-Men’s hairstyles for 2012-

2011 may have given us a completely fresh decade, but it’s in 2012 that we truly get to explore it. If the last decade was all about buzz terms prefixed by man and metro (think manscaping and metrosexual), then 2012 is all about exploring a masculine edge. Sure it’s refined, but there have been only a few periods in recent history where true masculinity didn’t come with a polished edge. Thus we leave behind a period where men and boy bands alike head to a hairstylist for the latest fandangled chemical straightening technique and instead, for those of them with curly hair, can opt for something au naturel. Natural, but no less stylish.

And natural is, effectively, where the short and curly hairstyle sits in 2012. Entangled, interlocked, and messy, it’s a hairstyle that not only connotes a relaxed lifestyle but is itself relaxed.

Of course, the nature of curls is that they come in all degrees of severity, some tight and compact, others softer but no less prone to doing whatever the hell they like no matter how much product you seem to put in your hair. The dominant men’s curly hairstyle of 2012 is a look that captures some of what the quiff offers, but it does so with far less height and with little effort to relax or straighten the curls.

The slicked back undercut isn’t the only 2012 men’s hairstyle that is something of a classic haircut revived. Nor is it the only hairstyle that requires a sumptuous amount of product to achieve its slick look.

The men’s slicked hairstyle with side part enjoyed its major revival around 2009 / 2010 when Mad Men first impacted upon the global psyche. Courtesy of the man’s man connotations that Don Draper gave the style it soon became the go-to hairstyle of many a man, the likes of actor George Clooney included. But where it was once for the older, stylish gent, the side parted, slicked hairstyle has become just as much a look for the young. As such it was quickly appropriated by many a designer for the styling of their catwalks. You equally won’t be hard pressed to find it worn, somewhat knowingly, by style conscious chaps on the streets.

Not tight enough to be an afro and with the mop top a hairstyle more akin to the Brit-rock than anything else, it’s hard to give this hairstyle a name that connotes exactly what it is. So, despite the naff sound to it, please forgive us: we’re labelling this evolution of one of last year’s men’s hair trends the curly mop top.

This is the curly kind of hairstyle that you’d wear to an indie gig or to a Bohemian festival. Scrap that. This is the curly hairstyle that you’d wear with bucket loads of confidence. But it’s not just confidence that’s required, but also the ability to style what is one of the trickiest hairstyles for 2012. The challenge here is to maintain the out-of-control curls, so it doesn’t look like you’ve just spent 18-months on a deserted island. Nailing the 1970s revival vibe, Gucci perfected the look on their spring 2011 catwalk choosing to concentrate on the front and offer the hairstyle with both short and long curly hair.

If you’ve already read the in depth list of men’s hair trends above, the fact that the undercut is a key haircut for 2012 will come as no surprise. That look in particular though is a slicked back undercut that relies just as much on its styling as it does on its cut. But because the styling is so particular, 2012 is a year in which other interpretations of the undercut abound.

In fact, as a men’s haircut the undercut sits as one of the most fashionable and versatile options in 2012, one capable of working with most of the hairstyles we’ve noted above. Take the Brit-rock indie hairstyle as an example – given that’s its swept from the side it’s easy to work the hairstyle in with an undercut, keeping the sides short and the long hair on top swept over and forwards.

That’s not the only option of course. Take this style for instance, which marries an undercut with a side swept quiff. The beauty of this style lies in its irony, as it’s about boasting the uncut parts of your hair whilst making it look like it’s a damn fine cut.

Grecian God or not, shoulder length hair is never truly out, but it’s not always in either. The question for when it is in is always what style of man it’s being worn by. Is it popular the kick-back Indie kid, the guy whose life revolves around catching the next wave or an altogether different kind of man? In 2012, long, shoulder length men’s hair sits as a haircut with both a smart and sleek finish.

You’ll note that there’s a big difference between long men’s hair as a surfer would wear it and as a guy would wear it into the office. While we’re under no illusion that you’re going to start seeing shoulder length haircuts around the boardroom table of the world’s stiffest financial institutions, it is a haircut that again has an office-edge. It just happens that it’s an office filled with creatives instead of bankers and accountants. Zegna took the lead with the sharp and somewhat conservative take on shoulder length hair at their spring 2012 showing.

Of course, just because it’s a haircut that is again the domain of the well heeled doesn’t meant that it’s naturally without its relevancy to those with a more relaxed attitude to life. Falke showed off just how that interpretation can work with long, wavy red hair in their spring / summer 2012 look book.

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