View source for Crew cut

{{Short description|Haircut style}}

[[File:Cena With Spinner Belt (cropped).jpg|thumb|[[John Cena]] sporting a crew cut]]
A '''crew cut''' is a type of [[haircut]] in which the upright [[hair]] on the top of the head is cut relatively short,{{sfn|Trusty|1971|p=108}} graduated in length from the longest hair that forms a short pomp ([[Pompadour (hairstyle)|pompadour]]) at the front hairline to the shortest at the back of the crown so that in side profile, the outline of the top hair approaches the horizontal.{{sfn|Trusty|1971|p=107}}{{sfn|Thorpe|1967|p=132}} Relative to the front view, and to varying degrees, the outline of the top hair can be arched or flattened at the short pomp front and rounded or flattened over the rest of the top to complement the front hairline, head shape, face shape and facial features.{{sfn|Trusty|1971|p=107}} The hair on the sides and back of the head is usually tapered [[Regular haircut#Short|short]], [[Regular haircut#Semi-short|semi-short]], or [[Regular haircut#Medium|medium]].{{sfn|Thorpe|1967|p=132}}{{sfn|Trusty|1971|p=107-108}}

A short crew cut is sometimes referred to as a [[butch cut|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.{{sfn|Trusty|1971|p=113}} A long crew cut can be referred to in the US as an [[Ivy League (haircut)|ivy league crew cut]] or ''ivy league''.{{sfn|Trusty|1971|p=97}}{{sfn|Trusty|1971|p=102}} 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 [[flattop|flat top crew cut]] or flattop.{{sfn|Thorpe|1967|p=133-134}}{{sfn|Trusty|1971|pp=110-111}} The crew cut, flat top crew cut, butch cut and Ivy League haircut can be referred to as types of [[buzz cut]]s. These haircuts have become popular military-inspired styles for men who want a short and low-maintenance look.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.menshairstylestoday.com/military-haircuts/|title=35 Best Military Haircuts|date=March 23, 2023|publisher=Men's Hairstyles Today|access-date=April 4, 2023}}</ref>

