There seems to be a young guy version of the combover - I know three guys who started balding on top in their early 20s and each one of them grew their hair out so it was kind of boofy and unkempt, presumably so the cloud of hair would hide the bald patch. It didn’t work, and they all just looked like they were balding guys with poor personal grooming habits. They all looked much better when they cropped their hair.
My father’s hair receded in a pattern not too unlike your second photo, only more so. His widow’s peak is in the same place as it was when he was young, but the sides recede at least six or eight inches back. He buzzes it down to almost nothing each June* and by August, when it needs combing again, he combs it back-and-to-the-right, which shows off the absolute most bald head possible. By May, his hair can be more than six inches long, still combed straight back. But his hair is still thick and brown, so it doesn’t look too bad, given that his profession lends itself to having too much hair.
I certainly inherited his hair, so I’m sort of watching with interest, since my own balding pattern seems to be similar.
*He’s a college professor. Does it every year right after finals.
My all-natural hair is developing into that exact sort of pattern. I describe it as having a seceding hairline: That little tuft there is declaring its independence from the mainland further back on my head.
But back to the topic of the thread: Some guys look better than others bald, and some look downright great. But never in the history of mammals has a combover ever looked good. Much better to take your chances with baldness, than to go for the certainty a combover provides. Nor do I buy the excuse that combovers sneak up on guys: If you always get your hair cut to the same length, it simply can’t gradually turn into a combover. The only remotely plausible explanation I can come up with is that there’s a conspiracy of insecure barbers, who want to make sure that there are guys out there who look worse than they do.
For the record, I’m looking forward to going naturally bald, since it’s so much less maintenance-- No need to wash it, or cut it, or comb it, just a buff and polish every so often and you’re set. In the meanwhile, I cut it down to a quarter inch all over, twice a year, again for the low-maintenance factor.
Well I stand corrected then 
It just seems pretty unnatural, but it seems from the posts here that many folks have that type of hair. But I know the one guy I am thinking of it is plugs because the hair seems so spaced apart, but I can see that some people have that natural hair pattern as well.
Absolutely! Combovers are frickin’ ridiculous, and they do seem to just evolve in slow motion, so about a year earlier than I probably needed it, I just went with buzz cuts. Good news: you never really look like a slob if you get buzzed every four weeks (I use a #3 head), and your total hair preparation for the day is: drying your hair with a towel.
My goal is to avoid looking like Gallagher with a buzz cut.
This one had me in fits for minutes. Well played.
I know a bloke who must have had a hair transplant. There is no other way to explain the truly bizarre way he looks. On top of his head is a tuft of hair, but his hairline has crept downwards a lot since it was grafted there and the hair at the back of his head, where the tuft was originally taken, is considerably thinner than it should be.
The tuft can certainly happen. It happened to me.
A month or so ago I was at Supercuts, where the bad haircut was invented. Hey, since I just want it all shaved off, even they should be able to handle it, right? And there is one person there who is truly an artist. I request her whenever I can.
But that one time, I got someone new. She finished shaving my head, then asked me if she should shave the tuft. No, you mental collossus, I’m going for the kewpie doll look!
You can grow it out really long, then wrap it around your head! That would look totall real
I figure that in a few more years, I can do a combover with my ear hairs.
I knew a bald guy who wore cheap wigs-his looked like they glued a piece of astro turf onto his head. In additin, under fluorescent light, the thing would glow green!
If you are goinf to wear a rug, buy a decent one!
I think it’s more symbolic than anything. It’s like wearing a really fancy outfit (oh, like an uncomfortable big white dress) that you pay more for because the event means something. Updos can look very overstyled but they convey the symbol.
True. I mentioned earlier that I like ponytails, but that would be a completely inappropriate look for a formal function.