# Hair Question



## Ojara (Dec 11, 2015)

So, I am struggling to describe the above hair, besides, spiked bangs, are there any other recommendations on how to go about this? Or is 'spiked bangs' the way to go?

Thank you and sorry for the lame question!


----------



## Tom (Dec 11, 2015)

I have this hairstyle, but I don't really know what it's called. Pathetic, huh? I think it's usually just referred to as "brushed forward".


----------



## T.Allen.Smith (Dec 11, 2015)

Sometimes when you're finding it difficult to describe something, you may find your answer in simile & metaphor. 

Depending on setting context, you could convey the image accurately by likening it to something every reader inherently understands, like a shark's fin, in this case.  

That example is off the cuff and probably doesn't suit the story you're telling. It's meant only to illustrate the point. 

Further, if your description (whether metaphorical or not) also helps characterize, well that's even better.


----------



## Ban (Dec 11, 2015)

I'd call it The typical white guy haircut. Everyone will know what you mean.


----------



## T.Allen.Smith (Dec 11, 2015)

Banten said:


> I'd call it The typical white guy haircut. Everyone will know what you mean.



Unless her story is set in the Ming dynasty, or Persia, or Medieval England, then it probably wouldn't work.


----------



## Heliotrope (Dec 11, 2015)

Let a woman step in here  

It is actually called the 'modern ceasar cut', and yes, that is because Julius Ceasar had the same bloody hairstyle. Men's fashion hasn't changed overly much in a few thousand years. 

As far as describing it for your story… I think that T.Allen.Smith was probably bang on. Use an analogy people would understand to create a visual.


----------



## Tom (Dec 11, 2015)

Why didn't I know the name of my own f*cking hairstyle?!


----------



## Ojara (Dec 11, 2015)

Banten said:


> I'd call it The typical white guy haircut. Everyone will know what you mean.



I have to be honest, this made me laugh pretty hard.
Thank you all for the suggestions. Someone told me of a similar hairstyle called 'quaffed'. Google it, it's quite funny looking actually, so... I was thinking like this:

His short dirty blonde hair was quaffed at the bangs, giving them the appearance of miniature spikes.

Good/bad? Too long of a description? Opinions?

Please be gentle with me, my emotions are on the brink of insanity!


----------



## Nimue (Dec 11, 2015)

Helio's description is good if it's modern, but historical-fantasy-wise I'd probably say something along the lines of "short-cropped and tousled in the front."  If the reader doesn't have the exact picture in mind, it's not a huge deal.  What's important is what the haircut says about the person--well-kempt and on the stylish side, in this case.

Edit @ ninja-post:  Quaffing is to take a drink of something.  I think you're looking for coif, which is a generic term for a hairstyle, though it generally refers to a fancy one.  Also, bangs or fringe refers to hair that goes past the natural hairline, hanging over the forehead, which doesn't apply in this case.

/hair


----------



## Heliotrope (Dec 11, 2015)

yeah, I agree with Nimue. 

Coiffed is the word you are looking for, but it usually means 'elaborately styled', so not the right word in this case.


----------



## Ban (Dec 11, 2015)

Ojara said:


> I have to be honest, this made me laugh pretty hard.



Glad to be of service. 

After having made Ojara's day slightly more humorous Banten walked off into the sunset, sporting the very same haircut that every other white guy had.


----------



## Legendary Sidekick (Dec 11, 2015)

Sir Herrington the Red removed his coif, revealing his typical white guy haircut.

"A typical white guy hair color," noted Lady Poncy. "They don't call you The Red because of your hair."

"Nope," Herrington mumbled in the casual monotone of a typical white guy.




Sorry... chose not to resist. As said above, your reader doesn't need an exact style, and there are many like Tom who don't know the name of their own hairstyle, so the name might not give a visual.


----------



## FifthView (Dec 11, 2015)

Jord's short-cropped hair grew unnaturally above his eyebrows, causing it to spike up above his forehead when he did not let it grow out.  The girls loved it.  Jealous, Mikal began to use copious amounts of thick pig fat to achieve the same effect.  But the girls just curled their noses whenever he approached them.