==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.{{sfn|Trusty|1971|p=97}}{{sfn|Thorpe|1967|p=132}}{{sfn|Moler|1911|p=82-83}} The style went by other names in other languages; in French, [[:File:Auguste Rodin with crew cut by Adolphe Braun, c1889.jpg|coupe à la brosse]] "cut like a brush"; in German, [[:File:Hofmannsthal 1893.jpg|Bürstenschnitt]]; in Russian, [[:File:Alexander Kerensky LOC 24416.jpg|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.{{sfn|Moler|1911|p=82}} 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.{{sfn|Thorpe|1958|p=141}} 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.{{sfn|Moler|1911|p=82}}<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.andis.com/history-of-andis.aspx/ |title=History of Andis |access-date=2013-04-22 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150210195822/https://www.andis.com/history-of-andis.aspx |archive-date=2015-02-10 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20070328080136/http://www.andis.com/USA/aboutAndis/ Andis, Our History]</ref>{{sfn|Thorpe|1967|p=120}}[[File:Crew Cut, Jack Kerouac, 1943.jpg|thumb|left|135px| Author [[Jack Kerouac]] sporting a G.I. crew cut in 1943]]The term "crew haircut" was most likely coined to describe the hairstyles worn by members of [[Harvard University|Harvard]], [[Yale University|Yale]], [[Princeton University|Princeton]], [[Cornell University|Cornell]] and other university [[rowing (sport)|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.<ref name=Eoyam>{{cite journal |url= http://archives.yalealumnimagazine.com/issues/02_04/old_yale.html|title= John Hay Whitney Philanthropist, Film Producer, and Father of the Crew Cut |journal=[[Yale Alumni Magazine]] |date= April 2002}}</ref><ref name=Eocorn1>{{cite news |url= http://cdsun.library.cornell.edu/cgi-bin/cornell?a=d&d=CDS19370325.2.19&e=--------20--1--------| title= Pompadours Passe Says Barber; Collegetown Condemns Crew Cuts |newspaper=[[The Cornell Daily Sun]] |volume=100|issue= 141|date= 25 March 1937}}</ref><ref name=Eohc>{{cite news |url= http://www.thecrimson.com/article/1935/11/23/obecure-origins-of-the-crew-haircut|title= Obecure Origins of the Crew Haircut Revealed by Harvard Square Barbers |newspaper=[[The Harvard Crimson]] |date= 23 November 1935}}</ref><ref name=Eodp>{{cite news|url= http://libserv23.princeton.edu/princetonperiodicals/cgi-bin/princetonperiodicals?a=d&d=Princetonian19400327-01.2.9&e=-------en-20--1--txt-IN-march+27+1940----#|title= Two-Fisted, Stout Jawed Movie Idol Plus Crew Haircut Resembles Composite Undergraduate|newspaper= [[The Daily Princetonian]]|volume= 65|issue= 46|date= 27 March 1940}}{{dead link|date=December 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> 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.<ref name="official">Beau Riffenburgh, ''The Official NFL Encyclopedia'': "The Helmet"</ref>{{sfn|Trusty|1971|p=97}} In 1895, the championship Yale football team appeared with "close-cropped heads" and subsequently long hair went out of style for football. Almost concurrently, [[Football helmet#Invention|the first helmets]] began to appear.<ref name="official"/>
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.<ref name=Eocorn1/><ref name=Eohc/><ref name=Eodp/><ref name=Eolife1>{{cite magazine |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=gEwEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA46|title= Crew Haircut With Back Sheared Is The Male Method For Beating The Heat | magazine=[[Life (magazine)|Life]] |volume=11|issue=  2|date= 14 July 1941}}</ref> Men inducted into the military in World War II received [[G.I. (military)|G.I.]] haircuts, crew cuts, and a significant proportion continued to wear a crew cut while serving and after, as [[civilian]]s.<ref name=Eolife2>{{cite magazine |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=KkoEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA89|title= The Men 300,000 New Sailors Will Make The Navy Their Career | magazine=[[Life (magazine)|Life]] |volume=9|issue=  18|date= 28 October 1940}}</ref><ref name=Eowp1>{{citation |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SPx1hL-vZZsC&pg=PA52 |title=Fubar: Soldier Slang of World War II |author=Gordon L. Rottman |isbn=9781846031755 |year=2007 |page=52 }}{{Dead link|date=December 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref><ref name=Eowz1>{{citation |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DvLC5_RJS0MC&pg=PA343 |title=Glen Miller and His Orchestra |author=George Thomas Simon |isbn=0306801299 |year=1974 |page=343 }}{{Dead link|date=December 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref><ref name=Eovs1>{{citation |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9Z6vCGbf66YC&pg=PA194 |title=Encyclopedia of hair |author=Victoria Sherrow |isbn=9780313331459 |year=2006|page=194}}</ref><ref name=Eobl1>{{cite journal |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=t3GjIj_RU5AC&pg=PA45|title= The Great Hair Hangup | journal=[[Boys Life|Boys' Life]] |pages=45|date= July 1967}}</ref><ref name=Eotm>{{cite magazine |url= http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,894170,00.html|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20080915225013/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,894170,00.html|url-status= dead|archive-date= September 15, 2008|title= MANNERS & MORALS: Teen-Age Moderation |magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]] |date=16 February 1959}}</ref> As long hair became popular in the mid-1960s, the crew cut and its variants waned in popularity through the 1970s.<ref name=Eobl2>{{cite journal |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=t3GjIj_RU5AC&pg=PA29|title= The Great Hair Hangup | journal=[[Boys Life|Boys' Life]] |pages=29|date= July 1967}}</ref><ref name=Eoc2>{{citation |url=http://cdsun.library.cornell.edu/cgi-bin/cornell?a=d&d=CDS19740510.2.18&e=en-20--1--txt-IN# |title=Long Hair-Style Trends Cut Short |author= Kaminsky |journal=The Cornell Daily Sun|volume=100|issue= 141|date=10 May 1974}}</ref> 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.<ref name=Eovs3>{{citation |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9Z6vCGbf66YC&pg=PA101 |title=Encyclopedia of hair |author=Victoria Sherrow |isbn=9780313331459 |year=2006|page=101}}</ref><ref name=Eovs2>{{citation |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9Z6vCGbf66YC&pg=PA54 |title=Encyclopedia of hair |author=Victoria Sherrow |isbn=9780313331459 |year=2006|page=54}}</ref>

