CURTAINS, ARE THEY BACK?

We know that what goes around comes around and all that, but surely those droopy, symmetrical, wet look fins are a thing of the past. Think again, well, sort of.

WHAT GOES AROUND COMES AROUND

There was more than a whiff of nostalgia as I saw my teenage nephews for the first time in a year or so, somewhat longer between visits than normal due to lockdowns, me having a young baby and quite possibly their having better things to do.

Their outfits felt strangely familiar – large brash logos, long baggy jeans draping over chunky trainers – it was frighteningly similar to what I was wearing at secondary school some twenty years ago.

The same stuff that I’ve been cringing over whenever the dust is blown off the old photo albums or school yearbooks.

The sense of dèjá vu didn’t stop at the shoulders either, for what was that atop their heads? Surely not? Yes, you guessed it, that right there was curtains.

Upon closer inspection this wasn’t quite the cardinal sin that I had initially considered it to be; there were subtle differences from curtains 1.0.

CURTAINS 2.0

Firstly, and thank goodness, a more natural product had obviously been used. No fifty pence pot of the vivid blue jelly here, it’d been replaced by something wholly more subtle (and less shit) like a bit of matt clay or maybe just some salt spray.

I remember getting that blue gloop in my eyes once after a torrential downpour liquified it and sent it cascading from my follicles down my face – that stuff was like acid on my retina! Wouldn’t pass health and safety these days.

Anyway, I digress.

The second difference was the texture; the hair had been cut so that it didn’t sit so flat to the head and had more movement.

Lastly, I noticed that the difference in length between the back and sides and the top wasn’t so drastic. After a twenty-odd year hiatus, could the curtains be back on track (sorry)?

FOR MORE THAN JUST THE KIDS?

This got me thinking that this is a look that could possibly be taken even further into the present day, with even more modern touches.

This could potentially make it more wearable for a larger age group, and less like pure 90’s nostalgia that could only look good when teamed with the aforementioned attire.

So I took the opportunity to cut in my first set of curtains in a very long time (obviously with the client’s permission) but added loads of razor cut layers through the top and cut the sides with scissors rather than clippers to give an intentionally more disrupted take on the original.

Turned out to be a bit of a look!

The styling is pretty low maintenance too, because the hair is kept longer at the fringe and shorter through the crown then it sits in place quite naturally.

The only styling aid needed is something to emphasise the texture – a bit of salt spray worked through with fingers when damp or a few sprinkles of hair powder when dry are good options.

It works well with a variety of hair types and plays well into the post-lockdown trend of many guys keeping their hair a bit longer and looser having embraced the enforced grow-out.

CONCLUSION

So there you have it, turns out my nephews were onto something!

If you fancy heading (somewhat) back to the nineties and adopting a more modern, subtle curtains style then ask your barber or stylist to cut the back and sides with scissors in a graduated shape and add plenty of texture through the top, particularly in the shorter layers towards the crown.

Think more Johnny Depp than young Aaron Carter.