# New Style Trend for Balding Young Men? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 5, 2009, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-style-trend-for-balding-young-men/520103 "2009-12-05T17:44:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![drastic\_quench](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e36b37/32.png) [@drastic\_quench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drastic_quench)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2009, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-style-trend-for-balding-young-men/520103/21 "2009-12-05T21:39:16Z")
> [@KneadToKnow](#): > > I would call that style Hipster Pattern Baldness. Same here, but I like it. Unlike a lot of hipster styles - like rich kids co-opting working class trucker hats and garage shirts - it seems honest. “This is where my hair grows. I’m not going to shave it off and pretend I’m not balding.” ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2009, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-style-trend-for-balding-young-men/520103/22 "2009-12-05T22:47:15Z")
> [@TWDuke](#): > > Shaved scalps are fine, beards are fine, but men with shaved scalps and beards always look to me like their heads are on upside-down. I think most of us with shaved heads hold to the position that a shaved head virtually _requires_ an accompanying beard of some sort. It declares, “My scalp is bare _on purpose_”, as opposed to being the result of, say, chemotherapy. A shaved head combined with a clean-shaven face also makes you look, depending on what kind of face you have, either somewhat reptilian or like a lightbulb. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2009, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-style-trend-for-balding-young-men/520103/23 "2009-12-05T22:53:27Z")
> [@KneadToKnow](#): > > \ Consequently, I started trimming at my trimmer’s shortest setting. Best decision I ever made. > > Every few weeks, 5 minutes or so with the trimmer, and I’m done. The occasional scrub down with Selsun Blue (dandruff is a _scalp_ condition, after all), and I’m virtually free from the burden of hair care. That’s probably my favourite look for guys who have given up the fight against time and genetics. “Yeah, I know I don’t have a full head of hair any more, but I have more important things to spend my time and effort on” is fine by me. ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2009, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-style-trend-for-balding-young-men/520103/24 "2009-12-05T23:13:39Z")
I don’t care what a guy does as long as it does not involve combing anything where it isn’t supposed to be. I have even seen well done and neatly kept mullets look fairly decent [they can not be too overlong in back] and I know one man with the most beautiful butt length hair that is wonderfully kept. ---
**Author:** ![BMax](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bmax/32/4267_2.png) [@BMax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMax)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2009, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-style-trend-for-balding-young-men/520103/25 "2009-12-06T00:06:23Z")
I decided in my teens (probably 1979) that if/when I went bald I’d just shave everything off. I noticed my hairline receeding at about age 20 and everyone else noticed it around 25. At 30 I got tired of looking like Jack Nicholson and took a razor to it. I kept a goatee for a few years, but shape of my face looks better without a beard. I’ve been clean shaven for most of the last 15 years with no complaints and occasional compliments from women. [Here](http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=1520348&l=8e6c2fc1af&id=694151800) is a photo of me. I don’t think I look like a reptile or a lightbulb, jsut a bald man. ---
**Author:** ![norinew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/eb9ed0/32.png) [@norinew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/norinew)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2009, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-style-trend-for-balding-young-men/520103/26 "2009-12-06T00:09:02Z")
> [@BMax](#): > > I decided in my teens (probably 1979) that if/when I went bald I’d just shave everything off. I noticed my hairline receeding at about age 20 and everyone else noticed it around 25. At 30 I got tired of looking like Jack Nicholson and took a razor to it. I kept a goatee for a few years, but shape of my face looks better without a beard. I’ve been clean shaven for most of the last 15 years with no complaints and occasional compliments from women. [Here](http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=1520348&l=8e6c2fc1af&id=694151800) is a photo of me. I don’t think I look like a reptile or a lightbulb, jsut a bald man. You look just fine to me! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![kevlaw](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kevlaw/32/2281_2.png) [@kevlaw](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kevlaw)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2009, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-style-trend-for-balding-young-men/520103/27 "2009-12-06T00:13:29Z")
