Ciao to comb-overs. Bye-bye rugs and plugs. The shaved head has become an accepted solution to male hair loss and a symbol of modern style.
According to statistics from Conair, some 22 million men ages 22 to 65 shave their heads regularly. And most men’s fashion pundits approve.
“At the moment, it’s perfectly fine to shave your head. You don’t need hair,” says Adam Rapoport, style editor of GQ magazine. “It’s common for guys on Wall Street, to captains of industry, to lawyers, to celebrities, to guys at the gym.”
Brian Boye, Men’s Health fashion and grooming director, agrees. “It’s become mainstream. Men can have long hair, short hair, and now they can have no hair. It’s a style statement. Being bald says, ‘I’m confident, strong, this is me.’ ”
The popularity of the style is underscored by products from razors designed specifically for the scalp to grooming products to soothe bumps and reduce shine.
So how did the evolution from a hair-worshiping society to chrome- dome nation occur?
Todd Green, who introduced a razor called Headblade back in 1999, says one push came around the year 2000 “when the military officially approved head shaving. The government realized it was not a trend,” Green says.
That’s true, says Lt. Col. Christopher Garver, an Army spokesman at the Pentagon. “We don’t consider it a faddish haircut.”
But premilitary and post Mr. Clean and Yul Brynner, we mustn’t forget the “Michael Jordan effect,” Green says. The basketball star took it off in the late ’80s, and inspired pro athletes everywhere to do the same.
But hold on. “Don’t do it reflexively,” Rapoport says. “It’s not a democratic style. If you’re a pale dude, with a weak jaw line and a few extra pounds, you might not look as good as others.”
Consider just buzzing it super short and don’t underestimate the power of facial hair. “Go really short on your head, and leave a little stubble on your face.”
