Crew cut

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A crew cut is a type of haircut in which the upright hair on the top of
the head is cut relatively short,[1] graduated in length from the longest
hair that forms a short pomp (pompadour) at the front hairline to the
shortest at the back of the crown so that in side profile, the outline of
the top hair approaches the horizontal.[2][3] Relative to the front view,
and to varying degrees, the outline of the top hair can be arched or
flattened at the short pomp front and rounded or flattened over the rest
of the top to complement the front hairline, head shape, face shape and
facial features.[2] The hair on the sides and back of the head is usually
tapered short, semi-short, or medium.[3][4]

A short crew cut is sometimes referred to as a butch, though with the

exception of variant forms, a butch differs from a crew cut in that the
top hair is cut a uniform short length.[5] A long crew cut can be referred
to in the US as an ivy league crew cut or ivy league.[6][7] A crew cut
where the hair on the top of the head is graduated in length from the
front hairline to a chosen point on the mid to back part of the crown as a
flat plane, of level, upward sloping or downward sloping inclination is Billy Harris sporting a crew cut
known as a flat top crew cut or flattop. [8][9] Crew cuts, flattop crew
cuts, butch cuts and ivy leagues can be referred to as buzz cuts; all are
traditionally groomed with hair control wax, commonly referred to as butch wax.

Contents
1 History
2 Styling
3 Crew cut gallery
4 See also
5 References
6 Bibliography
7 External links

History
The crew cut, regardless of the name applied to the hairstyle, was not limited to, nor did the style originate in
the United States.[6] In English, the crew cut and flat top crew cut were formerly known as the pompadour or
short pompadour, as well as the brush cut, and had been worn since at least the mid 18th century.[6][3][10] The
style went by other names in other languages; in French, coup en brosse; in German, Brstenschnitt; in
Russian, . A short pompadour with a flat top was considered the standard while a somewhat curved
appearance across the top was suggested for wider foreheads and face shapes.[11] The style with a flat top
acquired the name brush top short pompadour and the style with a more rounded top, round top short
pompadour.[12] Prior to the invention of electric clippers with a motor in the handle in 1921 and their ensuing
marketing and widespread use, barbers considered the perfect short pompadour to be the most time consuming
style to trim.[11][13][14] [15]

The term, originally crew haircut, was most likely coined to describe the hairstyles worn by members of
Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Cornell and other university Crew teams, which were short to keep the hair from
being blown into the face of the rower as the boat races down the course opposite the direction the rower is
 seated with both hands on the oars, making it
impossible to brush the hair out of the
face.[16][17][18][19] The name drew a contrast to
football haircuts, which had been long since 1889
when Princeton football players began wearing long
hair to protect against head injury, thereby starting a
trend, not altogether welcome; mop haired football
players were frequently caricatured in the popular
press.[20][6]In 1895, the championship Yale football
Author Jack Kerouac team appeared with "close-cropped heads" and
sporting a G.I. crew cut subsequently long hair went out of style for football.
in 1943 Almost concurrently, the first helmets began to
appear.[20]

Crew cuts were popular in the 1920s and 1930s among college students,
particularly in the ivy league. The style was often worn as a summer haircut for
its cooling effect.[17][18][19][21] Men inducted into the military in World War II
received G.I. haircuts, crew cuts, and a significant proportion continued to wear
Crew cut Marine Lieutenant,
a crew cut while serving and after, as civilians.[22][23][24][25][26][27] As long hair
2011
became popular in the mid 1960s, the crew cut and its variants waned in
popularity through the 1970s.[28][29] The crew cut began to come back in style
in the late 1970s and early 1980s with the flat top crew cut being the most
popular crew cut style during the 1980s.[30][31]

Styling
Thicker hair that wants to readily stand upright is ideal for a crew cut; with an
appropriate head shape, a crew cut may be possible with fairly thin hair.[3] When
designing a crew cut, a barber follows the general sequence of other medium to
short haircuts; edging, siding and topping.[3][1] When designing a new crew cut and
the current style is not relatively short, the hair on top or all over the head may
initially be shortened with shears or clippers. Edging and siding together form a
taper which usually is short, semi-short or medium.[3] For a crew cut, some barbers
perform edging and siding as one integrated process, regardless, the upper sides are
initially boxed in and then cut to final form when designing the top.[1] The hair on
the top of the head can be styled clipper or shears over comb or free hand with a
clipper.[1]

With the clipper or shears over comb method, the Crew cut Marine
comb is inserted in the upright hair at the desired Lieutenant, 2011, side
length and the hair is reduced to this length by profile shows graduation
means of clippers or shears severing the hair above of the top hair shorter
the teeth of the comb.[32] Free hand means the from the front hairline to
clipper blade or guard does not determine the cut the crown.
hair length but rather the distance the cutting blade
is held above the scalp sets the cut length.

