It all started with Rihanna. Or at least that’s when I first paid attention to this hair “trend.”
But then I started noticing evidence elsewhere of the undercut—a style that involves shaving away a section of hair and then leaving the rest long. I saw it on the street, on an otherwise very pretty and stylish girl at Anthropologie… and now, in this Daily Mail story:
High Street salons are now reporting a sharp increase in the number of women asking to have their heads partially shaved.
According to HOB salons, home to British Hairdresser of the Year Akin Konizi, as many as a quarter of its clients are requesting some form of undercut.
I guess I wasn’t paying attention, because the undercut is becoming a big deal in the UK. Rihanna’s not the only celeb rocking this look. There’s ex-Spice Girl Mel B.:
Punky British model Alice Dellal:
And it’s even surfaced on Carmen Electra:
And Cassie:
Okay, am I missing something? You tell me:
{ 20 comments… read them below or add one }
um, 1991 called….. they want their awful haircuts back. yuck!
Haha! My thoughts exactly!
well its good for the really hot summer months when you dont want to deal with too much hair…or if you have badly damaged hair…
I guess that’s one way of looking at it!
I don’t think there is a valid excuse out there for this disaster.
Mel B has always had gorgeous hair. Now … I just don’t know what to say. And Carmen Electra?? I used to ENVY her gorgeous wavy locks, and now … definitely not the Carmen she used to be.
Yup, even Kate Gosselin’s ‘do beats these ones, in my opinion!
Yikes. This might be on par with the rat tail.
Totally!
Undercut really can look great – when discreetly incorporated into the haircut! The style looks MUCH better on short/medium long hair (max. lenght reaches the shoulders), and also when undercut section is not completely shaven.
I think you shouldn’t judge the style based on these few (in my opinion AWFUL) examples.
Undercut gives a certain edge and personality and…I mean c’mon, that cut is not for anyone! Carmen Electra?? She desperately wanted to be “in” but turned out very very “OUT” (of place).
Cassie? If you have jet black long hair and want an undercut (that is, shave half of your head), you can only pull it off if you’re let’s say… goth?! Mel B looks like a crazy tanned amazon! I’m scared just by looking at her…
And Rihanna? Hmm.. Reminds me on Sideshow Bob from The Simpsons.
In conclusion, if celebs are doing it, doesn’t mean they’re doing it RIGHT!
Ok – I see your point that it would look better with short/medium hair so there’s not so much of a contrast. Do you have any examples where you think it looks good?
Hmh… I can’t think of any celebrity example though (I’m not fan of yellow press), but I saw a couple of anonymous and they looked awesome. Not at all like those horrors up there :S
Anyhow, everyone has right to their own opinion. I’m somewhat unconventional so I’m liking it (more-less), but that doesn’t mean I can’t tell the difference between tastefully and hideous.
Nothing wrong with being unconventional! Honestly it’s usually the cool, edgy girls you see on the street that have the best hairstyles… that’s where trends start and then the celebs copy them (often getting it wrong as we see above!)
Yeah Michelle!! I ALSO love it! Shaved my own head to the skin before and would totally do it again! if you’ve got a good shaped head (haha–more important than you’d think lol!) then I say go ahead
!!! This blog post may be from July…but I’m thinking of doing some undershavin’ on my own long hair soon 
Love these new trends!
…and I think that Mel B looks awesome with that haircut, what is wrong with looking like an amazon anyways!?!? She is totally hot with that hair!! I’ll take a million interesting “hideous” haircuts over plain bobs/shags/perms any day
Wow I applaud your bravery Carrie! You definitely have the confidence to pull something like this off. Would love to see a pic if you try it!
PS – agree about having a good shaped head…haha!
would love to post pics if/when i do! until then here’s one from me ‘sans hair’ from 2003: (haha don’t mind the overthetop fashion makeup..it was for a makeup class)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/7320690@N08/5200467982/lightbox/
You’re so pretty! And I can see that you definitely have the confidence/attitude to pull of an edgy style. Keep us posted, would love to see if you try this!
I have the same undercut as rihanna, and i love it. its a statement hair cut…i’m a fashion student, so maybe thats how i pull it off. cant stand all this boring long wavy hair nonsense. so thought id go full out and cut mine off and have an undercut..
I love them, so much. I wish I could pull it off, I have really short hair. Sorta like….i hate to say it…..Bieber hair. but I love this hairstyle so much.
I agree with Carrie – while not every girl can pull this style off, long wavy hair is BORING; furthermore the idea that every woman in the world has to have long wavy hair in order to be attractive is outdated. There’s nothing wrong with experimenting and trying something different! (btw Carrie, you look amazing in that photo.)
While I’m not actually sure about undercuts + long hair (it just looks better if you have shorter hair, in my opinion), at least these girls are putting themselves out there and doing something outside the norm. Good on them!
I would vote in the poll, however there is no option for “I’m actually digging it (and want to try it myself!)”
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