It's not surprising to hear that long hair is having a moment. These days, it seems that coif lengths rise and fall with more unpredictability than hemlines. What may raise a few eyebrows, however, is that the trend is proving strongest among men.
Consider Jeff Bridges and Shaun White, whose golden performances in their respective fields recently helped bring attention to untamed manes. There may be a 37-year age difference between the Crazy Heart and the Flying Tomato. But thanks to their thick and longish hair, they have become poster boys for the anti-metrosexual sex symbol.
"We're moving away from the hyper-groomed," GQ grooming editor Jason Chen says from New York. To wit, the current issue features a story on the end of male vanity. "I think [long hair]is totally on point. It's less uptight, less maintained."
Even so, only a few centimetres or an affected style separate sexy from scary. For every image of White's fiery locks, there was an unfortunately curly ponytail sported by a male figure skater. And in a celebrity-packed nine-minute skit that went viral last week, Jimmy Kimmel chided country musician Keith Urban for having "lady hair," yet actor Ben Barnes, mostly recently seen in Dorian Gray, can pull off an effeminate, shoulder-length style.
Celebrity hairstylist Jie Matar, whose own luxurious curls stir envy among women, points out that long hair expresses an unspoken message about health. "You cannot have long hair and be unhealthy," he says. He also hears from female clients that they enjoy the tactile experience that long hair on the opposite sex affords. "They like grabbing onto it and playing with it."
Consequently, men blessed enough to grow long hair can't be so foolish as to neglect it, Matar says. "You have to have it tailored; you can't just let it hang and you can't have it greasy. Hygiene is a priority. You need to treat it all the time."
Face shape also plays an important role, Nhi Tran, the creative director at Vidal Sassoon in Toronto, says. "We approach [long hair on men]the same way we do with women. It's all about a very geometric precision cut … one that will suit a man's bone structure and face shape." She points to Donald Sutherland's angular jaw line as a good example.
As elegant as Sutherland is, however, there's an undisputed element of rock 'n' roll to the look, says Andrea Evans, a men's casting agent for Elite Models in Toronto. And that's where the aforementioned caution comes into play again. "You have to have the character to back it up and you have to be able to carry yourself in a strong way," Evans says. "If you have the mane, you have to be the lion."