Men's Hairtyles: I'm Having Difficulty Finding Useable Photos.

[inappropriate]

Hi, thanks for reading!

Sorry if this section of the forum is supposed to be girls-only -- it wasn't quite clear whether it is, and in any case there seems to be no other section with a description encompassing hairstyles.

Anyway, to start off with, something rather specific, and by that virtue hopefully it will prove to be a relatively easy request.

As I'm sure you appreciate, male hairstyles of the 20's, 30's and 40's were particularly distinctive. One aspect of the dashing haircuts of the time was the way that the nape was cut. Now, you know, a man is just asked whether he wants it "blocked" or "tapered" -- but there's another way, often worn by the gentlemen in Hollywood's Golden Age, that I'd really love to try, but I find myself unable to describe it with the exactness necessary that my stylists can manage to break out of their regimented styling. Additionally, I've been completely unsuccessful in my attempt to find a photograph of the style at the necessarily high resolution.

This picture comes very near to fitting the bill, except that the view is from the side when one from the back or 3/4's is required, and Noel has his hair slicked, which of course alters the look and makes the photograph less than ideal as a source for a stylist to copy.

I can only describe what I'm after to you about as well as I managed to describe it to the stylists, which has never been good enough to get me what I'm after. But hopefully your greater knowledge of the era's style will help you make sense of my rambling.

The hair on the back of the crown begins a gradual taper, until the meeting of the round of the skull and the beginning of the spinal column at the top of the neck, whereupon the taper becomes much more pronounced.

I've tried ro capture stills from a few of my DVD's, but as you can imagine it's very rare that a director would have an in-focus close-up of the back of someone's head...so I think my only real help would have to come in the form of scans taken from barbers' manuals of the time.

Hopefully you understand what look I'm driving at and can help me find some photos to take to the stylist with me.

I appreciate your help! Thank you very much.

Ta.

 

[KittyT]

The hair on the back of the crown begins a gradual taper, until the meeting of the round of the skull and the beginning of the spinal column at the top of the neck, whereupon the taper becomes much more pronounced.

Well I get a pretty good idea of what you're talking about just from your description! I think more conservative hairstyles in the 50s still had this. Your best bet is to find an old-time barber shop and ask for the oldest barber in the shop. He will give you the best cut

 

[Atterbury Dodd]

Hello Inappropriate,
I know how hard it can be to find pictures of the hairstyle that is desired. I have had the same problem I have my Mom cut my hair, and every time I get a cut we spend about fifteen minutes talking about how to do it. I show her parts out of movies sometimes, but for know I have used a picture of a young man in a 1937 Sears Roebuck Catalog I have. It(the haircut) comes out about how I want it. She really knows how to do the back from the movies I have showed her, so my picture probably wouldn't help you. My suggestion would be to try old catalogs, or magazines. Life or Time maybe?

Don't know if this will be much help but I tried! Good luck.

 

[Brinybay]

Interesting topic, and I feel your pain. Even trying to get a barber to cut it short takes some convincing these days. I've found that even when you say "taper", they tend to do a "tapered but full" look. NO, I say, I want it SHORT. I don't understand the squeamishness of some barbers to cut a man's hair short. My hair is very fine and almost baby-soft, so when it grows out, it just looks scraggly. The last time I went in, which was just a couple days ago, I brought a picture with me. Even with the picture, I had to ask her to take more off a couple of times, but at least she got the message. It also helps that I point out that I have a natural part that is just right of center. Most of the time I wear a hat over it, except when I go out for the evening or at work.

There's tons of stuff on the internet about vintage women's hairstyles, but practically nothing regarding men's. I think it's a cultural thing. Men simply did not fuss about their hair much, they just cut it off.

I like the challenge of researching stuff like this, so when I find something, I'll be sure to post it.