==Styling==
[[File:Crew Cut, Semi Short Taper.jpg|thumb|140px|Crew-cut Marine Lieutenant, 2011. The side profile shows graduation of the top hair shorter from the front hairline to the crown.]]
Thicker hair that wants to readily stand upright is ideal for a crew cut; with an appropriate head shape, a crew cut may be possible with fairly thin hair.{{sfn|Thorpe|1967|p=132}} When designing a crew cut, a barber follows the general sequence of other medium to short haircuts; edging, siding and topping.{{sfn|Thorpe|1967|p=132}}{{sfn|Trusty|1971|p=108}} When designing a new crew cut and the current style is not relatively short, the hair on top or all over the head may initially be shortened with shears or clippers. Edging and siding together form a taper which usually is short, semi-short or medium.{{sfn|Thorpe|1967|p=132}} For a crew cut, some barbers perform edging and siding as one integrated process, regardless, the upper sides are initially boxed in and then cut to final form when designing the top.{{sfn|Trusty|1971|p=108}} The hair on the top of the head can be styled clipper or shears over comb or free hand with a clipper.{{sfn|Trusty|1971|p=108}}[[File:UNC 42 Charlie Shaffer, Duke 20 Jack Mullen.jpg|thumb|left|175px|Duke player Jack Mullen (#20), depicted with a crew cut designed for a [[widow's peak]] receded hairline while playing basketball]]With the clipper or shears over comb method, the comb is inserted in the upright hair at the desired length and the hair is reduced to this length by means of clippers or shears severing the hair above the teeth of the comb.{{sfn|Trusty|1971|p=65-68}} Freehand means the clipper blade or guard does not determine the cut hair length but rather the distance the cutting blade is held above the scalp sets the cut length.

The barber selects the most complementary final form for the top according to face shape, skull shape, frontal hairline, and facial features within parameters set by customer instructions. Specifically, the short pompadour front can be made higher or lower, wider or narrower and can be flattened or arched to varying degrees across the forehead; the hair over the rest of the top can be more rounded or flattened; the upper sides can have more or less volume.{{sfn|Trusty|1971|p=107}} In side profile, the outward appearance of the upright top hair should approach the horizontal; if the hair is cut so the upright top hair appears horizontal when the head is viewed from the front as well as the side, as a flat plane, the style is generally referred to as a flat-top crew cut or flat top; per customer wishes and the shape of the skull and frontal hairline, the flat plane can be level, upward or downward sloping relative to the forehead.{{sfn|Trusty|1971|p=107}}{{sfn|Thorpe|1967|p=133-134}}{{sfn|Trusty|1971|pp=110-111}} A crew cut with a longer top can be referred to in the US as an [[Ivy League (haircut)|ivy league crew cut]] or ''ivy league''.{{sfn|Trusty|1971|p=97}}{{sfn|Trusty|1971|p=102}} A long crew cut might be graduated in length on the top of the head from {{convert|1+1/2|in}} at the front hairline to {{convert|1/2|in}} at the back of the crown.{{sfn|Thorpe|1967|p=128, 129}}{{sfn|Trusty|1971|p=89-90, 135-136}} A crew cut with a shorter top might have a similar proportional graduated difference in the length of the hair on the top of the head. If a short crew cut is {{convert|3/4|in}} at the front hairline, the length of the hair at the back of the crown might be {{convert|1/4|in}}.{{sfn|Thorpe|1967|p=133-134}}{{sfn|Trusty|1971|pp=110-111}}

