THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Gone are the days of spikes and long hair. Men in the city have finally learnt to flirt with hairstyles. It would be hard to miss these young lads, flying on their motorcycles with nothing but a huge globe of hair bouncing or flying on their heads. These ‘freak machans’ with their gravity-defying out-of-the-box hairstyles were fixtures at the recently concluded State School Arts Festival and they did not fail to make heads turn and make people go ‘woah look at his head’!
These youngster have been inspired from styles sported by actors such as Surya in ‘Anjaan,’ Fahad Faasil in ‘Iyyobinte Pusthakam,’ ‘ABCD’ and other new gen movies to name a few. In reality it would be fair to say that they are creating their own styles inspired from the ‘Emo look,’ a style branched off from the Goth look. Some off these trends started off during the 2014 Football World Cup when styles sported by football players such as Neymar Jr, Marouane Fellaini and Olivier Giroud became a rage.
About what men in the city like to carry off, Mohammed Rishan, stylist from Image Saloon and Spa for men at Nadakkavu, says, “Curly and thick, that’s how they like to flaunt it now. It’s the messy look which also gives a geekish appearance. But the short hair too is still in vogue. Fashion inspired from ‘Anjaan,’ that’s what most men come in and ask for. These young men have a thing for neatly fashioned beards as well, which they team up with an Italian spike.” Short sides and brushed-up tops, short sides with bangs or fringes giving the face a cute and emo look, easy to maintain close crop hairstyles, medium length messy hair, the afro look with blond streaks, the mohawk look with a thin strand lying on shoulder length, oiled and plated, angular fringe, short back and sides are some of the most popular hair dos for men.
It might surprise even women at the amount of time and dedication that is put in by the boys to achieve these looks.
“I takes nearly half an hour after bath to set these curls,” says Aashiq Abdul, who sports an a semi-afro and curl look. His friend Abdul Shabeer says his parents are furious at the hairstyle he carries, but justifies it saying that they would carry it only until they finish college. “Mine is a look inspired from Neymar Jr. It’s easy to maintain, except that I have coloured it blond in the fringes,” he says.
Like any other fashion trend, these looks are also here to stay for a while. It is time to get used to them for a change!