Duke #20, crew cut designed for The barber selects the most complementary final form for the top according to
a widow peak receded hairline face shape, skull shape, frontal hairline, and facial features within parameters
set by customer instructions. Specifically, the short pompadour front can be
made higher or lower, wider or narrower and can be flattened or arched to
varying degrees across the forehead; the hair over the rest of the top can be more rounded or flattened; the
upper sides can have more or less volume.[2] In side profile, the outward appearance of the upright top hair
should approach the horizontal; if the hair is cut so the upright top hair appears horizontal when the head is
viewed from the front as well as the side, as a flat plane, the style is generally referred to as a flat top crew cut
or flat top; per customer wishes and the shape of the skull and frontal hairline, the flat plane can be level,
upward or downward sloping relative to the forehead.[2][8][9] A crew cut with a longer top can be referred to in
the US as an ivy league crew cut or ivy league.[6][7] A long crew cut might be graduated in length on the top of
the head from one and a half inches (38mm) at the front hairline to one half inch (13mm) at the back of the
crown.[33][34] A crew cut with a shorter top might have a similar proportional graduated difference in the length
of the hair on the top of the head. If a short crew cut is three fourths of an inch (19mm) at the front hairline, the
length of the hair at the back of the crown might be one fourth of an inch (6mm).[8][9]

Crew cut gallery

Crew cut: top, short; Crew cut: top, short; Crew cut: top, medium; Crew cut: top, medium;
back/sides, semi-short back/sides, short taper; back/sides, semi-short back/sides, semi-short
taper; sideburns, short; sideburns, semi-short; taper; sideburns, long; taper; sideburns, semi-
short pomp short pomp short pomp short; short pomp
(pompadour) front, (pompadour) front, (pompadour) front, (pompadour) front,
flattened; mid top, arched; mid top, arched; mid top, arched; mid top,
flattened; crown, rounded; crown, rounded; crown, flattened; crown,
rounded; front hairline, rounded; front hairline, rounded; front hairline, flattened; front hairline,
average; wavy hair. slightly asymmetric average, very curly hair. widow peak receded;
with a cow lick at off curly hair.
center right; wavy hair.

Crew cut: top, medium; Crew cut: top, long; Crew cut: top, long;
back/sides, medium back/sides, medium back/sides, semi-short
taper; sideburns, taper; sideburns, taper; sideburns, short;
medium; short pomp medium; short pomp short pomp
(pompadour) front, (pompadour) front, (pompadour) front,
flattened; mid top, arched; mid top, arched; mid top,
rounded; crown, rounded; crown, rounded; crown,
rounded; front hairline, rounded; front hairline, rounded; front hairline,
average; curly hair. lower than average; average; wavy hair.
straight hair.

See also
 Blades and guards
Butch cut
Buzz cut
Flattop
High and tight
Ivy League
Mullet
Regular haircut

