Thursday 16 June 2016

A Guide to Mens Mod Hairstyles: The Sixties

Part two of our Mod hairstyles guide explores the 1960s - the birth of the Mod look. Along with Mod clothing, Mod hairstyles are part of intrinsically part of mod style and image. How you chose to wear your hair contributes to your over all identity, and none more so than within a culture like Mod or any of it's subcultures Mod Revivalists, Scooterboys, Skins and more. The Sixties saw a lot of social and political change and this was reflected in fashion and style. The new generation wanted to break away and create its own identity. Mod was born!


Steve Marriott with his classic layered look
1960s: The Steve Marriott Layered Cut

Similar to: The Mop Top

Maybe the first proper mod hairstyle, the Steve Marriott take on the classic mens layered cut landed somewhere in between a long haired lover from Liverpool Mop Top and the shorter, neat Ivy League look of the past. The hair is cut in layers, resulting in a choppy, different length look which is typically longer at the front, sides and fringe and cut shorter at the back. At the side, the hair might be cut around the ear, or worn slightly over it. There is a soft centre parting which reaches the front where the fringe is worn swept to the sides.

Although not as famous as other 1960s hair cuts, this mod hairstyle is as iconic and popular among mods today as it ever was.




The Beatles with their classic Mop Top look

1960s: The Mop Top

Similar to: The Pageboy

The Mop Top, or Beatle Cut, (or 'Arthur', according to George Harrison!) is probably the most famous haircut of the 1960s. Named because of it's resemblance to a literal mop, the haircut originated from the Beatles Hamburg days. Astrid Kirchherr, a photographer and the girlfriend of original Beatles bassist, Stuart Sutcliffe is credited with the style which was worn first by her, her friends and Stuart. Later all the other Beatles (except for a reluctant Pete Best!) adopted the look giving the band it's first cohesive and truly unique look. The hair is cut long, down to the collar and covering the ears with a long fringe at the front and no parting. Although ridiculed by adults at the time, the mop tops was vastly popular in the sixties. In the Britpop nineties there was a revival to this intrinsically sixties mod hairstyle.

Steve Marriott with a shorter, jagged cut 


1960s: The Other Steve Marriott Cut

Similar to: The French Crop

Like a sixties update to a classic French Crop haircut, this is the shortest style in our sixties mod selection. Still cut with choppy layers and in different lengths, this is a much shorter, low maintenance version of the Steve Marriott layered cut. It can be cut around the ears, or overlapping them as the wearer desired and features a blunt, choppy, short fringe at the front with a little bit of feathering.

Neat, sharp and with lots of attitude, this is a mod haircut which harks back the short back and sides of yesteryear, with a modern update. 





The Yardbirds Keith Relf with a long Pageboy cut
1960s: The Pageboy 

Similar to: The Mop Top, The Bowl Cut

A unisex haircut which suits both men and women mods. The cut first became popular in the 1920s with young boys after it was worn by child star, Jackie Coogan (who grew up to be Uncle Fester in the original Addams Family TV series!) It was named after what was perceived to be a 'pudding basin' haircut wore by medieval pageboys. The cut is worn straight and long, past the ears, where it then curls inwards and usually with a long fringe at the front.

Popular in both the fifties and sixties, it's perhaps the 1960s when it was the most prominent as an alternative to the mop top and a style which still fit with the non-conformist, long haired looks of the decade.




Further Reading: 

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