==Crew cut gallery==
<gallery widths="px" heights="px">
File:Chet Jastremski 1963.jpg|Crew cut: top, short; back/sides, semi-short taper; sideburns, short; short pomp (pompadour) front, flattened; mid top, flattened; crown, rounded; front hairline, average; wavy hair. [[Chet Jastremski]] in 1963.
File:Jesse Metcalfe.jpg|Crew cut: top, short; back/sides, short taper; sideburns, semi-short; short pomp (pompadour) front, arched; mid top, rounded; crown, rounded; front hairline, slightly asymmetric with a cow lick at off center right; wavy hair. [[Jesse Metcalfe]].
File:Darryl Stephens 2010.jpg|Crew cut: top, medium; back/sides, semi-short taper; sideburns, long; short pomp (pompadour) front, arched; mid top, rounded; crown, rounded; front hairline, average, very curly hair. [[Darryl Stephens]].
File:Ed Mathews Munsingwear ad.jpg|Crew cut: top, medium; back/sides, semi-short taper; sideburns, semi-short; short pomp (pompadour) front, arched; mid top, flattened; crown, flattened; front hairline, widow peak receded; curly hair 
File:Bobby Hull Chex card.jpg|Crew cut: top, medium; back/sides, medium taper; sideburns, medium; short pomp (pompadour) front, flattened; mid top, rounded; crown, rounded; front hairline, average; curly hair. [[Bobby Hull]].
File:Jensen Ackles 2015.jpg|Crew cut: top, long; back/sides, medium taper; sideburns, medium; short pomp (pompadour) front, arched; mid top, rounded; crown, rounded; front hairline, lower than average; straight hair. [[Jensen Ackles]].
File:Colton Haynes Comic-Con 2012.jpg|Crew cut: top, long; back/sides, semi-short taper; sideburns, short; short pomp (pompadour) front, arched; mid top, rounded; crown, rounded; front hairline, average; wavy hair. [[Colton Haynes]].
File:Billy Harris Maple Leafs Chex card.jpg|[[Billy Harris (ice hockey, born 1935)|Billy Harris]]
</gallery>

==See also==
{{div col}}
* [[List of hairstyles]]
* [[Regular haircut#Guards and blades|Blades and guards]]
* [[Butch cut]]
* [[Buzz cut]]
* [[Flattop]]
* [[High and tight]]
* [[Ivy League (haircut)|Ivy League]]
* [[Mullet (haircut)|Mullet]]
* [[Regular haircut]]
{{div col end}}

==References==
{{reflist|30em}}

== Bibliography ==
* {{cite book|last=Moler|first=A.B.|year=1911|title=Standardized Barbers' Manual|publisher=Unnattributed Publisher}}
* {{cite book|last=Thorpe|first=S.C.|year=1958|title=Practice and Science of Standard Barbering|publisher=Milady Publishing Corporation}}
* {{cite book|last=Thorpe|first=S.C.|year=1967|title=Practice and Science of Standard Barbering|publisher=Milady Publishing Corporation}}
* {{cite book|last=Trusty|first=L. Sherman|year=1971|title=The Art and Science of Barbering|publisher=Wolfer Printing Co.}}

==External links==
* {{Wiktionary-inline}}
* {{commons category-inline}}
* [http://archives.yalealumnimagazine.com/issues/02_04/old_yale.html A brief description of the term's history in the ''Yale Alumni Magazine'']
*[http://yaledailynews.com/blog/2001/05/17/nearly-150-years-old-yale-crew-embodies-spirit-of-eli-sports/ A brief description of the term's history in the ''Yale Daily News'']
*[https://books.google.com/books?id=x0EEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA44 Agonies Of Victory For Comeback Crew ''Life'' Dec. 10 1956. Includes photos of crew cut Olympic Gold Medal winning Yale oarsmen.]
*[https://books.google.com/books?id=gEwEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA46 Crew Haircut With Back Sheared Is The Male Method For Beating The Heat ''Life'' July 14, 1941. Includes before and after photos.]
*[http://www.thecrimson.com/article/1935/11/23/obecure-origins-of-the-crew-haircut/ Obecure Origins of the Crew Haircut Revealed by Harvard Square Barbers ''Harvard Crimson'' November 23, 1935.]
*[http://cdsun.library.cornell.edu/cgi-bin/cornell?a=d&d=CDS19370325.2.19&e=--------20--1-------- Pompadours Passe Says Barber; Collegetown Condemns Crew Cuts ''Cornell Daily Sun''  March 25, 1937, Page 1]
*[http://theprince.princeton.edu/princetonperiodicals/cgi-bin/princetonperiodicals?a=d&d=Princetonian19390524-01.2.11&e=-------en-20-Princetonian-1--txt-IN-may+24+1939---- Princeton Oarsmen Pick Bayard To Lead 1940 Varsity Crew. Includes photo of crew cut Crew Captain. ''The Daily Princetonian'' May 24, 1939]
*[http://theprince.princeton.edu/princetonperiodicals/cgi-bin/princetonperiodicals?a=d&d=Princetonian19400327-01.2.9&e=-------en-20-Princetonian-1--txt-IN-march+27+1940----#Two-Fisted, Stout Jawed Movie Idol Plus Crew Haircut Resembles Composite Undergraduate ''The Daily Princetonian'' March 27, 1940]

{{Human hair}}

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