A Cut Above
This month, Ian Harrold takes a more left field approach to the question of wheels
words by Ian HARROLD
It might sound strange, but cars are not the first thing that spring to mind when it comes to wheels. Nor is the two-wheeled treacherousness of the motorbike the first port of call of my wandering mind when questions of wheels arise. For some reason, it’s the grainy, low-fi charm of the spinning vinyl that my mind offers up. And why not? There’s a lot to like about the humble vinyl record. Sure, it’s a dated medium, with major sway over hipsters and geriatrics and little in-between. But it’s a medium that puts two analogue fingers up to the digital drift in which we find ourselves nowadays.
It’s also a fitting, if not tenuous, visual metaphor of the ways in which things just keep turning, and never does that metaphor ring truer than in questions of style. What is style, after all, if not a spinning record? A series of revolutions that ultimately come to repeat themselves.
We see this across the multiple facets of style, but it’s at its most glaring when it comes the question of hair. Just look at the last three years as an example. In that time, we’ve moved from skin fades and slick backs – themselves throwback to the first spin of the record back in the 40s and 50s – to the longer, Stones-infused, Ramones-inflected locks of the 60s and 70s.
Indeed, with pomade fatigue setting and fades, well, fading fast, guys are looking to the more unstructured looks of the 60s and 70s as solid alternatives. There are refinements, of course: the grungy, I-woke-up-like-this nonchalance that used to define longer styles has been replaced with a little more care and deliberation. Length and texture abound, but with a little more intent. Think Mick Jagger attending an interview for Apple.
From a barber’s perspective this can only be a good thing. A return to older styles ironically gives a chance for barbers to pick up newer skills. This is especially true of those who came aboard the profession over the last five or so years, when longer, more textured styles were laying low for a while. When a style takes hold for as long as the fade has, barbers quickly find that their days are spent carving out the same style. There’s nothing wrong with that, necessarily, but it is nice when something new comes along and barbers get to blow out the cobwebs a little.
That said, it is interesting to watch these styles wax and wane as time goes by. And wax and wane they do, because if I know anything about questions of style, it’s that the record keeps spinning regardless, and those same great songs will always come back around. It’ll be fun so see what comes up next. Who knows? Maybe I’d better start brushing up on my bowl cuts and mullets. I feel another revolution coming on. IH
