Why Getting the Same Haircut Too Often Can Be a Bad Thing
Finding a haircut you love can be extremely rewarding. Let everyone else keep saving Justin Theroux hair photos to their camera roll or wondering if they should go platinum, buzz, or grow an epic mane while you stay the course of handsomeness. And yet, keeping your haircut game on point over and over again can possibly be detrimental to your look if you're not careful about the details. Unfortunately, it appears actor Nico Tortorella suffered from said dangers last night.
Here's the thing: Tortorella is rocking what we like to call the "New York Standard." It's the haircut that NYC barber shops like Fellow Barber, Freemans Sporting Club, and Blind Barber have been perfecting for years—because guys have been requesting it for about as long. The cut itself is pretty simple: buzzed sides and back, some length left on top to create for a modern day Brad Pitt in Fury type vibe. When done right, it's the easiest way to look like you give a shit about your hair without giving too much of a shit. And when it's not, you can end up looking like a crazy Dr. Seuss character IRL. (There are ways to ace the unkempt hair steez, but this isn't it.)
But if you ask your barber to repeat these steps over and over again—buzz the sides, clinging to your top hairs like they're your first born—over time the contrast between the sides and top will get more and more extreme. Additionally, your hair on top will increase not only in length, but in bulk (should you be a lucky S.O.B. with a pretty glorious head of hair like Tortorella). Bulky hair and shaved sized ends up looking insane and borderline mushroom cut-ish, plus, as you can see here, it's basically impossible to control.
The fix is simple: Just ask your barber to shorten up the top every other time you hit the barber shop, but more importantly, to thin it out with some sheers.
Jake Woolf is a writer who has covered men’s style for over ten years and has contributed to GQ since 2014. A graduate of Parsons The New School for Design (good school, long name), he also has bylines at Robb Report, HighSnobiety, Pitchfork, and the defunct #menswear website Four Pins... Read moreWriterXRelated Stories for GQHair