How short is too short for a woman?

This morning I went to my barber to get a trim. While I was waiting a woman who had long hair was in the process of getting it all cut off, I mean really short. He basically shaved her sides and back down to stubble, and the hair on the top was barely long enough to spike up, like maybe 1/4 inch long. What really suprised me was when she got out of the chair she was wearing a flowery sun dress, and she looked stunning with the new haircut. Are very short cuts like this gaining in popularity for women, or was this a freak occurance? BTW I asked the barber and she is not a lesbian.