> [@drastic\_quench](#): > > Will Oldham > [http://i49.tinypic.com/1t4ifk.jpg](http://i49.tinypic.com/1t4ifk.jpg) My hair looks a lot like that but I think it looks stupid. I am not brave enough to shave it all off and everything less than that looks stupid. There are no good choices. ---
**Author:** ![Argent\_Towers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e8c25b/32.png) [@Argent\_Towers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argent_Towers)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2009, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-style-trend-for-balding-young-men/520103/28 "2009-12-06T00:31:43Z")
To pull off the shaved head look, I think you need to have strong facial features. Patrick Stewart, Ben Kingsley, Bruce Willis, to name a few. An angular face with stony features can look good with a shaved head. But a soft-featured face with smooth lines does not look good this way. Kevin Spacey, for instance, did not make a good Lex Luthor IMO because he just looked awkward and weird with a shaved head instead of intimidating and powerful. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2009, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-style-trend-for-balding-young-men/520103/29 "2009-12-06T01:08:22Z")
Balding with long hair/ponytail = pathetic Mullet = pathetic Combover = pathetic Shaved head = fine Balding with regular hairstyle = fine Bald with beard & moustache = fine Beard and no moustache = Amish wannabe, trying too hard, looks emasculated Soul patch = trying too hard Men bald and balding are great. I realize that when it happens to you it’s disconcerting, but men tend to look better and better with age, and the balding thing is just part of it. I don’t know any women who care one way or another if a guy is balding. Often it looks better than when the hair was there. ---
**Author:** ![drastic\_quench](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e36b37/32.png) [@drastic\_quench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drastic_quench)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2009, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-style-trend-for-balding-young-men/520103/30 "2009-12-06T01:11:50Z")
> [@kevlaw](#): > > My hair looks a lot like that but I think it looks stupid. I am not brave enough to shave it all off and everything less than that looks stupid. There are no good choices. I think it looks pretty cool, given the circumstances. I’ve always had short hair, but as I lose mine, I now what to grow it longer like this. At least long enough that I can comb it back. ---
**Author:** ![runcible\_spoon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9fc29f/32.png) [@runcible\_spoon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/runcible_spoon)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2009, 4:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-style-trend-for-balding-young-men/520103/31 "2009-12-06T04:55:03Z")
I’ve shaved my head a dozen or so times, because I like the look, but it’s just way too much damn effort to keep it like that. I’m starting to thin a bit on top, and my dad’s kept his head shaved since before I was born rather than deal with his weird patchy baldness, so I figure I might go that route, if I ever get to a point where I have little enough hair that shaving’s not such a chore. Until then, I’ll probably either let it grow out a bit (my hair’s fuzzy enough, and I’m tall enough, that it’s only noticeable when I’m sitting down) or keep it buzzed, as it is now (well, it’s actually growing out from a shaved head at the moment, but same difference). I actually kind of wish my thin spot would just give up and go bald, 'cause I think that looks better than wispy. If it stays this way for too long, I may just give up and get laser hair removal on my whole scalp. It’d cost a fortune in hats, though. ---
**Author:** ![Snarky\_Kong](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a183cd/32.png) [@Snarky\_Kong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snarky_Kong)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2009, 5:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-style-trend-for-balding-young-men/520103/32 "2009-12-06T05:49:44Z")
I’m 25, heavily balding. I keep it pretty short and pretend I look like [this](http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_LrEznctRW_Q/SdRAzfrZ4sI/AAAAAAAABjc/gSRT9aTa4PI/s400/jason-statham1.jpg). ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2009, 6:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-style-trend-for-balding-young-men/520103/33 "2009-12-06T06:02:58Z")
> [@TWDuke](#): > > Shaved scalps are fine, beards are fine, but men with shaved scalps and beards always look to me like their heads are on upside-down. That’s not what a bald head and beard make me think of; they make me think of [this](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/a/a0/Cc_kane_shot.jpg). ---
