Figure 1.--This style of bangs became quite popular for American boys in the 1990s. I'm not sure what the popular name of this cut is. As you can see it and similar bang styles were worn by boys of various ages. Here we also see the boy's baby sister and mother. |
We are not positive what this hair style is called, but believe it is a layered cut. This style involves cutting the hair on different parts of the head is approximately the same length (instead of being cut longer in the centre and shorter around the edges). This cut contrasts from tapered cuts and bowl cuts. HBC first observed this cut in the early 1990s, but in fact has little information about it. It seems to have declined in popularity during the 2000s. The layering affect can be used in a variety of ways. Often for younger boys it is incorporated with bangs which then follolw the head around in a kind of bowl cut. The style was also worn by teenagers, but less commonly bt older teenagers. We have seen this style worn in America and have also noted it in Australia, England, and New Zealand. We are less sure about Continental Europe. Hopefully, HBC readers can provide more information on this style. We are especially interested in contributions from readers who are knowledgedable about hair styles.
We are not positive what this hair style here is called (figure 1), but believe it is a layered cut. This term appears to have been used to describe different styles over time. A HBC reader writes, "In the 1970s my parents had me get my hair "layered" but the haircut was different from the "layer cut" of the 1990s that is shown here on the HBC site. I wonder if the term "layered" or "layer cut" for a haircut has had different meanings at different times. Starting in 1971 my parents sent me to a stylist to get a layered haircut and always sent me to the same shop
for the rest of the time I was growing up. My mother never liked the way
other barbers cut my hair. The haircut I got did not look like the pictures of layer cuts on the site. What I got seems to have been popular
at the time since I remember seeing a lot of people (both boys and adults) with haircuts that looked like the photos in the barbershop of the
kind of haircut I was getting. As I recall, the barber used only scissors (no
clippers). The main effect seemed to be to have the hair look moderately
long everywhere including the back and sides where barbers usually used
clippers. The transitions between parts of the head were subtle enough that
there was no look of any part of the head having hair that was much shorter
than the rest. It was long enough to cover the ears. They at least told me
that my hair would be cut so I wouldn't look like I'd just had a haircut.
The same type of haircut seemed to be used for people with lengths ranging
from slightly long to shoulder length. I think that part of the idea of the way it was cut was to make hair look neat but still look somewhat long. I
was also told, the first time I went to this barbershop, that they would cut
it so it looks as long as it did before I got the haircut. That was important because many boys at the time wore long hair." The style here seems quite different. The 1990s layered cut seemed to be a very destinctive bowl cut with a much shoerter lawyer under the longer bowl part. This seems different than the early bowl cuts in which the hair below the bowl was cropped very close. Of course the further difference was that the original bowl cut was a style for children from modest income families. Generally mother did it to avoid having to pay a barber. The 1990s layered cuts were done at barber shops or even hair stylists.
This style involves cutting the hair on different parts of the head is approximately the same length (instead of being cut longer in the centre and shorter around the edges). This cut contrasts from tapered cuts and bowl cuts.
We have only limited chronological information at this time. A HBC reader remembers the term from the 1970s, but reports that the style was different than the layered cuts boys wore in the 1990s. HBC first observed this cut in the early 1990s, but in fact has little information about it. It seems to have declined in popularity during the 2000s.
The layering affect can be used in a variety of ways. Often for younger boys it is incorporated with bangs which then follolw the head around in a kind of bowl cut. We do nor thin hair was actually styled like this until the 1990s. Earlier similarities were pribably just the result of standard bowl cuts.
We have seen the style most commonly worn by younger boys, especially boys of primary school age. The style was also worn by teenagers, but less commonly bt older teenagers.
We have limited information as to the countries in which this hair style was popular. We have seen this style worn in America. It was perhaps more popular there than in any other country. We noticed that in America it was especially popular for boys with blond hair. I'm not sure why that was. We have also noted it in Australia, England, and New Zealand. We are less sure about Continental Europe. Hopefully, HBC readers can provide more information on this style.
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