
- FAQ
- Final Thoughts
I spent about four months trying to do messy buns on a growing-out bob and getting the same result — a bun that looked like it was coming undone rather than one that was meant to be.
On short hair the escaping pieces are not optional. The layers are going to come out. That is not a technique failure, it is the length.
So choose which ones escape. Pull out the two or three you want loose before you gather. Everything else that falls afterwards then reads as company rather than as collapse.
How I Tried These
Fifteen versions over about four months, on hair that started at chin length and finished a little past the collarbone. I photographed each one at the start of the day and again at five o'clock, which was the useful part.
The morning photographs all looked broadly fine. The five o'clock ones sorted them clearly into two groups — the ones where loose pieces had been chosen, and the ones where they had happened.
The 15 I Tried
1. Pieces Pulled Before Gathering
The version that worked. Two chosen, then everything else gathered. The two I pull are always the same ones now, and I do it without a mirror because I know where they sit.
2. Pieces Pulled After Gathering
The version I did for months. Read as falling apart by lunchtime. Same bun, same hair, same pieces out — the only thing that changed was the order I did it in.
3. Low Messy Bun at the Nape
Shortest journey for every section, and the easiest to hold. I stopped thinking of low as the compromise version somewhere around month three.
4. High Messy Bun
Too far for the short layers. Half my hair was out by ten. I kept assuming I was gathering it wrong, and it was simply too far for the hair to travel.
5. Half-Up Messy Bun
Only the top section, and it held all day without a single pin. I had dismissed this as not a real bun for months, which was the most expensive assumption I made.
6. Messy Bun with Pinned Sides
The sides secured separately, the bun left rough. Pinning the sides on their way back means they are held before they ever reach the gather.
7. Claw Clip Messy Bun
Twisted and clipped. Fastest of the fifteen and one of the best. Ten seconds, no mirror, and the clip does not care that my hair is short.
8. Two Messy Buns
Split, which shortened the journey and doubled the security. Each side only has to reach its own point, so the layers that could not make it to the centre now arrive easily.
9. Messy Bun with a Headband
The band holding the front layers that were never going to reach. Those front pieces were the ones ruining every attempt, and a band solved them without a single pin.
10. Messy Bun on Freshly Washed Hair
Slid out within the hour. Short and clean is the worst combination. No length to grip with and no oil to grip by, at the same time.
11. Messy Bun on Second-Day Hair
The same bun, holding. The difference was not the technique. It was a day of natural oil, which I had been giving no credit to at all.
12. Messy Bun with Texture Spray
The workaround for wash day. Nearly as good as day two. I spent months believing clean hair simply could not do this, and a three-pound can of spray settled it.
13. Messy Bun at Chin Length
The shortest I attempted a full bun. Just barely possible. Below the chin I stopped trying for a full one and the partial versions took over.
14. Messy Bun at Collarbone Length
Where it stopped being difficult at all. At collarbone length my hair behaved like long hair, and nothing on this page was needed any more.
15. A Neat Bun on Short Hair at 5pm
Layers out everywhere, and it looked like a mistake rather than a style. This is the photograph that convinced me — the same escaped layers that ruin a neat bun are what a messy one is made of.
What Worked Best
Choosing the loose pieces first. The single change that fixed four months of the same problem.
Going low. Every high attempt shed layers within an hour; every low one held.
The half-up version. Less to gather, less to escape, and it never needed pinning.
Second-day hair. Short and clean was reliably the worst combination I tried.
Accepting messy over neat. A neat bun on short hair does not stay neat, and the same escaped layers that ruin it make a messy one look right.
What I Would Do Differently
I would have stopped attempting high buns much sooner. Four months of the same result.
I would have pulled the pieces first from the start. It is a five-second reordering.
I would have used texture spray on wash days rather than giving up. I spent months assuming clean hair simply could not do it.
I would have taken the five o'clock photographs earlier. The morning ones told me nothing.
I would have tried the half-up sooner. I dismissed it as not a real bun, and it was the most reliable style I had.
Mistakes to Avoid
Pulling pieces after gathering. It reads as collapse rather than as choice.
Attempting a high bun on short layers. They cannot make the journey.
Trying it on freshly washed short hair. The hardest combination there is.
Aiming for neat. It will not stay neat, and messy uses the same escaped layers.
Judging it in the morning. Photograph it at five.
FAQ
Can you do one on short hair? Yes — arguably better suited than long hair, since the loose pieces happen anyway.
How do you stop it falling out? You do not. Choose which pieces are out before you gather.
Messy or neat? Messy, on short hair. Neat does not stay neat.
Final Thoughts
Pull the pieces you want before you gather, not after. It is a five-second change of order, it cost me four months to find, and it is the entire difference between a short-hair bun that looks intentional and one that looks like it is on its way out.
For short-hair buns generally see 20 clever bun ideas for short hair, and for the messy finish in full see 25 easy messy bun tutorials anyone can do. More in Updos & Clips.
