A couple weeks ago, we looked at some popular female hairstyles from the ‘90s (click to view), but girls weren’t the only ones rocking some seriously trendy hair — guys also got in on that action! Whether it was the infamous curtain cut, some frosted tips, or the long grunge look, ‘90s guys definitely had some awesome (and awesomely bad) hair.Â
Today, we’re taking a look back at 10 of the most memorable of these ’90s mens hairstyles. And if you were a guy in the ‘90s and didn’t rock one of these, you really missed out.
Bowl Cut
Ah yes, how can we forget the infamous bowl cut. Named basically for the fact that it looks like the guy stuck a bowl on his head and then just cut around, the bowl cut was everywhere in the ‘90s. The likes of Leonardo DiCaprio, Nick Carter of the Backstreet Boys, and Josh Hartnett, all pictured above, sported this look, and we’ll bet a bunch of boys at your school did too.
Curtains
A cousin to the bowl cut was this slight variation — the curtained look. Basically, you’d just take a slightly longer bowl cut and part it down the middle to get some curtains hugging the sides of your face. Nick Carter obviously just slightly modified his bowl cut into this curtained look, but Devon Sawa and David Beckham also rocked this coif. Tons of guys wore this look, famous or not.
Love Devon Sawa? Check out our article: ’90s Teen Dreamboat: Devon Sawa Edition
Heartthrob
And the final variation on the bowl/curtain look was what apparently is called the heartthrob haircut. What makes this one different from the curtained look is that it was typically parted on the side, and had some pieces in the front that were longer than the others. You know, to artfully hang into your eyes and make you look like a, well, heartthrob. Brad Pitt, Leonardo Dicaprio, and Matt LeBlanc all sported this hairstyle in the ‘90s, as you can see in their glorious pictures.
Spiked
If you wanted to show that you were a bit more edgy, then perhaps you went with the spiked look. This hairstyle required copious amounts of gel and just the right variation of spikes to look somewhat decent. The spikes could range from controlled to crazy — you can see some of the options sported by Seth Green, Jake Gyllenhaal, and Joey Fatone of NSYNC above.
Frosted Tips
Of course, what made spiky hair even more ‘90s was when it was paired with frosted tips. While you may see some guys still sporting the spiky look today, if you see them doing it with frosted tips as well, then they’re really living in the past, because this look is so ‘90s. As you can see in the picture above featuring Lance Bass of NSYNC, Mark McGrath of Sugar Ray, and Justin Berfield of Malcolm in the Middle, this look was pretty ridiculous. Man, what a hairstyle.
Flat Top
Volume definitely seems to be a trend of the ‘90s for these men’s hairstyles, and the flat top look is no exception. Jason Priestley rocked a version of this look on Beverly Hills 90210, but it’s definitely more recognizable on the likes of Will Smith during his Fresh Prince years, and Arsenio Hall when he was the host of The Arsenio Hall Show. Straight up, clean, and oh so ‘90s.
Caesar
If volume or any kind of strenuous hair maintenance wasn’t really a guy’s thing, then another option in the ‘90s was the Caesar look, which was cut close with a little bit of a tiny bang thing in the front. George Clooney during his ER years is definitely the best example of this look, but David Schwimmer in the early years of Friends, and Joshua Jackson during season one of Dawson’s Creek also wore this style.
Cornrows
We’re sorry to show you that picture of Justin Timberlake wearing cornrows during his NSYNC days, because it is oh so cringey, but alas, it was the ‘90s (or maybe the early ‘00s in his case?), and it must be documented for historical purposes. Allen Iverson was known for his cornrows during this period, as well as Xzibit, who both sported slightly different variations of the look.
Grunge Hair
Was anything more ‘90s than the grunge look? It really was a whole look and not just a haircut, but certainly the haircut played a part in really bringing the whole look together. Kurt Cobain of Nirvana is the obvious best example of the grunge haircut — around shoulder length, kinda greasy, pretty unkempt. But others joined in as well, including Johnny Depp and Jared Leto, and likely either you or some guys you knew got in on the grunge look too.
Tram Lines
For most hairstyles, we were able to find at least three examples (and usually more) of the look, but for this tram line ‘do, we were only able to find some samples of these two rappers from the ‘90s — MC Hammer and Vanilla Ice. The tram line look was basically some shaved lines along the back of the hair, and in Vanilla Ice’s case, some shaved lines in the eyebrows as well. Did you know anyone in real life with this look, or was it more of a famous people thing?
These 10 hairstyles are definitely not all of the men’s hairstyles that existed in the ‘90s, but they are certainly some of the most memorable. Did you or someone you know sport any of these classics? What was your favorite? Let us know in the comments!
- Though the bowl cut is often associated with the ‘90s, it’s been around for way, way longer. Like, since the Middle Ages, particularly during the Crusades when the style was often used for military and religious men. It also made a big appearance in the 1960s when The Beatles introduced a version of the cut.Â
- Cornrows can take as long as five hours to braid, and have been around even longer than the bowl cut — like since the Stone Age. Paintings depicting people with cornrows were found in the Tassili Plateau of the Sahara, and have been dated as far back as 3000 BC.
- Grunge fashion emerged in the mid-1980s in Seattle, but really skyrocketed to popularity in the ‘90s. The fashion was typically a thrift-store look, plaid shirts, baggy pants, and somewhat androgynous. What’s funny is, it was kind of meant to be a non-fashion statement, and yet it became a fashion statement.
- As you might have guessed, the Caesar haircut is named after the Roman Emperor Julius Caesar, who is often depicted wearing the short, horizontally cut ‘do with straight bangs, though in an even more extreme style than the ‘90s version.
- The flat top haircut of the ‘90s differs a bit from what may be the more traditional version, which has been around for many decades, and was usually worn much closer to the head without quite so much volume. It was very popular in the 1950s among government workers.
- Though the bowl cut is often associated with the ‘90s, it’s been around for way, way longer. Like, since the Middle Ages, particularly during the Crusades when the style was often used for military and religious men. It also made a big appearance in the 1960s when The Beatles introduced a version of the cut.Â
- Cornrows can take as long as five hours to braid, and have been around even longer than the bowl cut — like since the Stone Age. Paintings depicting people with cornrows were found in the Tassili Plateau of the Sahara, and have been dated as far back as 3000 BC.
- Grunge fashion emerged in the mid-1980s in Seattle, but really skyrocketed to popularity in the ‘90s. The fashion was typically a thrift-store look, plaid shirts, baggy pants, and somewhat androgynous. What’s funny is, it was kind of meant to be a non-fashion statement, and yet it became a fashion statement.
- As you might have guessed, the Caesar haircut is named after the Roman Emperor Julius Caesar, who is often depicted wearing the short, horizontally cut ‘do with straight bangs, though in an even more extreme style than the ‘90s version.
- The flat top haircut of the ‘90s differs a bit from what may be the more traditional version, which has been around for many decades, and was usually worn much closer to the head without quite so much volume. It was very popular in the 1950s among government workers.
