Instead, Joe Mills, owner of Soho barbers Joe & Co, points to the current trend for military haircuts – worn best by hair god of the time, Brad Pitt, in around 2005 – as a modern alternative.

“The buzz cut has been seen on the catwalks for the last few seasons and has gradually filtered down as guys got bored of the short back and sides look.”

Named after the sound made by hair clippers, it’s a look than can be achieved at home if you’re after a uniform length, but for guys looking to camouflage scars or a protruding occipital bone, leave it to the professionals.

Modern Examples

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JFK’s Ivy League

Forget your gravity-defying pompadour and bushy sideburns – the real star hairstyle of the 1950s was the Ivy League. Also known as the Harvard Clip or Princeton, this classic preppy style is a slightly longer version of the military crew cut.

Popularised by style-god-in-chief, JFK, the extra length allows the wearer more scope for styling on top – traditionally into a side parting. Think Daniel Craig or Ryan Gosling’s shorter styles.

“In the 1950s and early 1960s, Ivy League universities had policies on how students should wear their hair,” explains Joe Pomper, a senior barber at Murdock in Covent Garden. “This style spread throughout the US in popularity and became a standard offering on barber’s boards.”

To recreate the look today, Pomper suggests asking the barber to use a grade five on the back and sides, blending downwards to a three and eventually a two at the nape of the neck. On top, have any excess length trimmed with scissors to keep everything neat, and style using a medium hold and shine product.

Modern Examples

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David Beckham’s Textured Falling Quiff

Arguably David Beckham’s best hairstyle, the textured falling quiff makes it onto this list for its contemporary classicism. Or classic contemporaneity. Basically, it will stand the test of time.