Hear ye, Hear ye. Stop what you’re doing, put your pencils down and listen up. For what I am about to tell you, requires the utmost attention.
Forget about skin-fades, march past the moustache, and sound the sideburn siren. The Southern Hemisphere summer practically begs it of you. Come December 1st, every tastemaker in the land and their dog, will be sporting stylish sideburns. So, get growing. I’m simply looking out for you, I don’t want you to miss out.
Much to the dismay of our American cousins, in this great southern land we have ridden the crest of the moustache resurgence. We love nothing more that a bit of unnecessary facial fluff. This year will be no different, in 2024 the sideburn will take centre stage.
In the cyclical nature of what’s hot and what’s not. We can cast our eye back to the heyday of the sideburn. More modernly maligned, they were a mainstay on male mugs for many years. From the mid to late 50’s, sideburn superstars such as Elvis Presley brought the facial hair into the realm of ‘cool’. The sideburn was a mainstay of the ‘Teddy Boy’ look throughout that same decade. Through the 60’s, other youth subcultures began donning the sideburns too. Mods and rockers for all their well-aired differences, shared a common love of sideburns. In the 1970’s, the sideburns hit the mainstream and as history tells us. As soon as something becomes mainstream and popular, it ceases to be cool. So began, their slow demise.
This current resurgence will be less 70’s caricature and more of a subtle 60’s homage. Think of a slightly deeper sideburn than the messy hair look of the 2000’s. With the sideburn finishing parallel to the bottom of the ear-lobe. Not an all the way down to the chin number. While you’re growing out your ‘burns, have a long hard think about whether the collars on your shirts are wide enough. Whether your ringer tees are tight enough.
The sideburn resurrection comes out of a kickback against the tight fades that’ve dominated the past five to ten years of men’s barbering. A lot of which we can blame Peaky Blinders for. Plus, if you think about it. Those severe haircuts were popularised by a tv show set in the interwar years, and post-World War II was when the sideburn really came into its own. Not only is style cyclical, but it follows the same chronological patterns.
The shift in hair styles, moving from the contemporary, stock-standard severity. Is representative of a larger shift in mens fashion. Away from the boyish nature that the skin-fade cuts have come to symbolise. Towards an evocation of the gentleman pirate. A swapping of tracksuits for blazers, and accepting that the casual tie is gaining momentum. We are seeing a greater number of men go to hairdressers rather than barbers. Seeking a style more lived in, and sideburns are a part of this.
Plainly put, sideburns are the rambunctious cherry on top of your summer wardrobe. Heed my advice, go on… get hairier this summer.
