Classic Hairstyles Made Modern – The Chef’s Dilemma

The popularity of Mad Men highlights many disparities between fashion sensibilities of the late 1950s/early ’60s and those of today. Hair is a fine example. Men in that world tended to have crisp haircuts with clean parts and smooth lines.

Men today: not always so much. Having a really good haircut can be time consuming, and in the case of Benjamin, pictured above, seemingly unrealistic. Benjamin is a chef in a busy restaurant and the temperature and humidity of the kitchen make keeping a fancy style in check almost impossible.

As the first part in a series of modern men’s cuts that look a little “then” and a whole lot “now,” find out how we helped Benjamin rock this style immediately following a long kitchen shift.

The haircut features a part on the left side with a strong disconnection cut blunt to create a ledge. A tight fade on both sides complements Benjamin’s square bone structure, as does the textured length on top.

The trick to keeping his hair out of his face in the kitchen is twisting the length in the front on top and putting a large bobby pin into the twist. A second bobby pin is then inserted across the first pin to lock it in place. A third bobby pin can be put in parallel to the second for extra security.

Photography by Ryan Olsen
Cut and styling by Nicole Foster