Back in the early `70s, they were bushy quotation marks punctuating men`s faces. Twenty years later, sideburns are making a statement again.
Yes sir, it`s time to chop off your `80s ponytail-and think about growing `90s sideburns.
The new versions are long, lean and mean.
The role models? Certainly not Engelbert Humperdinck and his Brillo pads. Think Jason Priestley and Luke Perry, stars of the TV series ”Beverly Hills, 90210.” Even James Dean`s rebel look will do.
”In the `70s, men wore wide mutton chops,” said Marianne Dougherty, West Coast editor of American Salon, a beauty-industry magazine. ”But the new sideburns are tailored, neat and thinner.”
Yes, the new chops have been retooled for the `90s.
”Men in Chicago have been wearing their sideburns about midear, not below the earlobe” said Aquiles Molina, co-owner of the Chicago salon, Molina & Molina.
”They`re straight, not boot-shaped, and end halfway down or at the bottom of the ear,” said Lori Schulte, head stylist at Total Beauty Salon and Supply in Dana Point, Calif. ”Some sideburns will flare out slightly at the bottom, but this is a retro look, rather than a new one.”
Don`t forget the `do
The hairstyle that goes with sideburns is crucial.
Very short, `50s-inspired crew cuts and other cropped styles look best, Dougherty said.
But the interpretations aren`t literal, according to Schulte. ”The hair on top is slightly longer and the back is short.”
That`s because short hair exposes sideburns better.
Craig McGahey, 27, said he sported chops with long hair for years. ”Few people noticed the sideburns until I cut off my hair,” said McGahey, who now has short hair that`s full on top and slim sideburns that flare below his ears.
Other men are loathe to part with their long hair. Singer Michael Jackson showed off his long hair and sideburns in his ”Black or White” video.
Who else is wearing them?
”Usually men from 18 to 28,” Schulte said. ”Younger men tend to wear them long, but businessmen are starting to wear the halfway style to work.”
Jackie Summers, executive editor of Modern Salon, a beauty industry magazine, doesn`t believe sideburns are ”work-able.”
”I don`t think it`s in the mainstream,” she said. ”It`s impractical, it`s too extreme and it`s not suitable in the business context.”
Teens and men in their 20s might like wearing them just because they never had a chance to do it in the `50s and `70s, she said.
But men older than 30 might balk at the prospect of wearing sideburns-again. ”When something you`ve lived through returns,” Summers said, ”you tend to run away from it.”
