With every change of season comes a spate of style changes amongst our clients. Some like to adjust what’s on their heads to attain a specific goal (lighten things up, give yourself more to work with, change direction, whathaveyou), while some look to the most visible men in the world for inspiration.
Love or hate celebrity culture, the most iconic looks of all time, the styles that define decades, almost always come from those glitterbombed by fame.
Because a photo cuts out a huge amount of miscommunication between client and barber, and folks always seem to have their phones on them, these want-worthy cuts have been popping up in our chairs quite a lot recently.
But as we often say, Brad Pitt (and other Brad Pitt-like freakishly handsome types) haircut requests are fraught with danger – if you have the right kind of hair, we can give you that haircut, but we cannot make you look like Brad Pitt.
Read on for the most requested styles hitting our chairs this spring.
1) Brad Pitt
Hey, speaking of Brad…
Mr. Durden’s latest great hair came out of 1945 and off the set of Fury. It’s a rugged and easy to wear cut – add a bit of grease and grime, rake it back and you’re done. At least if it’s cut right. Cut wrong and you’re going to be battling your hair endlessly.
On this particular type of slickback undercut (there are so many variations), the disconnect is set at the parietal ridge (the place where your hair changes from top to sides), but only through the back corners of the head, and blended toward the back as opposed to a floppy Macklemore thing.
The top is worn just long enough to push back easily, a length that will vary depending on your hair type, but don’t push it. A little too long and you’ll never know the difference, a little too short and you’re going to have a bad couple of weeks.
2) Ricki Hall
This oozing construction of raw sexuality is possibly the most requested whole head style we get in the chair. While his beard is indeed enviable, you can’t be a model of his caliber without great hair.
Mr. Hall’s haircut changes frequently, but it is usually a combination of aggressively short on the sides with lots of flop on top, which can be slicked up or worn loose with equal ease.
This one has a hard and heavy blend up toward the parietal and, like the cut above, is blended at the back, but in this case just barely. It’s almost like drawing in perspective, everything meets up in a point right below the occipital bone (where the round of your skull in the back turns into squishy neck parts).
3) Cillian Murphy
The men of Peaky Blinders initially had to be talked into their haircuts. Pure, authentic 1920s haircuts were rough and utilitarian, often meant to be worn under hats when outside, and styled quickly if at all. They are not for those who like to blend in.
When it comes to haircuts that are all man, the 20s are as old school as it gets without reaching back into the time of the middle part (damn you 1910).
Cillian Murphy’s Tommy Shelby gets a basic short buzz on the sides with no lining with a quick blend to the top over 1/4 inch space or so, as they did with more old fashioned cutting tools. The top is worn forward and cut at the blend line, overdirecting the front for a slight disconnect.
Update: we kinda went whole hog with the Blinder thing.
4) David Beckham
Mr. Posh Spice has been a hair icon for most of his career, because the man simply has amazing hair. And he’s a genetic superhuman of a soccer player married to the aforementioned Mrs. Posh, so he can get away with hair experiments the rest of us mortals wouldn’t dare try. Let’s remember the headband days, shall we?
This particular cut is similar to Ricki Hall’s, with a looser texture and length, disconnect starting right behind the ear, and a less extreme blend through the sides
5) Adam Levine
While many do, we have no particular feelings toward Adam Levine. He does have nice hair, but after the Grammys, we started getting a lot of requests for his haircut in the chair.
And that’s cool, it’s a basic contoured side part, although his wasn’t particularly well-executed, unfortunately. This haircut would not pass muster at Beardsgaard, but we can totally give you the good version of it.
Cut of the Week / Dastardly Dapper