Fresh Haircut - Vintage/College Contour. Looks Great.

Gents, I had been in dire need of a good hot weather haircut. I'd let my hair get way too long and shaggy and in this infernal summer heat and humidity in cattle country, I was at the point of misery.

I knew I wanted a fairly tight fade from top of ear to side of crown and needed a photo to inspire my barber. So minding what we learned in Marco's fabulous thread about the new golden age of pomades, I found the photo he linked of the lad with the modern Executive Contour. I also remembered he mentioned a College Contour with a bit less top knot.

I knew I would not fare as well as the photos with the cut - in part with a cutthroat razor(which my barber doesn't do) so the barber and I kept it more vintage. We went with a comb set part and left the top just long enough to get the slight 'flip' at the front. I can also lay it straight away to the side or pull the entire top backward if I want. I really like this style and wil be trying to refine it as we go forward. She used a 1 guard off the ear and finished with a 3 guard on the sides. Scissor cut top. I don't know if clipper guards are universal worldwide but here in the States they run 1 through 8 and are graduated in 1/8 inch increments. 1 guard is 1/8", 2 is 2/8" and so on. We agreed that going to near bare skin of the ear was not a good option for me at 53 years of age.

I learned a few things about this as well. First up is a barber that gets it about male hair styles. My barber is a lady (full barbers licence and none of that 'stylist' stuff) and while she is very experienced and easy to work with, she works in a chain shop and cannot devote the time to experimentation I would like.

We are in desperate need of a new/old school barbershop in my city. With either a more senior master who knows what is up from the old days or a crew of these young rockabilly types. Probably with a sleeve full of tattoos to boot. I don't know about England and Europe but these young new/retro barbers are doing some near artwork on men's hair. They are just hard to find. Will keep you posted on how it holds up after a week or two of growth.

I've had the same basic hairstyle for about 10 years. I was back in college when "Casino Royale" came out and told my hairdresser at the time to "make me look like that," i.e. having pretensions of looking like Daniel Craig. What she did was cut it shorter on the sides, and it came out looking like his hairstyle in "Skyfall." And that's what it looks like for the first few weeks. But then it gets shaggy and mop-ish. My hair grows FAST and is moderately thick, and once the sides grow out, styling is a chore.

For the past 4 years or so I've been going to a nearby barbershop. There are two women barbers there, and they only cut men's hair. The one that cuts mine is Korean. I couldn't tell her to make me look like James Bond, so I just said "Short on the sides, short on the top, with a part."
She asked, "Do you want a fade?"
I had no idea what she meant so I said yes, and she gave me a fade on the sides, cut it very short to almost white-walls, and sheared the top short. She combed a part in it, shaved my neck, and I thought it looked okay. Thing is, a week later, it had grown back to "Skyfall"-style, and I loved how easy my hair was to push over, for a quasi-part. Not a "hard" part like you see in these barbershop photos of the executive contour, but just like the movie. I love how simple it is to maintain. The only problem is, when it gets long in about 4 weeks, it becomes a mop again.

I've thought about growing it out and asking for a "businessman" cut, but honestly I like the ease of this style. The only other problem is that when I go in for a summer cut, she cuts it REALLY short. But at least it covers up the gray that's encroaching on the left side of my head.

Pictures?
Photographs?

Not of me. My anonymity will be preserved.

No one wants to see my mug either!

Kev, I know what you mean about growing fast. I had not been in for a cut in about two months. She cut about and inch and a half off my hair! So no complaints from me. I know too many guys fifteen years younger than me that are dealing with a lot of thinning. I don't have but a smidgen of grey in my hair either. Being a dark sandy blonde it hides those few strands pretty well. Luck. I just wish it extended to my metabolism and weight!

Kevan said:

Not of me. My anonymity will be preserved.

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Phog Allen said:

No one wants to see my mug either!

Kev, I know what you mean about growing fast. I had not been in for a cut in about two months. She cut about and inch and a half off my hair! So no complaints from me. I know too many guys fifteen years younger than me that are dealing with a lot of thinning. I don't have but a smidgen of grey in my hair either. Being a dark sandy blonde it hides those few strands pretty well. Luck. I just wish it extended to my metabolism and weight!

Click to expand...

You guys are no fun anymore....

Phog Allen said:

I knew I wanted a fairly tight fade from top of ear to side of crown and needed a photo to inspire my barber. So minding what we learned in Marco's fabulous thread about the new golden age of pomades, I found the photo he linked of the lad with the modern Executive Contour. I also remembered he mentioned a College Contour with a bit less top knot.

Click to expand...

The College Contour is my haircut. My Master Barber takes care of it every 2 weeks and is able to literally sculpt it on my head. It's an Old School barbershop cut with modern details applied. I truly love it. Just had a fresh haircut this morning.

And now I'm also trying to grow a handlebar stache.

I get the college cut also. Classic and simple.

Here in NY barber shops are a Dime a Dozen, you just have to weed out the bad ones which is unfortunate. Then when you find someone you like they always end up either raising their price, or move back to Queens .....

I have been bouncing around a little to find a good barber. I could easily go spend like $25 on a cut, but that has been outside of my budget for a while. I found a couple of decent places finally. I can't do the haircut every two weeks situation, but I usually try to average about six weeks. That's usually enough to keep it things tidy without overdoing it.
One thing I did on my last haircut was show the barber a picture of what I wanted. That, combined with a decent barber, pretty much got me exactly what I wanted. I usually rock a side part with a pretty short fade on the sides.
A good haircut and some quality pomade to keep it nice does wonders for my confidence.

Blitz, thank you for bringing the trad back to the top of the page. I needed to update it with some thoughts a couple of weeks in. We'll it has been near three weeks and I noticed something about two weeks in. My hair started relaxing a bit and would not keep its style without a bit of product.

So what to think? I believe part of this is the way it is cut. I am not sure the transition from where the fade cut on the sides to the top scissor cut met is not quite correct for my head shape. This is where I was going with the comments about needing a skilled barber who can spend some time examining my hair and head shape and tailoring the cut to best effect. Second, I think Marco is on to something about getting to the barber more consistently. I do like the tighter fade cut up the sides but need to figure out what hair length and cut for the top is best. Man we need a young hotshot barber around here.

We also need an 'old school' barbershop here!