**Author:** ![Bosstone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2009, 7:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-style-trend-for-balding-young-men/520103/34 "2009-12-06T07:26:41Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > That’s not what a bald head and beard make me think of; they make me think of [this](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/a/a0/Cc_kane_shot.jpg). Or [this](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0777435/). ---
**Author:** ![China\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/779978/32.png) [@China\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/China_Guy)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2009, 7:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-style-trend-for-balding-young-men/520103/35 "2009-12-06T07:31:20Z")
I was a punk rock, and would cut my hair (with the barber clippers my mom used on me when I was a little kid) whenever my hair got over about a 1/4 inch long. I only shaved once. I prefer the extremely closely cropped look but no whitewalls. 30 years later I keep the same style only I’m pretty bald. Every 1-2 weeks, whip out the clippers, give it a runover on the 3mm setting and I’m good to go. There is also the I don’t give a rats ass kinda hippie look. Bald, unkept, scraggly, over the ears but generally pushed back sorta. I’m good with guys that pull that one off. ---
**Author:** ![Nzinga\_Seated](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b5ac83/32.png) [@Nzinga\_Seated](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nzinga_Seated)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2009, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-style-trend-for-balding-young-men/520103/36 "2009-12-06T14:47:08Z")
> [@Bosstone](#): > > Or [this](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0777435/). No, no, no. Those aren’t even beards at all. Those are goatees. [This](http://artiewayne.files.wordpress.com/2008/08/isaac_hayes.jpg)is the beard/bald head combo that is hot. Whoa! ---
**Author:** ![Isamu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/7c8e57/32.png) [@Isamu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isamu)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2009, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-style-trend-for-balding-young-men/520103/37 "2009-12-06T15:48:54Z")
My hair had never been a problem for me until around summer this year, when week by week it started drastically thinning out. I think in around 6 months I’ll have a huge bald forehead, but with full and bouncy hair at the back and sides. I’m not sure what to do about it. I’ll probably go the Picard route - i.e., number one clippers all around, and to hell with it. I could grow a beard but my beard is already a solid snow white, so I think I’d just look older. ---
**Author:** ![acetylene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@acetylene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/acetylene)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2009, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-style-trend-for-balding-young-men/520103/38 "2009-12-06T17:20:11Z")
Another vote for the #1 setting on the clippers. Shaving with a razor seems like too much trouble and it just grows back in a couple of says. Sometimes in the summer I will use bare clippers, which is pretty close to a full shave. This combined with my Van Dyke (it’s not a goatee dammit!) is my look, and the women love it! I’m lucky that my skull is shaped very normal. If you have a lumpy misshapen skull you should probably go the Rogaine route. ---
**Author:** ![MOIDALIZE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e274bd/32.png) [@MOIDALIZE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MOIDALIZE)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2009, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-style-trend-for-balding-young-men/520103/39 "2009-12-06T17:24:14Z")
The Bruce Willis/Christopher Meloni style of close-cropped balding hair is a good look, IMO. I also think that if you have to go bald, it’s better when it recedes back, widow’s peak style, than when the top of the scalp thins out. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2009, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-style-trend-for-balding-young-men/520103/40 "2009-12-06T20:48:49Z")
> [@](#): > > I also think that if you have to go bald, it’s better when it recedes back, widow’s peak style, than when the top of the scalp thins out. I have what I call a seceding hairline: Most of it’s withdrawing up my forehead, but there’s one little lock in the middle that’s standing pat and declaring its independence from the hair mainland. Personally, I’m looking forward to going bald naturally. If I let it grow out, I get a Caucaso, and shaved bald is altogether too high-maintenance (though I did it once to recover from a bad haircut accident). But natural baldness, you don’t have to do anything for that. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-style-trend-for-balding-young-men/520103.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-style-trend-for-balding-young-men/520103.md?page=3)