The undercut is a hairstyle that was fashionable from the 1910s to the 1940s, predominantly among men, and saw a steadily growing revival in the 1980s before becoming fully fashionable again in the 2010s. Typically, the hair on the top of the head is long and is often parted on either the side or center, while the back and sides are buzzed very shorter or shaved. [1] It is closely related to the curtained hair of the mid-to-late 1990s, although those with undercuts during the 2010s tended to slick back and top gelled up the bangs away from the face.
The "undercut" hairstyle can be dated back to the days of Ancient Rome; however, this style shaved the back of the head with long bangs, not the sides. The purpose was to cool the neck and keep the sun out of the eyes, with the neck also shaven while maintaining a pointy beard on the top.[ citation needed ] Some Norman knight wore a similar style. Ukrainian oseledets are a variation on this style.
Historically, the undercut has been associated with poverty and inability to afford a barber competent enough to blend in the sides, as on a short back and sides haircut. From the turn of the 20th century until the 1920s, the undercut was popular among young working-class men, especially members of street gangs. In interwar Glasgow, the Neds (precursors to the Teddy Boys) favored a haircut that was long on top and cropped at the back and sides. Despite the fire risk, much paraffin wax was used to keep the hair in place. [2] Other gangs who favored this haircut were the Scuttlers of Manchester and the Peaky Blinders of Birmingham, because longer hair put the wearer at a disadvantage in a street fight. [3]
During the jazz age of the 1920s and 1930s, hairstyles of this type were considered mainstream fashion. [4] Military barbers of the World War I era gave short back and sides haircuts as fast as possible because of the numbers, under orders to facilitate personal hygiene in trench warfare, and as nearly uniform as possible, with an eye to appearance on parade. This made the short back and sides style the norm in the UK after 1918, and its variant the brush cut became common in North America and France. [5] In Nazi Germany, a version of this haircut which was long on top but shaved at the back and sides was popular among Wehrmacht soldiers. [6] [7] The undercut remained common in the UK and America until the 1960s, when longer hair such as the wings haircut was popularised by the mod subculture and British Invasion bands such as The Beatles and The Rolling Stones.
Beginning in the late 1980s, centrally parted undercuts derived from the bowl cut made a comeback among fans of new wave, synthpop, and electronic music as an alternative to the mullets and backcombed hair of glam metal bands. [7] A collar-length version of the bowl cut, known as curtained hair, went mainstream in the early 1990s and was worn by many celebrities, most notably Tom Cruise. [8] Another variant, with a floppy permed fringe, was known as the "meet me at McDonald's haircut" due to its perceived popularity among young teenagers in the UK who socialise in and around McDonald's restaurants. [9]
Curtained hair and undercuts went out of style in the early 2000s, but underwent a revival in the early 2010s among hipsters and skaters who imitated the 1930s and 1940s version: longer with pomade in or with the shaved sides and the tops gelled up or swept to one side on top and shaved or clipped at the sides [7] At the time, although the style had many different names, the most controversial were the "Hitler Youth", [1] [7] [10] "Jugend", [11] and "fasci". [12] Some of the most high-profile early adopters of this haircut included Macklemore, [13] Kim Jong Un, [14] David Beckham, and Win Butler. [1]
During the late 2000s and early 2010s, undercuts were often associated with villainous movie characters such as Hannibal Lecter in Hannibal Rising , Johnny Depp's portrayal of gangster John Dillinger in Public Enemies , Jared Leto as The Joker in Suicide Squad , Guy Pearce in Lawless , and various German officers in war films. [15] Characters from television series such as Jimmy Darmody on HBO's Boardwalk Empire and various characters from the BBC series Peaky Blinders were also associated with the undercut. By 2014, the haircut had become relatively mainstream in the UK and was worn by people not normally associated with the indie scene, such as reality television stars from shows like The Only Way Is Essex . [16]
During the late 2010s, the American and Israeli press associated the undercut with alt-right agitators such as the American white supremacist Richard Spencer or the British far-right and anti-Islam activist Stephen Yaxley-Lennon (Tommy Robinson) [17] and with neofascist supporters seeking a less intimidating alternative to the buzzcut. [18] [19]
In some Muslim-majority countries such as Saudi Arabia, [20] the undercut is considered controversial and in breach of Islamic teachings governing hairstyles. [21] According to the Ḥadīth literature, the Islamic prophet Muhammad forbade traditional Pagan Arab haircuts that were long on top but shaved on the sides as makruh . [22] [23]
In the early 2020s, the middle parted undercut is coming back due to the e-boy subculture on the social media network TikTok.[ citation needed ] Although, in the UK, middle parted undercuts (curtains) have been popular in the Irish Traveller community for years.
A skinhead or skin is a member of a subculture that originated among working-class youth in London, England, in the 1960s. It soon spread to other parts of the United Kingdom, with a second working-class skinhead movement emerging worldwide in the late 1970s. Motivated by social alienation and working-class solidarity, skinheads are defined by their close-cropped or shaven heads and working-class clothing such as Dr. Martens and steel toe work boots, braces, high rise and varying length straight-leg jeans, and button-down collar shirts, usually slim fitting in check or plain. The movement reached a peak at the end of the 1960s, experienced a revival in the 1980s, and, since then, has endured in multiple contexts worldwide.