References
1. Trusty 1971, p. 108.
2. Trusty 1971, p. 107.
3. Thorpe 1967, p. 132.
4. Trusty 1971, p. 107-108.
5. Trusty 1971, p. 113.
6. Trusty 1971, p. 97.
7. Trusty 1971, p. 102.
8. Thorpe 1967, p. 133-134.
9. Trusty 1971, pp. 110-111.
10. Moler 1911, p. 82-83.
11. Moler 1911, p. 82.
12. Thorpe 1958, p. 141.
13. History of Andis (http://www.andis.com/history-of-andis.aspx/)
14. Andis, Our History (https://web.archive.org/web/20070328080136/http://www.andis.com/USA/aboutAnd
is/)
15. Thorpe 1967, p. 120.
16. "John Hay Whitney Philanthropist, Film Producer, and Father of the Crew Cut" (http://archives.yalealum
nimagazine.com/issues/02_04/old_yale.html). Yale Alumni Magazine. April 2002.
17. "Pompadours Passe Says Barber; Collegetown Condemns Crew Cuts" (http://cdsun.library.cornell.edu/cg
i-bin/cornell?a=d&d=CDS19370325.2.19&e=--------20--1--------). The Cornell Daily Sun. 100 (Number
141). 25 March 1937.
18. "Obecure Origins of the Crew Haircut Revealed by Harvard Square Barbers" (http://www.thecrimson.co
m/article/1935/11/23/obecure-origins-of-the-crew-haircut). The Harvard Crimson. 23 November 1935.
19. "Two-Fisted, Stout Jawed Movie Idol Plus Crew Haircut Resembles Composite Undergraduate" (http://li
bserv23.princeton.edu/princetonperiodicals/cgi-bin/princetonperiodicals?a=d&d=Princetonian19400327-
01.2.9&e=-------en-20--1--txt-IN-march+27+1940----#). The Daily Princetonian. 65 (Number 46). 27
March 1940.
20. Beau Riffenburgh, The Official NFL Encyclopedia: "The Helmet"
21. "Crew Haircut With Back Sheared Is The Male Method For Beating The Heat" (https://books.google.co
m/books?id=gEwEAAAAMBAJ&lpg=PP1&pg=PA46#v=onepage&q&f=false). Life. 11 (2). 14 July
1941.
22. "The Men 300,000 New Sailors Will Make The Navy Their Career" (https://books.google.com/books?id
=KkoEAAAAMBAJ&lpg=PP1&pg=PA89#v=onepage&q&f=false). Life. 9 (18). 28 October 1940.
23. Gordon L. Rottman (2007), Fubar: Soldier Slang of World War II (https://books.google.com/books?id=S
Px1hL-vZZsC&pg=PA52#v=onepage&q&f=false), p. 52, ISBN 9781846031755
24. George Thomas Simon (1974), Glen Miller and His Orchestra (https://books.google.com/books?id=DvL
C5_RJS0MC&pg=PA343#v=onepage&q&f=false), p. 343, ISBN 0306801299
25. Victoria Sherrow (2006), Encyclopedia of hair (https://books.google.com/books?id=9Z6vCGbf66YC&pg
=PA194), p. 194, ISBN 9780313331459
26. "The Great Hair Hangup" (https://books.google.com/books?id=t3GjIj_RU5AC&lpg=PA1&pg=PA45#v=
onepage&q&f=false). Boys' Life: 45. July 1967.
27. "MANNERS & MORALS: Teen-Age Moderation" (http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,8
94170,00.html). Time. 16 February 1959.
28. "The Great Hair Hangup" (https://books.google.com/books?id=t3GjIj_RU5AC&lpg=PA1&pg=PA29#v=
onepage&q&f=false). Boys' Life: 29. July 1967.
 29. Kaminsky (10 May 1974), "Long Hair-Style Trends Cut Short" (http://cdsun.library.cornell.edu/cgi-bin/c
ornell?a=d&d=CDS19740510.2.18&e=en-20--1--txt-IN#), The Cornell Daily Sun, 100 (Number 141)
30. Victoria Sherrow (2006), Encyclopedia of hair (https://books.google.com/books?id=9Z6vCGbf66YC&pg
=PA101), p. 101, ISBN 9780313331459
31. Victoria Sherrow (2006), Encyclopedia of hair (https://books.google.com/books?id=9Z6vCGbf66YC&pg
=PA54), p. 54, ISBN 9780313331459
32. Trusty 1971, p. 65-68.
33. Thorpe 1967, p. 128, 129.
34. Trusty 1971, p. 89-90, 135-136.

Bibliography
Moler, A.B. (1911). Standardized Barbers' Manual. Unnattributed Publisher.
Thorpe, S.C. (1958). Practice and Science of Standard Barbering. Milady Publishing Corporation.
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
A brief description of the term's history in the Yale Alumni Magazine
A brief description of the term's history in the Yale Daily News
Agonies Of Victory For Comeback Crew Life Dec. 10 1956. Includes photos of crew cut Olympic Gold
Medal winning Yale oarsmen.
Crew Haircut With Back Sheared Is The Male Method For Beating The Heat Life July 14, 1941. Includes
before and after photos.
Obecure Origins of the Crew Haircut Revealed by Harvard Square Barbers Harvard Crimson November
23, 1935.
Pompadours Passe Says Barber; Collegetown Condemns Crew Cuts Cornell Daily Sun March 25, 1937,
Page 1
Princeton Oarsmen Pick Bayard To Lead 1940 Varsity Crew. Includes photo of crew cut Crew Captain.
The Daily Princetonian May 24, 1939
Stout Jawed Movie Idol Plus Crew Haircut Resembles Composite Undergraduate The Daily Princetonian
March 27, 1940

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