----------



## Nimue (Dec 11, 2015)

As an addendum--I wouldn't spend overly long describing the hair just to get at the shape or image of it, but if it gets across other characterizing information, that's another thing.  Such as:

"His sandy hair was short-cropped and licked up in the front, giving him the appearance of a young lad, just gone off to war."


----------



## Heliotrope (Dec 11, 2015)

yes, again, Nimue makes a very valid point. I'm in the controversial camp that excessive character descriptions are unnecessary, and most readers like to make up what the character looks like in their own mind anyway. A few basics are necessary, sometimes, to distinguish certain characters from each other, but I find it best to use something that has a purpose to the characterization, instead of just basic appearance. 

So, if he had short cropped hair because he worked in the blacksmith forge and it was a precaution against having his hair burnt up, I would add that. How exactly it is cropped, however, would be unnecessary. I would let the reader figure that out on their own. 

(Disclaimer… this may come from just being a woman reader, and liking to make up my own mind about what the MC looks like, based on my own personal taste of attractiveness).


----------



## WhiteCrow (Dec 11, 2015)

This is actually the Caesar cut. Jim Carry had it in Dumb & Dumber. 
100 Cool Short Hairstyles And Haircuts For Boys And Men

That is more a quiff cut. Don't use quaff which is the proper spelling and coifed is too stylized. A simple explanation would be a shaggy crew cut seeing as a typical crew is cut short sides / back and the top / bangs left longer anyways. You don't need grease / hair gel to make the hair stand up - simply running the hands through it a few times will make it stand up anyways.


----------



## DanJames (Dec 11, 2015)

This is kind of funny, when I was young this was referred to as 'the coo's lick'. Coo being slang/colloquialism for Cow; sort of referring to the idea that if a cow lick the whole way up your face, the saliva would act like a hair gel of sorts.

I know that's not a particularly great descriptor in any fashion, but if you start thinking of the absurd scenarios in which certain things (such as hair) can do certain things (such as sit a particular way) then it can help to describe them. Well, for me at least.


----------



## Butterfly (Dec 12, 2015)

I would have called it a quiff...


----------



## Caged Maiden (Dec 12, 2015)

If it were my character, I'd say his hair was "cropped close on the sides but slightly longer on top, with oil or sweat standing it on end in small spikes." That being said, I'm not really one to describe hair or clothing unless it's pertinent to the scene-setting. I tend to use descriptions rather than popular terms for things.

 <--  Like, if I were describing a mohawk (as I wear my own hair), I wouldn't use the modern term, I'd say, "cut so close on the sides his scalp showed, and then a longer stripe down the middle, from forehead to nape." 

Hope that helps.  I just feel like if it's important enough to describe, and you're using a historical setting, a description might be better than the modern wording? Not sure.  The few times I've described hair, I've done it like this:



> The cool morning air justified Daniela’s kerchief that concealed unwashed hair in need of brushing.





> His calloused hand slid through her hacked-off hair, and down her left shoulder.





> Falling in beside the young lawyer, she pulled a silk scarf from her pocket and wrapped it over her sweaty brow, covering hair cropped short for mourning.





> The stable hand, Luca, rushed for her, a whirlwind of bony limbs and uncombed hair.





> Daniela took a long look at Rafe’s unruly hair and unshaved face.





> His hair, graying on the temples, hung in limp, too long strands, clumped with sweat and oil.





> Father often commented on how alike Daniela and Andrea were, with their mother’s light hair and blue eyes. If only he knew how their similarities ran deeper, to their very spirits.





> His top buttons were undone and his cravat gone. His hair even looked washed, the pomade removed, leaving it soft rather than slick.




So yeah...I like to let readers picture what they will, but give the smallest hint of what I'm picturing. I feel like giving too much detail creates a sort of study of the character in question, but since I write romance, I try to do that at times, because it fits better. Here's one of my favorite scenes about hair.  I think I posted it before when we were talking about the little weird ways we use description of natural physiological things in stories:



> Fingers working ineffectively, she said, “My comb must have fallen out of my pocket. Have you one I might borrow?”
> 
> 
> Iminrick ran his hand over his shorn head and said, “You’ll be hard-pressed to find one here, My Lady.”
> ...



Anyways, hope my ramblings helped somewhat!


----------



## NerdyCavegirl (Dec 14, 2015)

I'd just describe it as short.


----------