The mullet is a hairstyle in which the hair is cut shorter at the front, top and sides, but is longer at the back.
The high and tight is a military variant of the crew cut. It is a very short hairstyle, characterized by the back and sides of the head being shaved to the skin and the option for the top to be blended or faded into slightly longer hair. It is most commonly worn by men in the U.S. armed forces. It is also popular with law enforcement officers and other public safety personnel. Although "high and tight" is the primary term used in military and law enforcement, the same haircut is sometimes referred to by civilians as a "walker".
The mohawk is a hairstyle in which, in the most common variety, both sides of the head are shaven, leaving a strip of noticeably longer hair in the center. Mohawk hairstyles have existed for thousands of years. As of the 21st century, they are most commonly associated with punks, or broader non-conformity.
Head shaving is a form of body modification which involves shaving the hair from a person's head. People throughout history have shaved all or part of their heads for diverse reasons including aesthetics, convenience, culture, fashion, practicality, punishment, a rite of passage, religion, or style.
A bowl cut is a simple haircut where the front hair is cut with a straight fringe and the rest of the hair is left longer, the same length all the way around, or else the sides and back are cut to the same short length. It is named so because in medieval times, when it was popular in Europe, a bowl would be placed on the head and then used as a cutting guide to trim the hair.
Pomade is a greasy, waxy, or water-based substance that is used to style hair. It generally gives the user's hair a shiny, slick appearance. It lasts longer than most hair-care products, and often requires repeated washes for complete removal. The pomades of the 18th and 19th centuries consisted mainly of bear fat or lard. Lanolin, beeswax and petroleum jelly have been used extensively in modern pomades. The hold of pomades makes sculptured hairstyles such as the pompadour waves (hairstyle) possible.
A flattop is a classic hairstyle characterized by short hair on the sides and back of the head, with the top hair cut short and styled to stand upright in a flat, level plane.
Hi-top fade is a haircut where hair on the sides is cut off or kept very short while hair on the top of the head is grown long.
A bun is a type of hairstyle in which the hair is pulled back from the face, twisted or plaited, and wrapped in a circular coil around itself, typically on top or back of the head or just above the neck. A bun can be secured with a hair tie, barrette, bobby pins, one or more hair sticks, a hairnet. Hair may also be wrapped around a piece called a "rat". Various hair bun inserts may be used to create donut-shaped buns.
Curtained hair or curtains is a hairstyle featuring a long fringe divided in either a middle parting or a side parting, with short (or shaved) sides and back.
An asymmetric cut is a haircut in which the hair is cut in such a way that the hair does not have left-right symmetry and one side is cut or appears to be longer than the other. It is a versatile hairstyle with many subvariations. Usually it is a combination of two separate styles, one for each side.
An eponymous hairstyle is a particular hairstyle that has become fashionable during a certain period of time through its association with a prominent individual.
A rattail is a hair style that is characterized by a long "tail"-like element of hair growing downward from the back of the head. The rattail usually hangs naturally; however, it can be braided, treated as a dread, permed, straightened, poofed, or curled with an iron. In some instances, an individual might choose to grow several tails as opposed to a single very long tail. A rattail is characterised by hair longer than the rest of the hair surrounding it.
The wings haircut, also known the Mod haircut, Mop top, flippies, flow, Justin Bieber haircut, or skater hair is a popular hairstyle used in the skateboarding, surfer, mod, and preppy community. Typically long, the style can range from long and drooping below the eyes, to a shorter length. The haircut is typically wavy and, if straight, the length comes to halfway down the ears. Instead of lying on the wearer's ears, the hair flips up and comes straight out like an airplane wing, hence the name. The hairstyle was popular among men in the 1960s, 1970s, mid-late 2000s, early 2010s and 2020s.
The 21st-century hipster is a subculture. Fashion is one of the major markers of hipster identity. Members of the subculture typically do not self-identify as hipsters, and the word hipster is often used as a pejorative for someone who is pretentious or overly concerned with appearing trendy.
The pompadour is a hairstyle named after Madame de Pompadour (1721–1764), a mistress of King Louis XV of France. Although there are numerous variations of the style for men, women, and children, the basic concept is having a large volume of hair swept upwards from the face and worn high over the forehead, and sometimes upswept around the sides and back as well.
The 2010s were defined by hipster fashion, athleisure, a revival of austerity-era period pieces and alternative fashions, swag-inspired outfits, 1980s-style neon streetwear, and unisex 1990s-style elements influenced by grunge and skater fashions. The later years of the decade witnessed the growing importance in the western world of social media influencers paid to promote fast fashion brands on Pinterest and Instagram.
A regularhaircut in Western fashion is a men's and boys' hairstyle featuring hair long enough to comb on top, with a defined or deconstructed side part, and back and sides that vary in length from short, semi-short, medium, long, to extra long. The style is also known by other names including taper cut, regular taper cut, side-part and standard haircut; as well as short back and sides, business-man cut and professional cut, subject to varying national, regional, and local interpretations of the specific taper for the back and sides.
Secular laws regulating hairstyles exist in various countries and institutions.
There were a few hipsters with fasci haircuts and ZZ Top beards at the "Walking Dead" slot machines, drinking beers.