Crew cut

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. A long crew cut can be referred to in the US as an ivy league crew cut or ivy league. 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 known as a flat top crew cut or flattop. The crew cut, flat top crew cut, butch cut and Ivy League haircut can be referred to as types of buzz cuts. These haircuts have become popular military-inspired styles for men who want a short and low-maintenance look.

History

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. The style went by other names in other languages; in French, coupe à la brosse "cut like a brush"; in German, Bürstenschnitt; in Russian, ёжик "hedgehog." 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. 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. 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.

The term "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. 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. In 1895, the championship Yale football team appeared with "close-cropped heads" and subsequently long hair went out of style for football. Almost concurrently, the first helmets began to appear.

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. Men inducted into the military in World War II received G.I. haircuts, crew cuts, and a significant proportion continued to wear a crew cut while serving and after, as civilians. As long hair became popular in the mid-1960s, the crew cut and its variants waned in popularity through the 1970s. The crew cut began to come back into style in the late 1970s and early 1980s, with the flat-top crew cut being the most popular crew cut style during the 1980s.