Flattop

For other uses, see Flat Top (disambiguation).

Tony Trabert wearing a flattop.

A "flattop" is a type of short haircut where the hair on the top of the head stands upright to form a mostly flat-appearing deck when viewed from the front or side. In its classic and mainstream form for men and boys, the hair on top is cut level from front to back. The shortest portion of hair on top, which occurs on the highest part of the head, is cut to a quarter of an inch, which leaves the front-most hair about 3/4 to 1-1/4 inches long, depending on the roundness of the head. The hair on top is cut such that it rounds naturally over the back of the head. The back and sides are cut to a quarter of an inch, with sideburns squared at the hole of the ear and a low taper at the neckline. Other versions popular in counter-culture are cut longer on the top, often upward sloping to the front to 2-3 inches, and left long on the sides or shaved to the skin. Another version seen in the U.S. military shaves the hair to the skin from the highest part of the head to the back of the head and all the way down on the back and sides, often with lather and razor, leaving hair in a flat, level horseshoe shape on top (a “horseshoe flattop” or “shoe”). Regardless of the form, the top of the flattop is usually performed with electric clippers, using the clipper-over-comb method and freehand.

Styling

When a flattop is viewed from the front, varying degrees of squarish appearance are achieved by the design of the upper sides as they approach and round or angle on to the flat deck. Possibilities are somewhat limited by skull shape, the density of the hair and the diameter of the individual shafts of hair, but may include: boxy upper sides with rounded corners; boxy upper sides with sharp corners; rounded upper sides with rounded corners; rounded upper sides with sharp corners. The hair on the sides and back of the head is usually tapered short, semi-short, or medium.

A flattop might be graduated in length on the top of the head from approximately one inch at the front hairline to about a quarter inch at the crown to a half inch as it starts curving down the back of the head. A classic flattop for men and boys in the 1950s and 1960s typically cut the back and sides to a quarter of an inch in length with sideburns cut square at the hole of the ear and a low taper at the neckline. A variant form known by several names including flattop with fenders and flat top boogie has long sides known as fenders with or without a ducktail.

Flattops are typically groomed with wax pomade (known as butch wax in the 1950s), hair spray, mousse or gel, dependent upon hair texture and personal preference. Certain straight, course hair textures do not require product to maintain their hold. Since the haircut is short and quickly grows out of its precisely-cut shape, maintenance haircuts are required at least every 2-3 weeks, and some flattop wearers get haircuts as often as once a week. Most style their hair upward after washing with a blow dryer.

The flattop has maintained a contingent of dedicated wearers since it was introduced. It was very popular in the 1950s, but faded in popularity with the emergence of longer hair styles in the late 1960s and 1970s. It had a brief reappearance in the 1980s and early 1990s, before dropping off again.

• 
  German general Paul von Hindenburg with flattop, 1914
• 
  Johnny Unitas, who wore a flattop during much of his NFL career
• 
  NASA astronaut Walter Cunningham with a flattop
• 
  Flight director Gene Kranz wore a flattop ever since the early Apollo missions.

Haircutting methods

Left: Roger Maris, flattop. Right: U.S. President John F. Kennedy, Ivy League-type haircut

The haircut is usually done with electric clippers utilizing the clipper over comb technique, though it can also be cut shears over comb or freehand with a clipper. Some barbers utilize large combs designed for cutting flattops. Others use wide rotary clipper blades specifically designed for freehand cutting the top of a flattop.

When cutting a new flattop or when cutting a flattop with full boxy or boxy rounded upper sides or a flattop with fenders, the hair at the upper sides and top has to be boxed in. If the hair on the upper sides is initially contoured, it may not be possible to achieve a squarish effect. The hair at the crown is cut from about one quarter to one half inch while the barber stands behind the patron. He then positions himself in front and cuts the top hair to about two inches in length and then to the desired height across the top from side to side while progressing back to the shorter hair at the crown.

The exact lengths are dependent on skull shape and the style of flat top. Intricate cutting of the deck and upper sides follows to achieve a specific inclination and squarish effect. Natural skull shape and certain deck inclinations and heights often leave an area at the center top of the head where the scalp is visible through the hair. This area is called a "landing strip", a metaphor for the landing strip on the deck of a flattop (aircraft carrier). Some flattops are designed to cause a landing strip to show to varying degrees.

See also

• Butch cut
• Buzz cut
• Crew cut
• Hi-top fade
• Ivy League

Bibliography

• Thorpe, S.C. (1967). Practice and Science of Standard Barbering. Milady Publishing Corporation.
• Trusty, L. Sherman (1971). The Art and Science of Barbering. Wolfer Printing Co.

External links

• Media related to Flattop at Wikimedia Commons
• Information on flattops and list of famous flattop wearers
• Online community for flattop haircuts with barber shop recommendations
• Flattop, boxy, rounded corners
• Flattop, boxy, sharp corners, landing strip showing
• Flattop, rounded, rounded corners
• Flattop, rounded, sharp corners, landing strip showing
• How to give a flat top haircut
• How To Square Flattop Hair Life November 12, 1956. Includes photos.
• The dictionary definition of flattop at Wiktionary